New Free Weekend Tours Available at Milwaukee Art Museum

Milwaukee, WI, March 17, 2005— Did you know that the Milwaukee Art Museum’s Collection includes nearly 20,000 works? Did you know that the wingspan of the Museum’s Burke Brise Soleil is longer than that of a Boeing 747-400? For little-known facts about the Museum and more, consider dropping in for a tour. The Museum is now hosting drop-in tours Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. The tours, led by MAM docents, are free with general admission. The tours rotate between highlights of the Museum’s Collection and tours of the Museum’s buildings, from Saarinen to Calatrava. This is a great way for visitors to get a taste of the Museum, and learn about the popular architecture and Collection.

“By having docent-led tours available to every visitor, the Museum hopes to make its Collection and building more accessible,” said Milwaukee Art Museum Director and CEO David Gordon. “People can simply drop in any weekend day at 2 p.m. and have a very fun and educational experience.”

Collection Tour

With a history dating back to 1888, the Milwaukee Art Museum’s far-reaching collections include nearly 20,000 works from antiquity to the present. The Museum’s permanent holdings include important collections of Old Masters and 19th- and 20th- century art, and the collections of American decorative arts, German Expressionism, folk and Haitian art, and American art after 1960 are among the nation’s best.

On a tour, visitors will see works by such important artists as Auguste Rodin, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Georgia O’Keeffe, Winslow Homer, Mark Rothko, Jasper Johns and Andy Warhol.

Building Tour

Tour the 2001 Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion, the 1975 Kahler addition, and the original 1957 Eero Saarinen building – all comprising the Milwaukee Art Museum. The first Calatrava-designed building in the United States was named a “New Wonder of the World” by Conde Nast Traveler magazine in 2002. The Museum’s main entrance leads into a parabolic-shaped, glass-enclosed reception hall with a 90-foot high ceiling. The Burke Brise Soleil, the moveable, wing-like sunscreen comprised of 72 steel fins, rests on top of the glass-enclosed reception hall. Learn fun facts on the building tour, including that the structural mast length of the new addition is longer than the height of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Please check the Art Museum’s Web site calendar for a schedule of dates and topics.

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