''Vliet Street Commons'' 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 Jill Sebastian, located on the west 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 ...

near 50th and Vliet Streets. The work was created as part of a revitalization effort.

Description

''Vliet Street Commons'' is a site-specific artwork made of

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...

and steel. It incorporates a large table with bench seating and umbrella sun shade, a rounded arbor with elevated walkway, a birdbath, a reading desk, a stage and a grove of trees. Sebastian collaborated with representatives from the West End Vliet Street Business Association, Martin Drive Neighborhood Association, Washington Heights Neighborhood Association and Rainbow Heights Association to create "something that would bring people together."

Location history

The work is located at Wick Field, a city-owned recreation site. ''Vliet Street Commons'' is tucked between baseball diamonds and tennis courts. According to '' Milwaukee Journal Sentinel '' architecture critic Whitney Gould, the work is "a marriage of functional sculpture and landscape design." In 2011, ''Vliet Street Commons'' served as a site for a temporary mural by Harvey Opgenorth. The mural was sponsored by In:Site, a temporary public art organization. When In:Site approached Sebastian for permission to install the mural, she replied, "From the outset, I envisioned it as a backdrop for other artists to use as a framework. The project was about creating a living place that could be part of people's lives."

Funding

The project was supported with a $5,000 planning grant from the Milwaukee Arts Board. According to Sebastian, the remaining construction budget of $120,000 was raised "by the community through car washes, wine tastings, art auctions, door to door soliciting and appeal to local companies."

References

{{coord, 43, 02, 55.6, N, 87, 58, 33.9, W, type:landmark_region:US-WI, display=title Culture of Milwaukee Outdoor sculptures in Milwaukee 2000 sculptures