Katherine Davey
Matt Babcock's cardinal sculpture.
Artist Matt Babcock says Bayview residents emphasized a ‘hospitality’ theme for his community center sculpture.
On a late November morning Matt Babcock is putting the finishing touches on a striking metal sculpture that depicts two native Northern cardinals building a nest. The nest rests on one of two aluminum benches, joined by an arch, outside the new Bayview Community Center, which is part of an ambitious, multiyear redevelopment of the affordable housing community, located off of West Washington Avenue and South Park Street.
The Seattle-based artist says he approaches his work “more like a welder than artist,” and has always had a “little boy’s fascination with big noisy tools that shoot off sparks.”
Babcock met with the residents of Bayview, more than half of whom are of Southeast Asian heritage, to discuss ideas for an art piece that would welcome people to the community center. He says he kept hearing the theme of “hospitality.” To represent this he settled on the symbol of the cardinal after “learning they’ll nest anywhere.”
“I’ve seen pictures of them living on ceiling fans,” he says.
Babcock added bur oak leaves on the bench to represent when the land was a savannah. He cut out a chicken design to honor a Hmong symbol of hospitality and kindness, and he modeled the arch on the bench after a rice plant.
“Art has this ability to transcend differences and break down language and cultural barriers,” says Alexis London, the executive director of the Bayview Foundation.
The same day Babcock was finishing up his piece, Indigenous artist Gene Delcourt was unloading a carved tree from a flatbed. It’s part of his work, “Vigilance,” for Bayview’s playground, depicting a mother fox watching over her young child, perched in the hollow stump.
Bayview has prioritized public art as a central part of its mission and redevelopment project, says development director Katherine Davey. She says they have raised more than $200,000 for the art and are still actively fundraising. Roughly 20 public works are planned in the coming years, she adds, “with an eye on showcasing the value of the arts as an integral part of everyday life.”
As Madison’s population grows, and redevelopment projects take over whole blocks, the city’s streetscape and skyline are changing.
Meri Rose Ekberg, Madison’s community and cultural resources planner, says that she expects the city to “look very different in the next five years.”
Graham Brown
A bike path medallion created by Daniella Echeverría.
Medallions by Daniella Echeverría encourage good manners along an Atwood Avenue multi-use path.
She and Karin Wolf, the city’s arts and culture administrator, are working to ensure that public art plays a role in this new growth. The city’s Percent for Art ordinance is key to those efforts. When passed in 2017, the law required that one percent of development funds for any public project exceeding $5 million be earmarked for art. But a construction cost index written into the law means that the bar for funding changes every year.
One project recently funded through the program debuted on the multi-use path that runs along the recently reconstructed part of Atwood Avenue near Olbrich Park. Circular medallions by artist Daniella Echeverría encourage civility on the bike path with such messages as “Leave Space When Passing” and “Keep Our Paths Clean.” The project spent $28,985 of the allocated $30,000, with the difference distributed to a maintenance fund.
Other projects are right around the corner. The Madison Public Market is expected to open in 2025 with at least 10 pieces of art. “Hip-hop architect” Michael Ford will be creating a mural for a new parking structure at the Village on Park, and the new campus garage on Lake and State streets is looking for proposals for a piece Ekberg says will “play with light.” Wolf says it is anticipated that the campus garage project will be completed by next December. She also hopes that public art will be incorporated into the city’s new bus rapid transit system now that it’s up and running.
Ekberg and Wolf are the only two city employees whose work focuses primarily on public art, though Ekberg splits her time with the city on historic preservation efforts. There is also an administrative clerk who supports the arts program. Wolf says more staff is needed but “highly unlikely” due to Madison’s operational budget deficit.
In 2023, the city spent $261,365 on public art, according to Wolf. This year she estimates the city spent $120,000 on six projects, a figure in line with spending totals from 2021 and 2022.
Wolf and Ekberg say art can transform a place and the people who occupy it.
Katherine Davey
Fox sculptures by Gene Delcourt.
Bayview playground art by artist Gene Delcourt.
“These pieces in our public landscape, they express something about our values and the making of collective meaning in our community,” says Wolf.
Projects frequently hit rough seas and Wolf says they all “face different challenges.” Any number of obstacles can plague a project, from funding shortages to permissions snags.
In 2022, the Madison Arts Commission selected artist Jenie Gao to paint a mural on the side of Madison’s Metro Transit building. But in a public statement last March, Gao criticized the city for taking 18 months to produce a workable contract and for then pushing the project to summer 2026 after rust was discovered and city staff decided to replace the siding of the building.
Wolf disputes Gao’s characterization of the delays and is grateful that the rust was discovered before taxpayers spent $130,000 on a mural that would have to have been removed.
In general, Wolf says she encourages artists to “embrace the municipal pace.”
“This process is not quick,” Ekberg adds.
But the slow pace can be painful for artists, especially for those working in a state that does little to invest in the arts. Earlier this year, Wisconsin was ranked last in the country for arts funding per capita. Artists and administrators alike point to this as the main reason some projects have taken up to seven years to complete.
Still, Ekberg argues “in many ways, we’re lucky to be in Madison.” Most municipalities and smaller cities across the state have no public art employees.
Wolf says one way to meet this challenge is by encouraging projects from private citizens.
Toni Sikes, the CEO of CODAworx, a Madison-based company connecting art-seeking corporations with a network of more than 17,000 artists, hopes to do just that. She thinks of public art as “collective placemaking,” with the perfect Madison example being the chairs on the UW-Memorial Union Terrace.
“They are iconic symbols that emotionally connect us to that place,” she says.
Sikes commends companies such as Promega, Hy Cite, UW Health, AT&T, and TruStage as “outstanding corporate citizens” doing “exceptional work” funding public art. Still, plenty of new development lacks any commitment to art, which Sikes bemoans as a “missed opportunity.”
“Many cities understand the value of public art to drive tourism,” she says. “Public art increases property value.”
Sikes says Madison would “without a doubt” benefit from a proposal many cities have adopted to require a private Percent for Art ordinance, but recognizes such a plan is unlikely.
Ultimately, she’s not sure the city is ready for it. Madison’s Percent for Art ordinance has only been around a few years, while many others have “more robust traditions” that go back to the ‘80s and ‘90s.
But Sikes is optimistic: “The thing that’s happening in public art in Madison is it’s popping up in really interesting and wonderful ways.”
The Madison Arts Commission will celebrate its 50th anniversary Dec. 5, 4-8 p.m. at the Madison Children’s Museum. It’s a free, family-friendly event, featuring performances by VO5 and others.
