On Thursday evening, Jan. 17, the Italian Community Center, 631 E. Chicago St., will dedicate a new two-story stainless steel abstract sculpture. The shiny sculpture, which might suggest ocean waves or the feathers of a bird, stands on a grassy area on the center's west side, facing Jackson Street, in the Third Ward, which was once Milwaukee's Little Italy, a landing spot for many newly arrived immigrants.

The sculpture – called "New Beginnings" – was designed by Joseph Mangiamele, president of the Mangiamele Arts Foundation. It is, he said, dedicated to immigrants of all nationalities and races who came to America. Milwaukee's Gallas Metalworks fabricated the work based on Mangiamele's prototype.