The Lady on the Lake

An inflatable statue celebrates a memorable 1979 prank.  2/12/2022 dwm photo

The first time the Statue of Liberty was seen in Wisconsin was 1979.  It was up to its nose in water, topped with a layer of ice.  The image was a play on the ending of the movie, "Planet of the Apes."

According to a story by the PBS News Hour, it's start and revival come from two places.

Originally, Leon Varjian and Jim Mallon, students at the University of Wisconsin, campaigned for two seats in student government mocking typical promises made in those campaigns.  They said they would bring the Statue of Liberty to Wisconsin if they won.

They built her using papier-mache on a wood structure.  (Follow the PBS link to see what the original looked like.)

In 2019, the 40th anniversary of the original, it was brought back to Lake Mendota on ice near the Memorial Union, with the idea it would be fun to do something out of the ordinary.

The new tradition continues as part of the Winter Carnival put on by the Wisconsin Union (a campus student organization).

The original and the second version made with Styrofoam blocks provided a better illusion of the iconic structure falling through the ice than a couple balloons held down with straps... but since I missed Lady Liberty the first and second time, I was willing to brave single digits to get my own picture of the Lady in the Lake.