Meet Will. Will Plautz has worked as lead artist assistant with ArtWorks for Milwaukee for two years through the ArtsECO program at UW-Milwaukee, where he is studying visual art (painting and drawing) and exploring his interest in community art.

Through ArtWorks, Will worked under the direction of lead artist Jenni Reinke with high school interns to paint water-themed benches and create an ambitious bottlecap mural for Green Tech Station. Through co-leading a WaterMarks walk (virtual) through Franklin Heights, Will also teamed with artist Brad Anthony Bernard to conceptualize a sidewalk stenciling project for a walking path between Ben Franklin School and Melvina Park.

“One thing I really learned about though this project is I learned a lot about A.O. Smith, and the closure of A.O. Smith, which—I didn't even know A.O. Smith existed. And I just learned a lot about how generations of people just kind of were denied stable work after the closure of the factory.”

Learning about the industrial history of the 30th Street Corridor informed Will’s designs for the walk icons. In addition to single-color stencil art featuring native pollinators and native flowers, he also sketched welding guns, oil cans, and a glass water heater to hark back to how industry provided family-supporting jobs that moved away when A.O. Smith and other industries relocated from the corridor.

These stencil icons are intended as “breadcrumbs” that add a sense of playful connection to place. The icons are intended to help draw attention to and create conversation around native plants, native pollinators, and the value of green stormwater infrastructure planned for both schoolyard and park. They will be “decoded” in a sign to be installed at Melvina Park.

Will has always felt connected to water and curious about what’s living beneath the surface. He grew up in Oconomowoc, Wis. near Lac la Belle, and fondly remembers fishing with his dad. He and his sister would catch minnows with a net for bait. He still remembers catching a baby perch.

In recent years Will’s passion for the water saw him volunteer at Milwaukee Riverkeeper river cleanups and even dress up as a crane on a boat parade float. Recently he’s taken to “magnet fishing” where he tosses a heavy-duty magnet into the river to pull out metallic debris. “I found a piece of machinery in the Milwaukee River—no idea what it was.”

Will enjoyed both researching and painting his water-themed bench at Green Tech Station. It features the aquatic food chain found in the Milwaukee River including a catfish, northern pike, bass, panfish, and smaller critters that support the food web. “I think I want to continue painting fish,” he says.