New sculpture in the Third Ward has gotten a clever name

JR Radcliffe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
·1 min read
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Rusty, a mastodon built largely from an old shoe-factory boiler, now permanently resides near 150 W. St. Paul Ave. in Milwaukee's Third Ward.
Rusty, a mastodon built largely from an old shoe-factory boiler, now permanently resides near 150 W. St. Paul Ave. in Milwaukee's Third Ward.

The public got this one right.

A "life-size" sculpture of a mammoth, unveiled Friday across from the Pritzlaff Building in Milwaukee's Third Ward on Gallery Night MKE, has a perfect new name, thanks to an Instagram contest that appropriately came up with the moniker "Rusty."

Because it looks rusty, you see.

Rusty is made of steel, using a boiler that originally was housed in the former Nunn-Bush Shoe Company factory near 5th Street and Keefe Avenue. The mammoth's two tusks are more than 10 feet long and created with the help of Milwaukee Blacksmith, and the eyes are a set of 1929 Ford Model A headlights.

The foundation is covered in rocks, meant to reflect the terrain a mastodon would have walked in reality.

Rusty weighs more than 22,000 pounds.

Seven people picked the name at the @historicthirdward Instagram account, and they'll receive $100 gift cards to the Explorium Brewpub next door to Rusty, or to the nearby Milwaukee Public Market.

According to a release, the permanent sculpture is the "brainchild" of Milwaukee developer Kendall Breunig, who also owns the Pritzlaff Building.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: New mammoth sculpture in Milwaukee's Third Ward has clever name