Bringing Color and Life to the Quiet Corners
Before it was a practice, it was a pull. The murals scattered across the city—layered with color, energy and voice—called out to Fred Kaems long before he ever put paint to wall. As a self-taught graffiti artist, he learned by doing, by claiming space, experimenting with form and leaving a mark where few others thought to look. Years later, that instinct still drives him: to create bold, vibrant work in the overlooked corners of the communities he knows best.
That path led him naturally to the back-of-house corridors of the Wisconsin Center District. While the public-facing spaces of Baird Center are filled with art and activity, the staff hallways told a quieter story—blank, transitional, unseen. Tasked with bringing the “Bold” pillar of the organization’s Bold. Proud. Experience-obsessed. mindset to life, while also honoring Milwaukee’s deep connection to freshwater, Kaems approached the space the way he always has: as an opportunity to transform what’s overlooked into something unforgettable.
“As I was meeting staff while working on my pieces, I can tell that people want to be here,” Kaems said. “They’re excited to be here, and I got to be a part of that excitement by bringing some color and additional life to the spaces that they’re walking in every day.”
Kaems’ work lives at the intersection of precision and instinct. As a designer, he creates sleek, functional objects using advanced digital tools and technology. As a painter and muralist, his process is more tactile—rooted in spray paint, hand-cut stencils and the raw influence of graffiti culture. Across both disciplines, a consistent philosophy emerges: form follows purpose, and every surface holds potential. His murals carry that ethos at scale, drawing from the language of the street while refining it into something intentional, layered and enduring.
That vision takes shape in two distinct pieces—each different in tone, but unified in impact.
“With Bold, as that one started to come together, I realized my art was not only to say, ‘Hey, let’s be bold,’ but it also brought a boldness to the back-of-house which in many organizations I think is the part that’s forgotten about,” Kaems said.
Bold does exactly what its name promises. Drawing directly from Kaems’ graffiti roots, the piece commands attention with layered color, sharp angles and geometric forms that feel in constant motion. It transforms the back-of-house corridor into a space of energy and identity—one that mirrors the forward-thinking, creative spirit at the core of the District. It’s not just a mural; it’s a declaration.
In contrast, Elixir of Life moves with a quieter power. Rendered in greys and blues, the piece centers on water—its flow, its force and its significance. Large native fish and a sweeping water spout reference the three rivers that run through downtown Milwaukee and into Lake Michigan. More than a visual shift, the mural becomes a reminder: of the city’s lifeblood, of our relationship to it and of the responsibility to protect what sustains us.
Together, the works reshape the unseen spaces in between. One pulses with momentum. The other invites reflection. Both ensure that even in the quietest corners, there is something to feel, to notice and to remember.
“I’m excited that I get to leave something behind for everybody here to hopefully brighten their day and make the workspace more vibrant,” Kaems said.
Bold and Elixir of Life are part of the We Energies Foundation Art Collection located at Baird Center. Kaems is one of more than 35 artists, most from Milwaukee, Wisconsin or with special ties to the area who have works featured in the collection. You can discover more about the artists and their works at https://bairdcenter.com/art-collection/.