Milwaukee's David: Fonzie

Let's be honest. Milwaukee has some really crappy outdoor sculpture.

The worst has to be "The Calling."

A short distance from the Art Museum, you’ll find a vibrant and bold piece, “The Calling” by Mark di Suvero. The sculpture sits on the bluff at the eastern end of East Wisconsin Avenue like a rising sun. The large iron sculpture resembles an orange sunburst....

The kindest thing I can say about the sculpture is that it's an eyesore.

Thankfully, the Blue Shirt meant to adorn a parking structure at the airport was killed.

That was one less embarrassment for the city.



Now, there's another art project in the works -- a statue of "the Fonz" of Happy Days fame.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

"The Fonz" soon might be part of our downtown landscape, immortalized in a life-size bronze sculpture that city tourism leaders hope would be a stopping point for visitors.

The Fonz, of course, is Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli, the character from the long-running TV show "Happy Days," set in a nostalgic version of Milwaukee, circa the late 1950s and early 1960s. Visit Milwaukee, a non-profit group that promotes the city as a tourism and convention destination, is leading an effort to raise $85,000 to commission the statue, which likely would be in the plaza south of E. Wisconsin Ave. and west of N. Water St., near the Chase Plaza office tower.

So far, Visit Milwaukee has raised $45,000, and the group is confident it will meet its timetable of unveiling a bronze Fonz in 2008, said Dave Fantle, the agency's vice president of public relations. The agency already has contacted four artists and hopes to choose a sculptor by the end of October, he said.

Oh my God!

I don't think this is a good idea.

Having Fonzie immortalized in bronze isn't the problem. It would be nice in a little green space at a custard stand.

But at Wisconsin and Water?

No. No. Not good.

The project carries the blessings of "Happy Days" co-creator Garry Marshall and Henry Winkler, the actor who played Fonzie during the show's 10-year run, which started in 1974.

Winkler confessed he was a bit taken aback when Fantle contacted him about the project.

"It's an honor," Winkler said. "But it is so bizarre to think there should be a statue. I wasn't sure it was something that could happen to me."

Or, more accurately, happen to a character brought to life by Winkler, a 61-year-old actor, producer, director and author. Still, Winkler likes the idea and says he would come to Milwaukee for the statue's dedication.

"If it helps the city, a city that has been so supportive and warm to me over the years," he said, "then I am so OK with it."

Winkler is so gracious.

He seems like a genuinely nice man, so willing to help the city.

I don't object to the statue itself. It's the prominent proposed downtown location that I question.

I probably wouldn't find "The Calling" so repulsive if it didn't have such a place of honor.

Location, location, location.

...The dedication ceremony for the statue, with appearances by Winkler and possibly other "Happy Days" cast members, would draw media attention to Milwaukee, Fantle said. He said the sculpture would provide another tourism draw for a city that anticipates an upswing in visitors when Harley-Davidson Inc. opens its museum.

But what about those umpteen attempts to depict Milwaukee to the outside world as some place other than the home of "Happy Days" and "Laverne and Shirley," a "Happy Days" spinoff that some complain has typecast Milwaukee as a stodgy, blue-collar town?

"This isn't a statue of 'Laverne and Shirley,' " Fantle said. "This is a statue of a TV icon who remains the epitome of cool."

The Fonz represents the old image of Milwaukee, which some visitors still would appreciate, Fantle said. He said the statue could serve as a bridge between that world and Milwaukee's new image, exemplified by the Milwaukee Art Museum and other developments.

Huh?

Tourists in Milwaukee for other events may check it out, but I really don't think that a statue of "the Fonz" would draw in tourists. Sure, there may be some Fonzie fanatics who would consider making a pilgrimage to Milwaukee to bask in the glory of the statue, but I think those numbers would be few.

Fonzie isn't Elvis.

Is a downtown Milwaukee statue of a fictional TV character "the epitome of cool"?

I don't think so. I don't think it would have been "cool" when Happy Days was at the height of its popularity 30 YEARS AGO.

How would a Fonzie statue be a bridge between old Milwaukee and the newer developments, like the Calatrava?

Relatively speaking, the 1970s aren't "old" Milwaukee. To me "old Milwaukee" is the Pabst Mansion, Old World Third Street, the beer barons.

Anyway, does there need to be a bridge?

I don't think so.

However, if the Fonzie statue would replace "The Calling," I might support the idea.