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Republican Governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker, removed from the governor’s mansion “Wishes in the Wind,” a painting of three children of different races, replacing it with a century-old painting of a pre-Civil War eagle.

From the Journal Sentinel:

Earlier this year, the governor and first lady Tonette Walker took down [Artist David] Lenz’s painting “Wishes in the Wind,” a realistic portrait of three children – one black, one Hispanic and one white – playing with bubble wands on a Milwaukee street. The governor and first lady have replaced it with a century-old painting of Old Abe, a Civil War-era bald eagle from Wisconsin.

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“This seems symbolic,” said Lenz, referring to Walker’s proposed cuts in state funding for Milwaukee schools and city and county services, something he said would have a disproportionate impact on low-income youngsters. “You would think we could all agree on the need to support the hopes and dreams of children.” […] In an interview, Lenz said he carefully selected the three children portrayed in “Wishes in the Wind.” The African-American girl, featured in a Journal Sentinel column on homelessness, spent three months at the Milwaukee Rescue Mission with her mother. The Hispanic girl is a member of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee. And the boy’s father and brother were killed by a drunken driver in 2009.

“The homeless, central city children and victims of drunk drivers normally do not have a voice in politics,” Lenz explained in an email. “This painting was an opportunity for future governors to look these three children in the eye, and I hope, contemplate how their public policies might affect them and other children like them.” He added: “I guess that was a conversation Governor Walker did not want to have.”

Arrangements have been made to display the painting at the Milwaukee Public Library.

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