The Calling (di Suvero)

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States

Public art

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Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

This Big Thing is recorded as still being here.

The Calling is a 40-foot painted-steel sculpture by Mark di Suvero, made in 1981 to 1982 and owned by the Milwaukee Art Museum. Visit Milwaukee listed it in July 2025 at the east end of Wisconsin Avenue, near the museum.

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The Calling (di Suvero)

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Site-level location · 43.0390° N, 87.8993° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

Wisconsin Avenue runs east through downtown Milwaukee and stops at a 40-foot tangle of orange steel beams that drew sharply divided reactions from the start.

Mark di Suvero made The Calling in 1981 to 1982. The Milwaukee Art Museum's collection record lists it as painted steel, 40 feet high, commissioned by the museum for Museum Center (formerly Bluff) Park with funds from an anonymous donor. WUWM reported in 2019 that the museum's senior conservator described it as a gift from the Bradley Family Foundation, and that it weighs 17 tons and is nicknamed the sunburst sculpture. The same report places it in O'Donnell Park.

It arrived through argument. OnMilwaukee reported in 2019 that some community members objected to the anonymous donor, the abstract design and a reported cost of about $150,000; the Common Council approved it in January 1982 after 11 hearings, and it was dedicated that April. When the museum's Calatrava wing opened in 2001, some people called for it to move. It stayed. A museum blogger wrote in 2011 that people either love it or hate it.

Its upkeep has made news too. Milwaukee Magazine reported in June 2023 that old paint layers were being stripped and replaced with epoxy paint, because winters, rust and skateboarders were wearing the finish, and called it the largest piece in the museum's collection.

Visit Milwaukee described it in July 2025 as near the museum at the east end of Wisconsin Avenue.

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PRACTICAL

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WHAT TO EXPECT

An outdoor steel sculpture at the east end of Wisconsin Avenue, near the Milwaukee Art Museum. A repainting and conservation project was reported under way in June 2023. The museum owns it and lists it as on view.

ACCESS

At the east end of Wisconsin Avenue, near the Milwaukee Art Museum, according to Visit Milwaukee in July 2025. It is an outdoor sculpture owned by the museum and stands outdoors at the end of the avenue.

COMMUNITY