MILWAUKEE — There are tons of murals in Milwaukee. They are all beautiful in their own way. However, one mural sticks out more than the rest – the Peace Mural.
It’s the large brightly colored painting on the side of The Mercantile Lofts building you can see from the highway as you approach the Marquette Interchange. Thousands of people see it every day.
James Groh
The mural was painted by Reynaldo Hernandez who may be the most prolific muralist in Milwaukee.
“I try to build the art into the architecture, so it’s part of it, and I try to look at the neighborhood – who encompasses – what people are there,” Hernandez said.
He is a born and raised Milwaukeean. Ever since Hernandez was a child, he has been creating art.
“It was part of me drawing was natural.”
James Groh
It was a talent he discovered as a child and was encouraged by his mom. He went to workshops at the Milwaukee Art Museum and studied it in college.
“My mother said that it was a God-given talent, and she said I shouldn’t waste it, so it kind of gave me not a fear but an impetus to keep going with it,” he said.
Eventually, he traded in the small pieces of paper for a much bigger canvas.
“I also wanted to express myself publicly so murals is a public art so when you do murals it’s open to the public, 24 hours.”
In his decades-long career, he estimates he painted at least 50 murals across Milwaukee: at the United Community Center, 7th and North, Milwaukee and Ogden, Barack Obama School of Career and Technical Education, the Center Street Library, and tons more.
James Groh
“Back when I had black hair, I would be doing like three projects at once,” he said.
He has even more murals across the state and the world. He likes big public displays. It’s his way of leaving a legacy.
“I guess (the art is) part of you and you’re leaving something behind,” he said.
No mural might have as big of an impact as the Mural of Peace.
“I was told that truckers from Chicago and down south they use that as a landmark. They know they’re in Milwaukee when they come to it.”
Beyond murals, he also makes paintings. Some of his work has been featured in the Milwaukee Art Museum during temporary exhibits. Hernandez has also traveled around Wisconsin as a caricature artist. He was even a courtroom sketch artist for TMJ4. No matter where he is going, Hernandez is drawing something.
James Groh
“Art is – it beautifies the world and art also preserves history,” Hernandez said.
While Hernandez isn’t working on three murals at a time anymore, he still has a few items he’d like to cross off his bucket list.
“I’d like to do murals on different islands and different countries even if it’s just in the hotel on the island.”
Knowing Reynaldo that doesn’t seem like a far-fetched dream at all.
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