''Connect'' is a

public art Public art is art in any media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and physically acce ...

work by artist Jeremy Wolf. It is installed in Riverside Park on the east side of

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

Description

''Connect'' is an

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

bronze sculpture depicting a life-sized

raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight of ...

holding a fish with its two hands. One of its back feet is raised. While the animal's fur, tail and head closely mimic a raccoon's actual features, its feet, forearms and hands have a human quality. The base on which the raccoon sits is embossed with woodland imagery like trees, insects and a

salamander Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All t ...

Commission process

''Connect'' was selected by a committee assembled by the

Urban Ecology Center The Urban Ecology Center is a nonprofit organization in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Their mission is to educate the Milwaukee community about the environment, conservation, sustainability, and other issues related to urban ecology, as well as to preser ...

. Four artists—Susan Falkman, Peter Flanary, Richard Taylor and Jeremy Wolf—presented their concepts and fielded questions at an open meeting held at

Riverside University High School Riverside University High School is a public high school located on the East Side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with a college preparatory curriculum. It is a part of the Milwaukee Public Schools system. History Pre-1912 Starting in the early 18 ...

in November 2003.

References

2005 establishments in Wisconsin 2005 sculptures Animal sculptures in Wisconsin Bronze sculptures in Wisconsin Fish in art Mammals in art Outdoor sculptures in Milwaukee Statues in Wisconsin Insects in art {{Public-art-stub