Carlos Alves
Map of Wisconsin
A federal commission at the Everglades National Park Visitors Center of a mosaic tile floor fashioned from a satellite photo of South Florida inspired Carlos Alves to submit a similar proposal for Baird Center. Alves “ceramicized” the small rotunda of North Sixth Street and West Wisconsin Avenue with Map of Wisconsin, a Miami-style with a lively mosaic tile floor map highlighting Wisconsin’s major industrial, agricultural and cultural resources. Alves’ inspiration for this application came from product maps he remembered studying as a youth.
“Mapmaking is such an Old-World kind of thing. It is so physical in its approach,” Alves said.
Alves used commercial tiles and hand-rolled, cut and glazed tiles he created in his Miami Beach studio. His brother, who is in the machinery business, helped fabricate the gears and metal work that are integral parts of the mosaic. The lush, playful colors of tiles and grout assume a major role in the piece and stand out in contrast to the neutral tones of Baird Center. The rotunda’s glass walls reflect the kaleidoscope of color. The map also serves as an educational tool about the state’s economy, depicting the many products made in Wisconsin.
Its relationship with visitors works on two levels. On the mezzanine entryway, people get to walk on it and explore it in great detail. The second-floor balcony overlooking the piece offers a more comprehensive view as the entire state comes into focus.
Wisconsin’s long history as a major producer of dairy products is prominent in the piece. It is a subject that brings out Alves’ sense of humor.
“Everyone was concerned that there were so many cows,” Alves said. “There are only 15 cows.”
Map of Wisconsin is part of the art from the Burke Collection donated to the Midwest Express Center in 1998.
About Carlos Alves
Carlos Alves has always been serious about art and passionate about making things out of salvaged artifacts, broken shards, ceramic objects and recycled crockery. Alves’ mother was a pattern maker and his father worked on aircraft designs, so the family was always building something. His interest in art was sparked by a crafts program at a neighborhood park. At the age of eight, he began making ceramic flowers and nature-imagery pieces. Alves’ father sold the things he made and saved the money for him. When Alves went to college, his father gave him every penny he saved from his art sales. Those savings helped Alves pay for his college education.
Alves is an internationally recognized artist working primarily but not limited to ceramic / mosaic /metal and glass site specific installations in the public art arena as well as residential and commercial commissions. Drawing from his Cuban roots and Florida upbringing, Alves’ themes encompass love, hope, history, culture, politics, nature and kinship with the sea. Alves tells stories through the deconstruction and reassembly of objects most people would handle with care. His major works include large public and private artwork projects at Baird Center in Milwaukee, the Palm Beach Courthouse, Milwaukee’s General Mitchell Airport and Fire Station #21 in Los Angeles.
Alves graduated with an MFA from Illinois State University and a BFA, University of Miami and a scholarship to Scuola Lorenzo Di Medici in Florence Italy.
