New peacock mural aims to make Milwaukeeans feel proud again
The paint was still wet when Wisconsin native Amy Hagenow got her picture at the new peacock mural on the north wall of the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena with the creator and artist, Kelsey Montague.
“I hope that whoever sees (the mural), whether they stopped for the photo or not, that it’s something they know is for them and that this is a gift from me to them,” Montague said.
Over the two days it took to create, the mural caught the attention of passers-by, who watched Montague paint the massive peacock.
Hagenow was one of these people. She was the first to get her picture with the mural that is a part of Montague’s series “What Lifts You,” a network of 300 murals across the globe. The most iconic in the series is arguably the wings in Nashville, where Hagenow first got hooked on Montague’s work.
In total, Hagenow, who is from West Bend, has hunted down 39 of the murals, sometimes along with her husband and her two boys. She even has a map of the United States in her bathroom filled with her many photos with the murals.
“After all of these travels … it’s exciting that it’s in Wisconsin,” she said.
The peacock mural is Montague’s first in Wisconsin — and it’s unique from other murals she’s created.
“We didn’t want to just do the angel wings. We wanted to have our mural stand apart from the rest of Kelsey’s work,” said Gabriel Yeager, downtown environmental specialist for the Milwaukee Business Improvement District #21.
The Milwaukee BID #21 and the Wisconsin Center District chose to commission Montague as a part of the Building More Pride campaign, which focuses on getting people to be more proud of the city. It’s also part of a broader campaign called Jumpst(ART) that aims to revive the city postpandemic.
A peacock was chosen for the mural because it symbolizes being bold and being proud, Yeager said.
“Focusing on Milwaukee … and how it’s really come into its own, and just highlighting all the strong, beautiful, unique people there … it just really was perfect for my work.” said Montague, who has made community a priority in her seven years as a street artist.
Milwaukee BID #21 also put out a call for local artists to create something inspired by the Building More campaign and ultimately, they picked local artist Teresa Sahar. Her artwork depicting Milwaukee legends Hank Aaron, Vel R. Phillips and Gene Wilder is now on display across six of The Hop’s streetcar station shelters.
It’s a fun, local connection to the larger mural, Yeager said.
The Instagrammable nature of Montague’s mural, which encourages people to interact, is what makes it stand out. Or, maybe it’s just the bright array of blue and pink.
“It’s just a really fun opportunity to literally show your pride for Milwaukee — be as proud as a peacock,” Yeager said.
Montague said she hopes to come back to Wisconsin one day.
As for avid fan Hagenow, she’ll travel to Indianapolis this week for her son’s baseball game, and while she’s there, she said she plans to track down the three or four murals Montague created there.
“It’s like a mystery hunt, trying to find it and then getting a picture taken with it. It’s the hunting, the find for it that’s fun,” she said.