- Reynaldo, how did you first get involved in the arts?

- Since I was little, I was drawing.

My mother said it was a God-given talent, so I shouldn't waste it.

In other words, pursue it.

I was told I was born with a pencil in my hand, but that might be a myth.

(laughs) (gentle 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 kinda exciting.

I did, like, mafia trials.

I did all kinds of hijackings.

It was pretty exciting and kinda a 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 kids.

- What a fun family business that is.

Do you all get to work together?

- Right, I went to Vegas, I drew Marilyn Monroe.

Till I found out she was one of the impersonators.

(laughs) It wasn't the real Marilyn.

All right.

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

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

On this episode of "The Arts Page," we meet the man behind one of our community's most prominent landmarks.

(gentle music) - A mural art goes way back.

It's the oldest art form, really, in the world.

The painting on teepees, that's a mural.

I went to Egypt and I got to see the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens, the paintings in the Egyptian tombs.

Those are murals, really, telling a story.

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

- Probably heritage.

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

The three, they call 'em Los Tres Grandes, The Three Greats, like Diego Rivera and Orozco and Siqueiros.

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 Sophia Loren.

I should have got permission from my father.

You know, it was his house.

(both laughing) - How did Dad react?

- 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 could 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 4x8 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 was how I thought my brain worked.

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

And I use contrast, light against dark.

The world is divided, so I wanna show how 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, on 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 the "Landmark" mural.

It has the Mitchell Park Domes, it has a pyramid.

So when school groups come there, I ask 'em, you know, "Where is that?

What country is the 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 and the Indian culture.

And I also put some of my family on there.

In the front, one of the dancers, now forefront, that's my daughter Leanna.

- What a loving tribute to your family- - Yeah, it is.

- To work them into your murals.

- Yeah, now I got other family members, "When are you gonna put me on a 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."

- 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 dove.

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

(bright music) - Reynaldo, you've told me that you come from creativity, you were born with a pencil in your hand.

But now tell me how this creativity is flowing through your children?

- [Reynaldo] My oldest daughter is named Rozalia.

She's a very good muralist.

- So many people called him legend, and that was, you know, I just know 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 kinda 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 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, (laughs) I would.

(gentle music continues) - [Sandy] Thanks for watching "The Arts Page."

Please like, subscribe, and turn on notifications for more stories of art in our community.

(bright music fades)