Research Center

Discover tens of thousands of materials focused on the study of fine art, architecture, and design at the Milwaukee Art Museum Research Center. Together, the resources of the George Peckham Miller Art Research Library along with the Museum’s institutional archives and manuscript collections encourage deeper discovery of the Museum, its collection, and the history of art and design in the region.

With a focus on the artists and movements most prevalent in the Museum’s collection, the Research Center serves a range of visitors, from curators developing their next exhibition to students of art history, from art dealers answering provenance questions to community members interested in local art history. Plan your visit to solve academic puzzles, make discoveries, and deepen your understanding of the topics that interest you most.

George Peckham Miller Art Research Library

Established in 1916, the Art Research Library’s reference and research collections have grown to more than 35,000 volumes, including exhibition catalogues, catalogues raisonnés, academic journals, files pertaining to artists in the Museum’s collection, rare books, and more. The Art Research Library also provides access to digitized texts/images and online tools such as JSTOR and Oxford Art Online.

Institutional Archives & Manuscript Collections

The Research Center is home to several archival collections that tell the story of the Milwaukee Art Museum and of art and design in Wisconsin and the Midwest. Collections include archives of the Museum’s more than 130-year history, papers from several local arts organizations, and special collection archives that contain the business documents, correspondence, and visual and design materials from industrial designer Brooks Stevens and furniture designer and interior architect George Mann Niedecken, two Wisconsinites who changed the world of design as we know it.

Location

In 2017, the Research Center moved to the historic Judge Jason Downer mansion at 1201 N. Prospect Avenue. The three-story Victorian Gothic Judge Jason Downer mansion was designed by architect Edward Townsend Mix and built in 1874. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.