Remember the Marquette Interchange Construction Project?

A revisit of the demolition days... but with a different vision. A limited edition of these as metallic prints are offered.

This first image is a new favorite of mine. One of the project managers wrote about how proud he was to be part of this project and how he felt when he came to work in the morning and saw these towering booms. He said "It’s what all of us in this business have looked to do all our lives—be involved in some really significant work. This is a job we’ll be able to tell our grandchildren about.”

This image has 11 crane booms and depicts various phases of demolition and new construction - all while traffic through the interchange is kept moving.


The Milwaukee Courthouse Parking Annex was built over the northbound lanes of I-43 and has served it's time. It was demolished as part of the project.

These next two views are scenes that first got me interested in photographing and learning about the project.


A snow fall during the Holiday break. This is all new construction now and is a view from St. Paul Avenue looking south. The 160 page book with over 300 images can be found here.

Images selected for the 3rd Annual CoPA Juried Show

Interactions in the urban environment… a found image which embodies the mood or character of the time. These images not only document and portray, they also arouse a viewer’s senses, emotion and intellect.

The “L” – one of the seven wonders of Chicago. Since 1892

Post season cruising at the Crown Fountain, Millennium Park, Chicago Illinois – since 2004.


More information on the show is here.

Sydney Hih...

It's character remains hidden inside...

This montage was made from Images of posters inside Sydney Hih when it was open to the public during the last week in August, 2009. Neil Gasparka prepared several rooms in Sydney Hih as an information center and museum of the Park East public art exhibit, which was funded by the Milwaukee Arts Board and arts group IN:SITE. I'm happy that I had the opportunity to take interior photos of this Milwaukee landmark.

The original building was the first brick commercial building in Milwaukee, built in 1876 by a pioneering surgeon, Nicholas Senn.

In 1971, the Cream City brick building was purchased by Sydney Eisenberg and painted its (locally) famous multi-colored patchwork. But Sydney Hih’s real value is not in its architecture — it’s in the fantastic cultural scene that lasted for decades.

It’s a place of legend for local artists and musicians, many of whom lived in makeshift apartments and shared bathrooms to get by. Nirvana, Soundgarden and The Smashing Pumpkins played the Unicorn before hitting it big. Theatre X had some of its earliest rehearsals in the building. Artists like Prophet Blackmon made and sold his art there, too.

(Information from JS Online articles by Mary Louise Schumacher.)

At this time, Sydney Hih still stands and the Palomar is no more. Across the street, the planned 30 floor Moderne is working out a deal with the City of Milwaukee to complete its financing. Sydney Hih remains empty, void of any sustainable infrastructure - an enigma in the Park East Corridor.

The New Fall Collection...

We took a ride last Sunday with several stops in mind, along with a final destination.

At the Neiman apple orchard store.

Covered bridge park in Cedarburg


The Horicon Marsh.

Chicago, and the last day of summer weather in the midwest.

September 27, 2009.... A group of photographers from CoPA took a bus trip to Chicago and spent about 5-1/2 hours on Michigan Avenue and the Millennium Park area. There was no particular objective but to photograph and enjoy the camaraderie. The Chicago architecture is particularly impressive - I enjoyed the lines and reflections.

Trump Tower, the second tallest building in Chicago...


Chicago Civic Opera Center from the Water Taxi on the Chicago River...


The Crown Fountain in Millennium Park ...

IN:SITE Park East Corridor Public Art Project

This video is a collection of images created from the recent public art project brought to Milwaukee by IN:SITE. Many of the involved artists installations are represented as well as some rare views from inside Sydney Hih.


"Disinterment" by Gary John Gresl, a faux archaeological dig site embellished with objects. This is a High Dynamic Range image processed in Photomatix.


"cede" by Annushka Peck, a billboard map of the Park East.


"Uniting the Fence" by Kasia Drake, a community volunteer effort to alter a chain-link fence with fabric. The image was rendered in Corel Painter®.

Watching the fabric dance
on a chain-link fence.



Sydney Hih - a Milwaukee landmark and location of several IN:SITE projects including photographs by several CoPA members.

Closed doors...

I wonder what closed doors are all about. More later.

More from the Chicago Botanic Garden

Paintings:


Pencil sketch emulation in Photoshop®

Pier Wisconsin on Lake Michigan...

Discovery World, connecting innovation, science, technology and the environment with exploration and learning through interactive exhibits and experiential learning programs; and the S/V Denis Sullivan - the world’s only re-creation of a 19th century three-masted Great Lakes schooner.

This first image is a 48" x 16" panoramic image made from six different images approximately 11" x 17" (vertical) each and stitched together in Adobe Photoshop® Photomerge. Each image was photographed with a Canon 5D (full frame sensor) and a 50mm lens at 6 AM on August 2, 2009.

This image is a 20" x 10" (cropped) wide angle view of a single image photographed with a Canon 20D and a 16-35mm lens at 16mm, at 6:20 AM on August 2, 2009. While the buildings appear larger in this image, the image itself is about 1/2 the size of the panorama.

Here is another panoramic view (50" x 15") featuring the S/V Denis Sullivan, but not the full depth of Discovery World. The lower east side Milwaukee skyline is in the background.

Discovery World.

Chicago Botanic Garden - a panoramic view.

Kathy & I took a day trip to this Gem in the Cook County Forest Preserve. The Japanese garden is one of the 23 gardens on the 365 acre site. Sansho-En, the garden of three islands, is a tribute to simple beauty and form. Click on the image to see a (much) larger view.

Brady Street Photowalk

Brady Street is filled with coffee houses, nightclubs, restaurants, vintage clothing and thrift stores. Saturday, July 18th from 4 - 6PM saw over 50 photographers descend on the area to put Brady Street on the photo enthusiast map.
Brady Street duplex.

In the 1880's, Brady Street became a commercial district of Yankee and German shops. In the 1960's, Italians and other groups began to leave the neighborhood for the suburbs, while the hippies and other bohemians moved in. The 1980's saw blight, neglect and decay, but now the area has been revitalized and has become a model for New Urbanism.

Scattered showers.

New business on Brady Street.

Flood Control Basin on the Milwaukee County Grounds...

A six-year journey by the MMSD is well underway at the Milwaukee County Grounds to help reduce the risk of destructive floods along the Menomonee River. As with all MMSD flood management projects, the County Grounds basin is designed to protect against the one-percent probability flood, commonly called the 100 year flood.

This view is across the Underwood Parkway from the Hanson Golf Course Clubhouse.

The new Marquette Interchange profile...

... like it's always been this way. This panorama view is taken from the 6th Street Viaduct over the Menomonee River.

Riveredge Nature Center panorama images...

Riveredge Nature Center is one of the premier nature centers in the Great Lakes Region, widely recognized for providing innovative environmental education to learners of all ages for 40 years. Their goal is to build a self-discovered awareness that we are part of nature, and to empower people to act on that knowledge.

These panoramas are created from a series of digital images shot with a vertical orientation. These are then opened in Photoshop® CS4 and blended with Photomerge.

Menomonee Valley Park - Chimney Park

See the 2010 update - the chimneys have been demolisherd.

Chimney Park runs along either side of the 35th Street Viaduct, on the northern half of the site.

This is one of the central features of the area - there are two tall smokestacks, the only remnants of the site’s long history as one of the nation’s largest rail yards.

Chimney Park also offers more passive uses, such as unprogrammed turf areas organized around naturalized stormwater management ponds and meadows.


RenewTheValley.org is a broad group of partners working to restore the neglected river valley at the very heart of Milwaukee. Menomonee Valley Partners, Inc. envisions a redeveloped Valley that is as central to the city as it was in the past.

Kletzsch Park Falls

Glendale is an area once inhabited by Potawatomie Indians, it has been said there are burial grounds along the Milwaukee River as it winds through the park. Kletzsch Park had become one of the most popular parks in the county park system during the early 1930’s – with a river swimming beach and picnic area.

Kletzsch Park was also greatly improved with the use of relief labor. A Civilian Conservation Corps camp was established in Kletzsch Park in May of 1935 and discontinued in November of 1935.

The CCC projects completed included a new dam built across the Milwaukee River with CCC labor. The new structure, built of reinforced concrete in a serpentine design to lengthen the crest, provided increased discharge capacity without widening the river. Models prepared by the landscape design section of the planning department served as guides in erecting the stone facing and the fish ladder built into the face of the dam. The dam has the appearance of a natural waterfall.

Historical information from the “Friends of Kletzsch Park" website - and click on Kletzsch History.

Brewers Hill project...

Milwaukee River East Bank view of the Gallun Tannery unoccupied building. The Holton Viaduct Marsupial Bridge is at the far right side. View is from the EdgeCondo River Walk. This version was overlaid with a B & W infrared layer in Lighten mode in PS CS4 to bring out the evening light on the trees. Full resolution image is 50" x 10". The first in a series photographed in the Brewers Hill area.

Milwaukee's Park East Corridor

Click on this image to see a larger view - this is created from four separate images.

The Park East Corridor is comprised of 64 acres and 29 blocks. The area became a focus of development after Milwaukee took down the 1971 Park East Freeway spur in 2002-2005. You can access maps of the area, its history, and lots of information about the development plan for the Park East Corridor at the Milwaukee Department of City Development website.

Precious Lands... views from the corridor.

Milwaukee's City Gulls

Beautiful to watch flying over the Lake Michigan shoreline.... sometimes creating a mess when they establish a community in a downtown parking lot or public buildings. During the past few years, the gull community at the McKinley Street bridge over the Milwaukee River has been a sight to behold. While noisy and not without an odor, one can view the community, as if on display. Baby gulls can be seen right now.






Edited June 29. 2009
Growing up!