''Bay View Series'' is a public artwork by American artist Peter Flanary located on the Bay View Public Library grounds, which is on the south side of

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, United States. Flanary's 1993 ''Bay View Series'' consists of three

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

rocks and one chunk of

taconite Taconite () is a variety of banded iron formation, an iron-bearing (over 15% iron) sedimentary rock, in which the iron minerals are interlayered with quartz, chert, or carbonate. The name ''taconyte'' was coined by Horace Vaughn Winchell (1865– ...

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

. All have text on them, and the iron ore piece has a hole in the middle. The largest piece measures approximately 68 x 77 x 28 in.

Description

Peter Flanary's artwork outside the Bay View library is made up of four rocks placed around the building. The biggest and most prominent rock is a six-ton irregularly shaped piece of taconite iron ore, which is set into a concrete foundation. The iron ore has a 20 inch hole carved in the center.
SIRIS. The other three boulders are granite, and are each placed next to a tree. All of the rocks have words carved into them. The boulder next to the

Aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species in the Populus sect. Populus, of the ''Populus'' (poplar) genus. Species These species are called aspens: * ''Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China, south of ''P. tremula'') * ''Populus da ...

tree, reads Aspen. The boulder next to the

Willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...

tree, reads Willow. The boulder next to the

Catalpa ''Catalpa'' (, ), commonly also called catawba, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae, native to warm temperate and subtropical regions of North America, the Caribbean, and East Asia. Description Most ''Catalpa'' are decidu ...

plant, reads Catulpa (sic).

Historical information

The ''Bay View Series,'' which cost about $20,000, was created as part of the Milwaukee Arts Board

Percent for Art The term percent for art refers to a program, often a city ordinance, where a fee, usually some percentage of the project cost, is placed on large scale development projects in order to fund and install public art. The details of such programs va ...

program. The program began in 2000 and requires that 1% of the total budgeted construction for projects exceeding $5000 be applied to public art. The Bay View library fell into this category. Flanary's commission included a work inside the library that consists of three mosaic maps on the linoleum lobby floor. One of the maps represents Bay View at the time of its settlement in 1846. Another map represents Bay View in 1900, the year that a steel mill on the lakefront stimulated the community's growth. The third map shows Bay View as it is today.The Wisconsin Physicist, Vol. 11 No. 1, Fall/Winter 2004-05. p. 6. The environmental sculpture combines native trees with inscribed boulders outside the library building. One of the boulders comes from the

Mesabi Range The Mesabi Iron Range is a mining district and mountain range in northeastern Minnesota following an elongate trend containing large deposits of iron ore. It is the largest of four major iron ranges in the region collectively known as the Iro ...

. Its high iron content relates to the steel mill once located in Bay View. The ''Bay View Series'' was dedicated on October 23, 1993 and is currently administered by the City of Milwaukee Library Board.

Artist

Peter Flanary grew up in the Milwaukee area, and currently has a studio in

Mineral Point, Wisconsin Mineral Point is a city in Iowa County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,581 at the 2020 census. The city is located within the Town of Mineral Point and is part of the Madison metropolitan area. Mineral Point was settled in 182 ...

.
Flanary website. He was a part-time lecturer in the art department at the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

, UW Madison. His work frequently incorporates rocks and other environmental objects. His creation process is rarely direct. "He tries to grasp the space in its complexity and wants to create something that can be remarked on by people." "He likes material and form and works to have his piece support and work in its environment, growing out of, rather than intruding into the landscape." Flanary's work is all over Wisconsin, including three pieces at the Urban Ecology Center in Milwaukee.

References

{{reflist Outdoor sculptures in Milwaukee 1993 sculptures Granite sculptures in Wisconsin 1993 establishments in Wisconsin Iron sculptures in the United States

Description

Historical information

Artist

See also

References