Editor's note: This story originally ran in May during work on the Bob Uecker mural project. It was updated when the mural was dedicated in a public event on June 30.
MILWAUKEE – Mauricio Ramirez spent the morning of May 28 hovering nearly 100 feet off the ground in downtown Milwaukee, staring into Bob Uecker’s left eye.
Or is it Uecker’s right eye?
It all depends on perspective, and whether you’re looking up at the face that was emerging on the north facade of the office building at 731 N. Jackson St., or imagining yourself as Uecker, looking out at the city with his familiar grin.
Either way, Ramirez wants to get the magical sparkle in that eye just right.
Ramirez, 37, is the muralist making sure the late, legendary voice of the Brewers, who passed away in January 2025, will live on larger than life on the side of what is formally the Wintrust Financial Center.
It’s about to be better known as The Uecker Building.
“Once you see facial features at that size, you just become really intimate with the muse, which is Bob Uecker, the legend himself,” Ramirez said. “It’s a very special moment, creating this artwork on a monumental size.
“Ultimately, it will be the biggest tribute to him and his legacy. But yeah, things do come alive once you start to see these things.”
Ramirez is a Mexican-American and a baseball fan – he wore Mexico’s World Baseball Classic cap to work on Thursday – who was born in Chicago but has family roots in Milwaukee, where his work is already well known to most in the city. While mostly making his name with geometric art in Chicago, Seattle, Minneapolis, Reno, Milwaukee and elsewhere in Wisconsin, he took a foray into photorealism when he painted the mural of former Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo right around the corner at 600 E. Wisconsin Ave.
For scale, the Uecker mural is about three times larger. And it has become particularly personal to Ramirez because of the involvement of Uecker’s family, which had the final sign-off on design.
“The way that people have been responding to this artwork is very welcoming,” he said. “People love art. People love sports. When I’m out here working, it’s been a parade."
Bringing it to life has been no easy task. The Wintrust Financial Center's ownership group commissioned Ramirez with support from Milwaukee Downtown Business Improvement District No. 21 and Visit Milwaukee to paint the approximately 80-foot by 105-foot facade on a well-traveled street that feeds traffic from downtown onto eastbound Interstate 94.
Ramirez applied about 150 gallons of paint to the building before he painted a single facial feature. There is the white background where Uecker is emerging, wearing one of his trademark plaid sportcoats, surrounded by a blue accent that conjures American Family Field’s signature roof.
In May, Ramirez got to work using spray paint to begin work on the Uecker image itself. He uses a lift to go up to work, then returns to the edge of the adjacent parking lot to check his work. He also employs a drone to monitor details from different angles.
“If you want to talk about levels of difficulty, it’s level 10,” he said. “You’re dealing with heights, you’re dealing with the weather, you’re dealing with exterior surfaces, you’re dealing with industrial coatings. And not only that, you’re dealing with the artistic style of how to paint it, and make sure that the paint is going on right and looking how it’s supposed to look.
“When people paint portraits, sometimes it goes south and sometimes people get it right. My goal is to make this the best possible portrait in the country and in the world.”
Ramirez expects the mural to stand the test of time because it’s on the north side of the building, protected from direct sunlight.
He completed the job in mid June and the building’s owners hosted a tailgate-themed ribbon-cutting celebration on June 30, with Uecker's wife, Judy, his son Bob Jr. and other family and friends on hand. But because of its sheer scale, folks didn’t have to wait. Each day throughout the month of June, a growing number of downtown office workers, visitors and sports fans stopped by to take pictures and talk to Ramirez.
“I’m happy so far, and I’m having a blast painting it,” he said. “I’m figuring out new things about myself and about Bob Uecker. It’s just been a great experience.”