Longtime Mural In Waukesha City Hall Taken Down

WAUKESHA, WI—The Franklin Boggs mural, which is a representation of Waukesha, was removed from the current Waukesha City Hall on Monday and preserved for a new home.

The art piece is approximately 12 feet wide by 16 feet tall and consists of forty to fifty individual concrete relief pieces. Each piece represents a different attribute of the city and the overall shape represents the boundary of the city at the time of installation.

The concrete pieces, each weighing approximately 100 to 150 pounds, are affixed to the concrete wall with metal fasteners. The entire art piece's weight is estimated at two thousand pounds.

A new city hall is currently under construction and is expected to open in Spring 2021. The current City Hall, originally built in 1967, is scheduled for demolition beginning in February of 2021, according to an October news release.

Incorporated in the stairway design of the current city hall is a concrete bas relief sculptural mural by Franklin Boggs entitled “Waukesha”. Franklin Boggs (1914-2009) was a painter, muralist and sculptor. He was a graduate of Fort Wayne Art School in Fort Wayne, Indiana and Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. He was a graphic artist with the Tennessee Valley Authority, and a WWII correspondent artist, the release said.

Boggs served as Professor and Art Department Chair at Beloit College, teaching there from 1945-1979.