The History of Communication Mural

One of the most unassumingly historic buildings in town is the WTMJ studio on Capitol Drive, a utilitarian-looking structure completed in 1942 that claims to be the first building in the country designed to house both radio and TV studios. The 1941 fresco-mural designed by then-Milwaukee artist Jefferson Greer (who carved the Theodore Roosevelt head at Mount Rushmore), and spread across the four walls of the lobby, speaks to this visionary spirit. The painted plaster contains numerous figures representing the great hopes for broadcasting’s future. The walls represent the giving spirit, sounds and light of broadcasting, and the reception of said output by happier and better-informed consumers. But what draws most viewers’ attention is the odd emphasis on nipples, as seen above.