History

Overview

In 1888, when Frederick Layton built an art gallery near Cathedral Square, other civic-minded individuals formed the Milwaukee Art Association (later Milwaukee Art Institute). In 1957, the Layton Art Gallery moved the Layton collection, together with the Milwaukee Art Institute, into the Eero Saarinen–designed War Memorial Center. From this beginning, the Milwaukee Art Center started to grow. A building addition in 1975 by David Kahler provided more gallery space for the expanding Collection, and in 2001, architect Santiago Calatrava designed the Quadracci Pavilion, which not only provided what was now the Milwaukee Art Museum with greater public gathering space, but also gave the city of Milwaukee a new, international icon.