Posted on 01/27/2008 10:11:19 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
(Funds found to build statue of TV icon downtown)
Pop culture fans, rejoice.
Art lovers, shudder.
It's official: The bronze statue of the Fonz will be added to downtown Milwaukee later this year. The $85,000 needed to create the life-size statue of "Happy Days" TV show character Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli has been raised, Visit Milwaukee, the group leading that effort, said Friday.
Henry Winkler, who played Fonzie in the show, was in town to mark the occasion. He spoke with reporters in front of the Culver's restaurant in the Shops of Grand Avenue.
"I can only say that I'm proud of Milwaukee," Winkler said. "I'm proud of how it's grown. I'm proud to be an honorary citizen, and I'm overwhelmed that I'm going to bring my family here, and there will be a statue of a character that I love and that gave me the world."
The sculpture likely will be unveiled by early fall. A site committee is considering locations along the RiverWalk between Michigan St. and Kilbourn Ave.
In September, plans for the statue prompted some local art gallery owners to criticize the project as kitsch. Backers say the statue isn't meant to be art, but rather a fun addition to downtown's attractions.
Prospects for the statue improved in November, when Visit Milwaukee announced it had raised two-thirds of the money and had hired Lake Mills artist Gerald Sawyer to create the statue.
The fund-raising was aided by a donation from TV Land, a cable network that airs reruns of vintage shows. TV Land has donated sculptures commemorating memorable TV events or characters to Chicago, Minneapolis and other cities.
Money from "Bronze the Fonz" T-shirts will go to a reading program coordinated by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee.
puh-freeking leeze. if what passes for "art" in nyc doesn't make any thinking person wretch (including "pop culture fans"), it's only because they're medicated.
Granted it is a bit weird to have a statue of a fake person up alongside real one...good on Winkler that he reminded everyone it's a "character."
...another kitchy american piece of art. Puke.
Jumping the Shark, Eh? LOL!
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