(bright uplifting music) (bright music) - [Sandy] What makes a landmark a landmark?

- I remember the truck drivers used to drive from Chicago to downtown.

They used the "Mural of Peace" as a landmark.

They know they're in Milwaukee, getting close.

- [Sandy] How can you easily improve a community?

- We've just had this really whole new level of vibrant energy and investments.

Public art has been a big component of that.

- [Sandy] What's a way to attract people from far and near?

- Art is something that speaks to people, and that's what's fun about it.

It just draws in a different type of people that tour and come to and visit our cities.

- [Sandy] How can you make your mark in the world?

- A lot of my work is about what does beauty and strength and empowerment look like?

- The answer to all those questions is art.

The role of art in a community is to bring people together, inspire a sense of wonder, and create an open and welcoming culture.

Murals fill this role perfectly.

They often involve community members in their creation, bringing together people from all walks of life.

The grand scale of some murals can leave you in awe and capture your imagination.

And murals do not require a fee or admission to view, making them truly for everybody and anybody.

On this special episode of "The Arts Page," we celebrate the murals that make our area great and some of the artists that make that greatness happen.

"The Arts Page" starts right now.

(bright intriguing music) Welcome to "The Arts Page."

I'm Sandy Maxx.

We begin this special episode with a man who's been creating murals for over 50 years.

Reynaldo Hernandez was born and raised on the south side of Milwaukee.

He considers the streets his gallery.

Reynaldo is responsible for over 100 murals around Milwaukee and Wisconsin.

The one he is most well known for is the "Mural of Peace."

It resides on the south side of the Mercantile Lofts at 6th, the National.

The massive mural can be seen as you drive west on I-94 and has been a staple of our community for decades.

We visited Reynaldo's studio to learn about the man behind one of Milwaukee's most prominent landmarks.

(bright music) Reynaldo Hernandez has had a lot of jobs in the arts.

He was a courtroom sketch artist.

Tell me about the courtroom sketch artist experience.

- It was kind of exciting.

I did, like, mafia trials.

I did all kinds of hijackings.

It was pretty exciting and kind of little scary.

- [Sandy] He drew the weather maps at Channel 4 before they had computer graphics.

He was a caricature artist on cruise ships.

- [Reynaldo] We're still doing it, me and my my kids.

- What a fun family business that is.

Do you all get to work together?

- Right.

I went to Vegas, I drew Marilyn Monroe until I found out she was one of the impersonators, that wasn't the real Marilyn.

- But above all, his most impactful job as an artist has been as a muralist.

He's responsible for arguably the most renowned mural in Milwaukee, the "Mural of Peace."

What got you interested in the art form of murals in particular?

- Probably a heritage.

My father is from Mexico, and the great Mexican muralists that revived the modern mural movement came from Mexico.

The three, the (indistinct), los tres grandes, the three greats, like, Diego Rivera and Orozco and Siqueiros.

And there's my father, Ruben.

- [Sandy] Reynaldo's first mural can't be found in public.

That's because his first mural wasn't painted outdoors.

- My first mural was indoors.

My brother Ramon had a house party.

And so in six hours I painted Sophie Loren.

But I should have got permission from my father, you know, it was his house.

(both laugh) - How did dad react?

- I guess it was there for a while.

(Sandy laughs) I guess he accepted it.

- So you are well known for murals around Milwaukee, particularly one that a lot of us drive by.

You can see it from I-94 on National Avenue.

Tell us about the "Mural of Peace" that you created.

- The "Mural of Peace," it's 285, 4 by 8 panels laid down, put together.

It's right over the high rise when you go to downtown from the south side.

So I got on the freeway before I painted it and counted how many seconds when you first saw the building drive up close and when you don't see it.

That was 11 seconds.

So I said, I gotta make images large, so you don't, like, try to figure it out what it is and hit somebody in front of you.

That's how I thought my brain worked.

So that's why you have a large eagle's head and a dove.

And I used contrast, light against dark.

The world is divided, so I don't wanna show that, we should be together instead of being divided.

And the bottom, you see like little cutouts, like paper dolls.

There's different colors.

Black, brown, white, yellow, orange.

I even have for other, (laughs) you know, in your driver's license, they had the other.

My mother taught me when I was little that no culture is any better than the other.

We all have a lot to contribute to each other, so, you know, so we should be multicultural.

- [Sandy] Tell me about the mural that's on the United Community Center that you created and is now being lovingly restored.

- It's called a Landmark mural.

It has a Mitchell Park domes.

It has a pyramid.

So when school groups come there, I ask them, you know, where is that?

"What country is that pyramid from?"

They'll say, "Egypt," but then I'll educate 'em, "No, that's in Mexico."

And so then they learn about the native in the Indian culture.

(indistinct) I also put some of my family on there in the front.

One of the dancers in the forefront, that's my daughter Leanna.

- What a loving tribute to your family that worked them into your murals.

- Now I got other family members, "When are you gonna put me on the mural?"

(chuckles) - And I want you to brag for a minute.

I was there when you got an award from the Milwaukee County Historical Society.

- Yeah, I was one of three finalists.

So they emailed me, say, "You're a finalist, want you to come in."

And I'll say, "Ah, yeah, sure.

I'm not gonna win it."

- [Sandy] But he did win it.

And Samantha Michalski, Development and Communications Manager for the Milwaukee County Historical Society, was the one who chose Reynaldo for the award.

Sam, tell us, what is the Janice & Stephen Marcus Award for public art?

- It's an award from MCHS where we are celebrating public art here in Milwaukee County.

And it's really about art that not only enhances neighborhoods and transforms those kind of normal spaces into landmarks, but also tells a story, tells the history of our community.

- [Sandy] And what is it about Reynaldo Hernandez that he should be the inaugural winner of this award?

- So we had a panel of three different jurors, and they're the ones who selected him to be the finalist.

But his "Mural of Peace" has really stood the test of time.

It's been around for over 30 years.

It is such an iconic landmark of our city.

Everybody knows the eagle and the the dove.

It's about unity, hope, diversity of our community.

- Reynaldo, tell me how this creativity is flowing through your children.

- [Reynaldo] My oldest daughter's named Rozalia.

She's a very good muralist.

- So many people called him legend.

And that was, you know, I just knew him as (laughs) my dad.

I think I was about 13 years old when I started to work with him.

It's been about, probably about 10 years now.

He still is always in my ear, (laughs) he was always in my ear telling me, "You can do this.

You should do this.

This is what you need to do."

And I didn't realize, I guess, the impact that he had on people until I was an adult.

And I had so many people that grew up with me who became artists on a full-time basis.

And it didn't matter what kind of art they were doing.

They were musicians, they were dancers, they were performing artists, visual artists.

They would tell me that my dad had a huge influence on them.

And they said that he made them feel like it was possible to become an artist.

(gentle serene music) - [Sandy] Reynaldo having a long and storied career in the arts, is not slowing down.

His goals are higher than ever.

- Back then, I said I wanted to be the first artist to do a mural on the moon.

- You wanna suit up- - Yeah.

- and get to the moon.

- Yeah.

- You still wanna do that?

- Yep.

(chuckles) I would.

(gentle music continues) - We now take you to West Allis where murals have been sprouting up all over the last couple of years.

It's because of a community effort by local artists, business owners, and the city of West Allis through a program called West Allis Living Streets.

Dozens of murals have been created on the side of shops, restaurants, park benches, and utility boxes.

This is all in an effort to increase residents' quality of life, revitalize underserved areas, and make West Allis a more desirable place to live.

(car engine revving) - [Dan] I actually use the word renaissance quite a bit.

We've just had this really whole new level of vibrant energy and investment and draw in the past 10 years.

Public art has been a big component of that.

(upbeat electronic dance music) - So West Allis has been adding murals every year for the past couple years.

Well, I think first off, it's really cool that all these little municipalities are realizing the value of art and investing in artists and giving this gift to their community.

- Having the mural has helped our business in big ways.

People driving by can recognize the building and even if they don't stop at that time, they remember where we are.

That makes people excited to come to West Allis.

- West Allis is very much committed to the arts.

We struggle sometimes to know the value of art in people's lives, and yet it's everywhere.

- One thing that I honestly believe that Milwaukee, West Allis, every different neighborhood around Milwaukee County was missing, was more street art.

And the fact that you're choosing local artists to now uplift these bland areas, I think it is incredible.

(upbeat music continues) (car engine revs) - I've done some work with the school district here, I've worked with first graders, getting students, children to know the value of art in their lives.

It affects everything, it affects everything we wear.

It affects everything you do, every book you open, every cover, every television program.

Because of my involvement in the arts, Dan Devine, the mayor, asked me to help out with selection of the muralists.

(bright cheerful music) It had to be visual, visually stimulating, colorful.

The East Allis Neighborhood Association has a thing for dragonflies and butterflies.

So, John Kowalczyk did a huge mural on Beecher.

- I had applied a few years ago with the design that I was really excited about.

A year later after I had applied originally, West Allis called me up and they were like, "Hey, we really like that design you submitted last year.

Would you be interested in painting it this year on, like, a bigger wall?"

So it worked out even better where I got, like, twice the space to make the design even bigger.

It's kind of the story of different parts of nature from all over the world coming together to form something beautiful.

And that's kind of a metaphor for a community or a neighborhood in my mind.

Like different people from everywhere coming together to form this gorgeous little ecosystem for themselves.

- Those boring cabinets on intersections are not much to look at.

So when you can brighten them up, it's kind of a it stoplight conversation.

It was very affordable, it was unique.

One of the things I really like about it is the ties to the community in the area, because a lot of the submissions were from residents or people in the area.

(upbeat music) - I'm just a nerd with local pride.

I love doing my artwork in the realm of pop art, whether it's different street artwork designs, different movie designs, you know, whether it's movie monsters, movie characters.

Pop art is just one of those things where kids, you know, as young as five years old to adults as old as 60 years old will recognize it and be able to connect with it, you know?

- This used to be a manufacturing town.

Well, that's changing.

And so a lot of those old buildings are being revamped and becoming other things.

Part of that then is, you know, looking at those old buildings and wondering, well, how can we beautify them?

How can we make them even more attractive to people?

(bright uplifting music) - When we got this building, we knew it would take a complete renovation and some magic to make it approachable from the street.

Someone within the city recommended the West Allis Living Streets program in order to get a mural.

And it's been the best thing we've done to the building because everybody who comes and visits takes pictures with it.

And I believe it's part of what's put us on the map.

When we are designing the mural, we really wanted to incorporate pieces of our story as well as West Allis and tie them together.

The flowers in the mural are actual native flowers to West Allis.

So, we incorporated those.

And then, of course, the bike because we're cyclists and the bread because, yeah, we're the bread peddlers.

- [Dan] I think overall it's been incredibly positive.

I still, one of the favorite stories, or the favorite contacts I had was a grandmother who called and wanted to know if we had a map of the murals because she was gonna be hanging out with her grandchildren on Saturday and she wanted to drive them through the city and show 'em all the murals.

And that's the kind of stuff that just motivates me and makes me wanna consider future art projects and investments in this.

(bright uplifting music continues) - We head north.

Now to Port Washington.

There, the organizers of the Paint on Port Program are using murals much the same as West Allis.

They wanna beautify their city and increase community pride.

It's a balancing act for the Paint on Port organizers because Port Washington is a historic town, and it takes a lot of nuance and finesse to preserve history while staying modern.

But when it's done right, everyone benefits.

And Paint on Port hopes their murals make you feel more welcome in their storied town.

(bright pleasant music) - [Eileen] I think that the arts are a great way to add vibrancy to your city, add color to a city, give the city an identity that maybe it didn't have.

(bright pleasant music continues) - [Kristina] I think this is a moment where there's a lot of energy around art.

You might love it, you might hate it, but we're all out here together talking about art.

And I think that's the magic of public art.

- [Ted] Art is something that speaks to people, and that's what's fun about it.

When I've traveled and I've gone to communities where there is a large presence of art, that just demonstrates how a community can come together around something that benefits us in so many ways.

- Paint on Port is amazing.

They are taking art into a new level in Port Washington.

I'm Sherri Kultgen.

I'm the lead artist on the Branching Out mural.

- I'm Kristina Tadeo, the executive director of Port Washington Main Street.

- My name is Ted Neitzke, and I'm the mayor of the city of Port Washington.

- My name's Eileen Grace, and I am the program manager for the Port Washington Paint on Port Mural Program.

(birds chirping) (wind blowing) The mayor came to Main Street, which is a organization that works for the betterment of the stores and the businesses of Main Street, and said he wanted to do a visual arts program, a mural program.

- When I ran for mayor, it was one of my, like, main things was to help beautify Port Washington and make us a destination for art.

(bright happy music) - It's a very artsy kind of community.

I think we live in a beautiful location, and it kind of lends itself to photography, to painting, to art.

- Port Washington, I think is one of the most beautiful cities in the country, and I would say that if I were mayor or not.

Having been born and raised here in Port Washington, there are so many opportunities for us to have ownership in our own city.

For instance, this mural frames this street.

So when you're a couple blocks away, you know, you used to look at just a concrete wall and it was a real source of conflict in our city.

Regularly, people would put messages up there on chalk or kids would draw things, there would be elements of ignorance that we would find there.

- I taught in Fort Washington for 30 years, and as an art teacher, I'm very proud of this piece.

We brought six artists together and we came up with a mural project that included the students in Port Washington, and then we went into every school with the artists and we created ceramic pieces and polytab pieces, which are the painted animals on the mural.

And then I needed to have it so that the students of every age from 5 year olds to 18 year olds could work together to create a piece.

And the community has given me such positive feedback.

- This wall here now, every child that drives past it who has something up there, participated in it or was in that class.

For as long as that wall stays, they will say like, I was a part of that.

- I think overall the community reactions to Paint on Port has been really pretty positive.

You know, of course there's always some, you know, concerns.

This is a very well established town with a lot of people who've lived here their whole life and weren't sure they wanted to see the face of their town change.

(soft music) Port is a very historic town, and we really wanted to keep that in mind and really kind of hold honor that.

Franklin Street in Port Washington has 47 buildings, 37 of which sit on the national register for historic buildings.

- The community walls have been a highlight for sure in this program because we did wanna connect the community.

We did wanna reconnect the community through art, and the community walls give a chance for different groups in our community to get together and make a lasting impact and tell a story on one of the walls.

I hope that this has inspired our community and that we are on the map maybe a little bit more as an arts destination.

- [Eileen] Right now, it's set up for a three-year program, and I know for Port, it's really only a jumping off point.

- Starting in 2018, Emma Daisy has been adding vibrancy and color to many Milwaukee neighborhoods.

Daisy hopes her murals encourage connectivity and bring a little joy to people's daily lives.

Her bold style and signature themes make her work instantly recognizable.

Daisy's murals are about growth and change because that's what she believes murals do for a community.

They change them for the better.

(appliances whirring) - I would describe my style as an artist as bold, colorful, maximal, (bright music) and joyful.

(spray can rattling) One of my goals in art, in creating and making art is to make joyful work.

(spray can hissing) (bright music continues) My art reflects myself in that, I try to be a pretty positive person without diminishing the challenges in life and the realities of life and relationships.

But I think there's really power and joy in being vulnerable.

I wanna celebrate and magnify the strengths that we have.

(appliances whirring) (objects clattering) My studio work is often very loose and gestural, or it has been.

I started in ink wash painting and watercolor and a medium that was very much about movement and capturing the essence of images, of movement.

(spray can hissing) (car engine revs) You know, when I started doing murals, that style kind of evolved into something that was more hard lined, something that seemed like more conducive to the spaces and the architecture of those spaces and the application of paint that was possible on physical walls.

(gentle music) In 2017, I was introduced to Black Cat Alley.

It was sort of like the inception of Black Cat Alley on the east side.

I applied for an open call for the Black Cat Alley a couple years later and won that space, and that was the first mural that I ever painted.

The "Westown in Bloom," that was, I think, the second or third mural that I ever painted.

It was 4,000 square feet, a huge, massive wall.

It's probably the biggest wall that I've ever painted, and it was corrugated metal.

It's on West Wisconsin Avenue heading into the city.

That mural is going to be on the side of two facades of their outdoor cooler.

Right now it's kind of an eyesore, and Liz Joy really wanted to bring it to life, add to the space.

(spray can rattling) The design is my signature style of flowers, but I focused on cherry blossoms and cherries.

Their imagery is this big happy cherry.

And so I wanted to include that in some way, but in my own style.

So I focus on cherry blossoms, and it's fun.

(spray can hissing) (gentle music continues) Yeah.

(indistinct) - I'm very, I like, as soon as I make something, I want it out of like, I wanna get rid of it because I am not making it, like, you're making it for me, but I'm making the processes for me.

The art itself is... The art itself is not... I think for me, art is as much about the process as it is about the product.

And for me as an artist, it's really about creating.

It's therapeutic.

It's something I just feel like I need to do.

I'm super proud of the fact that I have work, you know, living in the world that people get to see.

But at the same time, I typically do a project and then I don't often think about it, and it sounds weird, but it's like, I feel like once I've done something, especially public work, it no longer is mine.

It becomes part of the community, part of the environment that it lives in.

This is the Bayshore mural, inside the rotunda.

It's two floors, and it had this really interesting kind of situation where you could see it from different vantage points.

So in turning some of these pieces into three dimensional objects or installations on the wall, it just added this level of visual interest from all these different vantage points.

(bright music) Like sometimes people say like, "Well, where do you have murals around the city?"

And I, like, can't think of where to even tell them.

And it's not that I don't think about it or that I'm not, you know, excited or proud of them.

It's just like, for me, it's like the process is continually moving forward and I'm thinking about what I'm working towards next.

I'm also okay with murals getting painted over.

So, you know, that's another question I think people have asked, like, things change, I'm not attached to things changing, and it doesn't belong to me anymore either.

I know in the world a lot of people know me as a painter or a muralist.

I like being able to explore in a lot of different mediums and explore in a lot of different ways.

And I don't ever wanna feel like I am confined by those types of labels.

I think I define myself as just a creator.

It's broad and sweeping, and I don't necessarily consider myself just one of those above things.

- That brings us to the end of our show.

"The Arts Page" is a digital-first series.

Check out MilwaukeePBS.org for more stories of art in our community.

I'm Sandy Maxx.

Thank you for watching "The Arts Page."

(bright intriguing music) (bright intriguing music continues) (bright intriguing music continues) (bright intriguing music continues)