"Wishes in the Wind" @ the Milwaukee Public Library

David Lenz painting installed at Milwaukee Public Library. (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, 9/22/2011)

Excerpt:    Paula Kiely, the director of the Milwaukee Public Library, picked up the phone one day last spring. The woman on the other end of the line identified herself and inquired about hanging a painting by Milwaukee artist David Lenz at the Central Library.

Kiely, who knew of Lenz’ work, did a mental double take. She asked the caller to repeat her name and the name of the organization she represented.

“When it became clear that I was speaking with First Lady Tonette Walker I quickly realized that something important was happening,” Kiely said at an event Thursday to unveil the painting, a realistic portrait of three children titled “Wishes in the Wind.”

Earlier this year, the artwork was taken down by Gov. Scott Walker and his wife at the Executive Residence. Commissioned for a spot above the mantel by the foundation that runs the governor’s Maple Bluff residence, it was replaced with a century-old painting of Old Abe, A Civil War-era bald eagle from Wisconsin.

At the time, Lenz described being “deeply disappointed” by the switch.

The change was part of a reinstallation of art and objects in the Executive Residence to mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, according to a press release issued by the governor’s office, presumably in response to Lenz’ criticism.

At the recommendation of the Walker administration and in cooperation the Executive Residence Foundation, the painting is now on loan to the library, where it hangs high above a new bookcase and beside the Betty Brinn Children’s Reading Room.