Welcoming “Miss Blanche” into the Design Collection
On the heels of the Milwaukee Art Museum’s annual Art in Bloom celebration, a new kind of flower is blooming in the design collection galleries: the Miss Blanche chair created by Shiro Kuramata. It is one of the final works by Kuramata, the legendary designer who brought Japanese design onto the global stage with his expressive and conceptual objects. An homage to Blanche DuBoise, the heroine of Tennessee Williams’s play A Streetcar Named Desire, the chair exemplifies his poetic approach to the everyday and his longstanding engagement with materiality. Its presence in the galleries expands the Museum’s narratives around Japanese design and provides a new, exciting context to the beloved Carlton bookcase by Ettore Sottsass.
20th-Century Silver: An Unexpected Medium for Modernism
Alongside many other strengths, the Milwaukee Art Museum boasts a remarkable collection of modern American silver. To celebrate these holdings, we wanted to reflect on a few of the significant 20th-century works here at the Museum.
The pioneering sculptor, educator, and arts activist Ruth Asawa spent most of her life in California, but she has a surprising—and significant—connection to Wisconsin and the city of Milwaukee. A new work acquired in 2020 and recently installed in the 20th- and 21st-Century Design Galleries represents Asawa’s time in the city and speaks to its impact on this influential artist and her career.
From the Collection: “Orpheus” and Its Mysterious Origins
Through January 28, 2024, Milwaukee Art Museum visitors have the opportunity to explore an exquisite collection of artworks on view in Art, Life, Legacy: Northern European Paintings in the Collection of Isabel and Alfred Bader. The 75 paintings presented in the exhibition were assembled while the Baders, longtime Museum patrons and supporters, were living in Milwaukee. They not only gave artworks to the Museum—many of which are on view in the collection galleries—but were formative in the development of the European art program at the Museum.
Expert Series: Rebecca Belmore in conversation with Wanda Nanibush
Hear from the Toronto-based artist Rebecca Belmore as she talks about her work in Native America: In Translation with Wanda Nanibush, curator of Indigenous art at the Art Gallery of Ontario.
Travel to the studio of Tom Jones, and watch as he creates Bella Falcon, a monumental beaded photograph. The artwork received its debut in the exhibition Native America: In Translation at the Milwaukee Art Museum. The work is the latest addition to Strong Unrelenting Spirits, his portrait series of present-day Ho-Chunk people.
Learn how different objects and materials can change colors and sounds! Look closely at how Christopher Wool used stencils in his Untitled painting in the Milwaukee Art Museum’s collection. Then use tape resist to make your own colorful paintings. Hear local chamber ensemble Microcosm perform a song where objects block sounds like our tape blocks colors.
