''Menomonee'' is a public artwork by artist Hilary Goldblatt located on the former Emmber Foods, Inc. grounds on the south side of

Milwaukee, Wisconsin 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, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

, United States. The Cor-Ten steel piece is a horizontal constructivist abstract form composed of beams forming angles and open spaces. It was created in 1985 and is 4.5' high, 20' long and 4' wide.

Description

''Menomonee'' is a

Cor-Ten Weathering steel, often referred to by the genericised trademark COR-TEN steel and sometimes written without the hyphen as corten steel, is a group of steel alloys which were developed to eliminate the need for painting, and form a stable ru ...

steel horizontal sculpture made up of beams welded at various angles. It sits on a concrete base with a plaque that reads MENOMONEE/BY HILARY GOLDBLATT/SPONSORED BY/PECK MEAT PACKING CORP. The plaque was installed on October 4, 1985 and is unsigned. Goldblatt thought carefully about the

Menomonee Valley The Menomonee Valley or Menomonee River Valley is a U-shaped land formation along the southern bend of the Menomonee River in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Because of its easy access to Lake Michigan and other waterways, the neighborhood has historically ...

when conceptualizing this site-specific sculpture. She came up with a balanced abstract form that is both open and enclosed, offering the viewer various angles from which it can be appreciated.

Information

Once Hilary Goldblatt conceptualized ''Menomonee'' she built a

maquette A ''maquette'' (French word for scale model, sometimes referred to by the Italian names ''plastico'' or ''modello'') is a scale model or rough draft of an unfinished sculpture. An equivalent term is ''bozzetto'', from the Italian word for "sketc ...

and created the full-scale work at Hartbronze, Inc., a foundry that she co-founded. The sculpture's ultimate abstract form reflects its meaning. "In a 1986 exhibition at the David Barnett Gallery, the artist said: '...Ideally the work should speak for itself. I am more interested in discovering my philosophy during the process of working. My discoveries, thoughts and statements are recorded in the work. Making sculpture is an instrument that I have used for learning to get at truths which also have a universality that others might sense."Buck, Diane M. and Virginia A. Palmer (1995). ''Outdoor Sculpture in Milwaukee: A Cultural and Historical Guidebook''.p. 86-87 The State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison Goldblatt gave the work, which was originally located at the Peck Meat Packing Corp., to Bernie Peck in appreciation for his support.

Artist

Hilary Goldblatt was born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1945, and grew up in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. She moved to Milwaukee in the 1970s and enrolled at the

Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design The Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) is a private art school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1974, it offers the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. MIAD is considered the successor to the Layton School of Art, and was formerly known a ...

. Goldblatt graduated in 1980 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in sculpture and a minor in printmaking.
Hilary Goldblatt website. After graduating, the artist and her husband built a bronze foundry, which was first located at a Peck Foods building and later in the P & V Atlas Warehouse. It was during this period that Goldblatt became adept at welding and began to create constructivist works. The artist believes that living in different locations around the world has provided her with the opportunity to examine the richness of diverse cultures. She is interested in the nature of reality, the environment, and a lost kinship with nature. Her works espouse ideas of concealment and containment, which she believes are universal themes. Goldblatt has had many exhibitions in Wisconsin and has been commissioned to create works around the world. She is co-founder of Hartbronze, Inc., Porcupine Magazein, and Mazur Goldblatt Design.

References

{{MilwaukeePublicArt Outdoor sculptures in Milwaukee Steel sculptures in Wisconsin 1985 sculptures