Sculpture Milwaukee 'urban art experience' comes to life along Wisconsin Ave.

Piece by piece, Steve Marcus' dream is becoming a reality along Wisconsin Ave.

For several years, the chairman of the board of Marcus Corp. wanted to bring spectacular art to the masses and show off downtown Milwaukee.

And now, it's happening.

Sculpture Milwaukee, billed as a "one-of-a-kind urban art experience," will feature 22 sculptures by 21 artists arrayed along Wisconsin Ave. from N. 6th St. to O'Donnell Park. The exhibition of stunning works will be on view June 1 through Oct. 22. There will be a ribbon-cutting at 11:45 a.m. May 31 at Chase Tower, 111 E. Wisconsin Ave.

But the pieces are already going in.

"I think this gives Milwaukee and Wisconsin Avenue in particular something that's very unique, a thing of beauty," said Marcus, who helped spearhead the project. "There's a lot of beautiful artwork done by world-class artists that will bring people downtown just to see this. And when they're here they'll see what's going on on Wisconsin Avenue."

On Monday afternoon, Marcus and other bystanders were in front of the 411 E. Wisconsin Ave. office building and watching as a 40-ton crane and five workers installed a large, playful piece.

"Mood Sculpture" by Chicago artist Tony Tasset is a 20-foot tall multicolored fiberglass work of emoji-like faces that go from a frown at the bottom to a smile at the top.

The changing mood could have been matched by the workers for Methods & Material, a fine art rigging company out of Chicago. These pros had to make a lot of on-site adjustments, including hauling an 1,800-pound steel plate back to a shop so that a notch could be cut to accommodate an electrical box.

The plate provided the base for the artwork.

To Marcus, Sculpture Milwaukee provides a chance to show off downtown.

"It's a renaissance, it's remarkable," Marcus said of Milwaukee's building boom. "My feeling is we're going to get people down here who haven't been here in years. I'm talking about metropolitan Milwaukee residents. We're going to get field trips from the schools, Boys and Girls Clubs."

They'll walk the avenue, Marcus said, look at the art and see that "downtown is a terrific place."

A lot of big-name artists have contributed, including architect and sculptor Santiago Calatrava, whose addition at the Milwaukee Art Museum became a symbol for the city.

The artworks will be for sale, Marcus said, with a percentage of the commission to be reinvested into Sculpture Milwaukee, the nonprofit managed by the Milwaukee Downtown Business Improvement District. The funds will be used to make Sculpture Milwaukee an annual event.

The art adviser for the event is Russell Bowman, former director of the Milwaukee Art Museum.

When Marcus first approached him about the project, Bowman recalled that he thought it was "wildly ambitious" but was ready to give it a try. When he began exploring if he could consign or borrow works for the project, Bowman "sort of expected" that there would be resistance about bringing such works to Milwaukee.

It turned out, from the first call, Bowman received a positive response.

"We had no problem getting important works to consider right from the beginning," he said.

Bowman is aiming for a balance of sculpture to appeal to all tastes. Three of the sculptures are being built on-site.

Fingers crossed, everything will be done on time for the opening.

"Like any construction project, there are always going to be hitches," Bowman said.