Throughout history, the arts have been instrumental in creating unique public places that yield physical, social and economic benefits for a community. Boerner Botanical Gardens is no exception in that it contains wonderful examples of art and sculpture.
Milwaukee County Percent for Art Program
In the year 2000, Milwaukee County established a 1% for Public Art Program for designated, eligible projects contained in the capital and capitalized major maintenance budgets, requiring that 1% of the total budgeted construction costs of those designated, eligible capital projects exceeding $500,000 be appropriated for public art. With the construction of the Education & Visitor Center, the Milwaukee County Public Art Committee conducted a call for artists to submit entries for public art at the Boerner Botanical Gardens Education & Visitor Center. Wisconsin Artist, Susan Falkman, sculpture “The Passages” was installed at the entrance to the Education & Visitor Center.
“My sculpture is a celebration of earth, fire, and water; an aesthetic expression of the universal energy that sustains the rhythm of life. I carve in stone, the most basic and mythic of materials – a gift from the earth, our bedrock.”
– Susan Falkman