Milwaukee's 'The Calling' sculpture explained

Milwaukee has a contentious history with public art (Google “Blue Shirt” if you need a reminder). Ensconced in O’Donnell Park at the lakefront, Mark di Suvero’s steel-beam sculpture “The Calling” has survived several rounds of controversy with the staying power of the sun that it abstractly mimics.

Funded by an anonymous donor, it is made of steel I-beams painted orange and stands 40 feet tall. After 11 argumentative public hearings and much political grandstanding, the Common Council approved the artwork, which was dedicated in April 1982.

“Di Suvero certainly was aware that many people would see his work from great distances and from the windows of rushing cars, buses and trucks,” Milwaukee Sentinel art critic Dean Jensen wrote in 1982. “Through its great size, its garish color and the grammar of its simple forms, it asserts its essence quickly and directly.”

“The Calling” enjoyed a bonus kerfuffle in 2001 when architect Santiago Calatrava’s gleaming white addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum opened. Killjoys wanted the di Suvero away from the Calatrava sightline. The artist responded bluntly: “If you don’t want it, take it apart and ship it to me.”

As for the architect, he told Journal critic Whitney Gould that he designed the MAM addition with “The Calling” in mind. And if you stand along Wisconsin Avenue in the right spots, you’ll see that “The Calling” and the Calatrava addition line up perfectly.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee's 'The Calling' Mark di Suvero sculpture explained