richly colored ornamental terra cotta rescued from peacock and frank's atmospheric venetian theater during its demolition

milwaukee's venetian theater - an italian renaissance atmospheric movie palace designed by the architectural firm of peacock and frank - was reduced to a pile of rubble when i arrived in march of 2007. 

two of us spent a cold sunday afternoon pulling out any and all ornament we could fit in the bed of my truck. the ride back to chicago was nerve-racking... the truck was so weighed down. 

the terra cotta ornament was executed by the american terra cotta company. discovering old images of the theater's ornament in the factory's modeling room was exciting. to this day i haven't seen such a well-executed and vibrantly colored sprayed glazed finish. 

i must admit, revisiting my old salvage photos this month has been a challenge. feelings of anger, disbelief, loneliness, and exhaustion hit hard.

more on the theater below:

the single-screen 1400-seat venetian theatre (1927) was wisconsin’s first atmospheric theater - designed by the architectural firm of peacock and frank. the auditorium featured antiqued walls, gold, blue, and red velvet hangings, lush tapestries, and velvet stage curtains accentuated with rhinestones. The walls featured richly ornamented tree-lined parapets interspersed with statuary with a dark blue plaster sky equipped with blinking electric “stars” high above.

After permanently closing in 1954, the building was transformed into a furniture store, the venetian sales company, and finally a liquor store occupying the once grand lobby. when the liquor store moved out, the power was cut and the doors chained shut. after years of neglect and abdonement, the theater fell to the wrecking ball in 2007.

http://www.milwaukeerenaissance.com/VenetianTheaterProject/HomePage