According to a post on Facebook, graffiti/street artist MTO is responsible for a pair of murals in the courtyard at the Jefferson Block Apartments, 143 N. Jackson St., in the Third Ward.
The murals were painted last week by MTO, who, according to his Facebook page, was born and raised in France, "Living in Berlin between 2006 and 2013. Currently living in "Nowhere," Planet earth."
The artist has already left Milwaukee.
Each four-story-tall mural depicts an endangered animal – a yellow-crested cockatoo and a giant panda – in a break-dance-style pose and bears an "American Idol" logo.
The apartment complex is owned by Milwaukee's New Land Enterprises.
"We were really impacted by what we saw at Black Cat Alley," says New Land's Tim Gokhman," and the power of art to transform and engage communities. So, we continue to look for opportunities to do that, and we had this blank space ... It's a fun reveal because people don't expect it."
According to the Facebook post, "The yellow-crested cockatoo is considered a critically endangered species. The giant panda a conservation-reliant vulnerable species."
The murals are a statement on climate change and President Donald Trump's pulling out of the 2015 Paris Agreement, according to the post, which you can see here in full:
Why did Gokhman select MTO, who is best known here for his giant frog mural on the Kenilworth Avenue side of the Oriental Theater, which is also owned by New Land?
"When the frog mural was done," he says, "one of the partners at New Land – Walter Shuk – developed a really great and sort of unlikely friendship with (MTO) and they keep in touch. So, he said, 'why don't you come back to Milwaukee and do another piece?'"
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.
