Andy Warhol's Shoe Bright, Shoe Light @ 2012 Wisconsin Breast Cancer Showhouse

Jun. 08, 2012

6:08 a.m.

A prestigious art collection merges with stunning interior design at Milwaukee's 2012 Wisconsin Breast Cancer Showhouse. Visitors should walk slowly through the rooms in shoes reminiscent of Andy Warhol's pop art (One's favorite Keds or don fancy kitten heels) while admiring the North Point Mansion on 2221 North Terrace Avenue. The distinctive red brick and creamy colored limestone house honors its own unique art legacy, including several Warhol prints. Owner and art collector Andy Nunemaker purchased the mansion in 2012 and then graciously offered the WBCS, Inc. to open its gates in celebration of their 15th year anniversary. A complete design renovation modernized the 1905 home originally built for William D. and Pauline Sawyer at a price tag of $35,000, quite expensive for the era. The Milwaukee mansion's approximately 6000 square feet (and more than 3000 square feet in a coach house above the garage) also provides Nunemaker plenty of wall space to enjoy his impressive paintings, prints and sculpture. Which all complements the original ironwork forged by artisan Cyril Colnik for the front gate, foyer balustrade and back door window grill, showpieces integral to the home. A larger collection of Colnik's well-crafted iron can be seen in his permanent exhibition on the second floor of the neighborhood's Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum across the street. <o:p /> Nunemaker and the 2012 design team chose to focus on the house's architectural details such as Colnik's ironwork and dressed the home in a neutral, masculine hued palette. This draws attention to crown moldings, natural light and wood panelling and then Nunemaker's substantial artwork on display in every room. In the foyer alone, a Joel Shapiro abstract sculpture and small Renoir etching portrays two young girls adjusting their hats and catches the eye. <o:p /> Adjacent to the foyer, an Art Deco powder room features Milwaukee artist Reginald Baylor's two large-scale prints while an original painting by Baylor titled Soul Food adorns a wall in the dining room immediately to the right of the central entry. Inside the dining room, three small and yet significant Marc Chagall colored illustrations from the artist's series Portrait of Chopin decorate the welcoming space. Henri Matisse's print Vegetaux hides in another corner of the room. These playful images set the theme for a table set with hand colored china commissioned by France\'s Paris Opera House, plates covered in pictures of its magnificent ceiling also painted by Chagall.<o:p /> To the left of the foyer, the grand library and music room present an eclectic selection of art anchored by a grand piano in the windowed alcove. A 1969 Roy Lichtenstein painting fills an entire wall from floor to ceiling, his distinctive style immediately recognizable. Andy Warhol plates accessorize a table, while several other art pieces hang throughout the room, an interesting mix to appreciate.<o:p /> <o:p> </o:p> Be sure to study Joan Miro's Sculpture Illustration in the small pass through to the Billiard Room. Then when one enters the room, a Pablo Picasso black and white image titled Train immediately greets the visitor and hangs over the fireplace mantel. Across the long room notice Ellsworth Kelly's color field painting Blue, Yellow and Red above the sofa while an untitled Harry Bertoia sculpture stands on the coffee table. And placed over a sideboard on another wall, view a monumental colored portrait washed in hues of electric blue that evokes ambiguous emotion in Oliver Herring's Chris After Hours of Spitting Food Dye Outdoors.<o:p /> <o:p> </o:p> Another door leads to one of three adjoining rooms that detail the butler\'s pantry and working kitchen designed by Cheryl Ryan, who took cues from Nunemaker's art collection with window valances repeating the circular patterns in Colnik\'s wrought iron grill for the back door. The first room features a print by Rick Abrams titled Wonder Bread (2007), the familiar red, white and blue packaging reflecting pop culture., which stands out from the ivory cabinets. Enter the kitchen's heart featuring an ebony English Aga cookstove and then notice Warhol's Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup image above the sink while a 1969 untitled Lichtenstein graces another wall. The final room, the breakfast room, offers several appealing prints, although another Renoir etching and a Paul Klee image illustrate Nunemaker's exceptional eye for art.<o:p /> <o:p> </o:p> The second level offers multiple gems. In the upstairs gallery alone, view two Sol LeWitt's Arc and Bands, a Keith Herring image alongside Tom Wesselmann's Lulu from The Metropolitan Opera Suite II and another Reginald Baylor painting. An artist named Timo (Timothy Myerling from the Historic Third Ward's Marshall Building) contributes abstract art to the Master Bedroom, while the master bath luxuriates in modern art. David Demichele\'s photo Broken Glass hangs over the contemporary soaking tub and inspires the clear glass tiles present throughout the room. Two Santiago Cucullu prints and an intimate lithograph by Miro titled Le Chat Enchante complete an interior design work of art in a room that often sees little public light. <o:p> </o:p> Directly off the bedroom, a gigantic dressing closet/studio centers its closet space around a long island while architect Frank Gehry's Two Easy Edges Side Chairs (1972) fit neatly in two corners of the room. Warhol's colorful print Shoe Bright, Shoe Light (First Shoe I See Tonight) will be viewed on another wall, easy to admire, and perfectly attuned to the shoes placed on these marvelous shelves. While designed for a man, most women would be thrilled to place their entire shoe collection in this massive closet, complete with designer chairs to sit in while deciding which ones to wear. <o:p /> <o:p> </o:p> All these exquisite artistic gems only highlight a house that invites a visitor to take off their shoes and relax, including the basement where Milwaukee Area Technical College students revamped the stairs and hallway to the “Schiltz Spielhalle” and “Schiltz-A-PA-Looza” Bar with clever, original artwork that leads to other beer brewing memorabilia. It all accentuates the Hermann Miller Lounge chairs, vintage Schiltz sconces and a black and white wall mural of the Schlitz Palm Gardens (formerly across from Turner Hall) that was destroyed during Prohibition. <o:p /> <o:p> </o:p> Any visitor might casually stroll through this magnificent home and miss these equally marvelous works of art, too numerous to mention each one. Although merely touring the Wisconsin Breast Cancer Showhouse helps contribute to the already 4.4 million dollars raised by the organization to fund breast and prostate cancer research, an endowment for the WBCS Professor and the naming of the WBCS laboratory for research at the Medical College of Wisconsin. <o:p /> <o:p> </o:p> Yet, most importantly a second floor sitting room on the mansion\'s second floor named "The 2012 Pink Room Project" offers a restful place to put one's feet up and contemplate life. In one corner hangs an original painting by recent 2011 cancer survivor Jennifer Weichelt. She incorporated the words from five other women who went before her on this perilous, life threatening journey. The painting titled Loved reads: Grace comes in many forms/I may not be cured/But I may be healed/ Oh, honey, it's only a boosie/My soul has been strengthened/ Be content with your lot/Light shines through the darkness/His right hand holds me. Congratulations to all those who help bridge these challenging pathways from cancer research to cure, cancer patient to survivor. The 2012 Breast Cancer Showhouse continues through June 17, with hours 10:00 a.m to 4:00 p.m, Monday through Saturday, and Sundays, noon to 4:00 p.m., except for June 12 and 14, until 8:00 p.m.  Advance tickets, $20.00, at the door, $25.00. Other events to help fund Breast Cancer Research include, Tee Up for a Cure, Monday, July 23, at Bluemound Country Club, Pinktacular Fashion Show and Luncheon, Thursday, October 4, at the Italian Community Center, and The Pink Tie Gala on January 26, 2013 at the Delafield Hotel. For more information <a href=\"http://www.breastcancershowhouse.org\">www.breastcancershowhouse.org.</a> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p /> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p /> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p /> <o:p> </o:p>

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