Artist David Lenz has seen his work displayed prominently in the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery and the Milwaukee Art Museum.

But Lenz couldn't make the cut with Gov. Scott Walker and the Executive Residence.

Earlier this year, the governor and first lady Tonette Walker took down 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.

Commissioned by the foundation that runs the governor's Maple Bluff residence, the painting was completed and placed prominently above the fireplace mantel in the drawing room in November.

The governor and first lady have replaced it with a century-old painting of Old Abe, a Civil War-era bald eagle from Wisconsin.

Lenz described himself as "deeply disappointed" by the decision to take down his artwork. He is scheduled to talk at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Milwaukee Art Museum about his paintings, including "Wishes in the Wind."

"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."

A spokesman for the governor dismissed the criticism.

"Not true," said Walker's press secretary Cullen Werwie.

After being told of Lenz's remarks, the governor's office issued a news release Friday offering an explanation for changing the mansion's interior design. To honor the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, the release said, the Walkers have decided to place artifacts and paintings from that era throughout the first floor.

The Walker administration is working on a deal to lend Lenz's painting to the Milwaukee Public Library. Werwie emphasized that many more people will see the painting there than at the governor's residence.

Historian John Gurda, vice chairman of the library's Board of Trustees, said he is thrilled to have the painting, even though he realizes that it was done with the mansion in mind.

"It is making the best of an awkward situation," Gurda said. "This is not the place for which it was intended."

In 2005, the state Executive Residence Foundation began commissioning paintings by Wisconsin artists on subjects intended to remind state leaders of the people they represent. Milwaukee-area businessman Richard Pieper and his wife, Suzanne, fund the project.

Lenz was among the first artists selected, but his work was delayed because he had to complete a portrait of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founder of the Special Olympics, for the National Portrait Gallery. It was completed late last year.

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."

Under the terms of the loan, Pieper said, the state could keep the painting as long as it wanted as long as it was publicly displayed at the governor's mansion. Once it is taken down, he said, it is supposed to go back to the Piepers' foundation.

"I anticipated this happening some day," said Pieper, who declined to say how much he paid for the painting, except to say it was "a lot."

In March, the first lady contacted the library to see if it would be interested in taking the painting off the state's hands for a while. After some back and forth between the two sides, library officials agreed to accept the loan.

Gurda said the library board initially was baffled as to why the artwork from the nationally renowned painter was not welcome at the governor's residence. But the Milwaukee historian, who has been a sharp critic of the first-term Republican governor, said Walker has done a number of surprising and "breathtaking" actions since taking office in January.

"This is indicative of that tone-deafness," Gurda said. "My point of view is this is not the Walkers' house, this is Wisconsin's house. This was commissioned by an organization that was there long before Scott Walker came in and will be there long after he is gone."

Pieper said he and his wife were also disappointed by the first family's decision.

Long a supporter of Lenz's work, the owner of Pieper Electric Inc. said he and the artist share a passion for addressing social problems. He said he would prefer the painting hang in a place where the governor and legislative leaders are often reminded of "the least privileged in society."

Even so, Pieper said he saw nothing symbolic in Walker's decision to remove the painting, saying the suggestion was "fecal matter." The businessman gave $9,800 to Walker's campaign fund during the last gubernatorial campaign and $4,800 to his Democratic opponent, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.

"I do not make judgments about other people, because I'm not God," Pieper said.

Ald. Nik Kovac, another member of the Milwaukee library board, said he also is not inclined to discuss how people decorate their living rooms. But Kovac said Walker is a public official living in a publicly maintained house.

The library board will display the painting at its central building downtown. But in truth, Kovac said, the people of Milwaukee don't need a Lenz painting to be reminded of the importance of Milwaukee children. He said the work would have served a greater purpose in Madison.

"Once the governor decided he didn't want it, he did everything right," Kovac said of the loan to the Milwaukee library. "But the fact that he didn't want it says a lot."

Daniel Bice can be contacted by phone at (414) 224-2135 or by email at dbice@journalsentinel.com.