Year: 2018

Joel Quadracci Named President of Milwaukee Art Museum Board of Trustees

– Quad/Graphics Chairman, President and CEO will lead the Museum’s Board  –

Milwaukee, Wis. – December 13, 2018 – The Milwaukee Art Museum announces that Joel Quadracci has been appointed president of the institution’s Board of Trustees.

Joel Quadracci has served as a Board Trustee since 2014 and, along with the Harry V. Quadracci family, has been a part of the Windhover Foundation, a major donor to the Museum.

“We are incredibly grateful that Joel has deepened his already considerable involvement with the Museum,” said Marcelle Polednik, PhD, Donna and Donald Baumgartner Director, Milwaukee Art Museum. “Joel’s keen understanding of the Museum’s connection to people’s lives and the community and his business acumen are invaluable, especially as we undertake the strategic planning process.”

The Quadracci family has supported the Museum for decades, including leading the efforts for the Calatrava-designed expansion of the Museum in 2001, named after the Quadracci family, as well as participating in Friends of Art, a volunteer support organization of the Museum.

“The Museum is a significant cultural institution, and when I look at its legacy, I am amazed at what we have achieved: an incredible foundation on which we can build a remarkable and sustainable future,” said Joel Quadracci. Investing in the arts and art education is so important to community vitality and the overall quality of life here. It is my honor and privilege to deepen my involvement by taking on this position.”

Quadracci officially began his role as President after the Board of Trustee voted unanimously in favor in October 2018. Don Layden Jr., the previous president of the Milwaukee Art Museum board, from 2015 to 2018, remains the chairman of the Milwaukee Art Museum Board of Trustees.

Quadracci is the Chairman, President and CEO of Quad/Graphics. He is responsible for the overall strategic growth of the company, which was founded in 1971 by his father, the late Harry V. Quadracci. Joel joined Quad/Graphics in 1991, holding various roles before becoming President and CEO in 2006, and Chairman in 2010.

Milwaukee Art Museum Announces First Retrospective of Influential New York Artist James Nares

  • New exhibition opening June 2019 at the Museum reveals the artist’s significant, five-decades-long career bringing motion into the spotlight.  

Milwaukee, Wis. – November 15, 2018 – The first retrospective for New York–based artist James Nares is opening at the Milwaukee Art Museum this summer. James Nares: Moves, on view June 14 through October 6, 2019, is the first exhibition to explore in depth the artist’s films as central to his artistic practice.

Nares has dedicated his five-decades-long career to focusing attention on motion by variously creating, capturing, and manipulating, as he describes it, “things in motion, motion in things.” His video Street, from 2011, and single-brushstroke paintings, from the early 2000s, have brought broader, popular attention to the British-born artist through online video channels and an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; both show Nares bringing a filmic perspective to his work, an approach he first established as a young artist in New York in the late 1970s.

“Looking at an artist such as James Nares and bringing greater attention to his work is an exciting opportunity for the Museum,” said Margaret Andera, interim chief curator and curator of contemporary art, Milwaukee Art Museum. “He is an artist who has continued to question, explore, and produce, regardless of popular trends, instead remaining true to what intrigues him about the work and the world around him. The art world historically champions those who make a big splash; Nares is among those quieter gems we are getting better at recognizing in their lifetime.”

James Nares: Moves brings together more than 140 of the artist’s films, photographs, drawings, paintings, sculptures, and videos, revealing how Nares has returned to, built upon, and reinvented his filmic pursuits. A gallery near the end of the exhibition allows visitors to see some of the processes and tools behind Nares’s art making. Featured are his sketchbooks, his paint brushes, which he makes himself, and footage on how Street and other videos were developed.

“James Nares is a prolific, perpetual creator,” said the curator of the exhibition, Marcelle Polednik, PhD, Donna and Donald Baumgartner Director, Milwaukee Art Museum. “He is not constrained by any one medium. A central figure of punk rock and No Wave cinema in New York in the 1970s, he has remained curious and innovative in his work as his pursuits have broadened and matured. His influence on the artists and art of New York is indelible; placing his work in the canon of art history allows us to more fully understand the development and nature of contemporary art.”

That the Museum’s director is curating the exhibition is notable, further underscoring its importance. The emphasis on Nares’s creative practice, his experimentation, is deliberate not only because it aligns with the Museum’s seasonal focus on process, but also to highlight what, in many ways, has made Nares so significant to the contemporary art world: part and parcel of his work is everything that has led up to the making of each object.

Nares was among the artists represented in MoMA’s film series New York Film and Video: No Wave—Transgressive, from December 1, 2017, to March 26, 2018, as was his friend, the film director Jim Jarmusch. Jarmusch and Thurston Moore, co-founder of Sonic Youth who provided the soundtrack to Nares’s Street (and another longtime friend the artist met in the early days in New York), will contribute to the accompanying exhibition catalogue. Their personal perspectives will further enrich the related programming.

The catalogue will be available for the opening of James Nares: Moves at the Milwaukee Art Museum, on June 14, 2019. Additional scholarly, public, and social programs in Milwaukee related to the exhibition will be announced at mam.org.

Milwaukee Art Museum Hires Tim Hapeman as Director of Information Services

 

  • Information systems specialist brings more than 20 years of experience to the Museum     

 

Milwaukee, Wis. – November 13, 2018 – The Milwaukee Art Museum announced that Tim Hapeman has joined the Museum as Director of Information Services for the institution.

Hapeman has more than 20 years of information systems experience in the nonprofit, human services and manufacturing industries, most recently as the Manager of Enterprise Infrastructure at Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin.

Tim’s background in both for-profit and nonprofit organizations will give us a nice balance of insight that can be applied to the daily operations and support of our systems,” said Mark Zimmerman, Deputy Director of Operations, Milwaukee Art Museum.

The Director of Information Services is responsible for managing and integrating current and new technology that serves both internal operations and visitor experiences at the Museum.

Hapeman officially began his role as Director of Information Services at the Milwaukee Art Museum October 29, 2018.

Admission to the Milwaukee Art Museum is free for veterans and members of the military on Veterans Day

On Sunday, November 11, veterans, active duty military personnel and their families will be able to visit the Milwaukee Art Museum free of charge on Veterans Day.

Museum admission is free for military veterans and one guest.

The free admission program is also available for those currently serving in the United States Military – Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard as well as Active Duty and Reservists, National Guardsman (regardless of status), U.S. Public Health Commissioned Corps, NOAA Commissioned Corps, and up to five family members.

Visitors to the Museum will be able to view all four temporary exhibitions including Serious Play: Design in Midcentury America, The San Quentin Project, Family Pictures and Constable? A Landscape Rediscovered. Families can also create art to take home in the Kohl’s Art Generation Studio.

New Bouguereau Exhibition at Milwaukee Art Museum, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art Explores Artist’s Popularity in Gilded Age America

 

– Over 45 canvases by William-Adolphe Bouguereau are presented in the first major exhibition showcasing the painter since the 1980s    –

Milwaukee, Wis. – November 8, 2018 – The work of French academic painter William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825–1905), who enjoyed remarkable popularity throughout America’s Gilded Age, is the focus of a new exhibition co-organized by the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. Bouguereau & America is the first major exhibition of the artist’s work in nearly 30 years.

“Bouguereau is a defining figure in the history of French art, and an extraordinary painter whose masterful canvases evoke delight and wonder. In addition to that, however, Bouguereau’s work can teach us much more,” said Tanya Paul, Isabel and Alfred Bader Curator of European Art, Milwaukee Art Museum and co-curator of the exhibition. “The story of Bouguereau is the story of the way art rises and falls in popularity; the role dealers, collectors and patrons play in shaping art and taste; and, in many ways, the way art was collected as members of a new American merchant class tried to define themselves and their role in the world through culture.”

Opening February 15, 2019, at the Milwaukee Art Museum, Bouguereau & America will include more than 45 canvases by the French artist, whose renown peaked in America between the late 1860s and the early 1900s, and whose works form the backbone of many museum collections. Pulling together large-scale canvases from museums and private collections in the United States and Mexico, the exhibition presents not just the paintings, but also their provenance in order to examine their popularity and cultural relevance in America.   

Bouguereau delights and confounds us. It’s hard not to be seduced by his exquisite technique and the shameless beauty of his modest nymphs, woebegone children, and polished peasants,” said Stanton Thomas, former Curator of European and Decorative Arts, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, now Curator of Collections and Exhibitions, Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Florida, and co-curator of the exhibition. “But the question of meaning in these grand confections, which we are taught to expect from great art, often eludes us. This exhibition is a brilliant chance to revel in Bouguereau’s  paintings—which are very nearly tableaux-vivants—and to look a little more carefully at those luscious and perennially popular works.

During the Gilded Age, owning a painting by Bouguereau was considered essential for any American who aspired to be a serious art collector. The artist’s grand representational canvases, with their self-conscious references to acknowledged masters like Raphael, brought a sense of sophistication to newly formed collections. Bouguereau & America takes a comprehensive and contemporary look at the artist’s reputation—once revered by Gilded Age collectors and later reviled by critics—and offers an opportunity to examine how society’s perspectives on art and subject matter can shift over time.

“The elegance, technical perfection, and flawless surfaces of Bouguereau’s canvases have beguiled American collectors from the beginning,” said Emily Ballew Neff, Executive Director, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. “A milestone in the history of art collecting, this exhibition reveals why so many Gilded Age patrons keenly desired a Bouguereau for their art collections, and how so many of the artist’s enthusiastic patrons—and their Bouguereaus—were instrumental in the formation of art museums in the US.”

By reexamining Bouguereau’s collectors, the exhibition sheds light on how the history of collecting mirrors the religious beliefs, sexual mores and social problems of the period, as well as how the artist’s popularity influenced his subject matter.

A full-color exhibition catalogue will be published by Yale University Press with essays by the Bouguereau & America co-curators, as well as a group of distinguished scholars of the subject.

“With this exhibition, we are inviting visitors to look at these paintings not only as historically significant works but also as products of their time, allowing us to contemplate our values today,” said Marcelle Polednik, PhD, Donna and Donald Baumgartner Director, Milwaukee Art Museum. “By looking at Bouguereau and his role in the development of the American art collector, we are seeking to spark important conversations about the history and future of art and collecting.”

Bouguereau & America will be on view at the Milwaukee Art Museum from February 15 through May 12, 2019. The exhibition will then travel to the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art and be shown from June 22 to September 22, 2019. It will close at the San Diego Museum of Art, where it will be on view from November 9, 2019, to March 15, 2020.

This exhibition is co-organized by the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art.

This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and Humanities.

At the Milwaukee Art Museum, Bouguereau & America is the 2019 Layton Feature Exhibition, sponsored by Layton Art Collection Inc.

At the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Bouguereau & America is sponsored by Dr. Joy Brown Wiener and family, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Needham Horton, Mr. and Mrs. Bailey Wiener, and Mr. and Mrs. Lee Russel Wiener.

Celebrate All the Holidays at the Milwaukee Art Museum

– Visitors can enjoy special holiday happenings at the Museum including The Joys of Toys, Museum Store Sunday and holiday shopping events, live music and photo portraits   –


Milwaukee, Wis. – October 30, 2018 – Visitors to the Milwaukee Art Museum can enjoy the winter celebration season through a wide variety of activities and events at the Museum. With programming ranging from The Joys of Toys at Kohl’s Art Generation Family Sundays to a Gallery Talk highlighting the conservation of The Neopolitan Creche nativity scene, there is something for all interests and ages.  

“The Museum is always a great place to bring  visiting out-of-towners to show off what Milwaukee has to offer,” said Amanda C. Peterson, Director of Marketing and Communications, Milwaukee Art Museum. “But with special events, the Museum Store, daily family art making and thousands of works in the Collection to view, it’s a fantastic escape any day you just need to get out of the house, too.”

On November 16, 7 p.m.-11p.m., kick off the season with MAM After Dark: Friendsgiving, a night of feasting and fun with friends who have become family. Celebrating Native American Heritage Month with Potawatomi Hotel and Casino, the evening will feature authentic crafts, grown-up games, live music, Wild Card Tours, a photo booth and more. Admission is free for Museum Members, $12 with advanced purchase or $14 at the door.

At Kohl’s Art Generation Family Sundays: The Joys of Toys on December 2, kids and families can celebrate the art of play, inspired by the colorful and creative objects in Serious Play. Participants can meet a game designer, create their own spinning top toys and stroll through Carton City, a town made completely of cardboard boxes. 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

On December 8, Kohl’s Color Wheels will visit The Milwaukee Ballet’s performance of The Nutcracker at the Marcus Center from 1-2 p.m.

The Museum’s youngest visitors will get to drop in and make art at Play Date with Art: Paint the Town on December 14. The event features hands-on activities for ages 0-5, complete with Singing Time at 10:30 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. and the opportunity to paint the cardboard town, Carton City.

On December 13-16 and 26-30, artist-in-residence Corey Fells will be taking free photos in front of the posing wall in the exhibition Family Pictures. He will share digital copies of the portraits with participants through his professional website. Portraits are free with Museum admission, first come, first served and hours are 1-4 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays; 2-7 p.m. Thursdays.

Visitors can also enjoy the sounds of the season in Windhover Hall with live musical events that are free and open to the public.

December 1, 11 a.m.-12 p.m.: Master Singers of Milwaukee
December 8, 1 p.m.-2 p.m.: Bruce Anthony Holiday Guitar Concert
December 13, 6:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.: Dal Niente, ‘Momento Mori’ Works for Solo Viola
December 15, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.: Barcel Brioso Holiday Concert
December 16, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.: Northshore Suzuki Strings Holiday Concert
December 22, 11 a.m.-12 p.m.: Roubik Music Studio Holiday Concert

Shopping and gift giving:

Museum visitors can always find the perfect gift at the Milwaukee Art Museum Store. On Museum Store Sunday, taking place November 25, the Store will participate in the nationwide annual event that offers special shopping experiences and uniquely curated gifts, along with trunk shows, discounts and free gift wrapping.

Members can also receive extra savings on purchases at the Museum Store during Double Discount Days on November 23 and 25, and December 6, 13 and 20.

In conjunction with the exhibition Serious Play, the Store has created a temporary retail space offering clocks, building blocks, toys, home decor and miniature furniture inspired by midcentury designs within the Baker/Rowland gallery space.

Gift memberships to the Milwaukee Art Museum will be available throughout the season. Memberships purchased in person at the Museum include an artist-designed mug and notecard set. Every membership includes free admission to the Museum, invitations to Member Preview Celebrations, discounts at the Museum Store and Café Calatrava, and free access to Family Sundays, MAM After Dark, gallery talks, lectures and more. A card indicating gift membership is ready at the time of purchase. Gift orders received by December 13 will guarantee arrival of the full membership kit in the mail by Christmas, and orders placed by November 19 will receive a full membership kit before the start of Hanukkah.

A Variety of Exhibitions:

Beginning November 20, visitors can experience the Museum’s recently conserved eighteenth-century crèche (or nativity scene), which has not been on view since 2013. The crèche and its new setting will be on view in Level 1, Gallery S107.

These delicate sculptures were part of a tradition in Naples, Italy, in which wealthy families attempted to outdo each other with huge, theatrical installations centered around the nativity story,” said Catherine Sawinski, Assistant Curator of European Art. “Our figures now have the historically appropriate setting they deserve, thanks to the hard work of the Museum staff.

On December 18, 1:30 p.m., Catherine Sawinski will talk about the antique sculptures in the work and its newly redesigned setting.

Serious Play: Design in Midcentury America, on view through January 6, 2019, in the Baker/Rowland galleries of the Museum, highlights the projects of more than 40 designers who advocated for playfulness and whimsy in their creations. Family Pictures, in the Herzfeld Center for Photography and Media Arts through January 20, 2019, explores the ways in which black photographers and artists have portrayed a range of familial relationships. Constable? A Landscape Rediscovered unlocks the decades-old mysteries surrounding a painting originally attributed to English landscape artist John Constable is on view through February 17, 2019, in the European Galleries. The San Quentin Project presents personal narratives about life in prison through visual documents, photographs and the acclaimed “Ear Hustle” podcast in the Bradley Family Galleries throughout the season.

Holiday Hours:

The Museum will be closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve Day and Christmas Day, and open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, December 31 for New Year’s Eve and Tuesday, January, 1, 2019, for New Year’s Day. The Kohl’s Art Generation Studio is open for individuals and families 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day the Museum is open.


Additional Seasonal Programming:

November 9, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.: Play Date with Art: Hidden Treasures
December 6, 10 a.m. 8 p.m.: Free admission thanks to Meijer Free First Thursdays
November 13, 5 p.m.-8 p.m.: Museum Store: Member Holiday Shopping Party
December 14, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.: Play Date with Art: Paint the Town
December 20, 1 p.m.-3 p.m.: Museum Store: Ornament Signing with local artist Shelby Keefe
January 1, 1:30 p.m.: Drop-in Tour: New Year’s Resolutions
January 3, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.: Free admission thanks to Meijer Free First Thursdays
January 11, 10 a.m.-12 p.m. : Play Date with Art: Playful Patterns
Saturdays, 10:30 a.m.: Story Time in the Galleries

Unless otherwise noted, all programs are free for Museum Members, free with Museum admission and free for children ages 12 and under thanks to Kohl’s Cares.

The Role of Art and Artists in Criminal Justice Reform Discussed at Three-Day Symposium

The Role of Art and Artists in Criminal Justice Reform Discussed at Three-Day Symposium

-’The Milwaukee Model: Envisioning the Role of the Arts in Criminal Justice Reform’ explores how arts programming may help change perspectives on the criminal justice system-

Milwaukee, Wis. – October 17, 2018 – In an effort to promote dialogue around criminal justice reform in Wisconsin, the Haggerty Museum of Art and the Milwaukee Art Museum have co-organized The Milwaukee Model: Envisioning the Role of the Arts in Criminal Justice Reform, a symposium held at both locations, November 1-3, 2018.

At this three-day symposium, artists, scholars and experts from across the country will be brought together with groups in Milwaukee to discuss how arts and educational programming can be used to generate new perspectives on the criminal justice system and incarcerated individuals.

“As an academic art museum, the Haggerty Museum of Art is committed to galvanizing intellectual resources through the arts to inform, strengthen, and transform our communities,” said Susan Longhenry, Director and Chief Curator, Haggerty Museum of Art. “We’re thrilled to partner with the Milwaukee Art Museum, with the participating artists and speakers, and with members of the Milwaukee community to examine the role that artists and art museums can play in reframing, and advancing, deeply relevant social justice issues.”

According to a 2013 study conducted by the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, Wisconsin incarcerates more black males than any state in the country, at a rate nearly double that of any other state. This symposium builds on existing justice reform efforts and allows community members to consider the role of the arts in generating lasting social change.

“Both the Haggerty Museum of Art and the Milwaukee Art Museum are exhibiting work by artists who are questioning the justice system, engaging with justice-involved individuals, and approaching justice reform efforts through unique and creative lenses,” said Emilia Layden, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions, Haggerty Museum of Art, and co-organizer of the symposium.

For the first two days, symposium participants will have the opportunity to hear from a variety of experts through a series of lectures and panels. Scholars, educators, artists and practitioners will introduce several arts-based initiatives that have been successfully implemented across the United States.

“This symposium offers an opportunity for expansive conversations with nationally recognized artists, scholars and practitioners to consider the role of the arts in criminal justice reform on a local and national level,” said Lisa Sutcliffe, Herzfeld Curator of Photography and Media Arts, Milwaukee Art Museum, and co-organizer of the symposium.

Speakers include Elizabeth Hinton, Associate Professor of History and African and African American studies, Harvard University, and author of From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime: The Making of Mass Incarceration in America; Simone Browne, Associate Professor at the University of Texas-Austin, Visiting Associate Professor at Yale University and author of Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness; and artists Maria Gaspar, Nigel Poor and Sable Elyse Smith.

The final day of the symposium is a Community Day of Action, during which community members and stakeholders are invited to consider how the national models or artistic strategies presented could be adapted and implemented regionally. A series of artist-led workshops will be followed by facilitated breakout discussions with symposium speakers.

“Art has a history of exploring the issues of its time,” noted Marcelle Polednik, Donna and Donald Baumgartner Director, Milwaukee Art Museum. “It invites engagement, questions perceptions, and challenges what appear to be norms. With this symposium, for which the Museum is proud to be partnering with the Haggerty Museum of Art, we present art as a means through which we might otherwise approach the conversations around incarcerated individuals and the criminal justice system in our community.”

The symposium is presented in conjunction with The San Quentin Project: Nigel Poor and the Men of San Quentin State Prison, opening on October 18, 2018, at the Milwaukee Art Museum, and Sable Elyse Smith: Ordinary Violence, on view through January 27, 2019, at the Haggerty Museum of Art.

For more information and to pre-register for the symposium, visit:

marquette.edu/haggerty/mkemodel.php

or

mam.org/MKEModel

The symposium The Milwaukee Model: Envisioning the Role of the Arts in Criminal Justice Reform is co-organized by the Haggerty Museum of Art and the Milwaukee Art Museum.

Sponsored by:

Brico Fund

Greater Milwaukee Foundation

Community Outreach Sponsor:

The Reva & David Logan Foundation

Media Sponsor:

WUWM 89.7 FM — Milwaukee’s NPR

Symposium schedule

Pre-registration is recommended. Separate registration is required each day.

Thurs, Nov 1, 7:30 p.m.

Curtis L. Carter Art and Social Change Lecture

Marquette University Weasler Auditorium

1506 W Wisconsin Avenue

Join us for the keynote conversation between Elizabeth Hinton, Associate Professor of History and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University, and author of From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime: The Making of Mass Incarceration in America; and Christian Viveros-Fauné, art and culture critic, curator, and author of Social Forms: A Short History of Political Art.

 

Fri, Nov 2, 10 a.m.

Milwaukee Art Museum, Lubar Auditorium

700 N Art Museum Drive

Listen to artists and experts, including artists Maria Gaspar, Nigel Poor and Sable Elyse Smith; Simone Browne, an associate professor at the University of Texas-Austin; and Sampada Aranke, an assistant professor at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, at a series of panels and discussions.

 

Sat, Nov 3, 10 a.m.

Marquette University Eckstein Hall

1215 W Michigan Street

Collaborate with community members through artist-led workshops, and discuss how perceptions of the criminal justice system and incarcerated individuals could be changed on a local level.

Nikki Otten Joins Milwaukee Art Museum as Associate Curator of Prints and Drawings

-Expert in prints and drawings joins the Milwaukee Art Museum’s curatorial team-

Milwaukee, Wis. – October 2, 2018 – The Milwaukee Art Museum announces that Nikki Otten has joined its curatorial team as the Associate Curator of Prints and Drawings.

An expert on works on paper, Otten was most recently at the Weisman Art Museum, at the University of Minnesota, as the E. Gerald and Lisa O’Brien Curatorial Fellow. While there, Otten curated the exhibition Paper Mountains: Marsden Hartley’s Landscapes, which is scheduled to open in late 2020 or early 2021. Previously, Otten served as a part-time research assistant in the Department of Prints and Drawings at the Milwaukee Art Museum for Degas to Picasso (2017) and Daring Technique: Goya and the Art of Etching (2018).

“Nikki’s particular expertise aligns nicely with areas of strength in our collection,” said Margaret Andera, interim chief curator and curator of contemporary art. “Her familiarity with the Museum, due to her previous experience here, has allowed her to quickly get involved in a number of projects.”

Otten has curated a number of exhibitions and rotations for museums and galleries including The Romantic Spirit: Dark Dreams at the Chrysler Museum of Art, in Norfolk, Virginia (2017); Sem, Gigi & Caricature at the T. R. Anderson Gallery, at the University of Minnesota (2015); and A Means of Escape: European Posters from 1889 to 1930 at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (2011).

A promised gift from James and Susee Wiechmann to the Milwaukee Art Museum of more than 500 Jules Chéret posters includes funding for the associate curator of prints and drawings position. One of Otten’s first major projects at the Museum will be organizing a traveling exhibition of the Wiechmann’s Chéret posters.

Otten has an MA in art history from the University of Minnesota, where she is currently completing her doctoral dissertation, “Alien Microbes: The Telescope, the Microscope, and Symbolist Artistic Vision in Nineteenth-Century France.” She also holds a BA in professional strategic communications from the same university.

Nikki Otten officially began her new role at the Museum on September 4, 2018.

Announcing the 2018 Art & Artists Series at This Year’s Milwaukee Film Fest

-A series of six documentaries span a broad variety of the arts
in order to inspire festival goers and film fans.-

Milwaukee, Wis. – September 19, 2018 – The Milwaukee Art Museum is pleased to announce the lineup of films for the Art & Artists program as part of the 2018 Milwaukee Film Festival running October 18 through November 1. The program will feature six documentary films covering a wide span of art practices.

“We have a great lineup of films that spotlight icons in photography, comedy, visual art, and fashion,” commented Kristopher Pollard, Milwaukee Film Membership Manager and the programmer for the Art & Artists series. “I’ve always been a fan of films that bring us closer to art, the experience of creating art and the effect art has on the world. I’m delighted to be involved in bringing more of those to our festival. And it’s great that MAM and our other partners are just as excited about them.”

This is the fourth year that the Milwaukee Art Museum has sponsored the Art & Artists series within the festival. This year, the Museum is joining the Milwaukee Repertory Theater to promote and showcase this collection of films highlighting a variety of art forms in addition to the art of filmmaking.

“We are again thrilled to support Milwaukee Film in highlighting the arts within the film fest,” said Margaret Andera, interim chief curator and curator of contemporary art. “It is fantastic to showcase movies that demystify the arts. But it is also important to support a partner that is putting Milwaukee’s cultural scene on the map nationally and internationally.”

 

The Films

Garry Winogrand: All Things are Photographable

(USA | 2018 | Sasha Waters Freyer)

One of the most important photographers of the 20th century, Garry Winogrand captured moments of everyday life in postwar America, defining what would come to be known as street photography. “One of the rare art-world bio-docs that delivers the sensation of seeing a story unfold dramatically onscreen” (*Hollywood Reporter*), *All Things Are Photographable* delves deep into this art icon, combing through his three decades of work (over a million photographs) that helped define our country, including the promise of over 10,000 rolls of undeveloped film. The Milwaukee Art Museum’s Photography Council is a Community Partner for this film.

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/236947052

Kusama – Infinity

(USA | 2018 | Heather Lenz)

Leaving her native Japan and traveling to the US armed only with supportive words from Georgia O’Keefe, Yayoi Kusama exploded onto the late ‘60s art scene. Fighting racism and sexism in a industry dominated by men who unapologetically pilfered from her remarkable body of work, Kusama eventually returned home to voluntarily retire to a mental institution. Luckily, the rest of the world has finally caught up to Kusama’s incredible vision, celebrating her massive colorful installations (including distinctive polka dot patterns and infinity rooms) while bringing her newfound acclaim with younger generations. Milwaukee Art Museum’s Contemporary Art Society is a Community Partner for this film.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8mdIB1WxHI

 

Love, Gilda

(USA | 2018 | Lisa Dapolito)

Let iconic comedienne Gilda Radner tell you about her life in her own words. Recently unearthed audio tapes, rare home video footage and diary entries read by modern comedians influenced by her work (Bill Hader, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph) mix with interviews with comedy legends (Chevy Chase, Larraine Newman, Martin Short) to provide fresh perspective on the amazing highs (SNL) and the painful lows (an eating disorder, ovarian cancer) that she all faced with a remarkably indomitable spirit.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1B44XRFotuo

 

Moving Stories

(USA | 2018 | Rob Fruchtman)

Six dancers from the acclaimed Beverly Dance Company travel to some of the most devastated regions the world over—places torn apart by war, extreme poverty, or sexual trafficking. Their goal is simple: Over the course of a single week, they work with at-risk youth to teach them an improvised dance routine. A showcase of the transcendent, language barrier-shattering power of movement, *Moving Stories* does exactly what it says in the title—move you through its story of ecstatic, empathetic creativity.

 

The Price of Everything

(USA | 2018 | Nathaniel Kahn)

Oscar-nominated documentarian Nathaniel Kahn (*My Architect*, *Two Hands*) is granted incredible access into the inner workings of the modern art world—a world where great artistic works are traded using the same buy low/sell high logic of the stock market, selling at astronomical prices that bring new meaning to the phrase “creative capital.” Candid interviews with artists (Jeff Koons, Gerhard Richter), dealers, and collectors help shed light on this eternal dance between art and commerce in this wildly entertaining attempt at answering the question of how we value art.

 

Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist

(USA | 2018 | Lorna Tucker)

Having sparked the punk movement’s subversive looks with her then beau Malcolm McLaren (manager of the Sex Pistols), Vivienne Westwood moved on to become one of the most iconic fashion designers of this or any other time, redefining fashion for over four decades. Follow her from her humble beginnings to achieving Dame status in British society, all the while fighting to ensure the integrity of her brand and ensure her legacy in this doc that crackles with the rebel energy of her best looks.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrDyhZFINyc

 

The Milwaukee Art Museum has an extensive collection of works by Garry Winogrand, subject of Garry Winogrand: All Things are Photographable, in its Collection.

The complete Milwaukee Film Festival program book can be picked up at the Milwaukee Art Museum Admissions desk beginning September 27.

The box office for the 10th Annual Milwaukee Film Festival opens on Tuesday, October 2 for Milwaukee Film Members and on Wednesday, October 3 for the general public. For more information, visit mkefilm.org.

Serious Play: Design in Midcentury America Premieres at the Milwaukee Art Museum

– Exhibition features works from 40 groundbreaking designers, including Charles and Ray Eames, Paul Rand and Eva Zeisel  –

Milwaukee, Wis. – September 11, 2018 – Serious Play: Design in Midcentury America, an exhibition presenting the concept of playfulness in postwar American design as a catalyst for creativity and innovation, opens September 28, 2018 at the Milwaukee Art Museum.

“While midcentury American design may be familiar to some audiences, this exhibition sheds light on work by many designers from the perspective that play can be a serious form of experimentation,” said co-curator Monica Obniski, Demmer Curator of 20th- & 21st-Century Design, Milwaukee Art Museum. “The spirit of play, and its importance to the cultural production of the period, is evidenced by the playful domesticity of Alexander Girard’s storage walls and table settings, as well as by the inventiveness of architects, such as Anne Tyng, who designed modular building toys to encourage creativity in children.”

Co-organized by the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Denver Art Museum, Serious Play includes over 200 works. By showcasing iconic objects such as Irving Harper’s Ball Clock for Howard Miller Clock Company and Charles and Ray Eames’s Storage Units (ESUs) for Herman Miller Furniture Company, the exhibition encourages visitors to think about how design connects to their daily lives.

“Today, we take the idea of fun as being a critical part of commerce for granted,” said co-curator Darrin Alfred, Curator of Architecture, Design and Graphics, Denver Art Museum. “An airline’s whimsical identity or a corporation’s belief that creativity should be unrestrained and unburdened—these approaches don’t surprise us in the same way because companies like Alcoa, Braniff and Herman Miller challenged designers to surprise the world through imagination and delight.”

In conjunction with Serious Play, thousands of giant cards originally designed by Ray and Charles Eames and decorated by individuals through the community will be constructed into large-scale sculptures by local artist Ray Chi and installed in Windhover Hall and the East End. During monthly Community Build Days, visitors will have the opportunity to decorate extra cards and help Chi construct additional displays.  An additional card decoration and build day for families will take place during the Kohl’s Art Generation Family Sundays: The Joys of Toys on December 2.

“Design is highly approachable for our visitors, especially today when people are surrounded by more thoughtfully designed experiences than ever before. This exhibition is not only an opportunity to highlight this pivotal moment in design history, but also engage visitors in a new way,” said Marcelle Polednik, Ph.D., Donna and Donald Baumgartner Director, Milwaukee Art Museum.

A full-color, hardcover exhibition catalogue, published by the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Denver Art Museum and distributed by Yale University Press, will be available in The Museum Store. An activity-filled family family guide for Serious Play is free with Museum admission at the entrance to Serious Play.  

Serious Play will be on view at the Milwaukee Art Museum from September. 28, 2018 through January 6, 2019. The exhibition then travels to the Denver Art Museum, opening May 5, 2019, and will be on view through Aug. 25, 2019.

 

Exhibition Sponsors

Serious Play: Design in Midcentury America is co-organized by the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Denver Art Museum. It is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

The presentation in Milwaukee is generously supported by the Brady Corporation Foundation and Herman Miller Cares.

A Variety of Exhibitions and Events Fill the “Season of Home” at the Milwaukee Art Museum

– The midcentury works of 40 designers, images of familial relationships by contemporary black photographers and answers to art mysteries at the Museum explore the sense of home  –

Milwaukee, Wis. – August 30, 2018 – The Milwaukee Art Museum gives visitors an opportunity to explore family, community and the objects that help people make home their own through three new exhibitions and accompanying programming this fall, during the season of home.  

“Fall begins the time of year, more than any other, when we are welcoming family and friends into our homes. With this season of exhibitions and programming at the Museum, we bring into focus the things and people we associate with our sense of home and celebrate the incredible range of how we create and define this intimate space,” said Marcelle Polednik, PhD, Donna and Donald Baumgartner Director, Milwaukee Art Museum.

The season begins with an exhibition that solves a decades-old mystery. Opening September 7, Constable? A Landscape Rediscovered investigates the provenance and attribution of a painting that was donated to the Layton Art Collection by a prominent Milwaukee financier and real estate developer. When it was given, the painting was attributed to the English landscape painter John Constable, but recent Museum research and conservation have brought new attention to the work—and new revelations.

Starting September 14, Family Pictures explores the ways in which black photographers and artists have portrayed a range of familial relationships. A touchstone for many of the artists in the exhibition is the work of Harlem photographer Roy DeCarava. Opening with DeCarava’s groundbreaking book The Sweet Flypaper of Life (1955), the exhibition presents photographic series, installations and videos by an intergenerational selection of artists including  LaToya Ruby Frazier, Lyle Ashton Harris, Deana Lawson and Carrie Mae Weems.

The works of more than 40 designers, including Ray and Charles Eames and Isamu Noguchi, who employed playfulness and whimsy within their creations, are the focus of Serious Play: Design in Midcentury America, opening September 28. Set against the backdrop of a booming consumer market and Cold War anxiety, the exhibition highlights play as a serious form of inspiration, experimentation, and problem-solving. Visitors and families will have the opportunity to explore Serious Play further with a lecture series and printed family guide.

In conjunction with Serious Play, thousands of giant cards originally designed by Ray and Charles Eames and decorated by individuals throughout the community will be constructed into large-scale sculptures by local artist Ray Chi and installed in Windhover Hall and the East End. The Museum’s House of Cards project launched in March of this year and card decorating is ongoing throughout the run of the exhibition in the Kohl’s Art Generation Studio.

“Since the season of home is all about our home at the Museum and in our community, it’s fitting that we have an amazing slate of social, educational, and community programming coming up,” said Amanda C. Peterson, Director of Marketing and Communications, Milwaukee Art Museum. “Whether people are looking to see something unforgettable with visiting out-of-towners or enjoy a night out with friends in a one-of-a-kind party, we’ve got something for everyone.”

Educational programming for kids and families in the Kohl’s Art Generation Studio, open every day the Museum is open, will also be inspired by the Museum’s seasonal exhibitions. In October, hands-on art-making activities will center on the theme Families in Focus, and in November, families can learn about the Power of Play.

Kohl’s Art Generation Family Sundays returns on October 14 with a celebration of the annual holiday Día de los Muertos. Families can remember loved ones while learning about the Day of the Dead’s traditions and symbols from visiting artists,  through hands on-activities and Mexican folkloric dance, and by making an addition to a community of ofrenda. December 2 welcomes the theme The Joys of Toys.

At Play Date with Art, on October 12, November 9, December 14 and January 11, the Museum’s youngest visitors, recommended to age 5, can drop in with family members and create art to take home and sing along during Singing Time.

Storytime in the Galleries, sponsored by Kohl’s Cares, continues every Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m.

MAM After Dark, the evening social event at the Museum sponsored by Northwestern Mutual, continues this fall with three new editions tied to the season.

Guests can get nostalgic with sparkly pumps and clip-on neckties September 21 for the Grown-Up Homecoming, complete with tastings and fun from Door Peninsula Winery.

On October 19, they can go even farther back, Mad Men-style, at the Midcentury Mixer. The evening, sponsored by Ernst & Young LLP, celebrates Serious Play: Design in Midcentury America and the Jewish Museum Milwaukee’s exhibition Blacklist: The Hollywood Red Scare with a romp through the 1950s and 1960s.

On November 16, Friendsgiving is a night of feasting and fun with friends who have become family, celebrating Native American Heritage Month with Potawatomi Hotel and Casino

Each MAM After Dark event features music, dancing, Wild Card art tours, trivia, a photo booth and a scavenger hunt through the galleries. Admission is $12 in advance, $14 at the door and free for Milwaukee Art Museum Members.

Through October 11, docents from the Museum will continue to lead weekly trolley tours and monthly walking tours of Sculpture Milwaukee, the twenty-one pieces of artwork installed along Wisconsin Avenue.

Docents also lead Drop-In Tours of the Museum building and highlights from the Collection each Saturday at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. and on Sundays at 2 p.m. Drop-In Tours are free with Museum admission.

In conjunction with Serious Play, the Museum Store will create a temporary retail space offering clocks, building blocks, toys, home decor items and miniature furniture inspired by midcentury designs in the exhibition. On November 25, the store will participate in the nationwide Museum Store Sunday, an annual event offering special shopping experiences and uniquely curated gifts with trunk shows, discounts, and free gift wrapping.

The Milwaukee Art Museum will again co-sponsor the Art & Artists series at the Milwaukee Film Festival, taking place October 18 through November 1. The series highlights a variety of art forms in addition to the art of filmmaking.

Yoga @ the Museum, sponsored by PNC Bank and presented by omTownYogis, continues, on September 22, October 20, November 17 and December 15. Yoga fans of any skill level can reserve a space under the wings overlooking Lake Michigan with a $15 donation.

Thanks to Meijer, admission to the Milwaukee Art Museum is free on the first Thursday of each month for individuals and families, excluding group and school tours. The remaining Meijer Free First Thursday dates for 2018 are September 6, October 4, November 1 and December 6.  

For more information on these exhibitions and events, as well as additional programs, visit mam.org

Mystery Around Painting Attributed to John Constable Solved With Conservation and Research at Milwaukee Art Museum

 

-‘Constable? A Landscape Rediscovered’ gives visitors a peek at the behind-the-scenes investigations into artworks Museum professionals regularly conduct    –

 

Milwaukee, Wis. – August 28, 2018 – A new focus exhibition at the Milwaukee Art Museum will unveil a recently conserved painting and reveal the mysteries surrounding the work attributed to John Constable, donated to the Layton Art Collection, Inc. more than 70 years ago.

Opening September 7, 2018, in the European Art Galleries, Level 2, Gallery S202, Constable? A Landscape Rediscovered investigates the provenance of a landscape painting that entered the Layton Art Collection, Inc., as a gift from Arthur Nye McGeoch, a prominent Milwaukee financier, art collector and real estate magnate.

“Since it arrived in the Layton collection in 1941, the painting has remained an open question, and has largely stayed off view, in storage at the Museum,” said Tanya Paul, Isabel and Alfred Bader Curator of European Art at the Milwaukee Art Museum. “It was donated as a Constable, but the handling, as well as the details of the composition, such as the building and the rock formation, has raised questions throughout its time here. This exhibition was an opportunity to answer some of those questions.”

Visitors to the Museum will have the opportunity to see the painting in person, along with images and videos of the conservation process. Conservator Mark F. Bockrath, working in the Milwaukee Art Museum’s on-site conservation lab, removed decades of dirt and grime, revealing the true beauty of the painting.

“Is it a Constable or, if not, who did paint it? It’s the first time that one of our exhibitions has had a spoiler alert,” said Amanda C. Peterson, Director of Marketing and Communications, Milwaukee Art Museum. “I hope people appreciate not only the painting but also the scholarship and science that goes into caring for the art. With over 30,000 works in the Museum’s collection, we have a lot of stories to tell.”

The research shared in the gallery will also include background on the McGeoch family, as art collectors, donors and real estate developers who helped form what is now the city of West Allis. This history helps reveal the path the painting took on its way to the Layton Art Collection.

John Constable (1776-1837) was an English landscape painter in the naturalistic tradition and a member of the Royal Academy. His work displayed in the Paris Salon in 1824 heavily influenced the painters of the Barbizon School.

“It is a beautiful work of art that deserved to be cleaned and studied,” said Jodi Eastberg, a professor of history at Alverno College and the chair of the works of art committee for the Layton Art Collection. “We were all completely prepared that we would end up with just a very beautiful and restored work of art, but instead we’ve solved a mystery.”

A supplemental three-episode podcast is available in conjunction with the exhibition through the Museum’s website at mam.org/mystery.

The painting as well as documents and videos related to the research and conservation will be on view at the Milwaukee Art Museum through February 17, 2019. Constable? A Landscape Rediscovered is a Layton Art Collection focus exhibition.


Supporting events

Gallery Talks
Tues, 1:30 p.m.

Nov 13, Jan 8

With Tanya Paul, Isabel and Alfred Bader Curator of European Art at the Milwaukee Art Museum

Milwaukee Art Museum Celebrates One Millionth Child Benefiting from Kohl’s Cares

-Sophia Monson of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin was presented a prize package and cake in honor of Museum milestone-

Milwaukee, Wis. – August 14, 2018 – The Milwaukee Art Museum proudly congratulated 8-year-old Sophia Monson of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, the one millionth child reached by Kohl’s Cares programming at the Museum. While building a sculpture in the Kohl’s Art Generation Studio, Sophia, her father and baby sister were surprised with a prize package made up of Milwaukee Art Museum merchandise, a gift bag of art supplies, a $250 Museum gift card and a cake to share with other families at the Museum.

“We are so proud that we could celebrate the one million milestone with Sophia, her dad and sister,” said Emily Sullivan, Director of Youth and Family Programs, Milwaukee Art Museum. “Since Kohl’s began their support in 2008, Kohl’s Cares has helped us make the Milwaukee Art Museum a truly family-friendly world-class art museum, opening up new possibilities for families and children from the entire region.”

Since 2008, Kohl’s Cares has supported a variety of family-friendly programs including the Kohl’s Art Generation Studio, the Kohl’s Art Generation Lab: Haitian Art, Kohl’s Color Wheels out in the community, Kohl’s Family Sundays, Kohl’s Storytime in the Galleries, and the Kohl’s Art Generation Touch Tour app. In 2017, Kohl’s Cares also took on sponsorship of the Museum’s policy of free admission for kids 12 and under, keeping the program intact.

Sophia said her favorite parts of the Museum are “looking at the art and making art.”  

Kids 12 years old and under are free every day the Museum is open thanks to Kohl’s Cares.

 

Black Artists’ Perspectives of Family, Community Celebrated in New Exhibition at Milwaukee Art Museum

– “Family Pictures” presents photographs, installations and videos by black artists inspired by the work of Roy DeCarava    –

Milwaukee, Wis. – August 6, 2018 – The Milwaukee Art Museum presents Family Pictures September 14, 2018, through January 20, 2019, an exhibition that explores the ways in which contemporary black photographers and artists have portrayed a range of familial relationships.

“The Museum’s collection has great strength in twentieth-century American photography,” said Herzfeld Curator of Photography and Media Arts Lisa Sutcliffe. “Family Pictures offers an opportunity to present a more inclusive American story in relation to how we envision the family through diverse artistic perspectives.”

The work of Roy DeCarava (American, 1919-2009) is a touchstone for the exhibition. Coming of age in Harlem during the 1940s, DeCarava reacted against what he saw as superficial stereotypes and “sociological” studies of his neighborhood by mostly white outsiders. With the aid of a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1952, the artist set out to create expressive photographs of life in his community. In 1955, he published 140 pictures, along with text by Langston Hughes, in The Sweet Flypaper of Life, a fictional family album that captures genuine moments of domestic life in Harlem.

Opening with Roy DeCarava and Langston Hughes’s groundbreaking 1955 book, the exhibition gathers photographic series, installations, and videos by an intergenerational group of artists, including LaToya Ruby Frazier, Lyle Ashton Harris, Deana Lawson, and Carrie Mae Weems. Their images of family life often maneuver between intimate, everyday stories and broader political realities, between the universal human condition and the particular histories of race in the United States. As Lawson says of her work, “Every day is political, the everyday is personal.”

Family Pictures is the sort of exhibition that visitors can appreciate on a number of levels: artistically beautiful, socially meaningful and photographs people can personally connect to,” said Margaret Andera, interim chief curator and curator of contemporary art, Milwaukee Art Museum. “The exhibition’s focus on depictions of families nicely rounds out the season of home at the Museum.”

Organized by: Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio

Supporting Sponsor: Milwaukee Art Museum’s African American Art Alliance

Exhibitions in the Herzfeld Center for Photography and Media Arts sponsored by:
Herzfeld Foundation and Madeleine and David Lubar


Supporting events

Gallery Talks
Tues, 1:30 p.m.
Oct 9, Nov 27, and Jan 15
With Lisa Sutcliffe, Herzfeld Curator of Photography and Media Arts

Kahlil Joseph: Black Mary
Sept 14, 2018–Jan 20, 2019
The contemporary American filmmaker Kahlil Joseph looked to the haunting black-and-white photography of Roy DeCarava to create his film Black Mary (2017), which is presented in conjunction with Family Pictures.

Local Luminaries
Thurs, Nov 29, 6 p.m.
Visit the exhibition with distinguished guests from the Milwaukee community, including Judge Joe Donald and Cecelia Gore, executive director of the Brewers Community Foundation, as they offer new perspectives for understanding the works on view.

Milwaukee Art Museum premieres The San Quentin Project: Nigel Poor and the Men of San Quentin State Prison

– New exhibition focuses on collaboration and storytelling, featuring visual documents, photographs, and a podcast. –

Milwaukee, Wis. – July 6, 2018 – The exhibition The San Quentin Project: Nigel Poor and the Men of San Quentin State Prison, on view October 18, 2018, through March 10, 2018, at the Milwaukee Art Museum, traces the evolution of the social practice—including mapping exercises, essays and interviews—of contemporary artist Nigel Poor (American, b. 1963). The project highlights the power of narrative to illuminate the ways the public might perceive prison populations, and suggests how engaging in storytelling can restore dignity.

The exhibition is the Museum debut of The San Quentin Project, a collaboration between Poor and men incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison, in Marin County, California. It presents nearly 30 mapping exercises—visual documents on which the men in Poor’s class wrote their responses to and narratives about photographic images. It will also feature 100 photographs from an uncatalogued archive of thousands of 4 by 5–inch negatives made inside the prison from the 1930s to the 1980s which Poor was introduced to in 2012.

The San Quentin Project offers a unique opportunity to consider the role of art in sparking conversations that question assumptions and open dialogue,” said the curator of the exhibition, Lisa J. Sutcliffe, Herzfeld Curator of Photography and Media Arts, Milwaukee Art Museum. “This exhibition seeks to not only invite audiences to discover how images of incarcerated populations have been codified, but also promote more critical skills in reading the cultural signs and power structures inherent within visual images.”

The Milwaukee Art Museum exhibition will also feature a listening room with select episodes of Ear Hustle, a critically acclaimed podcast created inside San Quentin through a partnership of Nigel Poor, who is a co-creator, and Earlonne Woods, a co-producer and co-host. Ear Hustle gives its worldwide listeners a greater understanding about the day-to-day lives of those within the institution.

“When I first started going into San Quentin it was photography that gave me the opportunity to connect with the men inside,” said Nigel Poor. “This work became the catalyst for the creation of the podcast Ear Hustle that allows men to share their own stories in a more complex and nuanced way.”

In 2011 Nigel Poor began volunteering as a professor for the Prison University Project, a non-profit organization that provides higher education at San Quentin State Prison. The San Quentin Project evolved from Poor’s experience teaching visual literacy and the history of photography at the prison, where she asked her students to react to photographs made by artists, analyzing the images formally, as well as creatively exploring their meaning. Poor eventually incorporated pictures from the prison’s historical archive into her classes, offering her incarcerated students a chance to respond to, refute and translate these uncatalogued photographs. Their distinctive interpretations offer audiences an opportunity to understand more about each individual and how he sees the greater world through the photograph.

In conjunction with the exhibition, the Haggerty Museum of Art at Marquette University and the Milwaukee Art Museum will host a three-day symposium November 1-3, 2018, to envision the role of the arts in criminal justice reform.

“I hope people will realize that the mapping of these images comes from real people with real feelings. This project shows not only our observation skills at work, but our compassion and our driving need to be heard,” said participant Mesro Coles-El. “To know something I did is actually inside a museum is one of the greatest things in the world. Projects like this are important because so often people in prison are just simply forgotten. This is in part because society looks the other way when it comes to prisons and incarcerated people. The other part is that hope is in short supply. That lack of hope causes those incarcerated to sit around and wait to die. An opportunity like this comes around once in a lifetime. It gives me hope.”

Nigel Poor is a San Francisco–based artist and professor of photography at Sacramento State University. She is also a co-creator of Ear Hustle. Poor holds a BA in photography and literature from Bennington College and an MFA in photography from Massachusetts College of Art.

Ear Hustle is part of the Radiotopia podcast network from PRX. Two full seasons are available on iTunes, Google Play Music, Stitcher and many other podcast platforms.

The San Quentin Project: Nigel Poor and the Men of San Quentin State Prison is organized by the Milwaukee Art Museum.

Sponsored by: Brico Fund and Bader Philanthropies


Supporting event

The Milwaukee Model: Envisioning the Role of the Arts in Criminal Justice Reform
A three-day symposium co-organized by the Haggerty Museum of Art, Marquette University and the Milwaukee Art Museum

November 1-3, 2018

Art Making Inspired by Contemporary Art at Kohl’s Art Generation Family Sunday

Family friendly art activities and musical performances connect the movement and sound of contemporary artist William Kentridge

Milwaukee, Wis. – July 5, 2018 – On Sunday, July 22, families will explore the dynamic world of contemporary art and its materials at Kohl’s Art Generation Family Sundays: Thinking Outside the Box at the Milwaukee Art Museum.

The all-ages event is free with admission to the Museum, and completely free of charge for kids ages 12 and under thanks to Kohl’s Cares. This month’s event is inspired by the exhibition William Kentridge: More Sweetly Play the Dance, a multimedia installation on view at the Milwaukee Art Museum through August 19.

From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on July 22, visitors of all ages can contribute to a group drawing, create a mixed-media sculpture, and experiment with movement and sound—engaging in an interactive experience inspired by William Kentridge. The Kohl’s Art Generation Studio will have a shadowbox theatre where families can create their own shadow puppet to tell a story. Families can also take a tour through the exhibition with the accompanying family guide.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Milwaukee, Walker’s Point Center for the Arts, Compel Family Life Center, and Above the Clouds will all take part in Family Sunday. Additionally, TBEY Arts Center will perform under the wings in Windhover Hall and Wild Space Dance Company will run a dance workshop with live drawing inspired by Kentridge.

Visitors will also have the opportunity to learn about animation through a live demonstration by local animator James Barany and his daughter Emma. Families will be able to contribute to an engaging mixed media animation created by the duo that uses sand, painting and drawing.

Kohl’s Art Generation Family Sundays happen five times a year, each with different themes and activities, and are free with Museum admission. Kids 12 years old and under are free every day the Museum is open thanks to Kohl’s Cares.

 

Monumental Multimedia Work by Contemporary Artist William Kentridge Comes to the Milwaukee Art Museum

“More Sweetly Play the Dance” engages viewers with an immersive, multisensory experience that combines drawing, animation, filmmaking and sound on giant HD screens

Milwaukee, Wis. – June 14, 2018 – Visitors to the Milwaukee Art Museum will have the opportunity to experience an immersive, large-scale multimedia work by renowned South African contemporary artist William Kentridge, from June 22 through August 19, 2018.

Combining drawing, filmmaking, and animation with a spirited soundtrack, William Kentridge: More Sweetly Play the Dance engages viewers in a danse macabre (or “dance of death”) that speaks to issues around life, death, migration and displacement. The innovative work features a parade of figures, led by a brass band, projected on giant HD screens that will run the length of Baker/Rowland Galleries. The figures march against a background of the artist’s drawings, activated through stop-motion animation, while megaphone-style speakers situated in the gallery provide elements of the layered soundtrack.

“The presentation of More Sweetly Play the Dance not only marks the first exhibition of Kentridge’s work at the Milwaukee Art Museum, it also is the first time that the Baker/Rowland galleries have been dedicated to a single monumental artwork,” said Margaret Andera, interim chief curator and curator of contemporary art. “The immersive quality of the installation, combined with the complex and layered construction of the film itself, makes for a unique art experience.”

Through his experimentation with and mastery of multimedia, Kentridge explores the artistic and cultural traditions of danse macabre to examine modern issues of equality, morality and joy in the midst of sorrow. The custom of danse macabre dates to the Late Middle Ages; the march follows the figure of death as a symbol of equality of all people and celebrates life.

Elements of this tradition are found in medieval manuscripts and frescos, Mexican dia de Los Muertos celebrations and the New Orleans tradition of the second line, where funeral attendees joyously stroll along with a brass ensemble. More Sweetly Play the Dance presents audiences with a mix of cultural references while exploring a range of social issues.

“Kentridge is a master innovator,” said Marcelle Polednik, PhD, the Donna and Donald Baumgartner Director of the Milwaukee Art Museum. “Through their subject matter and their execution, his works compel us to look differently at our world. He builds layered experiences that linger long after we come into contact with the work itself.”

In conjunction with the exhibition, the in-depth documentary “William Kentridge: Anything is Possible” will be shown in Lubar Auditorium each Thursday and Saturday, from June 23 to August 18. The audience can peer into the creative process of Kentridge and get a better understanding of his life and work.

More Sweetly Play the Dance is fourteen minutes long and plays on a continuous loop during Museum open hours.

This exhibition is part of the Museum’s season of technique and innovation, along with Photographing Nature’s Cathedrals: Carleton E. Watkins, Eadweard Muybridge, and H. H. Bennett, on view through August 26, and Daring Technique: Goya and the Art of Etching, on view through September 9.

William Kentridge: More Sweetly Play the Dance was previously on view at the Marian Goodman Gallery, Cincinnati Art Museum. The work is a loan from the LUMA Foundation.

Presenting Sponsor:
Milwaukee Art Museum’s Contemporary Art Society

Supporting Sponsor:
Milwaukee Art Museum’s Friends of Art

Exhibition Events
All events take place at the Milwaukee Art Museum

Film: Anything Is Possible
Thursday and Saturday, 1 and 2 p.m.
June 23-August 18 (no screening July 19)
Lubar Auditorium. Runtime: 60 min.

Gallery Talks
Tuesday, June 26, July 17, and August 7, 1:30 p.m
With Margaret Andera, interim chief curator and curator of contemporary art

Express Talks
Thursday, July 5 and August 2, noon and 5:30 p.m.
Take a 30-minute art break and explore the exhibition with a Museum expert

Member Drink & Think
Thursday, July 26, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
With Margaret Andera, interim chief curator and curator of contemporary art

Performance: Wild Space Dance Company
Thursday, August 9, 5:00-7:00 p.m.
Experience the interaction of live dance with Kentridge’s work, with dancers from the Wild Space Company

Summer at the Milwaukee Art Museum Offers Visitors a Wide Variety of Fun and Culture

Summer at the Milwaukee Art Museum Offers Visitors a Wide Variety of Fun and Culture

–  The Museum has three special exhibitions on view, outdoor activities, walking tours, day camps and opportunities to create art throughout the summer.    –

Milwaukee, Wis. – June 13, 2018 – This summer, the Milwaukee Art Museum will give locals and out of towners of all ages and interests a wide selection of indoor and outdoor art-related activities to choose from at the Museum and out in the community.

Held on the Museum grounds, the Museum’s Friends of Art group hosts Lakefront Festival of Art June 15-17 with more than 170 jury-selected artists showcasing paintings, photographs, ceramics and jewelry. Named one of the top twenty art festivals in the country, Lakefront Festival of the Art features three days of art, food, music and activities for all ages. The Museum is also open when the festival is open, with hours from 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. on Friday, June 15; 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. on Saturday; and 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is $19 for adults, $17 for seniors and students and $10 for Museum members. Visitors purchasing or renewing their Museum membership at the festival gates can receive two free admission and drink tickets. See mam.org/LFOA for a lineup of special events and live music.

‘Thinking Outside the Box’ is the theme for July’s Kohl’s Art Generation Family Sunday, taking place July 22. Inspired by the work in the exhibition William Kentridge: More Sweetly Play the Dance, families can explore contemporary art, add to a group drawing, create a mixed-media sculpture and experiment with movement and sounds. Thanks to Kohl’s Cares, admission to the Museum for kids 12 and under is always free, even during this special family-friendly event.

Kohl’s Color Wheels, the Museum’s off-site studio program will again visit a number of festivals and special events around the Milwaukee area this summer, including Juneteenth Day, Bastille Days, the Wisconsin State Fair and Taste of Islands. Art activities at the Kohl’s Color Wheels station are perfect for all ages and free of charge.

Young art enthusiasts can find inspiration in the galleries, explore exhibitions and create their own works of art at a Museum Summer Art Camp. Perfect for ages 6 to 15, each weekly camp will focus on subjects like portraiture, printmaking, photographing nature, drawing and creating with clay. Advance registration required. Space is limited.

Milwaukee Art Museum docents will again lead tours of the twenty-one art installations along Wisconsin Avenue during Sculpture Milwaukee. Visitors can reserve seats on weekly trolley tours, or join a monthly walking tour on June 14, July 12, August 9 and September 13. Tickets for either tour are $17 for adults and $6 for kids 12 and under.

Throughout the summer, visitors to the Museum can sit outdoors over lunch, wine or coffee at the East End’s patio overlooking Lake Michigan. At Grill-Side on the East End, Museum chefs will fire up the grill for a new special event series that will feature a unique menu and live music. Outdoor and indoor seating at the East End is open to the public, no Museum admission necessary. Special Grill-Side events take place 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. June 28, July 19, August 23 and September 20, with a different theme every month.  

Storytime in the Galleries, every Saturday at 10:30 a.m., continues throughout the summer, as does hands-on art making in the Kohl’s Art Generation Studio every day the Museum is open. Both activities are ideal for parents looking to keep young imaginations engaged. Both programs are included in the cost of Museum admission.

Yoga @ the Museum continues throughout the summer, thanks to a partnership with OmTown Yogis and the generosity of PNC Bank. Admission, a $15 donation, includes a guided yoga class in Windhover Hall and admission to the Museum. Yoga takes place from 8:15 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. July 7, August 11 and September 22.

Drop-in tours of the Collection continue every Saturday at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m. First-come, first-serve. Free with Museum admission.

MAM After Dark celebrates Harley-Davidson’s big birthday August 17 with the theme ‘Rev it Up’, full of fast music, fast art, and a whole lot of fun. Hours are 7 p.m. – 11 p.m., and tickets are $12 in advance, $14 at the door. Free for Museum members.

And, of course, there is a huge variety of art to experience this summer.

In addition to thousands of works on view in the galleries, the Museum is presenting three exhibitions during the summer season that showcase the technique and innovation of artists. Opening June 22 in the Baker/Rowland Galleries, William Kentridge: More Sweetly Play the Dance, will feature an immersive multimedia experience that demonstrates the diverse skillset of the contemporary South African artist William Kentridge. On view through August 26, Photographing Nature’s Cathedrals, displays the works of three nineteenth-century artists who used the cutting-edge technology of their day to record the natural beauty of Yosemite and the Wisconsin Dells. And running through September 9, Daring Technique: Goya and the Art of Etching focuses on Francisco de Goya’s creative use of the etching process, inspiring artists to look a the possibilities of printmaking in a new way. All exhibitions are included in the cost of admission and are free for members.

The Milwaukee Art Museum is open daily during the summer, including Mondays, through Labor Day. Thanks to Meijer, admission to the Museum will be free on July 5, August 2 and September 6.

Admission for Veterans and Active Duty Military are free through Labor Day as part of the Blue Star Museum Program.  

Additional members-only events take place throughout the summer as well. For more information on any event or to purchase tickets in advance, visit mam.org.

Serious Play: Design in Midcentury America Premieres at the Milwaukee Art Museum this Fall and Denver Art Museum in Summer 2019

Serious Play: Design in Midcentury America Premieres at the Milwaukee Art Museum this Fall and Denver Art Museum in Summer 2019

Exhibition focused on creative interpretations of play features works from 40 groundbreaking designers, including Charles and Ray Eames, Paul Rand and Eva Zeisel

Milwaukee, Wis. – May 30, 2018 – The Milwaukee Art Museum and Denver Art Museum are pleased to announce Serious Play: Design in Midcentury America, an exhibition presenting the concept of playfulness in postwar American design as a catalyst for creativity and innovation. Serious Play will explore how employing playfulness allowed designers to bring fresh ideas to the American home, children’s toys and play spaces and corporate identities. The exhibition will open on September 28, 2018, at the Milwaukee Art Museum before traveling to the Denver Art Museum where it will be on view starting May 5, 2019.

“While midcentury American design may be familiar to some audiences, this exhibition sheds light on work by many designers from the perspective that play can be a serious form of experimentation,” said co-curator Monica Obniski, Demmer Curator of 20th and 21st Century Design, Milwaukee Art Museum. “The spirit of play, and its importance to the cultural production of the period, is evidenced by the playful domesticity of Alexander Girard’s storage walls and table settings, as well as by the inventiveness of architects, such as Anne Tyng, who designed modular building toys to encourage creativity in children.”

Co-organized by the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Denver Art Museum, the exhibition includes over 200 works in various media, ranging from works on paper, models, textiles, furniture and ceramics to films, toys, playground equipment and product design. Organized around three themes—the American home, child’s play and corporate approaches to design—the exhibition encourages visitors to consider how design connects to their daily lives. With iconic objects such as Irving Harper’s Ball Clock for Howard Miller Clock Company and Charles and Ray Eames’ Eames Storage Units (ESUs) for Herman Miller Furniture Company, the exhibition will feature  works by designers who are well known to audiences as well as introduce less familiar names, such as Henry P. Glass and Estelle and Erwin Laverne.

“Today, we take the idea of fun as being a critical part of commerce for granted,” said co-curator Darrin Alfred, Curator of Architecture, Design and Graphics, Denver Art Museum. “An airline’s whimsical identity or a corporation’s belief that creativity should be unrestrained and unburdened—these approaches don’t astonish us in the same way because companies like Alcoa, Braniff and Herman Miller challenged designers to surprise the world through imagination and delight.”

During the 1950s and ’60s, a number of factors came together to make this bold design innovation possible. Diverse materials and manufacturing techniques opened up possibilities for new approaches to design and larger-scale production. Larger disposable income and leisure time of a growing middle class offered more possibilities for designers to help Americans discover a new way of living at home through thoughtfully designed objects. An emerging focus on child development prompted an interest in children’s furniture and placed a fresh emphasis on the importance of smart toy design. Pervasive Cold War anxiety created a desire to bring positivity and escapism into everyday spaces. Architects and designers that took advantage of all these new opportunities thrived.

“Modern design is highly approachable for our visitors, especially today when people are surrounded by more thoughtfully designed experiences than ever before. This exhibition is an opportunity to not only highlight this pivotal moment in design history but also engage visitors in a new way,” said Marcelle Polednik, Ph.D., Donna and Donald Baumgartner Director, Milwaukee Art Museum. “Through the exhibition-related project Make a Card, Build a House, offered on-site, which has participants decorate Eames cards for a giant House of Cards installation, we are inviting diverse audiences from the community to interact with design and to see themselves as valuable contributors to their art museum.”

A full-color, hardcover exhibition catalogue will be published by the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Denver Art Museum and distributed by Yale University Press. Essays will give voice to the exhibition’s thematic threads and will reveal new scholarship on the topic of play in postwar American design. Authors include Serious Play co-curators as well as Pat Kirkham, Professor of Design History, Kingston University, United Kingdom, and Professor Emerita, Bard Graduate Center, New York; Amy Auscherman, Corporate Archivist at Herman Miller; Steven Heller, design journalist, critic, author and editor; and Alexandra Lange, architecture and design critic.

“The curators behind this incredible exhibition are contributing important scholarship that significantly enriches our understanding of the creative impulse behind midcentury design,” said Christoph Heinrich, Ph.D., Frederick and Jan Mayer Director of the Denver Art Museum. “Whether visitors appreciate the exhibition as a way to gain a deeper understanding of design innovation or as inspiration to bring some playfulness into their lives, we are excited to highlight this remarkable collection of works.”

Serious Play will be on view at the Milwaukee Art Museum from Sept. 28, 2018 through Jan. 6, 2019. The exhibition will travel to the Denver Art Museum, opening May 5, 2019, and will be on view through Aug. 25, 2019.

Exhibition Sponsors

Serious Play: Design in Midcentury America is co-organized by the Denver Art Museum and the Milwaukee Art Museum. It is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. The Brady Corporation Foundation and Herman Miller Cares are presenting sponsors of Serious Play: Design in Midcentury America in Milwaukee. The presentation in Denver is generously supported by the donors to the Annual Fund Leadership Campaign and the citizens who support the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD). Promotional support at the Denver Art Museum is provided by 5280 Magazine, CBS4, Comcast Spotlight and The Denver Post.

 

About the Milwaukee Art Museum

Home to a rich collection of more than 30,000 works of art, the Milwaukee Art Museum is located on the shores of Lake Michigan. Its campus includes the Santiago Calatrava–designed Quadracci Pavilion, annually showcasing three feature exhibitions, and the Eero Saarinen–designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center and David Kahler‒designed addition. In 2016, after a yearlong renovation, the Museum reopened its Collection Galleries, debuting nearly 2,500 world-class works of art within dramatically transformed galleries and a new lakefront addition. This reimagined space also allows for the presentation of additional changing exhibitions. For more information, please visit mam.org.

 

About the Denver Art Museum

The Denver Art Museum is an educational, nonprofit resource that sparks creative thinking and expression through transformative experiences with art. Its holdings reflect the city and region—and provide invaluable ways for the community to learn about cultures from around the world. Metro citizens support the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD), a unique funding source serving hundreds of metro Denver arts, culture and scientific organizations. For museum information, call 720-865-5000 or visit www.denverartmuseum.org.

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Free Admission to the Milwaukee Art Museum for Members of the Military this Summer

Free Admission to the Milwaukee Art Museum for Members of the Military this Summer

-The Milwaukee Art Museum is one of more than 2,000 museums nationwide participating in the Blue Star Museums program –

Milwaukee, Wis. – May 17, 2018 – Military personnel and their families will be able to visit the Milwaukee Art Museum free of charge this summer. The Museum will again participate in the annual Blue Star Museums, a collaboration between the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense and more than 2,000 museums across the United States to offer free admission to the nation’s active duty military personnel and their families from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Military veterans and one guest will also be able to attend the Milwaukee Art Museum free of charge this summer.

“We are excited to participate in the Blue Star Museums collaboration again this summer,” said Amanda C. Peterson, Director of Marketing and Communication at the Milwaukee Art Museum. “Those who serve our country in the military or as supportive family members deserve every bit of inspiration that we can give them. And as we’ve got the Milwaukee County War Memorial Center right here, it just makes sense to extend free admission to veterans. We hope that we can welcome everyone into the Museum this summer.”

This year’s participating Blue Star Museums represent not just fine arts museums, but also science museums, history museums, zoos, nature centers, and children’s museums. Museums are welcome to sign up for Blue Star Museums throughout the summer by emailing bluestarmuseums@arts.gov. A list of institutions nationwide participating in the Blue Star Museums collaboration is available at arts.gov/bluestarmuseums.

“As many military families spend the summer months moving from one duty station to another, or reconnecting with a parent who has returned from deployment, Blue Star Museums helps service members and their families create memories,” said Blue Star Families Chief Executive Officer Kathy Roth-Douquet. “Blue Star Families has great appreciation for the generosity of the museums across the country who roll out the red carpet for the families who serve alongside their service members. We are thrilled with the continued growth of the program and the unparalleled opportunities it offers.”

The free admission program is available for those currently serving in the United States Military – Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard as well as Active Duty and Reservists, National Guardsman (regardless of status), U.S. Public Health Commissioned Corps, NOAA Commissioned Corps, and up to five family members. Qualified members must show a Geneva Convention common access card (CAC), DD Form 1173 ID card (dependent ID), or a DD Form 1173-1 ID card for entrance into a participating Blue Star Museum.

The Milwaukee Art Museum has added two unique offers at their Museum on top of the Blue Star Museums program. The Milwaukee Art Museum will extend free summer admission for military veterans and one guest with any proof of service, such as a VA card. The Museum’s admissions desks will also offer free postcards and postage for anyone who wants to send a note to those currently deployed.

“Visiting a museum is a great way to get to know a community—whether it’s in your hometown or a stop on a road trip,” said NEA Chairman Jane Chu. “We appreciate the enthusiasm of museums all across the country who open their doors for military and their families to spend time together and have new arts experiences.”

 

About the National Endowment for the Arts

Established by Congress in 1965, the NEA is the independent federal agency whose funding and support gives Americans the opportunity to participate in the arts, exercise their imaginations, and develop their creative capacities. Through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector, the NEA supports arts learning, affirms and celebrates America’s rich and diverse cultural heritage, and extends its work to promote equal access to the arts in every community across America. Visit arts.gov to learn more about NEA.

About Blue Star Families

Blue Star Families builds communities that support military families by connecting research and data to programs and solutions, including career development tools, local community events for families, and caregiver support. Since its inception in 2009, Blue Star Families has engaged tens of thousands of volunteers and serves more than 1.5 million military family members. With Blue Star Families, military families can find answers to their challenges anywhere they are. For more information, visit bluestarfam.org.

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A Special Mother’s Day at the Milwaukee Art Museum

Still don’t have Mother’s Day plans? Make it perfect for the art lover in your life at the Milwaukee Art Museum.

Keep the kids busy
Let her sleep in or have some time to herself in the galleries. Take the kids to the Kohl’s Art Generation Open Studio where they can make an artful gift for mom, starting at 10 a.m. Admission to the Museum is free for kids 12 and under every day thanks to Kohl’s Cares.

Wine and dine her
Reserve brunch from the Museum’s Executive Chef Zak Groh, with a complete buffet including traditional brunch favorites, seafood selections, pastries, a decorate-your-own-doughnut station, and a mimosa or glass of bubbly for each adult guest.

Get the perfect gift
Brunch also includes Museum admission, validated parking in the Museum’s underground garage, and a $5 credit towards anything in the Museum Store, good only on May 13, plus free gift wrap, so you can pick her out the perfect something.

Museum Members: $80 per person, including tax and 18% gratuity
Non-Members: $99.73 per person
Kids 7-12: $17.80 each
Tickets available at EventBrite

Or give the gift of membership
And if she’s an art lover but not yet a Member of the Milwaukee Art Museum, get her a gift membership. If you buy a family membership after you book brunch, you get brunch at the Member price, plus $10 off the regular price of membership. Order by Wednesday, May 9, and we’ll have the gift membership waiting for you to give to her.

$85 a year (normally $95) includes free admission every day for two adults plus any number of kids under 18, plus Store discounts, exclusive events, and all the other Member perks.

Call the Membership Hotline at 414-224-3284 and mention your brunch reservation to take advantage of this offer.

Offer valid May 2, 2018 through May 13, 2018 while reservations are still available.

Natural Wonders of the American Landscape Featured in New Photography Exhibition

Natural Wonders of the American Landscape Featured in New Photography Exhibition

-”Photographing Nature’s Cathedrals” showcases three nineteenth-century photographers who used cutting-edge technology of the time to capture the natural wonders of the country

Milwaukee, Wis. – May 1, 2018 – Visitors to the Milwaukee Art Museum will have the opportunity to see some of the first photographs of beloved American natural landscapes in the upcoming exhibition Photographing Nature’s Cathedrals: Carleton E. Watkins, Eadweard Muybridge and H. H. Bennett from May 18 – August 26, 2018.

The three photographers in the exhibition used the cutting-edge photographic technology of their time to record the natural wonders of Yosemite Valley and the Wisconsin Dells. Their photographs helped create the myth of the American West, attracted tourists to the Dells region of Wisconsin and inspired the federal land grant that would lead to the creation of Yosemite National Park.

“These photographers brought images of America’s natural landmarks to the public—they helped create the idea of these places as tourist destinations,” said Ariel Pate, Assistant Curator of Photography at the Milwaukee Art Museum and curator of the exhibition. “Bennett’s photographs of the Wisconsin Dells parallel how Watkins and Muybridge’s photographs of Yosemite spread awareness of that unique valley—and I’m excited for our visitors to see the connection between these regional and national histories.”

The exhibition looks at how photographs by Carleton E. Watkins (American, 1829–1916), Eadweard Muybridge (American, b. England, 1830–1904) and Henry Hamilton Bennett (American, b. Canada, 1843–1908) helped preserve and promote the natural beauty of the American landscape.  Watkins was among the first to take “mammoth”-sized photographs of Yosemite, and the valley was preserved, in part, due to the impact of his photographs. Muybridge’s works, which were sometimes manipulated using proto-”Photoshop” techniques, also inspired tourists to visit the valley. Bennett’s photographs and stereographs—an early form of three-dimensional photography—helped to promote the Wisconsin Dells as a natural wonder and boosted interest in the area, creating what is today a booming tourism economy and Wisconsin’s largest tourist destination.

The exhibition draws on, in part, the remarkable landscape photography holdings in the collection of the American Geographical Society (AGS) Library at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and represents a continuation of the Museum’s longstanding collaboration with the library. Visitors will see material from the library’s collection that is rarely exhibited locally or regionally in such depth.

“Whether someone is interested in landscape photography, the beauty of nature or technology and innovation in the 1800s, visitors will love this exhibition,” said Amanda C. Peterson, Director of Marketing and Communications, Milwaukee Art Museum. “So I’m excited Photographing Nature’s Cathedrals will be one of the main attractions of this month’s MAM After Dark on the first day it’s open, May 18th. The grown up summer camp theme is perfect for bringing together the typical party atmosphere with these remarkable works. ”

Photographing Nature’s Cathedrals will be on view in the Herzfeld Center for Photography and Media Arts. Established in 2015, the Herzfeld Center for Photography and Media Arts presents an integrated exhibition space dedicated to photography and the related media of film, video and light installation. Named for the Herzfeld Foundation, whose generous support has made this center possible, these galleries reflect the important legacy the foundation has built for photography at the Milwaukee Art Museum.

Organized, in part, from the collection of the American Geographical Society Library, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Presenting Sponsor:
In Memory of Joan W. Nason

Supporting Sponsor:
James A. Schleif and William H. Morley

Exhibitions in the Herzfeld Center for Photography and Media Arts are sponsored by the Herzfeld Foundation and Madeleine and David Lubar.

Exhibition Events:

All events take place at the Milwaukee Art Museum

Gallery Talks
Free with Museum admission, free for Museum Members
Tuesdays, 1:30 p.m.

June 5: with Ariel Pate, assistant curator of photography

July 10: Photography and Geology, with Drs. Julia Bowles and Dyanna M. Czeck of UW-Milwaukee’s geosciences department

July 24: H. H. Bennett, Dells Photographer, with Betsy Grant, great-granddaughter of H. H. Bennett and the author of The Bennett Story: The Life and Work of Henry Hamilton Bennett

Aug 21: The American Landscape in Photographs and Paintings, with Ariel Pate, assistant curator of photography, and Brandon Ruud, Abert Family Curator of American Art

 

Salons
Co-organized with the Chipstone Foundation
Free with Museum admission and for Museum Members, but space is limited—RSVP to studycenter@mam.org.

Thurs, July 12, 6:15 p.m.: A Stereoscopic Excursion to the Dells of the Wisconsin River, with curator Ariel Pate

Sat, July 21, 3 p.m.: Ho-Chunk Objects: Souvenirs of Bennett’s Wisconsin Dells, with Kendra Greendeer of the Little Eagle Arts Foundation

Social Event

MAM After Dark: Grown-Up Summer Camp
$14/$12 in advance/free for Museum Members
May 18, 7 p.m.–11 p.m.
Presented by Northwestern Mutual
Evening Sponsor: Summerfest

*Exhibition photos available upon request

 

About the American Geographical Society (AGS) Library at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Founded in the 1850s, the library contains maps, atlases, books, periodicals, photos and a large collection of geospatial data. The AGS Library supports research and inquiry into a variety of disciplines from film history to geography. Worldwide in coverage, items date from the 15th century to the present. The AGS Library offers scholarly programs for the UWM campus and local community and welcomes visiting scholars from around the world.

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New Exhibition Highlights Innovative Etchings by Master Artist Francisco de Goya

New Exhibition Highlights Innovative Etchings by Master Artist Francisco de Goya

-”Daring Technique: Goya and the Art of Etching” illustrates Goya’s adaptation and experimentation with printmaking techniques through a rare and complete set of first edition etchings-

Milwaukee, Wis. – April 19, 2018 – Considered one of the most important Spanish artists, Francisco de Goya (1746-1828), was not only a master painter, but also brought scenes to life through printmaking. His innovative techniques set him apart from his contemporaries and inspired generations of artists that followed.

The new exhibition, Daring Technique: Goya and the Art of Etching, on view at the Milwaukee Art Museum from April 20 through September 9, 2018, showcases prints that compare his style with other artists’ etchings and highlight his mastery, including a rare and complete first edition set of Goya’s drama-filled print series La Tauromaquia.

Following in the footsteps of masters such as Dürer and Rembrandt, Goya emphasized printmaking throughout his career, viewing it as of equal importance to his paintings. Daring Technique highlights Goya’s creative use of the etching process with a variety of prints.

“It’s exciting to present such a highlight of the Museum’s print collection to visitors and show how Goya used the process of etching in a way that was entirely experimental and new at the time,” said Britany Salsbury, curator of the Milwaukee Art Museum’s exhibition, presently at the Cleveland Museum of Art. “I hope visitors come away with a better understanding of some of the reasons why etching appealed so strongly to Goya, and the potential it offered to both him and his contemporaries for a new and expressive style of printmaking.”

A recently acquired early etching by Goya after Diego Velázquez will also be on display during the exhibition, as well as etchings by Goya’s contemporaries, including Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Angelica Kauffman and Canaletto. Additional works on paper by Manet, Picasso and Dalí will further contextualize the artist’s prints in the history of etching.

While the exhibition includes a number of works, the centerpiece is the complete series La Tauromaquia, 33 prints exploring the history of bullfighting in Spain as a national pastime and a symbol of national identity.

A highlight of the Museum’s print collection, these etchings were printed during Goya’s lifetime and purchased by the Museum in 1983. The prints can only be displayed publicly for limited periods of time—and in limited light—due to the sensitive nature of works on paper, making this the only opportunity visitors will see them on view for many years.

Much like drawing, etching provided 18th and 19th-century European artists the flexibility to explore new approaches and techniques. Displays and educational material in the exhibit will explain how prints are made through etching, aquatint and other printmaking processes.

The Friedlander family is the presenting sponsor of this exhibition in memory of their mother, Jean Friedlander. For more than 55 years, Mrs. Friedlander was an active volunteer with the Museum. She co-chaired Museum’s first endowment campaign and played a major part in fundraising for all three buildings within the current Museum campus. She was an avid print collector, making this exhibition a perfect fit for her interests.

Curator: Britany Salsbury, Associate Curator of Prints and Drawings, Milwaukee Art Museum, presently Associate Curator of Prints and Drawings at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Presenting Sponsor: In Memory of Jean Friedlander, The Friedlander Family

Supporting Sponsor: Milwaukee Art Museum’s Print Forum

Supporting Events

Gallery Talks
Tuesday, April 24 and Tuesday August 14, 1:30 p.m.
With Tanya Paul, Isabel & Alfred Bader Curator of European Art

Tuesday, May 22 and Tuesday June 12, 1:30 p.m.
With Catherine Sawinski, Assistant Curator of European Art


Member Drink & Think

Thursday, May 31, 5:30 p.m-7:30 p.m.
With Tanya Paul, Isabel & Alfred Bader Curator of European Art

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Milwaukee Art Museum Highlights Technique and Innovation Across Three Exhibitions

Milwaukee Art Museum Highlights Technique and Innovation Across Three Exhibitions

-The multimedia work of William Kentridge, the etchings of Goya and early images of nature by Carleton E. Watkins, Eadweard Muybridge and H. H. Bennett reveal the innovation of artists-

Milwaukee, Wis. – April 19, 2018 – The Milwaukee Art Museum is showcasing three exhibitions this summer highlighting artistic technique and innovation. The exhibitions and accompanying programs center on how artists have pushed boundaries with subject, style, technique and material throughout history.

“Great art changes the way we see the world and sets an ever-higher bar for visual and conceptual accomplishments,” commented Marcelle Polednik, PhD, Donna and Donald Baumgartner Director, Milwaukee Art Museum. “While these exhibitions span eras and a wide gamut of subject matter and techniques, they all showcase the vital role of invention and curiosity in the artistic practice and in shaping culture over time.”

The season begins with the exhibition Daring Technique: Goya and the Art of Etching on April 20. Focusing on Francisco de Goya’s creative use of the etching process, Daring Technique features a rare and complete first-edition set of his thirty-three print series La Tauromaquia. Etching provided 18th- and 19th-century European artists with the flexibility to explore new approaches quickly relative to engraving. Goya’s use of etching inspired many artists to look at the possibilities of printmaking in a new way. Additional material explains how prints are made and highlights the differences in a variety of artists’ printmaking explorations.

Visitors will experience early nature photography that shaped America’s love of nature in Photographing Nature’s Cathedrals: Carleton E. Watkins, Eadweard Muybridge and H. H. Bennett beginning May 18. The exhibition displays rarely seen works by three nineteenth-century photographers, including mammoth-plate prints, panoramas and stereographs—the cutting-edge photographic technology of their time. These groundbreaking photographs helped bring the natural wonders of America to the attention of the country and the world.

On June 22, the work of internationally renowned artist William Kentridge will be on view with an immersive multimedia experience that showcases the diverse skills of this contemporary South African artist. William Kentridge: More Sweetly Play the Dance is a monumental eight-channel projection that fills every room of the Museum’s Baker/Rowland Galleries, surrounding visitors in an expansive, multisensory experience. The projection combines drawing, stop-motion animation, video and music.

“William Kentridge is among the most important living artists working today, and we are proud to be able to share his work with Milwaukee,” said Margaret Andera, Interim Chief Curator and Curator of Contemporary Art, Milwaukee Art Museum. “Whether visitors are drawn to the captivating figures in silhouette, the skill with which Kentridge combines various media into one monumentally singular work or the audacious scope and scale of the installation, I believe they are going to be mesmerized by this work.”

Educational programs, including activities in the Kohl’s Art Generation Studio and young adult summer camps, will focus on the variety of techniques on display throughout the summer, helping connect the exhibitions to practical, hands-on art making for all ages.

Daring Technique: Goya and the Art of Etching
April 20–September 9, 2018
Bradley Family Gallery, Milwaukee Art Museum
Curated by Britany Salsbury, currently Associate Curator Prints and Drawings, Cleveland Museum of Art
Presented in memory of Jean Friedlander by the Friedlander Family
Supporting Sponsor: Milwaukee Art Museum’s Print Forum

Photographing Nature’s Cathedrals: Carleton E. Watkins, Eadweard Muybridge and H. H. Bennett

May 18–August 26, 2018
Herzfeld Center for Photography and Media Arts, Milwaukee Art Museum
Curated by Ariel Pate, Assistant Curator of Photography, Milwaukee Art Museum
Presenting Sponsor: In Memory of Joan W. Nason
Supporting Sponsor: James A. Schleif and William H. Morley

William Kentridge: More Sweetly Play the Dance
June 22–August 19, 2018
Baker/Rowland Galleries, Milwaukee Art Museum
Coordinating Curator: Margaret Andera, Curator of Contemporary Art
Organized by the LUMA Foundation
Presenting Sponsor: Milwaukee Art Museum’s Contemporary Art Society
Supporting Sponsor: Milwaukee Art Museum’s Friends of Art

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Art and Flowers Come Together to Celebrate Spring at Art in Bloom

 

Art and Flowers Come Together to Celebrate Spring at Art in Bloom

– Milwaukee Art Museum’s popular four-day event returns April 12-15 with floral art, a fashion show and family activities –

Milwaukee, Wis. – March 20, 2018 – Milwaukeeans will celebrate the return of spring at Art in Bloom, one of the Milwaukee Art Museum’s most popular events, from Thursday, April 12 through Sunday, April 15. Presented by Educators Credit Union, this annual event offers visitors the chance to view and take in the scents of 40 art-inspired floral installations on display throughout the Museum. Each arrangement is inspired by a work from the Museum’s collection and created by leading regional experts in gardening, as well as floral and landscape design.

“The stunning colors inspired by our collection of art combined with the amazing work of our talented local floral designers, make Art in Bloom a must-see event,” said Krista Renfrew, Director of Special Events at the Museum. “This event has something for everyone and visitors will leave feeling inspired for spring.”

Art in Bloom will also feature of a variety of additional activities and programs including gardening seminars, family activities and a marketplace with local vendors and artisans offering flowers, clothing, jewelry and garden accessories. Back by popular demand is the late-afternoon treat, high tea.

At the floral fashion show Beauty in Bloom, models will walk down the runway wearing gowns and accessories created out of flowers. This ticketed event held on April 14 inside Windhover Hall will include hors d’oeuvres, valet parking and a cash bar.

Also on April 14, audiences will watch as three professional florists compete for the title of Iron Designer 2018 at the Iron Design Competition, presented by the Milwaukee Art Museum’s Garden Club. In this timed event, participants receive the same materials and guidelines, but are challenged to incorporate their own inspiration and talents into their displays.

“We’re excited to once again bring an activity-filled weekend to visitors of the Milwaukee Art Museum,” said Shannon Huot, Educators Credit Union Senior Vice President of Marketing. “Art in Bloom is such a beautiful, unique and refreshing way to help usher in the spring season to our area.”

In previous years, more than 10,000 guests have visited the Museum during the event.

Art in Bloom is presented by Educators Credit Union, with additional support from S.J. Janis Company, Milaeger’s, and media partner M Magazine.

Event Information

Dates:
Thursday, April 12: 10 a.m.–8 p.m.
Friday, April 13: 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Saturday, April 14: 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Sunday, April 15: 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

Daily Admission: $5 for Members; $20 for adults ($17 advance tickets); $18 for seniors and students; Free for children 12 and under

Special Membership Offer: Visitors receive free admission for two when joining or renewing their Museum membership at the door—and a $10 gift card to Milaeger’s if they join or renew at the Family/Dual level or above. Offer only valid on-site April 12–15, 2018

Website:  mam.org/bloom

Programs

High Tea
Thursday, April 12, 4 p.m.; Friday, April 13, 4 p.m.; Sunday, April 14, 4 p.m.
Northwestern Mutual Room
An afternoon tea complete with fresh scones, sandwiches and pastries (requires reservation, additional cost)

Farm-to-Table Dinner
Thursday, April 12, 6-8 p.m., Cafe Calatrava
Enjoy the pleasures of eating locally, during this four-course dinner showcasing the best of Midwest agriculture. Many of the vegetables, herbs, meats and fruits used to create this special experience will be presented by their farmers and producers (requires reservation, additional cost).

Pot de Fleurs Container Planting Workshop
Friday, April 13, 11:30 a.m., Northwestern Mutual Room
Learn to plant “floral fashion,” in this hands-on workshop with Heidi Hornung of Shady Lane Greenhouses. Learn to mix colors and textures with a European flair for container plantings that wow  (requires reservation, additional cost).

Sculpture in Your Garden
Friday, April 13, 1 p.m., Lubar Auditorium
Landscape architect Margarete Harvey will discuss what to consider when buying and placing art in the natural environment (free with admission).

Iron Design Competition
Saturday, April 14, 11 a.m., Lubar Auditorium
Professional florists battle for the title of Iron Designer 2018 in this timed competition. Florists will receive the same material and guidelines, but must make an original creation (free with event admission).

Beautiful Gardens and Healthy Environment, Yes!
Saturday, April 14, 3 p.m., Lubar Auditorium
Learn how to create and maintain a flowerbed that is both beautiful and great for the environment. Native plants, improved cultivars and planting diversity will keep your garden beautiful throughout the season, and may even provide a few tasty treats along the way  (requires reservation, additional cost).

Beauty in Bloom Floral Fashion Show
Saturday, April 14, 7 p.m., Windhover Hall
Parisian couture–inspired gowns and accessories created entirely out of blooms by local artisans  (ticketed, additional cost).

Art in Bloom Florists and Their Inspiration
Sunday, April 15, 11 a.m., Lubar Auditorium
Art in Bloom floral installation participants discuss the creative and installation process for this year’s event (free with event admission).

Create Your Own Art in Bloom Floral Installation
Sunday, April 15, 1 p.m., Northwestern Mutual Room
Panel discussion at 11 a.m. followed by the opportunity to create a floral masterpiece of your own for home, with freelance designer Pam Bogardt (requires reservation, additional cost).

Kohl’s Art Generation Open Studio
Thursday, April 12 – Sunday, April 15.
During Art in Bloom, visitors to the Kohl’s Art Generation Studio will have the opportunity to create their own photo-collage flower arrangements. Inspired by the exhibition, The Open Road: Photography and the American Road Trip, children will “pick” flowers from the photo-garden, filled with blooms from across the American landscape. Families can cut, collage and take home their own bouquets.  The Kohl’s Art Generation Studio closes one hour before the Museum.

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Milwaukee Art Museum Open an Extra Day, March 26, for Spring Break

-Museum opens its doors on Monday, March 26, and welcomes families with kid-friendly activities throughout the week –

Milwaukee, Wis. – March 14, 2018 – The Milwaukee Art Museum has announced a rare Monday opening to kick-off spring break week, March 26-30, coinciding with the spring break vacation for many school districts including Milwaukee Public Schools and Chicago Public Schools. The Museum will be offering art and creative activities for families to do together throughout the week, including activities inspired by the exhibition Coming Away: Winslow Homer and England.

“Thanks to the generosity of Kohl’s Cares, we have been able to open the Kohl’s Art Generation Studio every day the Museum is open,” said Brigid Globensky, the Barbara Brown Lee Senior Curator of Education and Programs at the Milwaukee Art Museum. “Having an extra day to kick off spring break is something we are very proud of.”

The Kohl’s Art Generation Studio will feature painting, word games and other activities based on the seascapes of Winslow Homer. These hands on activities are designed both to engage children of all ages, as well as provide context that caregivers can use to connect art making to observing art in the rest of the Museum.

The Kohl’s Art Generation Studio is part of the Kohl’s Art Generation program at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Since 2008, Kohl’s has partnered with the Museum to provide art-making experiences to families at the Museum. In 2017, Kohl’s expanded its support for kids at the Museum by underwriting free admission for all kids ages 12 and under.

The Museum will be open 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Monday, March 26, 2018. The Museum’s standard hours of operation—10 a.m. through 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, with Thursdays until 8 p.m.—will continue, with the Kohl’s Art Generation Studio open when the Museum opens and closing an hour before the Museum closes.

This is the second time the Museum has been open on a Monday during the winter in 2018, the first of which was New Year’s Day, celebrating resolutions tours and activities. The Museum will closed on all other Mondays until Memorial Day, May 28, 2018 when it shifts to seven days a week through Labor Day, September 3, 2018.

Herzfeld Foundation Endows Curator of Photography and Media Arts Position at Milwaukee Art Museum

-$3.5 million commitment continues the Herzfeld investment in highlighting photography at the Museum, and a steady trend of endowed positions at the institution.-

Milwaukee, Wis. – March 8, 2018 – The Milwaukee Art Museum has announced the commitment of a major endowment from the Herzfeld Foundation in support of the Museum’s photography program. This most recent gift provides for the position of the Herzfeld Foundation Curator of Photography and Media Arts at the Museum in perpetuity.

“The legacy of Richard and Ethel Herzfeld and the thoughtful stewardship and leadership of the Foundation by Carmen and William Haberman have enriched the Museum, the community and the region,” said Marcelle Polednik, PhD, the Donna and Donald Baumgartner Director of the Milwaukee Art Museum. “Their generosity not only acts as a foundation, but also as a role model for future generations to come.”

This donation brings the total support from the Herzfeld Foundation of the Milwaukee Art Museum to over 9.9 million dollars. Previous gifts established the Herzfeld Photography, Print, and Drawing Study Center, which provides visiting scholars and students access to the Museum’s extensive collection of works on paper in 2001; founded the Herzfeld Center for Photography and Media Arts, an integrated exhibition space dedicated to photography and the related media of film, video, and light installation in 2015; and supported more than 60 exhibitions and the acquisition of nearly 400 photographs for the permanent collection at the Milwaukee Art Museum since 1985.

“The generous support of the Herzfeld Foundation has been truly transformational for the photography program at the Milwaukee Art Museum,” commented Lisa J. Sutcliffe, the Museum’s first Herzfeld Curator of Photography and Media Arts. “The photography collection has been expanded both in scope and breadth over the last three decades with their support. From early nineteenth century masterpieces by William Henry Fox Talbot to experimental photograms by László Moholy-Nagy, and iconic photographs by American visionaries including Robert Adams, William Eggleston, Robert Frank, Helen Levitt and Stephen Shore, the photographs made possible by the support of the Herzfeld Foundation define key moments in the development of the medium. Edward Steichen’s Pool, Milwaukee, acquired in 1993, is particularly significant to this collection because it represents a moment in which Milwaukee’s history overlaps with that of photography.”

This position is the most recent in a series of endowed positions at the Milwaukee Art Museum, including the Barbara Brown Lee Senior Curator of Education and Programs in 2013 and, in 2016, underwriting for both the Abert Family Curator of American Art and the Donald and Donna Baumgartner Director as Marcelle Polednik, PhD became the Museum Director.

“The Herzfeld Foundation believes that an endowment provides a long term, secure and sustainable financial base, which along with the great space of the Herzfeld Center, will attract and retain the top talent needed to continue building a prestigious collection and mount great exhibitions,” commented Bill and Carmen Haberman of the Herzfeld Foundation.

The Herzfeld Center for Photography and Media Arts, which opened in 2015 as part of the Museum’s extensive expansion and reinstallation, presents an integrated exhibition space dedicated to photography and the related media of film, video, and light installation. Presenting rotating collection-based and feature exhibitions, this dynamic gallery space enables the examination of light-based media in a broader 21st-century context.

The Herzfeld Center has been home to critically acclaimed photography and multimedia exhibitions, including Rineke Dijkstra: Rehearsals (2016), Penelope Umbrico: Future Perfect (2016), and Anthony Hernandez (2017). It is also the home to long-term multimedia installations from the Museum’s collection, such as Selections from The Survival Series, 1984-85, by Jennifer Holzer and You and I, Horizontal (II), 2006, by Anthony McCall. The Open Road: Photography and the American Road Trip, organized by Aperture Foundation, New York, is currently on view in the Herzfeld Center through April 22, 2018.

About the Milwaukee Art Museum
Home to a rich collection of more than 30,000 works of art, the Milwaukee Art Museum is located on the shores of Lake Michigan. Its campus includes the Santiago Calatrava–designed Quadracci Pavilion, annually showcasing three feature exhibitions, and the Eero Saarinen–designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center and David Kahler‒designed addition. In 2016, after a yearlong renovation, the Museum reopened its Collection Galleries, debuting nearly 2,500 world-class works of art within dramatically transformed galleries and a new lakefront addition. This reimagined space also allows for the presentation of additional changing exhibitions.

About the Herzfeld Foundation
The Herzfeld Foundation makes grants in the areas of Arts and Culture, Education, Arts Education and limited funding in Civic Improvements. The Herzfeld Foundation awards grants to non-profit organizations that are tax exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Funding is restricted to Wisconsin-based organizations with an emphasis on those that benefit the people of the Greater Milwaukee area.

New Exhibition Explores British Influence on the Quintessential American Painter Winslow Homer

New Exhibition Explores British Influence on the
Quintessential American Painter Winslow Homer

-“Coming Away: Winslow Homer and England” explores how English art and an 18-month sojourn in Cullercoats impacted the latter part of the artist’s career-

Milwaukee, Wis. – February 6, 2018 – The 19th-century painter Winslow Homer (1836-1910) is one of the most beloved figures in American art, perhaps most associated with the pastoral beauty of rural America and his dramatic Maine seascapes. The new exhibition Coming Away: Winslow Homer and England, opening March 1 and on view through May 20, 2018 at the Milwaukee Art Museum, explores how English artists and Homer’s nearly two-year stay in the seaside village of Cullercoats, England, impacted the style and subjects of the artist’s work for the rest of his career.

Fifty works by Winslow Homer are featured in the exhibition, including a selection of some of his most famous early scenes of independent farmers and outdoorsmen, as well as women at leisure and mischievous country children at play. Displayed alongside the art that Homer developed while in Cullercoats and the dramatic seascapes that marked his career after he returned to the United States, the exhibition demonstrates the great shift in Homer’s painting that his time in England inspired.

The exhibition brings together many of Homer’s most beloved and famous works, such as The Cotton Pickers, on loan from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; The Lifeline from the Philadelphia Museum of Art; and the Musée d’Orsay’s Summer Night; as well as many of the artist’s late seascapes that so deeply influenced American modernists. Also included are paintings by Lawrence Alma-Tadema, George Henry Boughton, Jules Adolphe Breton and Joseph Mallord William Turner—works that show the range of international influences that Homer embraced—alongside English photographs, which Homer consumed and became fascinated with during his stay abroad.

“During his lifetime as now, critics celebrated Homer’s work for its honesty and truth to nature, what many believed were quintessentially American qualities, but this exhibition complicates our understanding of Homer as the archetypal American artist,” commented co-curator Brandon Ruud, the Abert Family Curator of American Art, Milwaukee Art Museum.

Core to the exhibition, co-organized by the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Worcester Art Museum, are two pivotal paintings in Homer’s career: Hark! The Lark, which is part of the Layton Collection at the Milwaukee Art Museum, and The Gale, in the permanent collection at the Worcester Art Museum. Hark! was the major canvas to emerge from Homer’s stay in Cullercoats, a painting he chose to represent him at the Royal Academy before he left England, and one that later in life he described as “the most important picture I ever painted, and the very best one.” Homer began his composition for The Gale while in Cullercoats and spent the next decade of his life perfecting the painting as he wrestled with his aesthetic vision and artistic legacy, a testament to his craftsmanship and England’s lasting influences.

“These two important works that bookend Homer’s Cullercoats period provide the perfect opportunity to explore the artist anew and show just how pivotal England was to the artist’s development,” said Elizabeth Athens, co-curator from the Worcester Art Museum, presently at the National Gallery of Art.

First shown to the public from November 11, 2017 to February 4, 2018 at the Worcester Art Museum, the exhibition was warmly received by East Coast audiences.

Now opening at the Milwaukee Art Museum, this presentation of the exhibition begins and ends with expansive views of the choppy late-winter waters of Lake Michigan, evocative of Homer’s seascapes.

In conjunction with the exhibition, the Milwaukee Art Museum will also host a full range of programs relevant to its location on Lake Michigan and the city’s relationship to waterways, and includes presentations by internationally renowned scholars: Sarah Burns, Professor Emeritus, University of Indiana on April 5 and John Fagg from the University of Birmingham, England on May 3.

The accompanying hardcover catalogue Coming Away: Winslow Homer and England is co-published by Yale University Press, the Worcester Art Museum and the Milwaukee Art Museum. The essays are by co-curators Brandon Ruud and Elizabeth Athens, as well Martha Tedeschi, the Elizabeth and John Moors Cabot Director at the Harvard Art Museums. The catalogue is made possible through support from the Henry Luce Foundation and the Wyeth Foundation for American Art.

The exhibition Coming Away: Winslow Homer and England is co-organized by the Milwaukee Art Museum and Worcester Art Museum.

Co-curators: Brandon Ruud, Milwaukee Art Museum, and Elizabeth Athens, Assistant Curator of American Art, Worcester Art Museum, presently at the National Gallery of Art.

Presenting Sponsor: BMO Harris Bank
This exhibition is made possible through support from the Terra Foundation for American Art
Education Sponsor: Caxambas Foundation

Supporting Sponsors:
Henry Luce Foundation
Wyeth Foundation for American Art
The Lunder Foundation
Milwaukee Art Museum’s Collectors’ Corner in honor of their 70th anniversary
Milwaukee Art Museum’s Friends of Art
Bob and Judy Scott

Program Sponsor: Milwaukee Art Museum’s American Arts Society

The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

About the Milwaukee Art Museum
Home to a rich collection of more than 30,000 works of art, the Milwaukee Art Museum is located on the shores of Lake Michigan. Its campus includes the Santiago Calatrava–designed Quadracci Pavilion, annually showcasing three feature exhibitions, and the Eero Saarinen–designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center and David Kahler‒designed addition. In 2016, after a yearlong renovation, the Museum reopened its Collection Galleries, debuting nearly 2,500 world-class works of art within dramatically transformed galleries and a new lakefront addition. This reimagined space also allows for the presentation of additional changing exhibitions. For more information, please visit: mam.org.

General Admission Pricing
$19 Adults
$17 Students (w/ID), Seniors (65+)
Free for Kids 12 & under every day thanks to Kohl’s Cares
Free to Members
Free to Wisconsin K–12 teachers with valid school ID or pay stub
Free the first Thursday of every month, sponsored by Meijer
Adult tour groups or school groups should call 414-224-3842.

 

Milwaukee Art Museum Taps Museum and Hospitality Professional as Deputy Director of Operations

Milwaukee Art Museum Taps Museum and Hospitality Professional as Deputy Director of Operations
-Mark Zimmerman joins the Museum to head up facilities, security, and retail operations.-

Milwaukee, Wis. – January 24, 2018 – The Milwaukee Art Museum today announced that, after an extensive nationwide search, Mark Zimmerman has been hired as the Deputy Director of Operations for the organization.

Mark ZimmermanZimmerman is currently at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri, as its Director of Administration. He brings expertise in all areas of venue operations from over a decade at the Nelson-Atkins—another internationally respected Midwestern art museum—and wide-ranging experience in the hospitality industry.

“Mark’s expertise, creativity and enthusiasm will be incredible assets for the Museum and the community,” said Dr. Marcelle Polednik, Donald and Donna Baumgartner Director. “He will be a critical part of our collaborative leadership team, helping to ensure we are delivering a truly world-class experience for our visitors.”

Deputy Director of Operations is a new position for the Museum, made all the more important with the expansion of the Museum’s campus to include the adjacent O’Donnell property last month. In this new role, Zimmerman will head up campus facilities, security, food and beverage operations, event rentals, the Museum Store and parking operations.

Originally from Wausau, Wisconsin, Zimmerman graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison with a Bachelor of Science in economics. Zimmerman’s 15-year tenure with Starwood Hotels & Resorts took him from Chicago to San Francisco, Seattle, Shanghai, Denver, Singapore and Cincinnati. He settled in Kansas City, Missouri, opening the Hotel Phillips as part of the downtown’s redevelopment, before joining the Nelson-Atkins in 2002. He earned his MBA from the Bloch School of Management at the University of Missouri in 2013.

His current role at the Nelson-Atkins includes oversight of campus security, visitor services, engineering, maintenance, food and beverage, event operations, the museum store, the volunteer program, and capital projects at the celebrated art museum.
Milwaukee’s Spano Pratt led the executive search.

Zimmerman will officially start at the Milwaukee Art Museum in late March 2018.

About the Milwaukee Art Museum
Home to a rich collection of more than 30,000 works of art, the Milwaukee Art Museum is located on the shores of Lake Michigan. Its campus includes the Santiago Calatrava–designed Quadracci Pavilion, annually showcasing three feature exhibitions, and the Eero Saarinen–designed Milwaukee County War Memorial Center and David Kahler‒designed addition. In 2016, after a yearlong renovation, the Museum reopened its Collection Galleries, debuting nearly 2,500 world-class works of art within dramatically transformed galleries and a new lakefront addition. This reimagined space also allows for the presentation of additional changing exhibitions. For more information, please visit: mam.org.

The Open Road: Photography and the American Road Trip comes to the Milwaukee Art Museum

The Open Road: Photography and the American Road Trip

comes to the Milwaukee Art Museum

-First exhibition to explore the American photographic road trip as a genre in and of itself-

Milwaukee, Wis. – January 10, 2018 – This January, visitors to the Milwaukee Art Museum have the opportunity to explore art related to a quintessential American experience—the road trip. The Open Road: Photography and the American Road Trip presents photography of America along its highways and byways, capturing the changing landscape—both figurative and literal—shaped by car culture and the burgeoning tradition of the American road trip.

“We’re excited to bring the work of these eighteen photographers to the Herzfeld Center for Photography and Media Arts,” commented Ariel Pate, assistant curator of photography. “Some will be familiar to our audiences, and some will be new discoveries, but what ties them together is that the car and the American road trip changed the way they took photographs.”

Showcasing the work of these photographers that were inspired by the American Dream to hit the road and reveal something deeper about the country they cruised through, The Open Road will be on view at the Milwaukee Art Museum from January 26 to April 22, 2018 in the Herzfeld Center for Photography and Media Arts.

While the myth of the American frontier, with its promise of freedom and possibility, had long engaged artists, more photographers purposefully embraced road trips during the post–World War II era as a means to better understand the nation. The images in The Open Road provide offbeat and personal reflections of the photographer’s journeys, including the people they encounter, car culture and roadside attractions.

The Open Road features over 100 photographs taken from the 1950s to today. Presented in chronological order, the exhibition starts with photographs from Robert Frank’s book The Americans (1959), black-and-white photographs that scandalized the public with their unflinching portrayal of the reality behind the American Dream. The idiosyncrasies of American life are captured in color photographs by pioneers of the medium, including William Eggleston, Stephen Shore and Joel Sternfeld.

Also represented are contemporary photographers such as Alec Soth, whose series Sleeping by the Mississippi is a sensitive exploration of Middle America at the turn of the twenty-first century. Works by the Swiss artistic duo Taiyo Onorato and Nico Krebs are more playful, depicting surreal scenes the artists staged of motel rooms and endless roads.

The Open Road will give Museum visitors the opportunity to explore how taking a “great American road trip” revealed and changed these photographers’ perceptions and understanding of a nation. This exhibition is part of the Museum’s season of travel: a collection of works across media and eras that speak to the ideas of journeys, fresh perspectives and an international exchange of ideas.

“Johnson Financial Group has a long history of supporting the arts in our communities. We’re particularly excited about ‘The Open Road’ exhibit since our founder, Sam Johnson, was an avid photographer,” added President and CEO Jim Popp from Presenting Sponsor Johnson Financial Group.

The Open Road will be on view in the Museum’s Herzfeld Center for Photography and Media Arts. Established in 2015, the Herzfeld Center for Photography and Media Arts presents an integrated exhibition space dedicated to photography and the related media of film, video and light installation. Named for the Herzfeld Foundation, whose generous support has made this center possible, these galleries reflect the important legacy the foundation has built for photography at the Milwaukee Art Museum.

Organized by: Aperture Foundation, New York

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Curated by: David Campany and Denise Wolff

This project is supported, in part, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

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Presenting Sponsor:

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Media Sponsor:

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Exhibitions in the Herzfeld Center for Photography and Media Arts are sponsored by the Herzfeld Foundation and Madeleine and David Lubar.

Hi-res images of the exhibition are available via communications@mam.org

Supporting events

 In Conversation: David Campany and Denise Wolff
Thursday, January 25, 6:15 p.m. Lubar Auditorium
The curators of The Open Road will give an introduction to the exhibit. Campany is a renowned writer on photography; Wolff is the senior editor at Aperture.

In Conversation: Alec Soth
Thursday, March 15, 6:15 p.m. Lubar Auditorium
Hear this renowned photographer talk about his work and breakout book, Sleeping by the Mississippi.

Local Luminaries: The Open Road
Thursday, March 29, 6:15 p.m. Herzfeld Center for Photography and Media Arts
Visit the exhibition with four distinguished guests from the Milwaukee area as they offer new perspectives for understanding the works on view. Welcome Carl Bogner, senior lecturer in film, Peck School of the Arts, UW–Milwaukee; Kyle Cherek, host of the Emmy-nominated television show Wisconsin Foodie; Jasmine Benyamin, Associate Professor, UWM School of Architecture and Urban Planning; and Krisann Rehbein, design educator.

In Conversation and Local Luminaries sponsored by: Milwaukee Art Museum’s Photography Council.

Gallery Talks
Tuesdays, 1:30 p.m.
February 6, March 27 and April 10
With Ariel Pate, Assistant Curator of Photography