MILWAUKEE – Richard Blau has been celebrating the music of Poland and the Czech Republic since the 1970’s with his elevator-centered display. But after the Wisconsin Center District asked for one photo in the collection to be removed, Blau has decided to close up shop.
Even if polka was born in Europe, it has strong roots in Wisconsin. As the official state dance, Blau says it is the connection that Wisconsinites have with polka that inspired him to catalogue the art form.
“Its so deeply imbedded that you see it danced at weddings. There are festivals in the summer. People really have polka music in them. They understand the rhythm. They like it and it is attached to family,” said Blau when asked about Polka’s cultural significance to Wisconsin.
Blau’s ‘Polkalator’ consists of photos of polka dancers and musicians, all captured by Blau, displayed along the sides of an elevator in the Baird Center. A viewer can even press a button that will play polka music. Blau says the way his display has been received over the years is exactly what he has hoped.
“Polka dance is people producing communal happiness…And I tried to set up my Polkalator with some version of that in the thirty seconds that you ride past the twenty pictures and listen to part of a polka tune. To my delight, that is what people do. If you look at the button, the paint has worn off the ‘Push to Play Polka’ button. It’s a public art project in which the public really has a part. And that makes it really special in terms of its position in the art form.”
Blau says Wisconsin Center District CEO Marty Brooks, of which the Baird Center is a part, requested for a photo to be removed from the collection because he felt it was inappropriate. Because each photo had been chosen for a specific place by Blau, he said he will be removing the exhibit rather than compromising his vision.
‘I don’t want this to be a folklore project about old people, which would happen if you took out the young people. Who this is really all about. So it has to go.”
The evening of Thursday, August 18th is the last day for people interested in the Polkalator to view it. Blau says the exhibit will be given a ‘New Orleans style funeral’, celebrating its legacy rather than mourning its departure.
