Year: 2013

FREE Museum Admission on Thursday, January 2

Target Free First Thursday is January 2
Explore the entire Museum for free

Milwaukee, Wis. – The Milwaukee Art Museum’s first Target Free First Thursday of the new year is set for Thursday, January 2, 2014. Admission is free for all individuals, and includes access to the entire Museum.

“We are thrilled to be able to offer this opportunity to our visitors,” said Museum director Daniel Keegan. “This is your last chance to see the Museum’s feature exhibition, Thomas Sully: Painted Performance, which includes over seventy works from an American master painter, and the subjects behind the portraits, including President Andrew Jackson, Queen Victoria, and actress Fanny Kemble, are as intriguing as the works themselves.”

Also on view is the latest in the Currents series. Best known for his exquisite depictions of crashed cars, Currents 36: Dirk Skreber includes several of the artist’s large-scale paintings, a monumental outdoor sculpture, and the American museum debut of his video work Turgidity (2012).

Target Free First Thursdays provides all Museum visitors with free admission on the first Thursday of each month. The Museum is open Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Future Target Free First Thursday dates include February 6, March 6, and April 3, 2014.

“At Target, our local grants are making a difference in the communities we serve,” said Laysha Ward, president, community relations, Target. “We’re proud to partner with the Milwaukee Art Museum as part of our ongoing commitment to give back to the communities where our guests and team members live and work.”

ABOUT THE MUSEUM
The Milwaukee Art Museum houses a rich collection of over 30,000 works, with strengths in 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, contemporary art, American decorative arts, and is the world’s leading repository for work by untrained creators. The Museum campus is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and spans three buildings, including the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion and the Eero Saarinen-designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center. For more information, please visit mam.org.

ABOUT TARGET
Minneapolis-based Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) serves guests at 1,740 stores in 49 states nationwide and at Target.com. Target is committed to providing a fun and convenient shopping experience with access to unique and highly differentiated products at affordable prices. Since 1946, the corporation has given 5 percent of its income through community grants and programs like Take Charge of Education. Today, that giving equals more than $3 million a week.

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Statement from Director Daniel Keegan On The Passing of Betty Quadracci

Statement from Director Daniel Keegan on the passing of Betty Quadracci

We are truly saddened by this news.

Betty, and Harry, along with the Quadracci family have played such an enormous role in the life and success of the Milwaukee Art Museum. Betty’s leadership and influence on our entire community is immeasurable. Without her vision, the Milwaukee Art Museum would not exist as it does today. The Quadracci Pavilion at the Milwaukee Art Museum, now the symbol of the city, ensures that her legacy will continue for generations.

Betty provided over 26 years of service to the Museum as a member of the Board of Trustees. She is one of only two board members that have been designated as “Trustee Emeritus,” due to her high level of involvement and philanthropic support.

We ask that Milwaukee residents remember her and the Quadracci family in your thoughts and prayers.

Museum Holiday Hours and Family Activities for 2013

Museum outlines holiday activities, hours
Family-friendly events take the chill, boredom out of school breaks 

Milwaukee, Wis. – The Milwaukee Art Museum announced its holiday hours for 2013, in addition to a wide variety of free family activities for the season.

For the holidays, the Museum will be open its usual hours, plus open on two additional days, Monday, December 23 and December 30, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Museum will be closed on Wednesday, December 25. The Kohl’s Art Generation Studio will have extended hours, open from December 26 through January 1.

Regular Museum hours are Tuesday-Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and until 8 p.m. on Thursdays. As always, kids age 12 and under receive free admission to the Museum every day.

The Museum offers an array of family-friendly activities for the holiday season and year-round, including three galleries devoted just to its youngest visitors, as well as kid-friendly tours, art projects, and more.

“I love to see families spending time together in our galleries,” said Milwaukee Art Museum Director Daniel Keegan. “The Museum’s commitment to creating a family-friendly environment, complete with fun and educational experiences, is at the heart of what we do.”

Located in the center of the Museum galleries is the Kohl’s Education Center, designed to inspire and entertain kids of all ages. Inside the Kohl’s Education Center are three family-friendly areas for kids to play, learn, create, and be themselves.

Currently on view in the Kohl’s Art Generation Gallery is “Illusions: Near and Far,” showcasing the magic behind optical illusions. In this hands-on, interactive space, families can build, draw, create, and learn together. For a messier activity, kids of all ages can make their own unique art in the Kohl’s Art Generation Open Studio. Open every weekend during Museum hours, the Studio is a fun environment for kids to create a handmade holiday creation and for parents to learn crafty ideas for projects at home.

Available in the Kohl’s Education Center, the iPod Touch Tour is a family-friendly interactive tour that utilizes games, videos, and more to educate about the Museum’s collection. Families can take this self-guided tour together to curate their own artful adventure. Also available are sketchbooks for families to draw their own masterpieces in the Museum’s galleries.

“The Museum is a perfect environment to spend time together as a family,” said Keegan. “There’s so much to do here, for every age level, plus there’s shopping, food, and of course, breathtaking art and architecture.”

HOURS AND ADMISSION
Monday, December 23 – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Tuesday, December 24 – 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Wednesday, December 25 – Closed
Thursday, December 26 – 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Friday, December 27 – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday, December 28 – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday, December 29 – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Monday, December 30 – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Tuesday, December 31 – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Wednesday, January 1 – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Thursday, January 2 – 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Target Free First Thursday)
Friday, January 3 – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday, January 4 – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday, January 5 – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Museum is open Tuesday–Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Thursdays until 8 p.m. Admission is $17 for adults; $14 for students, seniors, and active military; and free for Members and for children age 12 and under.

The first Thursday of each month is Target Free First Thursday and admission is free for individuals (does not apply to groups).

ABOUT MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM
The Milwaukee Art Museum houses a rich collection of over 30,000 works, with strengths in 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, contemporary art, and American decorative arts, and is the world’s leading repository for work by untrained creators. The Museum campus is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and spans three buildings, including the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion and the Eero Saarinen-designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center. For more information, please visit mam.org.

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FREE Museum Admission on December 5

Target Free First Thursday is December 5
Explore the entire Museum for free

Milwaukee, Wis. – The Milwaukee Art Museum’s next monthly Target Free First Thursday is set for Thursday, December 5, 2013. Admission is free for all individuals, and includes access to the entire Museum.

“We are thrilled to be able to offer this opportunity to our visitors,” said Museum director Daniel Keegan. “The Museum’s feature exhibition, Thomas Sully: Painted Performance, includes over seventy works from an American master painter, and the subjects behind the portraits, including President Andrew Jackson, Queen Victoria, and actress Fanny Kemble, are as intriguing as the works themselves.”

Also on view is the latest in the Currents series. Best known for his exquisite depictions of crashed cars, Currents 36: Dirk Skreber will include several of the artist’s large-scale paintings, a monumental outdoor sculpture, and the American museum debut of his video work Turgidity (2012).

Target Free First Thursdays provides all Museum visitors with free admission on the first Thursday of each month. The Museum is open Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Future Target Free First Thursday dates include January 2, 2014.

“At Target, our local grants are making a difference in the communities we serve,” said Laysha Ward, president, community relations, Target. “We’re proud to partner with the Milwaukee Art Museum as part of our ongoing commitment to give back to the communities where our guests and team members live and work.”

ABOUT THE MUSEUM
The Milwaukee Art Museum houses a rich collection of over 30,000 works, with strengths in 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, contemporary art, American decorative arts, and is the world’s leading repository for work by untrained creators. The Museum campus is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and spans three buildings, including the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion and the Eero Saarinen-designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center. For more information, please visit mam.org.

ABOUT TARGET
Minneapolis-based Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) serves guests at 1,740 stores in 49 states nationwide and at Target.com. Target is committed to providing a fun and convenient shopping experience with access to unique and highly differentiated products at affordable prices. Since 1946, the corporation has given 5 percent of its income through community grants and programs like Take Charge of Education. Today, that giving equals more than $3 million a week.

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Nearly 600 Objects On View in American Folk Art Exhibition at Milwaukee Art Museum

Duck decoys, quilts, and Grandma Moses
Milwaukee Art Museum showcases its treasure trove of folk, self-taught art in an all-ages exhibition

Milwaukee, Wis. – Nearly six hundred objects of folk and self-taught art, from duck decoys and quilts to the work of Grandma Moses, will be on view at the Milwaukee Art Museum in Uncommon Folk: Traditions in American Art. Opening January 31, 2014, the exhibition will present a whimsical installation of American paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography, textiles, furniture, and decorative arts, drawn from its celebrated collection.

“The exhibition highlights the breadth and depth of the Museum’s world-class collection of American folk and self-taught art, from paintings and photographs to walking sticks and quilts,” said Daniel Keegan, director of the Milwaukee Art Museum. “This eclectic grouping of American folk and self-taught art is a demonstration of the Museum’s long history of collecting works by untrained creators.”

The Museum’s commitment to the work of folk and self-taught artists began as early as 1951 with the gift of two paintings by Wisconsin artist Anna Louisa Miller. During the 1960s and 1970s, when very few American museums were acquiring non-academic art, the Museum’s collection was appreciably expanded with the purchase of a number of important works, including a major group of Shaker furniture. In 1989, acquisition of the Michael and Julie Hall Collection of American Folk Art positioned the Museum as a leader in the folk and self-taught field, a position further established with the more recent gifts of the Anthony Petullo Collection and the Lanford Wilson Collection.

Significant works from the collections of Ruth and Robert Vogele, Colonel Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbish, Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr., Robert Bishop, and Lewis and Jean Greenblatt again enriched the Museum’s holdings.

Among the artists represented in Uncommon Folk are Grandma Moses, Edgar Tolson, Felipe Archuleta, Howard Finster, Sister Gertrude Morgan, and Morris Hirshfield. The exhibition will additionally highlight several Wisconsin artists including Prophet Blackmon, Josephus Farmer, Michael Lenk, Simon Sparrow, Eugene Von Bruenchenhein, and Albert Zahn.

“Some of the works included were created within the cultural traditions of a particular geographic area in the United States. Other traditions are rooted in the function of an object, such as duck decoys and walking sticks, and are represented by both historical and contemporary examples,” said Margaret Andera, exhibition curator. “The authentically American artistic expression identified in the work of folk and self-taught artists in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries gave American art its own voice separate from the classical European style that dominated the art world at the time. These artists, operating outside the art establishment, created work that was influenced by their communities and cultural traditions, rather than by art historical movements.”

“Thanks to the Museum’s rich holdings, Uncommon Folk: Traditions in American Art is able to overview the far-reaching variety in folk and self-taught art through a lively and visually compelling installation that has something for all ages,” said Keegan.

Uncommon Folk: Traditions in American Art runs January 31–May 4, 2014 at the Milwaukee Art Museum and is presented by the Caxambas Foundation and International Autos Group. 

HOURS AND ADMISSION
The Museum is open Tuesday–Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Thursdays until 8 p.m. Admission is $17 for adults; $14 for students, seniors, and active military; and free for Members and for children age 12 and under.

The first Thursday of each month is Target Free First Thursday and admission is free for individuals (does not apply to groups).

ABOUT MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM
The Milwaukee Art Museum houses a rich collection of over 30,000 works, with strengths in 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, contemporary art, and American decorative arts, and is the world’s leading repository for work by untrained creators. The Museum campus is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and spans three buildings, including the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion and the Eero Saarinen-designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center. For more information, please visit mam.org.

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Hoan I-794 Lake Freeway Project Information for Visitors

On Monday, November 4, 2013, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation will begin an ambitious project to improve and redesign the streets around Milwaukee’s lakefront, which will conclude in the fall of 2015.

As a result, there will be street and freeway on- and off-ramp closures affecting guests visiting the Museum. The DOT will provide new directional signage to the Lakefront.

For more information, including detailed driving instructions, please click here.

Parking and other accommodations will not be affected at this time.

For more information, please contact the Museum at 414-224-3200.

 

Free Museum Admission On Thursday, November 7

Target Free First Thursday is November 7
First chance to see Thomas Sully: Painted Performance for free

Milwaukee, Wis. – The Milwaukee Art Museum’s next monthly Target Free First Thursday is set for Thursday, November 7, 2013. Admission is free for all individuals, and it is the public’s first opportunity to see Thomas Sully: Painted Performance for free.

“We are thrilled to be able to offer this opportunity to our visitors,” said Museum director Daniel Keegan. “The Museum’s feature exhibition, Thomas Sully: Painted Performance, includes over seventy works from an American master painter, and the subjects behind the portraits, including President Andrew Jackson, Queen Victoria, and actress Fanny Kemble, are as intriguing as the works themselves.”

Opening on November 7 is the latest in the Currents series. Best known for his exquisite depictions of crashed cars, Currents 36: Dirk Skreber will include several of the artist’s large-scale paintings, a monumental outdoor sculpture, and the American museum debut of his video work Turgidity (2012). A Gallery Talk with Skreber is scheduled for 6:15 p.m.

Target Free First Thursdays provides all Museum visitors with free admission on the first Thursday of each month. The Museum is open Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Future Target Free First Thursday dates include December 5, 2013 and January 2, 2014.

“At Target, our local grants are making a difference in the communities we serve,” said Laysha Ward, president, community relations, Target. “We’re proud to partner with the Milwaukee Art Museum as part of our ongoing commitment to give back to the communities where our guests and team members live and work.”

ABOUT THE MUSEUM
The Milwaukee Art Museum houses a rich collection of over 30,000 works, with strengths in 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, contemporary art, American decorative arts, and is the world’s leading repository for work by untrained creators. The Museum campus is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and spans three buildings, including the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion and the Eero Saarinen-designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center. For more information, please visit mam.org.

ABOUT TARGET
Minneapolis-based Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) serves guests at 1,740 stores in 49 states nationwide and at Target.com. Target is committed to providing a fun and convenient shopping experience with access to unique and highly differentiated products at affordable prices. Since 1946, the corporation has given 5 percent of its income through community grants and programs like Take Charge of Education. Today, that giving equals more than $3 million a week.

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Works By Dirk Skreber Coming to Milwaukee

Milwaukee Art Museum showcases beauty, complexity of catastrophe
Works by Dirk Skreber to be shown in Contemporary Galleries

Milwaukee, Wis. – On November 7, 2013, the Milwaukee Art Museum opens an exhibition of contemporary art by German artist Dirk Skreber, best known for his exquisite depictions of crashed cars. Currents 36: Dirk Skreber will include several of the artist’s large-scale paintings, a monumental outdoor sculpture, and the American museum debut of his video work Turgidity (2012).

“We are excited to bring Skreber’s work into our Contemporary Galleries, and in fact throughout the Museum campus,” said Brady Roberts, chief curator for the Milwaukee Art Museum. “Visitors will be blown away by what they experience.”

Skreber has developed an international reputation for paintings that challenge seemingly contradictory ideas, such as abstraction and figuration, beauty and catastrophe.

“His paintings leave you with an uneasy feeling, as though you are witnessing something meant to be private or sacred, and yet they are without emotional commentary,” said Margaret Andera, adjunct curator for the Milwaukee Art Museum.

Skreber’s sculptures, including the one that will be on view at the Museum, are often of automobiles wrapped concussively around poles—carefully choreographed destruction created in a safety testing facility. Skreber’s film Turgidity echoes this work and depicts a car crashing in slow motion, a strangely beautiful sequence, with shifts in light and matter.

“His sculptures and his film transform a familiar form into an abstract jumble of metal, glass, and rubber; but like Skreber’s paintings, the sculpture is presented in a neutral way, making them all the more disconcerting,” said Andera.

Currents 36: Dirk Skreber is curated by Margaret Andera, adjunct curator at the Milwaukee Art Museum, and will be on view in the Museum’s Contemporary Galleries from November 7, 2013, through March 2, 2014.

ABOUT MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM
Celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2013, the Milwaukee Art Museum houses a rich collection of over 30,000 works, with strengths in 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, contemporary art, American decorative arts, and folk and self-taught art. The Museum campus is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and spans three buildings, including the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion and the Eero Saarinen-designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center. For more information, please visit mam.org.

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Milwaukee Art Museum Awarded IMLS Grant

Milwaukee Art Museum awarded IMLS grant
Money will be used to improve and expand central vault

Milwaukee, Wis. – The Milwaukee Art Museum has been awarded a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as part of its “Museums for America” program. The grant will help the Museum prepare for a major renovation and collection reinstallation, scheduled to begin in 2014.

“The Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the Museums for America program, support efforts such as ours to strengthen the Museum’s ability to meet its mission and serve its public,” said Daniel Keegan, director of the Milwaukee Art Museum. “Without this grant we would not be able to implement our goals of a new and invigorated collections reinstallation that protects and preserves the art, while meeting the needs of a twenty-first century audience.”

According to the grant specifications, the Milwaukee Art Museum will improve and expand its central paintings vault. When completed, this project will double the storage capacity of the paintings vault and improve access to the Museum’s collection for visitors, students, researchers, and staff. The installation of additional painting storage screens will improve accessibility to the collection during reinstallation and beyond, and reduce the risks to the collection from offsite travel and storage, as well as save hundreds of thousands of dollars in offsite storage costs.

“The Museum is deeply grateful to IMLS for their generosity, and we look forward to putting this money to a worthwhile cause,” said Keegan.

ABOUT IMLS
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. Our mission is to inspire libraries and museums to advance innovation, lifelong learning, and cultural and civic engagement. Our grant making, policy development, and research help libraries and museums deliver valuable services that make it possible for communities and individuals to thrive. To learn more, visit www.imls.gov and follow IMLS on Facebook and Twitter.

ABOUT MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM
Celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2013, the Milwaukee Art Museum houses a rich collection of over 30,000 works, with strengths in 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, contemporary art, American decorative arts, and folk and self-taught art. The Museum campus is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and spans three buildings, including the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion and the Eero Saarinen-designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center. For more information, please visit mam.org.

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Thomas Sully: Painted Performance Now On View

Museum premieres exhibition of theatrical paintings by Thomas Sully

Milwaukee, Wis. – Continuing a yearlong celebration of American art and artists, the Milwaukee Art Museum will debut an original exhibition on the career of Thomas Sully (1783–1872). Thomas Sully: Painted Performance is the first retrospective of the artist in thirty years, and the first to present both the artist’s portraits and subject pictures. The exhibition opens October 11, 2013.

“The exhibition provides a major new look at one of the most important nineteenth-century American artists, who expressed his lifelong love of the theatre and literature in paintings,” said Daniel Keegan, Milwaukee Art Museum director. “Shakespeare, fairy tales, popular culture, and the movers and shakers and celebrities of nineteenth-century American society are all captured in Sully’s work.”

Painted Performance brings together over seventy paintings from public and private collections and presents them thematically, in four sections: theatrical portraits of specific actors in a role; traditional portraits shaped by the artist’s theatrical and literary imagination; fancy portraits, imaginary portraits as conceits or inspired by whimsy; and fancy pictures, narrative paintings based on literary or artistic sources or the imagination.

Sully employed drama, theatricality, and a heightened sense of activity to great effect throughout his long career. In some of his grandest full-length portraits, Sully composed his figures as if they were literally onstage. Even in portraits that seemingly have nothing to do with the formal world of the theatre, his subjects act to directly engage the viewer.

The artist brought a similar level of theatricality to his fancy pictures. An important and unexplored category of mid-nineteenth-century American painting, fancy pictures were a special kind of narrative art that targeted viewers’ emotions and that often included social commentary. Sully’s fancy pictures offer a window into the issues of the day, including questions about gender, race, and childhood.

“Thomas Sully: Painted Performance reveals the full breadth of Sully’s artistic imagination and celebrates his unique contribution to America’s artistic and cultural life,” said William Rudolph, exhibition co-curator and the Dudley J. Godfrey, Jr. Curator of American Art and Decorative Arts at the Milwaukee Art Museum.

Thomas Sully: Painted Performance is on view October 11, 2013–January 5, 2014, and is co-curated by William Keyse Rudolph, Dudley J. Godfrey Jr. Curator of American Art and Decorative Arts, Milwaukee Art Museum, and Carol Eaton Soltis, Project Associate Curator of American Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art. It is accompanied by a 192-page, full-color and fully illustrated scholarly catalogue.

The exhibition will travel to the San Antonio Museum of Art, February 5–May 11, 2014.

ABOUT MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM
Celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2013, the Milwaukee Art Museum houses a rich collection of over 30,000 works, with strengths in 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, contemporary art, American decorative arts, and folk and self-taught art. The Museum campus is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and spans three buildings, including the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion and the Eero Saarinen-designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center. For more information, please visit mam.org.

FINAL DAYS of 30 Americans

Engaging contemporary art shows will close September 8
30 Americans, Wisconsin 30, Question Bridge: Black Males explore identity and race

Milwaukee, Wis. –  30 Americans, showcasing the work of thirty-one contemporary African American artists who tackle issues around race, religion, gender, sexuality, and cultural identity, will close at the Milwaukee Art Museum on Sunday, September 8. This wide-ranging survey drawn from the Rubell Family Collection, Miami, explores ideas central to what it means to be an American.

“The art in 30 Americans is provocative and challenging, and explores how our identities and histories are varied, yet we are all still Americans,” said Milwaukee Art Museum Director Daniel Keegan. “This is a vastly different exhibition from anything that the Museum has done in recent years.”

30 Americans features nearly eighty paintings, sculptures, photographs,  installations, and digital media art by the following artists: Nina Chanel Abney, John Bankston, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Mark Bradford, iona rozeal brown, Nick Cave, Robert Colescott, Noah Davis, Leonardo Drew, Renée Green, David Hammons, Barkley L. Hendricks, Rashid Johnson, Glenn Ligon, Kalup Linzy, Kerry James Marshall, Rodney McMillian, Wangechi Mutu, William Pope.L, Gary Simmons, Xaviera Simmons, Lorna Simpson, Shinique Smith, Jeff Sonhouse, Henry Taylor, Hank Willis Thomas, Mickalene Thomas, Kara Walker, Carrie Mae Weems, Kehinde Wiley, and Purvis Young.

Placing works by established artists alongside those by emerging artists, the exhibition further compares the power of influence across generations and within communities. Kehinde Wiley’s old master–like portraits of black men made today resonate with Robert Colescott’s paintings from the 1970s–1990s that transpose African American culture in the narratives of art history. Mark Bradford and Shinique Smith from the West and East coasts, respectively, create works that reveal an affinity with Jean-Michel Basquiat’s charged graffiti-based paintings.

“This is not a subtle exhibition. It has inspired discussion,” said Keegan. “Visitors have used our ‘Join the Conversation’ boards inside the exhibition to dialogue about their experiences.”

In conjunction with the 30 Americans exhibition, the Museum also presented thirty works by thirty Wisconsin African American artists in Schroeder Galleria, as well as, in the Contemporary Galleries, works in the Museum’s Collection by African American artists and the five-channel video installation “Question Bridge: Black Males.” These complementary installations are open during the run of 30 Americans.

30 Americans runs through September 8, 2013, and is coordinated at the Milwaukee Art Museum by William Keyse Rudolph, Dudley J. Godfrey Jr. Curator of American Art and Decorative Arts.

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
30 Americans is organized by the Rubell Family Collection, Miami, and is presented at the Milwaukee Art Museum by Helen Bader Foundation, Northwestern Mutual and SC Johnson. Additional support is generously provided by Milwaukee Art Museum’s Friends of Art, Argosy Foundation, Harley-Davidson Motor Company, Wisconsin Energy Foundation, Milwaukee Art Museum’s Contemporary Art Society, Brewers Community Foundation, Angela and Virgis Colbert, Johnson Controls Foundation, Stanley Black & Decker, and Gonzalez, Saggio & Harlan LLP.

HOURS AND ADMISSION
The Museum is open every day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Thursdays until 8 p.m. Admission is $15 for adults; $12 for students and seniors; and free for Members and for children age 12 and under.

The first Thursday of each month is Target Free First Thursday and admission is free for individuals (does not apply to groups).

From Memorial Day through Labor Day, Active Military and up to five additional family members receive free admission, thanks to a partnership with Blue Star Museums. Veterans and up to five additional family members receive free admission in conjunction with the Veterans Book Project: Objects for Deployment.

Purple Heart recipients receive free admission thanks to a partnership with Milwaukee County.

Wisconsin K-12 teachers receive free admission with school-issued ID or paystub.

ABOUT THE RUBELL FAMILY COLLECTION
Don and Mera Rubell started the Rubell Family Collection (RFC) in New York City when they were first married in 1964. Since 1993, the Collection has been displayed in Miami at its current, 45,000 square-foot location inside a former Drug Enforcement Agency confiscated goods facility. RFC first opened to the public in 1994, and in 1998 the non-profit Contemporary Arts Foundation (CAF) was created to expand the Collection‘s public mission inside the paradigm of a contemporary art museum. Learn more at http://www.rfc.museum/.

ABOUT MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM
Celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2013, the Milwaukee Art Museum collection houses over 30,000 works, with strengths in 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, contemporary art, American decorative arts, and folk and self-taught art. The Museum campus is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and spans three buildings, including the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion and the Eero Saarinen-designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center. For more information, please visit www.mam.org.

A Notice for Visitors On Saturday, August 10 and Sunday, August 11

Automobile access to the Milwaukee Art Museum via Art Museum Drive and Lincoln Memorial Drive will be restricted on Saturday, August 10, and Sunday, August 11 due to the USA Triathalon Olympic Distance National Championship. We recommend that you find alternate travel arrangements if you are planning to visit the Museum, or park in the O’Donnell Parking Garage, located on the corner of Lincoln Memorial Drive and Michigan Avenue.

A list of Milwaukee County Transit services, the Milwaukee Downtown Trolley, and additional options are available here.

We apologize for any inconvenience.

Postcards from America Coming to Milwaukee

Postcards from America coming to Milwaukee

Milwaukee, Wis. – The Milwaukee Art Museum announced that the City of Milwaukee be the next iteration of Postcards from America, a collaborative photography project that aims to capture, from multiple perspectives, the interactions and relationships that define places across America.

Postcards from America: Milwaukee will take place from August 2013 through April 2014, with eleven total photographers coming to the city, culminating in an exhibition at the Milwaukee Art Museum in 2015.

Thus far, Postcards from America has included trips through the Southwest; over the mountains to Utah; in Rochester, New York; and to Florida during the last Presidential election. The participating photographers are all represented by Magnum Photos, a photographic cooperative founded in 1947. This project explores and experiments with the concept of artistic and intellectual collaboration among Magnum photographers.

“We are excited to partner with the photographers on the next installment of Postcards from America,” said Brady Roberts, chief curator for the Museum. “I look forward to seeing the various images of Milwaukee through the lenses of these extraordinary artists.”

In Milwaukee, the project will examine the unique quality of life in the Midwest, exploring ideas such as street fairs and labor unions. After the images are produced, a portfolio will enter the Museum’s permanent collection.

Postcards from America: Milwaukee kicks off with an August 7 event featuring photographers Susan Meiselas, Martin Parr, and Bruce Gilden. Other photographers contributing to the project include: Donovan Wylie; Alessandra Sanguinetti; Jacob Aue Sobol; Alec Soth; Jim Goldberg; Paolo Pellegrin; Mark Power; and Zoe Strauss.

Additional Postcards from America: Milwaukee events are planned in 2014.

Postcards from America is generously supported at the Milwaukee Art Museum by the Richard and Ethel Herzfeld Foundation.
ABOUT THE MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM
Celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2013, the Milwaukee Art Museum houses a rich collection of over 30,000 works, with strengths in 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, contemporary art, American decorative arts, and folk and self-taught art. The Museum campus is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and spans three buildings, including the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion and the Eero Saarinen-designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center. For more information, please visit www.mam.org.

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Free Museum Admission August 1; Meet Artist Nina Chanel Abney

Target Free First Thursday is August 1
Artist Nina Chanel Abney on hand for free event

Milwaukee, Wis. – The Milwaukee Art Museum’s next monthly Target Free First Thursday is set for Thursday, August 1, 2013. Admission is free for all individuals, and it includes access to 30 Americans and Tattoo: Flash Art of Amund Dietzel.

30 Americans showcases the work of thirty-one contemporary African American artists who tackle issues around race, religion, gender, sexuality, and cultural identity. The exhibition features nearly eighty paintings, sculptures, photographs, installations, and digital media art.

Artist Nina Chanel Abney, whose work is featured in 30 Americans, will speak at 6:15 p.m. Lubar Auditorium. The event is free.

Also on view will be a new exhibition of tattoo art by Milwaukeean Amund Dietzel. Known as the “Master in Milwaukee,” Dietzel began his career as a sailor, where he first honed his skills as a tattoo artist. Eventually, covered in ink neck to ankle, Dietzel traveled with carnivals as a sideshow and made his way to Milwaukee where he became the region’s premier tattoo artist. Tattoo: Flash Art of Amund Dietzel includes over 500 pieces of original flash art, as well as photographs and memorabilia.

Target Free First Thursdays provides all Museum visitors with free admission on the first Thursday of each month. The Museum is open Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

ABOUT THE MUSEUM
Celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2013, the Milwaukee Art Museum houses a rich collection of over 30,000 works, with strengths in 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, contemporary art, American decorative arts, and folk and self-taught art. The Museum campus is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and spans three buildings, including the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion and the Eero Saarinen-designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center. For more information, please visit www.mam.org.

ABOUT TARGET
Minneapolis-based Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) serves guests at 1,740 stores in 49 states nationwide and at Target.com. Target is committed to providing a fun and convenient shopping experience with access to unique and highly differentiated products at affordable prices. Since 1946, the corporation has given 5 percent of its income through community grants and programs like Take Charge of Education. Today, that giving equals more than $3 million a week.

Call to Action!

Dear Friends and Museum Supporters,

As many of you know, the War Memorial Center and the Kahler building – both of which house our $750 million collection of art – are in desperate need of repairs, totaling over $10 million.

The Museum and the WMC asked our joint landlord, the County, to pay for the deferred maintenance needs identified in the audit. The Museum promised to raise an additional $15 million in private donations to help alleviate the burden to the taxpayer, make additional repairs to protect the art, and improve the state’s most significant Veterans memorial.

In response, the Milwaukee Art Museum and the War Memorial Center were charged with drafting a cooperative agreement for the future management of the buildings.

Months of negotiations have yielded agreements which outline the operation of our shared spaces and enable the County to begin repairing and restoring the War Memorial and Kahler buildings, both of which are suffering from visibly crumbling concrete and extensive leaks. The Museum and the WMC have submitted these agreements to the County.

Now we need your help!

I am urging you today to please contact the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors and County Executive Chris Abele, asking them to support the Veterans War Memorial and the Art Museum by approving these agreements and providing adequate funds for the maintenance and managements of these County-owned buildings. And, you can also email a letter to the editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel voicing your support.

The final Milwaukee County Board vote on our agreement will be on July 25. Please show your support and help us protect the War Memorial Center and the Milwaukee Art Museum for generations to come.

Thank you,

Dan Keegan

Free Admission for Racine County Residents on August 18

Milwaukee Art Museum free for Racine County residents on August 18
Art and family fun on the docket, thanks to SC Johnson

Milwaukee, Wis. – Thanks to a grant from SC Johnson, the Milwaukee Art Museum will be free for all Racine County residents (with ID) on Sunday, August 18. Admission includes access to the Museum’s feature exhibition, permanent collection, and Kohl’s Education Center, including three interactive family areas.

Featured this summer is 30 Americans, an exhibition of thirty-one contemporary African American artists who tackle issues around race, religion, gender, and cultural identity.

“The art in 30 Americans is provocative and challenging, and will explore how our identities and histories are varied, yet we are all still Americans,” said Milwaukee Art Museum Director Daniel Keegan. “The exhibition is colorful, powerful, and unlike anything the Museum has done in recent years.”

In conjunction with the 30 Americans exhibition, the Museum is presenting thirty works by thirty Wisconsin African American artists in Schroeder Galleria, entitled “Wisconsin 30.” The installation includes artists such as Marlon Banks, Reginald Baylor, Tyanna Buie, Evelyn Patricia Terry, and Della Wells.

Also on view is The Veterans Book Project: Objects for Deployment, a deeply meaningful collection of stories from war veterans, compiled into books by artist Monica Haller. Among the local artists included is Racine native and Iraq war veteran Mike Jackson.

“It is a privilege to present this exhibition at the Milwaukee Art Museum,” said Keegan. “The books in the Veterans Book Project are designed so they can be read quickly; for the exhibition, the Museum’s Pieper Education Gallery was transformed into an interactive reading room, where visitors are invited to sit and read.”

While at the Museum, families can visit the Kohl’s Education Center, and interactive area for kids and families to create, play, and explore. The Kohl’s Art Generation Studio includes make-and-take hands-on art projects for kids of all ages, and the Kohl’s Education Gallery is an interactive space where kids can learn how Disney and Pixar animators were inspired by art. Families can sketch, play, and even learn to make a movie. In the Kohl’s Art Generation Lab, visitors can cast their vote for their favorite works of art, or design an exhibition of their very own.

For more information, and a complete line-up of events for August 18, please visit www.mam.org. The Museum has a full-service café on-site, including a children’s menu, as well as a coffee shop, Museum Store, and ample parking options.

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
30 Americans is organized by the Rubell Family Collection, Miami, and is presented at the Milwaukee Art Museum by Helen Bader Foundation, Northwestern Mutual and SC Johnson. Additional support is generously provided by Milwaukee Art Museum’s Friends of Art, Argosy Foundation, Harley-Davidson Motor Company, Wisconsin Energy Foundation, Milwaukee Art Museum’s Contemporary Art Society, Brewers Community Foundation, Angela and Virgis Colbert, Johnson Controls Foundation, Stanley Black & Decker, and Gonzalez, Saggio & Harlan LLP.

HOURS AND ADMISSION
The Museum is open every day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Thursdays until 8 p.m. Admission is $15 for adults; $12 for students, seniors, and active military; and free for Members and for children age 12 and under.

The first Thursday of each month is Target Free First Thursday and admission is free for individuals (does not apply to groups).

Active Military and their families receive free admission, thanks to a partnership with Blue Star Museums. Purple Heart recipients receive free admission thanks to a partnership with Milwaukee County. Veterans receive free admission in conjunction with the Veterans Book Project: Objects for Deployment.

ABOUT MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM
Celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2013, the Milwaukee Art Museum houses a rich collection of over 30,000 works, with strengths in 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, contemporary art, American decorative arts, and folk and self-taught art. The Museum campus is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and spans three buildings, including the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion and the Eero Saarinen-designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center. For more information, please visit www.mam.org.

Museum Opens First-Ever Tattoo Art Exhibition

Tattoo art makes a mark on Milwaukee
Work of famed tattoo artist is Museum-quality

Milwaukee, Wis. – On July 3, the Milwaukee Art Museum will open its first-ever tattoo art exhibition. Tattoo: Flash Art of Amund Dietzel will highlight the tenacity of an immigrant entrepreneur, and the vision of an original artist, as well as the endurance of a craft that has finally come of age.

Known as the “Master in Milwaukee,” Dietzel began his career as a sailor, where he first honed his skills as a tattoo artist. Eventually, covered in ink neck to ankle, Dietzel traveled with carnivals as a sideshow and made his way to Milwaukee where he became the region’s premier tattoo artist.

Dietzel helped define the look of the “traditional” or “old school” tattoo, kept the practice alive through two World Wars, and passed on the best practices of his craft to the next generation through the decades when many considered tattooing a low art at best, and a public health hazard at worst.

“This exhibition is a great celebration of a Milwaukee icon, so what better time to have it on view than during a time when we celebrate 110 years of another great Milwaukee icon, Harley-Davidson,” said Daniel Keegan, director of the Milwaukee Art Museum. “I am excited to expand the Museum’s boundaries to include tattoo art in our galleries.”

Tattoo will be curated by David Russick, with guest curator Jon Reiter, a local tattoo artist. Reiter has spent years amassing a comprehensive collection of Dietzel “flash” (tattoo design drawings) and peripheral Dietzel Studio material, and has written extensively on Dietzel’s life and career.
ABOUT THE MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM
Celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2013, the Milwaukee Art Museum houses a rich collection of over 30,000 works, with strengths in 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, contemporary art, American decorative arts, and folk and self-taught art. The Museum campus is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and spans three buildings, including the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion and the Eero Saarinen-designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center. For more information, please visit www.mam.org.

 

Free Museum Admission on Thursday, July 4

Target Free First Thursday is July 4
30 Americans, Wisconsin 30, and Tattoo free all day long

Milwaukee, Wis. – The Milwaukee Art Museum’s next monthly Target Free First Thursday is set for Thursday, July 4, 2013. Admission is free for all individuals, and it includes access to 30 Americans and Tattoo: Flash Art of Amund Dietzel.

“We are thrilled to be able to offer this opportunity to our visitors,” said Museum director Daniel Keegan. “Since the program started, over 50,000 people have participated in Target Free First Thursdays. 30 Americans is currently on view, as well as a new special exhibition on on tattoo art, which I encourage everyone to experience.”

30 Americans showcases the work of thirty-one contemporary African American artists who tackle issues around race, religion, gender, sexuality, and cultural identity. The exhibition features nearly eighty paintings, sculptures, photographs, installations, and digital media art. Running concurrently is an installation of works by 30 contemporary Wisconsin artists called “Wisconsin 30.”

Also on view will be a new exhibition of tattoo art by Milwaukeean Amund Dietzel. Known as the “Master in Milwaukee,” Dietzel began his career as a sailor, where he first honed his skills as a tattoo artist. Eventually, covered in ink neck to ankle, Dietzel traveled with carnivals as a sideshow and made his way to Milwaukee where he became the region’s premier tattoo artist. Tattoo: Flash Art of Amund Dietzel opens on July 3.

Target Free First Thursdays provides all Museum visitors with free admission on the first Thursday of each month. The Museum is open Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

“At Target, our local grants are making a difference in the communities we serve,” said Laysha Ward, president, community relations, Target. “We’re proud to partner with the Milwaukee Art Museum as part of our ongoing commitment to give back to the communities where our guests and team members live and work.”

ABOUT THE MUSEUM
Celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2013, the Milwaukee Art Museum houses a rich collection of over 30,000 works, with strengths in 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, contemporary art, American decorative arts, and folk and self-taught art. The Museum campus is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and spans three buildings, including the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion and the Eero Saarinen-designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center. For more information, please visit www.mam.org.

ABOUT TARGET
Minneapolis-based Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) serves guests at 1,740 stores in 49 states nationwide and at Target.com. Target is committed to providing a fun and convenient shopping experience with access to unique and highly differentiated products at affordable prices. Since 1946, the corporation has given 5 percent of its income through community grants and programs like Take Charge of Education. Today, that giving equals more than $3 million a week.

Lakefront Festival of Art returns June 21-23

THE MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM ANNOUNCES THE 2013 LAKEFRONT FESTIVAL OF ART
Quad/Graphics and Milwaukee Magazine present annual arts showcase marking 51st year

Milwaukee, Wis. –The Milwaukee Art Museum’s 2013 Lakefront Festival of Art (LFOA) celebrates its 51st year this June with many new offerings to entertain the entire family. The event takes place Friday, June 21, through Sunday, June 23, on the grounds of the Museum along Lake Michigan. The 51st annual LFOA is presented by Quad/Graphics and Milwaukee Magazine.

Since its beginning in 1963, LFOA has evolved to become one of the top ten juried art festivals in the country, featuring work by more than 175 artists, including jewelry, painting, sculpture, photography, and more. A variety of family-friendly programs and activities are scheduled throughout the weekend as well.
For the fourth consecutive year, artists’ booths will be featured inside the Museum, allowing attendees access to the entire Museum collection and the Museum’s feature exhibition, 30 Americans, a collection of contemporary African American art.

In addition to the world-class art and artist booths, the festival includes:
• Lakefront Late Night
Friday Night, 5pm – 10pm
Celebrate summer with an amazing musical lineup from some of Milwaukee’s hottest bands – including Kassik, Blue Boy, Jaill– shop the artist booths, and meet friends at the Milwaukee Magazine Wine Garden on Baumgartner Terrace.

• Live Music and Gourmet Fare
Feast on gourmet foods and beverages and listen to live music from Panoramic & True, Group of Altos, Ikarus Down and I’m Not a Pilot at the outdoor stage throughout the day.

Milwaukee Magazine Wine Garden
Relax beneath the Museum’s world-famous Calatrava-designed Burke Brise Soleil and enjoy specialty wines while overlooking the beautiful festival grounds and stunning Lake Michigan.

• Sculpture Garden
Enjoy our showcase of outdoor sculptures provided by festival artists, set in a Hawks Landscape garden that’s a work of art itself.

• Kalahari Resorts Art Safari and Sand Sculpture
To celebrate the spirit of the African continent’s land and culture, Kalahari and a team of international sand sculptors will transform fifty tons of sand into scenes drawn from an African safari. In addition, experience the thrill of an encounter with the African wild with animal performances by the Timbavati Wildlife Park.

• PNC Children’s Experience
This highly interactive, kid-focused area of the festival features drama performances, hands-on art projects and more—designed especially for kids of all ages.

• Blue Moon Beer Garden
New this year! Enjoy your favorite beer amongst friends or try a new microbrew at one of the beer tastings while enjoying the lakefront views and live entertainment.

• Silent Auction
Bid on artwork donated by festival artists beginning the week prior to the festival through its close on Sunday, June 23.

“LFOA is the perfect event for the everyone – from an art enthusiast to fun for the entire family,” said Krista Renfrew, Director of Special Events, Milwaukee Art Museum. “From world-class art, to the wine garden, the children’s area, entertainment and Lakefront Late Night, there’s something for everyone.”

Funds raised from the event help acquire new art for the Museum’s collection. “Over the past 50 years, the proceeds from LFOA have helped the Museum acquire more than 250 new works of art,” said Daniel Keegan, Director of the Milwaukee Art Museum.

Festival admission is $8 in advance, $15 at the gate, or $20 for a three-day pass. Kids age 16 and under get in free (with an adult). Veterans and Active Military receive free admission. Tickets can be purchased online and at participating locations throughout Southeastern Wisconsin. Festival tickets include admission to the Milwaukee Art Museum. Festival hours are:

Friday, June 21, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Saturday, June 22, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Sunday, June 23, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Lakefront Festival of Art is presented by Milwaukee Magazine/Quad Graphics, with additional support generously provided by PNC Financial Services Group, Kalahari Resorts, Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, Blue Moon, Hawks Landscape, Sommer’s Subaru, International Autos Group, Potawatomi Bingo Casino, ShopKeep POS, Adelman Travel Group, 88.9 Radio Milwaukee, OnMilwaukee.com, and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

About Lakefront Festival of Art
The Lakefront Festival of Art (LFOA) is one of the premier art festivals in the country, featuring artists from across the nation with art for sale in a variety of media, including paintings, sculptures, jewelry, photography, printmaking, wood, ceramics, fiber, and more. Since 1963, the Lakefront Festival of Art has been a primary fundraiser for the Milwaukee Art Museum and organized with the help of Friends of Art volunteers. For more information on LFOA, please visit www.mam.org/lfoa.

About the Milwaukee Art Museum
Celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2013, the Milwaukee Art Museum houses a rich collection of over 30,000 works, with strengths in 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, contemporary art, American decorative arts, and folk and self-taught art. The Museum campus is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and spans three buildings, including the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion and the Eero Saarinen-designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center. For more information, please visit mam.org.

About Friends of Art
The Friends of Art (FOA) is the primary volunteer support organization of the Milwaukee Art Museum. FOA raises funds in support of the Museum and develops activities to stimulate visual art appreciation and inspire volunteer leadership. Over 1,300 individuals volunteer annually to help organize and operate FOA’s fundraising events. Over $7 million has been generated through FOA events since it was founded in 1957. For more information on FOA, please visit www.mam.org/involved/details/foa.php.

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Free Museum Admission for Veterans, Active Military, and Family Members

FREE MUSEUM ADMISSION FOR VETERANS, ACTIVE MILITARY BEGINS ON MEMORIAL DAY
Veterans, Active Military free all summer long

Milwaukee, Wis. – The Milwaukee Art Museum is offering free admission for all veterans, active military, and up to five additional family members beginning on Monday, May 27 (Memorial Day) and running through Monday, September 2 (Labor Day).

Currently on view is The Veterans Book Project: Objects for Deployment, which highlights the stories of veterans from throughout the country, including five local veterans and their families. In continuing the Museum’s partnership with the Milwaukee County War Memorial, all veterans and up to five family members with them receive free admission throughout the run of the exhibition.

This summer, the Museum is again participating in the Blue Star Museums program, where active military and up to five family members with them receive free Museum admission from Memorial Day through Labor Day. First launched in 2010, Blue Star Museums is a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and more than 2,000 museums across America.

Starting Memorial Day (May 27) and running through Labor Day (Sept 2), the Museum is open seven days a week, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (until 8 p.m. on Thursdays). The Museum’s summer feature exhibition, 30 Americans, opens June 14.
ABOUT MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM
Celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2013, the Milwaukee Art Museum houses a rich collection of over 30,000 works, with strengths in 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, contemporary art, American decorative arts, and folk and self-taught art. The Museum campus is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and spans three buildings, including the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion and the Eero Saarinen-designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center. For more information, please visit www.mam.org.

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Free Museum Admission on May 2; Celebrate Barbara Brown Lee Day

Target Free First Thursday is May 2
Celebrate 50 years of Barbara Brown Lee

Milwaukee, Wis. – The Milwaukee Art Museum’s next monthly Target Free First Thursday is set for Thursday, May 2, 2013. Admission is free for all individuals, and it is officially “Barbara Brown Lee Day” at the Museum, to celebrate an extraordinary career of an extraordinary lady.

“We are thrilled to be able to offer this opportunity to our visitors,” said Museum director Daniel Keegan. “On Target Free First Thursdays, the Museum is buzzing with excitement and activity.”

On May 2, the Museum also celebrates Chief Educator Barbara Brown Lee, who retired in 2013 after a fifty year career at the Museum. Activities for “Barbara Brown Lee Day” begin at 4 p.m.

Museum Members are also encouraged to stay for the Annual Meeting, which begins at 6:15 p.m.

Target Free First Thursdays provides all Museum visitors with free admission on the first Thursday of each month. The Museum is open Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Future Target Free First Thursday dates include June 6, July 4, and August 1.

“At Target, our local grants are making a difference in the communities we serve,” said Laysha Ward, president, community relations, Target. “We’re proud to partner with the Milwaukee Art Museum as part of our ongoing commitment to give back to the communities where our guests and team members live and work.”

ABOUT THE MUSEUM
Celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2013, the Milwaukee Art Museum houses a rich collection of over 30,000 works, with strengths in 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, contemporary art, American decorative arts, and folk and self-taught art. The Museum campus is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and spans three buildings, including the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion and the Eero Saarinen-designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center. For more information, please visit www.mam.org.

ABOUT TARGET
Minneapolis-based Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) serves guests at 1,740 stores in 49 states nationwide and at Target.com. Target is committed to providing a fun and convenient shopping experience with access to unique and highly differentiated products at affordable prices. Since 1946, the corporation has given 5 percent of its income through community grants and programs like Take Charge of Education. Today, that giving equals more than $3 million a week.

Museum Opens Cissie Peltz Memorial Exhibition

Museum opens Cissie Peltz memorial exhibition

Milwaukee, Wis – On April 23, the Milwaukee Art Museum opened an exhibition of works in honor of Cissie Peltz, a longtime Milwaukee gallery owner, art patron, and champion of local artists, who passed away on April 3.

Peltz was a pioneer in many aspects of her life. Born in Chicago, Sophia Jean Peltz was an artist at an early age, crafting cartoons with her unique style and wit. As a cartoonist, she broke into a field dominated by men in the early 1950s under the gender-neutral pen name “Cissie,” and was published in the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Milwaukee Journal, and the Saturday Review.

Peltz opened her gallery on Milwaukee’s east side in 1989. She was a fervent supporter of female and minority artists and held an annual “Remarkable Women” show that featured the work of artists Alison Saar, Kiki Smith, Kara Walker, and Wisconsin artists Frances Myers and Della Wells, to name but a few.

“For nearly thirty years, Cissie was heavily involved in the Milwaukee Art Museum support groups Print Forum and Contemporary Art Society,” said Dan Keegan, director of the Milwaukee Art Museum. “Curated with the help of Cissie’s son, David Peltz, and Peltz Gallery assistant Cheryl Olson-Sklar, the works featured in this exhibition celebrate her life as an artist, an avid collector, and a welcoming and unassuming gallery owner who wanted simply to introduce people to art.”

Peltz’s own cartoons are on view, along with works by Warrington Colescott, John Nicholson Colt, and others. A sketchbook will also be included in the exhibition for visitors to share their memories of Peltz through words or drawings. The exhibition will be on view through mid-May.

ABOUT MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM
Celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2013, the Milwaukee Art Museum houses a rich collection of over 30,000 works, with strengths in 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, contemporary art, American decorative arts, and folk and self-taught art. The Museum campus is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and spans three buildings, including the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion and the Eero Saarinen-designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center. For more information, please visit www.mam.org.

 

Museum Hires New Curator of European Art

Milwaukee Art Museum announces new Curator of European Art

Milwaukee, Wis. – April 18, 2013 – After an extensive national search, the Milwaukee Art Museum is pleased to announce the appointment of Tanya Paul as the Isabel and Alfred Bader Curator of European Art. Paul will join the Museum in June 2013.

Paul is currently the Ruth G. Hardman Curator of European Art at the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a position she has held for nearly four years. Among the exhibitions she has curated for the Philbrook, Scenes from the Low Countries: Dutch and Flemish Prints in the Age of Rembrandt, The Sinuous Line: Jacques Callot and the Rebirth of Printmaking in Early Modern France, and Precious Possessions: The Art of The Portrait Miniature.

The exhibition Elegance and Refinement: The Still-Life Paintings of Willem van Aelst, which Paul organized while she was at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, was based on her 2008 dissertation on the Dutch painter. The exhibition later traveled to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and received excellent reviews in the New York Times and the Washington Post.

“Tanya Paul brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to this new position at the Museum,” said Brady Roberts, chief curator for the Milwaukee Art Museum. “Her expertise in Dutch still life paintings, as well as her expertise in European printmaking, makes her a tremendous asset as we begin our reinstallation process. I look forward to working with Tanya as we move forward.”

Paul has previously worked at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the University of Virginia Art Museum (now the Fralin Museum of Art), and the J. Paul Getty Museum. She received her MA and her PhD from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Paul’s position at the Museum as curator of European art is newly funded by Alfred and Isabel Bader, longtime supporters of the Milwaukee Art Museum. Alfred Bader is a renowned collector and dealer of European old master paintings.
ABOUT THE MUSEUM
Celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2013, the Milwaukee Art Museum houses a rich collection of over 30,000 works, with strengths in 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, contemporary art, American decorative arts, and folk and self-taught art. The Museum campus is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and spans three buildings, including the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion and the Eero Saarinen-designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center. For more information, please visit mam.org.

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Contemporary American Art Exhibitions Open June 14; Free Museum Admission June 15 & 16

30 Americans explores identity in contemporary America
Captivating exhibition coming to Milwaukee Art Museum June 14

Milwaukee, Wis. – Continuing its yearlong celebration honoring American art and artists, the Milwaukee Art Museum presents 30 Americans, showcasing the work of thirty-one contemporary African American artists who tackle issues around race, religion, gender, sexuality, and cultural identity. Opening June 14, this wide-ranging survey drawn from the Rubell Family Collection, Miami, explores ideas central to what it means to be an American.

“The art in 30 Americans is provocative and challenging, and will explore how our identities and histories are varied, yet we are all still Americans,” said Milwaukee Art Museum Director Daniel Keegan. “This is a vastly different exhibition from anything that the Museum has done in recent years.”

30 Americans will feature nearly eighty paintings, sculptures, photographs,  installations, and digital media art by the following artists: Nina Chanel Abney, John Bankston, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Mark Bradford, iona rozeal brown, Nick Cave, Robert Colescott, Noah Davis, Leonardo Drew, Renée Green, David Hammons, Barkley L. Hendricks, Rashid Johnson, Glenn Ligon, Kalup Linzy, Kerry James Marshall, Rodney McMillian, Wangechi Mutu, William Pope.L, Gary Simmons, Xaviera Simmons, Lorna Simpson, Shinique Smith, Jeff Sonhouse, Henry Taylor, Hank Willis Thomas, Mickalene Thomas, Kara Walker, Carrie Mae Weems, Kehinde Wiley, and Purvis Young.

Placing works by established artists alongside those by emerging artists, the exhibition further compares the power of influence across generations and within communities. Kehinde Wiley’s old master–like portraits of black men made today resonate with Robert Colescott’s paintings from the 1970s–1990s that transpose African American culture in the narratives of art history. Mark Bradford and Shinique Smith from the West and East coasts, respectively, create works that reveal an affinity with Jean-Michel Basquiat’s charged graffiti-based paintings.

“This is not a subtle exhibition. It will inspire discussion,” said Keegan. “Our hope is that visitors will engage in dialogue both in and out of the Museum setting. This exhibition is interactive, and so the programs around it are meant to engage a variety of audiences.”

In conjunction with the 30 Americans exhibition, the Museum is presenting thirty works by thirty Wisconsin African American artists in Schroeder Galleria, as well as, in the Contemporary Galleries, works in the Museum’s Collection by African American artists and the five-channel video installation “Question Bridge: Black Males.” These complementary installations will remain open during the run of 30 Americans.

In celebration of its 125th anniversary, and in conjunction with the opening of  30 Americans, the Milwaukee Art Museum will host a Community Weekend event, with free admission on Saturday, June 15, and Sunday, June 16. The Museum is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and admission will be free for everyone who visits. A variety of programming is scheduled throughout the weekend.

30 Americans runs June 14, 2013, through September 8, 2013, and is coordinated at the Milwaukee Art Museum by William Keyse Rudolph, Dudley J. Godfrey Jr. Curator of American Art and Decorative Arts.

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
30 Americans is organized by the Rubell Family Collection, Miami, and is presented at the Milwaukee Art Museum by Helen Bader Foundation, Northwestern Mutual and SC Johnson. Additional support is generously provided by Milwaukee Art Museum’s Friends of Art, Argosy Foundation, Harley-Davidson Motor Company, Wisconsin Energy Foundation, Milwaukee Art Museum’s Contemporary Art Society, Brewers Community Foundation, Angela and Virgis Colbert, Johnson Controls Foundation, Stanley Black & Decker, and Gonzalez, Saggio & Harlan LLP.

HOURS AND ADMISSION
The Museum is open every day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Thursdays until 8 p.m. Admission is $15 for adults; $12 for students and seniors; and free for Members and for children age 12 and under.

The first Thursday of each month is Target Free First Thursday and admission is free for individuals (does not apply to groups).

From Memorial Day through Labor Day, Active Military and up to five additional family members receive free admission, thanks to a partnership with Blue Star Museums. Veterans and up to five additional family members receive free admission in conjunction with the Veterans Book Project: Objects for Deployment.

Purple Heart recipients receive free admission thanks to a partnership with Milwaukee County.

Wisconsin K-12 teachers receive free admission with school-issued ID or paystub.

ABOUT THE RUBELL FAMILY COLLECTION
Don and Mera Rubell started the Rubell Family Collection (RFC) in New York City when they were first married in 1964. Since 1993, the Collection has been displayed in Miami at its current, 45,000 square-foot location inside a former Drug Enforcement Agency confiscated goods facility. RFC first opened to the public in 1994, and in 1998 the non-profit Contemporary Arts Foundation (CAF) was created to expand the Collection‘s public mission inside the paradigm of a contemporary art museum. Learn more at http://www.rfc.museum/.

ABOUT MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM
Celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2013, the Milwaukee Art Museum collection houses over 30,000 works, with strengths in 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, contemporary art, American decorative arts, and folk and self-taught art. The Museum campus is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and spans three buildings, including the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion and the Eero Saarinen-designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center. For more information, please visit www.mam.org.

Art in Bloom Returns April 11–14

Art in Bloom ushers in spring April 11–14
Annual floral design event celebrates 125 years of art

Milwaukee, Wis. – Get a jump start on spring at “Art in Bloom,” the annual tribute to art and flowers at the Milwaukee Art Museum, April 11–14, 2013. The inspiration for this year’s event is the Museum’s 125th anniversary celebration as well as its featured exhibition, Color Rush: 75 Years of Color Photography in America.

Showcasing the talents of over 45 renowned floral designers from across the Midwest, Art in Bloom brings together gardening, floral arranging, and landscape design, inspired by the art beneath the wings of the Museum and throughout the Galleries. The event also includes lectures, seminars, and activities for both experienced and novice gardeners.

“Art in Bloom is a festive community event that not only immerses you in beauty, but also provides you with an opportunity to enhance your floral and gardening know-how,” said Daniel Keegan, director of the Milwaukee Art Museum. “With guest appearances by celebrity floral designers and master gardeners Neil Whittaker, Ron Morgan, Jill Bedford, Melinda Meyers, and James Walczak, visitors will discover a variety of ideas to use at home this season.”

In addition to daily lectures and programs around gardening and horticulture, the event includes a marketplace for shopping, a wine tent, and children’s activities in the Kohl’s Education Center.

“This is one of the most beautiful, family-friendly events of the year,” said Keegan. “I encourage everyone to take in the sights and smells of Art in Bloom this year.”

A complete schedule of lectures, events, and ticket information can be found at mam.org/bloom. Daily Museum admission is $15 adult/$5 Member, Thursday through Sunday. As always, children age 12 and under receive free admission. Programs requiring tickets and reservations are noted.

Art in Bloom is proudly presented by PNC, with additional support proudly provided by Milwaukee Art Museum Garden Club, CDI- Center for Diagnostic Imaging, International Autos Group, Kanavas Landscape Management , Landworks Landscape Services, Milaeger’s Garden Bistro, and Barbara Strecker.

 

ABOUT THE MUSEUM
Celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2013, the Milwaukee Art Museum collection houses over 30,000 works, with strengths in 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, contemporary art, American decorative arts, and folk and self-taught art. The Museum campus is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and spans three buildings, including the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion and the Eero Saarinen-designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center. For more information, please visit www.mam.org.

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Free Museum Admission on Thursday, April 4

Target Free First Thursday is April 4
First FREE chance to experience The Veterans Book Project

Milwaukee, Wis. – The Milwaukee Art Museum’s next monthly Target Free First Thursday is set for Thursday, April 4, 2013. Admission is free for all individuals, and it includes access to  Color Rush: 75 Years of Color Photography in America.

“We are thrilled to be able to offer this opportunity to our visitors,” said Museum director Daniel Keegan. “Since the program started, over 30,000 people have participated in Target Free First Thursdays. Color Rush is currently on view, as well as a new special exhibition on Veterans’ reflections on war, which I encourage everyone to experience.”

Color Rush explores the development of color photography from its first commercial availability in 1907 until its acceptance as status quo in 1981. The exhibition includes over 200 objects such as photographs, slide shows, video, autochromes, magazines, advertisements, and more.

Opening on Thursday, April 4 is The Veterans Book Project: Objects for Deployment This emotionally-powerful exhibition comprises a library of books that artist Monica Haller created in collaboration with veterans and others with experiences of the American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. All veterans receive free Museum admission every day during the run of the exhibition, through September 2, 2013

Target Free First Thursdays provides all Museum visitors with free admission on the first Thursday of each month. The Museum is open Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Future Target Free First Thursday dates include  May 2, June 6, and July 4.

“At Target, our local grants are making a difference in the communities we serve,” said Laysha Ward, president, community relations, Target. “We’re proud to partner with the Milwaukee Art Museum as part of our ongoing commitment to give back to the communities where our guests and team members live and work.”

ABOUT THE MUSEUM
Celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2013, the Milwaukee Art Museum collection houses over 30,000 works, with strengths in 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, contemporary art, American decorative arts, and folk and self-taught art. The Museum campus is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and spans three buildings, including the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion and the Eero Saarinen-designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center. For more information, please visit www.mam.org.

ABOUT TARGET
Minneapolis-based Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) serves guests at 1,740 stores in 49 states nationwide and at Target.com. Target is committed to providing a fun and convenient shopping experience with access to unique and highly differentiated products at affordable prices. Since 1946, the corporation has given 5 percent of its income through community grants and programs like Take Charge of Education. Today, that giving equals more than $3 million a week.

Veterans Book Project Opens April 4

Veterans Book Project redeploys wartime experiences through art

Milwaukee, Wis. – On April 4, the Milwaukee Art Museum opens the Veterans Book Project: Objects for Deployment. The exhibition comprises a library of books that artist Monica Haller created in collaboration with veterans and others with experiences of the American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. All veterans receive free Museum admission during the run of the exhibition, through November 10, 2013.

The Veterans Book Project evolved out of a book that Monica Haller authored with Riley Sharbonno, a veteran and nurse at Abu Ghraib prison. Since 2006, the project has facilitated thirteen bookmaking workshops around the country, including at the Museum in December 2012. In these workshops, combat and non-combat veterans, their families, and others affected by the current American wars are invited to edit and design their archives and stories into softbound, print-on-demand books. Five books were created by local authors in the workshop at the Museum—a soldier’s mother, a Vietnam War veteran, two veterans of the Iraq war, and a local scholar whose research brings her into close contact with veterans.

The fifty books in the exhibition serve to redeploy the volatile images of war for a broad audience, while helping the authors rearticulate their memories and fashion narratives so as to make the experiences more manageable. Each book not only stands on its own but also works in concert with the larger collection, which Haller sees as an archive, a container of memory traces and image fragments from wars that are not talked about nearly enough.

“It is a privilege to present this exhibition at the Milwaukee Art Museum,” said Daniel Keegan, director. “The books in the Veterans Book Project are designed so they can be read quickly; for the exhibition, the Museum’s Pieper Education Gallery is being transformed into an interactive reading room, where visitors are invited to sit and read.”

The exhibition and the Panel Discussion on April 4 offer viewers the opportunity to engage with veterans’ experiences through reading, writing responses, informal conversation, and facilitated discussion.

The Veterans Book Project continues the Museum’s joint mission with the War Memorial Corporation “to honor the dead by serving the living.”

The Veterans Book Project is presented at the Milwaukee Art Museum by the Runzheimer Foundation, with additional support from Comfort Inn & Suites, Downtown Lakeshore.

EXHIBITION OPENING AND RECEPTION
Thursday, April 4, 5–8 pm
6:15 pm Panel Discussion
Lubar Auditorium
Free

ABOUT MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM
Celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2013, the Milwaukee Art Museum collection houses over 30,000 works, with strengths in 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, contemporary art, American decorative arts, and folk and self-taught art. The Museum campus is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and spans three buildings, including the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion and the Eero Saarinen-designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center. For more information, please visit www.mam.org.

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Operations Agreement Reached Between Milwaukee Art Museum and War Memorial

OPERATIONS AGREEMENT REACHED BETWEEN MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM AND WAR MEMORIAL 

MILWAUKEE (March 12, 2013) – At today’s Milwaukee County Parks Committee meeting, the Milwaukee Art Museum and Milwaukee County War Memorial, Inc. announced that they have reached a tentative agreement regarding the ongoing management of the buildings and grounds occupied by both organizations. Lead negotiators for both organizations finalized a term sheet last week.

The term sheet must still be ratified by the boards of each organization and a variety of legal documents finalized and approved by Milwaukee County.

“We’re very pleased to announce that through committed negotiations by both the War Memorial Corporation and the Milwaukee Art Museum, we have reached a fair and solid agreement regarding the ongoing management of the buildings and grounds occupied by both organizations,” said Dan Keegan, Director of the Milwaukee Art Museum. “This agreement helps pave the way for the Art Museum’s planned $15 million investment and the County’s investment of $10 million.”

“This is a positive step forward for the War Memorial Corporation and we look forward to continuing our collaborative relationship with the Art Museum,” said American Legion state adjutant David Kurtz, on behalf of the War Memorial negotiations team. “The improvements planned through the support of the Art Museum and the County will ensure the War Memorial can continue its mission to honor the dead by serving the living.”

Both the Art Museum and War Memorial expressed their appreciation to Justice Janine Geske for her work in helping the parties reach agreement. They also thanked Milwaukee County Board Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic and County Executive Chris Abele for their involvement throughout the process and for appointing Justice Geske as a mediator.

Highlights of the agreement include:
• Both the Art Museum and War Memorial Center will operate as legally independent organizations with separate governance structures. They will collaborate on some matters involving programming and events for Veterans.
• The War Memorial Center will continue to manage, maintain and control spaces that it currently occupies, including the level one north entrance and third and fourth floors of the Saarinen Building and level two south entrance along with the Fitch Plaza/roof of the Kahler Building.
• The Art Museum will manage, maintain and control spaces it currently occupies in the 1957 Eero Saarinen–designed War Memorial and the 1972 Kahler building addition, along with the exterior of the lower portion of the Saarinen building and the entire exterior of the Kahler building.
• The Art Museum will move forward with plans for a $15 million renovation including gallery and building improvements.
• The North Tract – an area of land north of the War Memorial Center buildings including parking lots – will remain under lease to the War Memorial Center. Any future development proposed for the property by either the War Memorial Center or the Art Museum is subject to approval by the other party in addition to Milwaukee County.
• The War Memorial Center and the Art Museum will collaborate on a hybrid-engineering model supporting the separation of the campus mechanical systems.
• The War Memorial Center Art Museum will control revenue derived from their respective spaces / activities.

“We are excited to move forward with this agreement, which will help both organizations grow and provide world-class experiences for Milwaukee County Veterans, the Southeastern Wisconsin military community and the community at large,” said Kurtz.

ABOUT MILWAUKEE COUNTY WAR MEMORIAL, INC.
The War Memorial Center was built in 1957 and grew out of a civic desire to create a fitting memorial to honor those who gave their lives in World War II. The War Memorial Center partners with a number of veteran organizations to provide a variety of community events and services. Additional information can be found at http://www.warmemorialcenter.org/

ABOUT MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM
Celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2013, the Milwaukee Art Museum collection houses over 30,000 works, with strengths in 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, contemporary art, American decorative arts, and folk and self-taught art. The Museum campus is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and spans three buildings, including the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion and the Eero Saarinen-designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center. For more information, please visit www.mam.org.

Free Admission on Thursday, March 7

Target Free First Thursday is March 7
First FREE chance to experience Color Rush

Milwaukee, Wis. – The Milwaukee Art Museum’s next monthly Target Free First Thursday is set for Thursday, March 7, 2013. Admission is free for all individuals, and it is the public’s first free chance to see Color Rush: 75 Years of Color Photography in America.

“We are thrilled to be able to offer this opportunity to our visitors,” said Museum director Daniel Keegan. “Since the program started, over 30,000 people have participated in Target Free First Thursdays. The Museum has a new feature exhibition that has just debuted, and I encourage everyone to experience it.”

Color Rush explores the development of color photography from its first commercial availability in 1907 until its acceptance as status quo in 1981. The exhibition includes over 200 objects such as photographs, slide shows, video, autochromes, magazines, advertisements, and more.

Target Free First Thursdays provides all Museum visitors with free admission on the first Thursday of each month. The Museum is open Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Future Target Free First Thursday dates include April 4, May 2, and June 6.

“At Target, our local grants are making a difference in the communities we serve,” said Laysha Ward, president, community relations, Target. “We’re proud to partner with the Milwaukee Art Museum as part of our ongoing commitment to give back to the communities where our guests and team members live and work.”

ABOUT THE MUSEUM
Celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2013, the Milwaukee Art Museum collection houses over 30,000 works, with strengths in 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, contemporary art, American decorative arts, and folk and self-taught art. The Museum campus is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and spans three buildings, including the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion and the Eero Saarinen-designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center. For more information, please visit www.mam.org.

ABOUT TARGET
Minneapolis-based Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) serves guests at 1,740 stores in 49 states nationwide and at Target.com. Target is committed to providing a fun and convenient shopping experience with access to unique and highly differentiated products at affordable prices. Since 1946, the corporation has given 5 percent of its income through community grants and programs like Take Charge of Education. Today, that giving equals more than $3 million a week.

Museum Celebrates 125 Years of Art

Milwaukee Art Museum celebrates 125 years of art
Public art gallery founded in 1888 by patron Frederick Layton

Milwaukee, Wis. – Something special happened in Milwaukee 125 years ago. British-born businessman Frederick Layton decided to build an art gallery near Cathedral Square for his adopted city. When the Layton Gallery opened in April 1888, it laid the foundation for what would become the Milwaukee Art Museum, an internationally recognized museum with a world-class collection, leading education programs, and history-making exhibitions.

In 2013, the Milwaukee Art Museum celebrates its founding and its years of growth and adventure. Three special exhibitions are planned to commemorate the occasion.

“I am honored to share this important anniversary celebration with our Members, visitors, docents, volunteers, staff, and the entire Milwaukee community,” said Daniel Keegan, director of the Milwaukee Art Museum.

The Layton Art Collection: 1888-2013 celebrates this history and the Layton Collection’s 125 years of contributions to the art and culture of Milwaukee in two galleries. In the Museum’s European galleries, the Layton Art Gallery’s pre-war splendor will be showcased through a dramatic, Salon-style installation of European and American art, drawn from works shown at the art gallery between 1888 and 1918. In the Decorative Arts Gallery on the Museum’s Lower Level, the rich history of the Layton Collection is examined in an exhibition co-organized with the Chipstone Foundation. The collection is explored from its origins within a purpose-built art gallery and its role in bringing Modernism to Milwaukee, to its contributions promoting American fine and decorative arts in the half-century it has shared space with the Museum.

“It is important to recognize the contribution of Mr. Layton, because without him, the Milwaukee Art Museum wouldn’t exist in this form today. We owe so much of our history and future to Mr. Layton’s idea for a public art gallery back in 1888,” said Keegan.

In Baumgartner Galleria, a selection of photographs, models, books, videos, and letters recall the full range of the Milwaukee Art Museum’s history. Drawn from the Museum’s institutional archives as well as the Milwaukee County Historical Society, these materials document the Museum’s 1888 founding, phases of growth and collaboration, deep community involvement, and the many world-class acquisitions. The exhibition highlights architectural achievements, local media responses, and first-person accounts that express the important role of the Museum within the city.

Included in the 125th anniversary celebration events are special programs and lectures celebrating the Museum’s history, as well as free admission days on the first Thursday of every month, thanks to Target.

The Museum will also celebrate the life and career of storied Chief Educator Barbara Brown Lee, who is retiring after fifty years of service to the Museum. A special “BBL Day” is planned for May 2, 2013.

“The Museum, and the entire community, owe a great deal to Mrs. Barbara Brown Lee for her years of service to this institution,” said Keegan. “Wit, wisdom, and a passion for her craft are what define her, and she is without a doubt, the most precious work of art in this building.”

ABOUT MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM
Celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2013, the Milwaukee Art Museum collection houses over 30,000 works, with strengths in 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, contemporary art, American decorative arts, and folk and self-taught art. The Museum campus is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and spans three buildings, including the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion and the Eero Saarinen-designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center. For more information, please visit www.mam.org.

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FINAL DAYS: “Color Rush” Exposes Color in American Photography

Color Rush exposes color in American photography

Milwaukee, Wis. – Color Rush: 75 Years of Color Photography in America captures the medium’s evolution throughout the first seven decades of the twentieth century, exploring the historical developments that led to color photography becoming the norm in popular culture and fine art. With framed photographs, as well as publications, slide shows, and film clips, this exhibition and catalogue present the story of color photography in America as it has never been told before.

Color Rush runs February 22 through May 19, 2013 at the Milwaukee Art Museum.

The exhibition charts—from magazine pages to gallery walls, from advertisements to photojournalism—the interconnected history of color photography in the United States from 1907 to 1981 through nearly 200 objects.

“Respectively, these years mark the introduction of the first commercially available color photographic process—the autochrome—and the published survey that signified the widespread acceptance of contemporary art photography in color,” said Lisa Hostetler, exhibition co-curator. “In the intervening years, color photography captured the popular imagination through its visibility in magazines such as Life and Vogue, as well as through its accessibility on the marketplace thanks to companies such as Kodak. At the same time, artists were exploring the potential of color photography for their own creative practice.”

Co-curator Katherine Bussard adds, “This exhibition and catalogue give form to the fascinating dialogue that always surrounded American color photography. Together, Lisa Hostetler and I set out to rectify the problematic—if prevailing—notion that color photography prior to the 1970s was either amateur or commercial and only recognized as such. The historical reality was never that simple, never so definitive.”

The Milwaukee Art Museum demonstrated an early interest in color photography when, in 1979, curator Verna Posever Curtis organized Color: A Spectrum of Recent Photography. Featuring photographs by William Christenberry, William Eggleston, Joel Meyerowitz, John Pfahl, and Neal Slavin, among many others, the exhibition was among the earliest to look at the emergence of color photography in the art world. Color Rush updates this treatment substantially, expanding its purview to include historical precedents and enlarging its field of vision to address color photography’s use in popular and commercial contexts, as well as in artistic ones.

Among the artists represented in the exhibition: Ansel Adams, Harry Callahan, William Eggleston, Walker Evans, Nan Goldin, Jan Groover, Barbara Kasten, Saul Leiter, Susan Meiselas, Joel Meyerowitz, László Moholy-Nagy, Nickolas Muray, Paul Outerbridge, Eliot Porter, Cindy Sherman, Stephen Shore, Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen, Joel Sternfeld, and Edward Weston.

The exhibition is co-curated by Lisa Hostetler, former curator of photographs at the Milwaukee Art Museum and currently McEvoy Family Curator of Photography at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and Katherine A. Bussard, associate curator of photography at the Art Institute of Chicago.

An exhibition catalogue accompanies the exhibition.

Major funding for Color Rush: 75 Years of Color Photography in America has been provided by the Herzfeld Foundation. Additional support has been provided by the Milwaukee Art Museum’s Friends of Art, Christine A. Symchych and James P. McNulty, the David C. and Sarajean Ruttenberg Arts Foundation, the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, Kenneth and Christine Tanaka, Mrs. Robert O. Levitt, and the Milwaukee Art Museum’s Photography Council.

ABOUT MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM
Celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2013, the Milwaukee Art Museum collection houses over 30,000 works, with strengths in 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, contemporary art, American decorative arts, and folk and self-taught art. The Museum campus is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and spans three buildings, including the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion and the Eero Saarinen-designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center. For more information, please visit www.mam.org.

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MUSEUM CLOSED TODAY, THURSDAY, FEB 7, FREE DAY RESCHEDULED

Due to inclement weather, the Milwaukee Art Museum will be closed today, Thursday, February 7.

The Museum will extend its monthly Target Free Thursday to all visitors on Thursday, February 14. The Museum will be open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Valentine’s Day, so bring a loved one in to share the art.

 

Free Museum Admission February 7

Target Free First Thursday is February 7

Milwaukee, Wis. – The Milwaukee Art Museum’s next monthly Target Free First Thursday is set for Thursday, February 7, 2013. Admission is free for all individuals, and exhibitions on view include Grete Marks: When Modern Was Degenerate and Isaac Julien’s Western Union: Small Boats. Both exhibitions close on February 17.

“We are thrilled to be able to offer this opportunity to our visitors,” said Museum director Daniel Keegan. “Since the program started, over 35,000 people have participated in Target Free First Thursdays. The Museum has outstanding exhibitions running at the moment, and I encourage everyone to experience them.”

Also on view are the winners of the Scholastic Art Awards, which showcase talented middle and high school artists from around the state. The Scholastic Art Awards – Wisconsin competition and exhibition is the regional section of The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards National Program, conducted by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, Inc. Scholastic winners will be on view through March 17, 2013.

Target Free First Thursdays provides all Museum visitors with free admission on the first Thursday of each month. The Museum is open Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Future Target Free First Thursday dates include March 7, April 4, and May 2, 2013.

“At Target, our local grants are making a difference in the communities we serve,” said Laysha Ward, president, community relations, Target. “We’re proud to partner with the Milwaukee Art Museum as part of our ongoing commitment to give back to the communities where our guests and team members live and work.”

ABOUT THE MUSEUM
Celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2013, the Milwaukee Art Museum collection houses over 30,000 works, with strengths in 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, contemporary art, American decorative arts, and folk and self-taught art. The Museum campus is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and spans three buildings, including the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion and the Eero Saarinen-designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center. For more information, please visit www.mam.org.

ABOUT TARGET
Minneapolis-based Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) serves guests at 1,740 stores in 49 states nationwide and at Target.com. Target is committed to providing a fun and convenient shopping experience with access to unique and highly differentiated products at affordable prices. Since 1946, the corporation has given 5 percent of its income through community grants and programs like Take Charge of Education. Today, that giving equals more than $3 million a week.

Final Days of “Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Gainsborough: The Treasures of Kenwood House, London”

Old Masters leaving Milwaukee soon
Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Gainsborough: The Treasures of Kenwood House, London closing January 13

Milwaukee, Wis. –  Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Gainsborough: The Treasures of Kenwood House, London, an exhibition of forty-eight masterpieces on tour from the Iveagh Bequest collection, is on view through January 13, 2013 at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Most of the paintings have never traveled to the States before, and many of them have rarely been seen outside London’s Kenwood House. The exhibition is organized by the American Federation of Arts and English Heritage.

A magnificent painting collection known as the Iveagh Bequest resides at Kenwood House, a neoclassical villa in London that Scottish architect Robert Adam remodeled in the eighteenth century. Donated to the nation by Edward Cecil Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh (1847–1927) and heir to the world’s most successful brewery, the collection was shaped by the tastes of the Belle Époque—Europe’s equivalent to America’s Gilded Age—when the earl shared the cultural stage and art market with other industry titans such as the Rothschilds, J. Pierpont Morgan, and Henry Clay Frick. The earl’s purchases, made mainly between 1887 and 1891, reveal a taste for the portraiture, landscape, and seventeenth-century Dutch and Flemish works that could typically be found in English aristocratic collections.

“It is an honor to collaborate with Kenwood House and with the American Federation of Arts, to host this exquisite collection of masterworks,” said Daniel Keegan, director of the Milwaukee Art Museum. “This priceless collection holds significance the world-over, and again, it speaks volumes about our Museum, and the reputation it has established internationally, that Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Gainsborough: The Treasures of Kenwood House, London is coming to Milwaukee.”

Among the works on view include Rembrandt’s sublime Portrait of the Artist (ca. 1665), Anthony van Dyck’s Princess Henrietta of Lorraine Attended by a Page (1634), Thomas Gainsborough’s Mary, Countess Howe (ca. 1764), Frans Hals’s Pieter van den Broecke (1633), and Joshua Reynolds’s Lady Louisa Manners (1779).

“These artists were inspired by Europe’s rich seascapes and landscapes and aristocratic elegance,” said Keegan. “The works are exceptional, sumptuous, and speak to the heart of the eighteenth-century Golden Age.”

While the exhibition is on tour, Kenwood House is being refurbished; the villa will reopen in late 2013.

The exhibition is curated by Susan Jenkins, together with her colleagues at English Heritage, the government’s lead advisory body for the historic environment in England.

An exhibition catalogue, published by the American Federation of Arts, accompanies the exhibition.

The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities, with additional funding from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation. In-kind support is provided by Barbara and Richard S. Lane.

It is presented at the Milwaukee Art Museum by BMO Harris Bank, with additional funding from Robert W. Baird & Co., Inc. and Michael Best & Friedrich LLP.

ABOUT MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM
The Milwaukee Art Museum’s far-reaching holdings include more than 30,000 works spanning antiquity to the present day. With a history dating back to 1888, the Museum houses a collection with strengths in 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, contemporary art, American decorative arts, and folk and self-taught art. The Museum includes the Santiago Calatrava–designed Quadracci Pavilion, named by Time magazine as “Best Design of 2001.” For more information, please visit www.mam.org.

ABOUT AMERICAN FEDERATION OF ARTS
The AFA is a nonprofit institution that organizes art exhibitions for presentation in museums around the world, publishes exhibition catalogues and develops educational materials and programs for children and adults. The AFA’s mission is to enrich the public’s experience of art and understanding of culture by organizing and touring a diverse offering of exhibitions embracing all aspects of art history. The AFA has organized or circulated approximately 3,000 exhibitions with presentations in museums in every state, Canada, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa that have been viewed by more than 10 million people. For more information about its exhibitions, publications, artist talks (ArtTalks), membership, cultural travel program (ArtScapes) and online resources, including family guides and podcasts, see www.afaweb.org.

ABOUT ENGLISH HERITAGE
English Heritage is the government’s lead advisory body for the historic environment in England and is responsible for the national collection of historic sites and monuments, as well as their contents and archives. The collection comprises more than 400 historic places and spans 5,000 years of architecture, from prehistoric sites to nuclear bunkers. It includes Stonehenge and much of Hadrian’s Wall, the ruins of the greatest medieval abbeys, the world’s first iron bridge, Charles Darwin’s diaries and the Duke of Wellington’s boots. www.english-heritage.org.uk.

ABOUT KENWOOD HOUSE, LONDON
Set in beautiful landscaped parkland in the midst of Hampstead Heath, Kenwood House is one of the most magnificent visitor attractions in London. This elegant villa, remodeled by Robert Adam in the eighteenth century, houses a superb collection of paintings that includes masterpieces by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Turner and Gainsborough, as well as the Suffolk collection of rare Jacobean portraits. While the exhibition is on tour, Kenwood House will be undergoing a major repair and conservation program. The work will make the roof wind and weather tight—protecting the magnificent interior and important art collection from serious leaks and damp—and will also repair and revive Kenwood’s beautiful exterior. The project will be complete in 2013.

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Free Museum Admission January 3

Target Free First Thursday is January 3
Final chance to see Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Gainsborough: The Treasures of Kenwood House, London for free

Milwaukee, Wis. – The Milwaukee Art Museum’s next monthly Target Free First Thursday is set for Thursday, January 3, 2013. Admission is free for all individuals, and it is the public’s final opportunity to see Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Gainsborough: The Treasures of Kenwood House, London for free. The exhibition closes on January 13.

“We are thrilled to be able to offer this opportunity to our visitors,” said Museum director Daniel Keegan. “Since the program started, over 35,000 people have participated in Target Free First Thursdays. The Museum has outstanding exhibitions running at the moment, and I encourage everyone to experience them.”

The Museum’s feature exhibition, Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Gainsborough: The Treasures of Kenwood House, London, is an exhibition of forty-eight masterpieces on tour from the Iveagh Bequest collection. Most of the paintings have never traveled to the States before, and many of them have rarely been seen outside London’s Kenwood House.

Target Free First Thursdays provides all Museum visitors with free admission on the first Thursday of each month. The Museum is open Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Future Target Free First Thursday dates include February 7, March 7, and April 4.

“At Target, our local grants are making a difference in the communities we serve,” said Laysha Ward, president, community relations, Target. “We’re proud to partner with the Milwaukee Art Museum as part of our ongoing commitment to give back to the communities where our guests and team members live and work.”

ABOUT THE MUSEUM
Celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2013, the Milwaukee Art Museum collection houses over 30,000 works, with strengths in 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, contemporary art, American decorative arts, and folk and self-taught art. The Museum campus is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and spans three buildings, including the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion and the Eero Saarinen-designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center. For more information, please visit www.mam.org.

ABOUT TARGET
Minneapolis-based Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) serves guests at 1,740 stores in 49 states nationwide and at Target.com. Target is committed to providing a fun and convenient shopping experience with access to unique and highly differentiated products at affordable prices. Since 1946, the corporation has given 5 percent of its income through community grants and programs like Take Charge of Education. Today, that giving equals more than $3 million a week.

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