"Milwaukee Sketchbook," with text and captions by Fran Bauer and paintings of local landmarks -- familiar and not-so -- by students at Milwaukee School of Art and Design, gets a lot of yay votes from me.
First of all -- fellow booksmellers will be able to relate, and I KNOW I'm not alone -- it smells fabulous. There's just something about a great-smelling book that makes it a joy to be around. A quick, informal poll in the OnMilwaukee.com editorial office was unanimous, "Milwaukee Sketchbook" has the same scent as the Scholastic books we ordered in grade school.
More importantly, perhaps, are the paintings, all of which are evocative and richly-hued and dig deep into Milwaukee. Sure, there's the Hoan and the Domes, but there's also the amazing WPA water garden at the Boerner Botanical Gardens and there's one of Wright's American System-built houses on Burnham and the Pagoda gas station on 76th Street in West Allis.
Better than a humdrum photographic tour of Milwaukee -- which might please departing visitors -- "Milwaukee Sketchbook" is perfect for Milwaukeeans for whom these treasures are out of time. We don't need clinical, tell-all photographs to remember the details as these often dreamy, sometimes expressionistic paintings transport us around our town, and remind us of the Cream City's quotidian beauty.
Schwartz Bookshop at 2559 N. Downer Ave. will host a book signing -- at which some of the artists will also present their work -- Friday, Sept. 8 at 7 p.m. Admission is free.
The hardcover book retails for $39.95.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He can be heard weekly on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories.
