Public Art – an intuitive perspective

July 26, 2026

Stealth Public Sculpture In Milwaukee County’s Lake Park! Fini?

I have posted six different posts about the “Stealth Public Sculpture In Milwaukee County’s Lake Park!” starting in unbelievably, 2021. They have moved and morphed and engaged me constantly over that period. I have linked all of the posts below if you want to review their history as much as I have been able to gather.

In the post just prior to this, I posted that the sculptor works under the alias of McMo. We learned that from a comment eventually posted on my very first stealth sculpture post. But McMo to my knowledge has been quiet recently and I thought all of his work had been removed late last fall, even the grande dame on private property just north of Villa Terrace Museum (see post #1 for photos).

And early this year into spring Milwaukee County was particularly aggressive in removing brush and dead trees along Lincoln Memorial Drive. So I thought an era had ended.

But then one day while heading home from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, late in the 2025 2026 Spring semester, a small stand alone piece appeared just south Colectivo Coffee where Athena’s Necklace had stood for a number of years (see the Stealth Public Sculpture In Milwaukee County’s Lake Park! McMo link below for a photo). I was very happy to see a work appear there again and I really fell in love with it. It had smaller appendages, more egg like, smaller in scale, smoother in texture, similar to his earlier work. Maybe six such eggs skewered on rods again and supported by a round or oval concrete base sitting on the bare ground. I expected it to last a while in situ, so I didn’t rush to get a photo…sadly.

But it was replaced by a large, long, bright, very energetic piece that plays back to McMo’s strength. Formed washed concrete or stone against rusting steel rods embedded and embracing a dead and collapsed tree trunk and waving in the air for all of us to admire. A perfect amalgam of man-made collapsing structure wedded with the end of life phase of the natural environment.

I am suspecting that this play has run…so I have included Fini? in the title. But it has been a marvelous experience viewing and documenting these works.

If you go to visit this incredibly beautiful work of art, please please please, be respectful of the work and the environment.

I think I know of one other piece but it is at a private residence. So I just smile and nod whenever I pass that way.

And the other links are here:

Stealth Public Sculpture In Milwaukee County’s Lake Park!

Stealth Public Sculpture In Milwaukee County’s Lake Park! Part 2

Stealth Public Sculpture In Milwaukee County’s Lake Park! Part 3: It’s Alive!

Stealth Public Sculpture In Milwaukee County’s Lake Park! Part 4: New Sculpture and Some Disappearing Acts

Stealth Public Sculpture In Milwaukee County’s Lake Park! Part 5: One New Sculpture and Two Disappearing Acts

Stealth Public Sculpture In Milwaukee County’s Lake Park! And The Sculptor Is? McMo

August 31, 2022August 31, 2022

Stealth Public Sculpture In Milwaukee County’s Lake Park! Part 4: New Sculpture and Some Disappearing Acts

I have documented a number of pop up sculptures in Lake Park that are visible from Lincoln Memorial Drive. As I’ve mentioned before they have become touchstones or landmarks for me as I travel from Bay View to the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee campus. But in the late spring and summer they are very very hard to keep track of as the foliage surrounds them.

So it was with a great deal of excitement that I found a brand new one during my recent sojourns to campus. This one is on park property and easy to see. It is just immediately south of the gardens of the Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum. One of the other major installations is just immediately north of these same gardens, on private property, but clearly visible from the park…currently just a bit obscured by some of the luscious summer foliage. So here it is (and I apologize for the photos…they are washed out a bit by the mid-day summer sun):

and to get a better idea of their construction, here are some close ups of the components.

And in the meantime, it seems to me that two of the smaller original pieces have been removed. Whether by the artist, the county parks people, or a vandal I have no way of knowing. But here are the two that I think have now gone missing.

As fall starts to denude the trees and shrubs and puts the vines and undergrowth to sleep for the winter, we all need to watch for new additions to the unseen art in our midst.

Want to read my earlier articles? Here they are!

Stealth Public Sculpture In Milwaukee County’s Lake Park!

Stealth Public Sculpture In Milwaukee County’s Lake Park! Part 2

Stealth Public Sculpture In Milwaukee County’s Lake Park! Part 3: It’s Alive!

and if you know who the artist is, I’d like to talk with them. They can remain anonymous if that’s their wish. Or if you see more around town, I’d like to be able to document them…so let me know about them, please: contactaip@anintuitiveperspective.com

April 28, 2022

Stealth Public Sculpture In Milwaukee County’s Lake Park! Part 3: It’s Alive!

Since my discovery of a number of related public sculptures in Milwaukee’s Lake Park and my documentation of them here at An Intuitive Perspective, these sculptures have become touchstone landmarks for me as I travel from my home up along the lake front. I am disappointed when traffic volume requires all of my attention and I can’t spot them as I pass. First article from December 12, 2021 and Second from February 12, 2022.

So this past Monday, April 25, 2022, I was unbelieving when one of my favorites had been changed. So on my way home I had to check again and yes indeed, the sculpture had changed. Whether the change was completed by the original artist or another party, there is no way for me to know. I am leaning toward the originator and would hope that it hasn’t been ‘vandalized’ by someone else.

So what am I talking about? Well, here’s the original configuration of the sculpture, as I first encountered it.

As you can see the concrete discs are facing the park and street…but on Monday and on Wednesday April, 27, 2022 when I took the following photographs, we are now viewing them edgewise.

And of course sculpture is a three dimensional art form that should be experienced in the round…and setting these into a tree at the base of the bluff somewhat restricts viewing angles and maybe flattens out the sculpture. But turning the stones that ninety degrees now presents us with an entirely different sculpture and experience. I like it but I will admit to preferring the initial presentation.

So I will continue to enjoy my interactions with this wonderful pieces and see where we and they go from here.

And I am waiting for a warmer day to walk the lake front to see if there are other stealth hidden treasures in the park that I haven’t been able to discover from my car…whether there is more to find or not…it will be a remarkable experience nonetheless to explore Lake Park and environs on foot after too many years absence.

P.S. If anyone knows the artist, I would love to talk with them about their vision and practice.