Art:Forward Gala

Events

Save the date

  • September 21, 2024

Mark your calendar, and join us to celebrate internationally acclaimed artist Robert Longo on Saturday, September 21, 2024.

Presented by the Board of Trustees of the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Contemporary Art Society, the gala supports the Museum’s contemporary art program.

About the 2024 honoree

Robert Longo has long sought to investigate the way meaning is made and circulated in modern society. Rising to prominence in the 1980s as a member of the Pictures Generation, he first gained recognition for his charcoal and graphite Men in the Cities drawings, which quickly became some of the most recognizable artworks of the decade. Throughout his career, Longo has explored the effects of our image-saturated culture through drawing, film, and multimedia works.

Today, Longo continues to work with his characteristic precision, perceptiveness, and monumental scale, achieving hyperrealistic works drawn from recent history. The artist’s latest body of work will be the focus of a solo exhibition at the Milwaukee Art Museum in the fall of 2024.

Revisit the 2023 gala.

See photos

2023 Support

Art Patron sponsors

  • Donna and Donald Baumgartner

  • Joan Lubar and John Crouch

  • Sheldon and Marianne Lubar

  • Joel and Caran Quadracci & the Windhover Foundation

  • Sue and Bud Selig

  • Jeff and Gail Yabuki & the Yabuki Family Foundation

Host committee sponsors

  • Elizabeth Quadracci Harned and Christopher Harned

Art:Forward sponsors

  • Brewers Community Foundation

  • Tony and Vicki Cecalupo

  • William and Sandra Haack

  • Hauser & Wirth

Supporting sponsors

  • BMO Wealth Management

  • Richard Buchband and Betsy Rosenblum

  • Peter and Sarah Damsgaard

  • Events By Design

  • Jennifer and Tom Florsheim, Weyco Group

  • Brian Kennedy, Ernst & Young

  • Jane and Tom Lacy, Baird

  • Michael Best & Friedrich, LLP

  • Quarles & Brady, LLP

Leaders

  • Valerie Carberry and Richard Wright

  • Thomas Hesselbrock and Carl Spatz

  • Don and Mary Jo Layden

  • Eileen and Barry Mandel

  • Kate and Ken Muth

  • John Shannon and Jan Serr, Guardian Fine Art Services

Individual supporters

  • Mary Allmon

  • Dan and Gwen Armbrust

  • Associated Bank

  • Wendy and Warren Blumenthal

  • Chirstopher Caparelli, Marquette Associates

  • Amy and Frederick Croen

  • Samantha and Stephane Dermond

  • McKenzie and Jason Edmonds

  • Laura and John Emory Jr.

  • Ellen and James Flesch

  • Ellen and Richard Glaisner

  • Gail Lione and Barry Grossman

  • Kurt and Charmaine Gunderson

  • Ronald Jacquart and Gary Van Wert

  • Kenneth Kaszubowski

  • Mason Khan

  • Klein-Dickert Glass

  • Jennifer and Joe Kresl, Hawks Landscape Inc.

  • Rosanne and Matt Kropp

  • Peter Kudlata and Margie Freeman

  • Peter Larson and Bill Fry

  • Grace Leonhardt, Lisson Gallery

  • Elizabeth Levins and Herbert Zien

  • Ali and Halah Maykhan, The Sigma Group

  • Marc and Sandy McSweeney

  • Monique Meloche and Evan Boris

  • Colleen Reilly and Dan Ryan

  • Sarah and Will Slaughter

  • Dr. James and Dorothy Stadler

  • Christine Symchych and Jim McNulty

  • Marq and Rachel Ragatz Truscott

  • Wipfli

  • Kathy Saito Yuille

Contributors

  • Clark and Linda Beier

  • Wendy Eldridge

  • Jim and Karen Petric

  • Sande Robinson

  • Kristin and John Sheehan

  • Marie Weiss

Special thanks to

  • Dr. Cheryl Johnson-Odim

  • Alex Ernst

  • Emily Igwike, Milwaukee Youth Poet Laureate

  • Aperi Animam

  • Dream City Music

  • Events By Design

  • Shully’s Cuisine & Events

  • Waterford Wine & Spirits

  • La Tulipe

  • Shady Lane Greenhouses