| Art Siemann was famous throughout the area as the man you went to if you were running for office and needed campaign signs. Politicians, whether local Alderpersons or U. S. Senators, knew and loved his work.
Art Siemann first went to work as an artist in 1931 shortly after graduating from South Division High School. Working in cramped quarters in his Mother’s home he painted signs for local merchants. He also painted signs on shop windows for $2.00 per day, proclaiming the specials of the day.
With taverns reopening in 1933 after the repeal of prohibition he was able to work full time in his advertising business. Throughout his life, the basis of his business was his political signs; but he also produced some well-known advertisements.
Some of the most familiar may be the entire fleet of Yum-Yum Ice Cream trucks, and the tuxedoed toff on the Roxo Beverages signs. And there was the three-story high Blatz Beer bottle that once adorned the Schroeder Hotel.
He did all 39 billboards at Borchert Field, the home of the old Milwaukee Brewers minor league baseball club. He also decorated floats and made bumper stickers for Milwaukee’s Christmas parade. Among the major advertising and sign accounts his company had was Blockbuster Video store’s window displays in the mid-west. Siemann was the artist who painted the “MECCA” on the basketball floor in the Milwaukee Arena.
Siemann was a U. S. Marine Corps veteran. He maintained the highest standards in his work and was highly respected by both his peers and customers. His work will be remembered for its quality and ingenuity. Mr. Siemann is interred at Mt. Olivet Cemetery.
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