Built in 1895, the Cawker Estate Building was a wholesale dry goods and notions firm. In 1994 the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design renovated the upper floors for student housing. The William F. Eisner Advertising & Design Museum occupied the lower floors until the building was sold by MIAD. While making this painting, this building was undergoing renovation for commercial space on the first floor with condos above. —Info taken from Historic Third Ward Walking Tour