Referee (Queoff)

Tom Queoff's Referee is made of white laminated travertine marble which has been carved into the simplified figure of a referee.^[1] The referee stands with his legs out in an inverted "V" shape, and has both arms raised up and bent at the elbows. His face consists of a negative oval space. There are no inscriptions on the sculpture.^[1]

Referee was funded through the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA), a program that operated in Wisconsin from 1977 through 1981. The program's goal was to give university-trained artists the opportunity to create artworks, while finding them employment within their communities. Thirty Wisconsin artists participated in CETA during its short run. Tom Queoff joined the City of Milwaukee's CETA from 1977 to 1978. During this time he shared a studio with another sculptor, and worked on various art projects for the city. One of these projects was Referee. Since CETA could not afford to pay for an artist's materials, Queoff had the marble for the sculpture donated by the Milwaukee Marble Company. The marble was the remainders from the First Wisconsin Bank building's construction. The artist laminated the marble pieces together and then carved the sculpture out of this resulting material. Although the artwork sat in storage for some time, it was eventually placed on the south entrance of UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena in Milwaukee.^[2]