West Allisers with a keen eye may have noticed a new mural that’s popped up out on National Avenue on the formerly blank side wall of Paul’s Jewelers.
The colorful mural at 10822 W. National Ave. was painted by Milwaukee’s Fred Kaems, aka Fred the Artist, whose work is all over the city, including on the Miller High Life Theatre, Vliet Street (where he painted "Dream Library") and even his own garage, on which he painted an “We’re in this together” message of unity during Covid.
Kaems started work on the mural on June 24 and spent about a week completing it.
The bright mural is bicycle- and nature-themed, with a pair of cyclists on a trail surrounded by grass, trees and birds, and a sky full of colorful gears as a nod to West Allis’ manufacturing history. Shoots of climbing plants frame the scene.
“I own the building and Paul's Jewelers,” says Mircea “Mitch” Prejbeanu. “Ever since I purchased it I thought that the blank wall needed some art! I wanted (it) to reflect West Allis' industrial heritage and showcase some of the newer recreational initiatives with the biking trails.
“I call it ‘Rise & Shine.’ It's definitely a forward-looking statement,
The mural idea grew out of a conversation between Kaems, Prejbeanu and Sheila Semrou.
“We hired him at Sheila Semrou's suggestion after she showed us his past work,” says Prejbeanu.
“I did an interior renovation for Paul’s Jewelers and then connected Fred with Mitch and the three of us brainstormed regarding a mural. It’s not a cheesy self serving, advertising mural. It’s beautiful. It was a wonderful collaboration.”
Kaems recalls, “As with all projects this started with a conversation about different things the wall might include. The theme of history was mentioned, as was future, growth and the outdoors.
“The gears in the background are a nod to the industrial history of West Allis. The mid-ground has the present in mind and the love of the outdoors. The foreground outside of the ‘portal’ has a trailing vine with flowers and a hummingbird for growth. The final design evolved a bit from the initial concept sketches, but we had a pretty good direction from our initial conversation.”
Kaems says the mural painting went relatively quickly considering the amount of rain that fell during its installation.
As you can see from the photos, the mural adds a dash of color and life to what was once a bland, empty wall.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
