''Fire and Water'' 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 American artist John Luttropp, located on the southwest 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 ...

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 ...

. The multi-element architectural sculpture was created for the entrance of the

Milwaukee Fire Department The Milwaukee Fire Department provides fire protection and emergency medical services to the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The department is responsible for an area of with a population of 594,833. It is the largest fire department in the Stat ...

Engine Company #25 station. It is located at 300 S. 84th St.

Description

The sculpture includes two primary elements: a pair of neon-topped tapering concrete walls flanking the entry sidewalk, and a wall-mounted neon sign displaying the number 25 in a stylized font. During the day, the neon is not lit. At night, the entry numbers glow red, and the tops of the tapering wall glow blue. According to the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

Save Outdoor Sculpture! Save Outdoor Sculpture! (SOS!) was a community-based effort to identify, document, and conserve outdoor sculpture in the United States. The program was initiated in 1989 and ended in 1999. History Save Outdoor Sculpture! was initiated by Herit ...

survey, the red neon symbolizes fire and the blue neon symbolizes water spray from fire hoses.

Historical information

The City of Milwaukee commissioned the work for $9,000 and it was greeted with some criticism. The ''

Milwaukee Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currentl ...

'' compared the neon look to a fast food restaurant and quoted hesitant firefighters based at the station.

References

Outdoor sculptures in Milwaukee Bronze sculptures in Wisconsin 1988 sculptures {{Public-art-stub