By Bobby Tanzilo Senior Editor/Writer Published Jul 29, 2014 at 10:02 AM

Despite the absence of its most beloved and discussed "staffer" -- and the one that just might be the creepiest for kids and the faint of heart -- Milwaukee Art Museum has remained quite clean lo these past months.

Maybe it’s because Duane Hanson’s life-size 1973 "Janitor" sculpture doesn’t actually do much anyway. He’s the ultimate slacker, leaning there against the wall, staring at the floor, letting his more animated co-workers pick up the slack.

But despite his lack of productivity, folks noticed the Janitor was gone.

In 2012, he was loaned to the Walker Art Center for its "Lifelike" show. Before that, the museum's conservation team gussied him up for his trip, which also took him out west as the exhibition traveled to Phoenix this year. He was back in Milwaukee for a while in between. 

The show ended its run May 18 at Phoenix Art Museum and the Janitor came home and was put in storage. He’s back out in Gallery 1 now with a range of other collection favorites but only briefly as in October the museum will send him back to his closet for a year while the galleries are renovated.

See him -- but don’t touch him -- while you can.

 

Bobby Tanzilo Senior Editor/Writer

Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.

He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.

With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.

He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.

In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.

He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.