MILWAUKEE, Wis.,\u2014 Aug 20, 2026\u2014<\/strong>The Milwaukee Art Museum will present Beneath the Surface: Mining and American Photography<\/em>, on view Oct. 23, 2026, through Jan. 18, 2027, in the Herzfeld Center for Photography and Media Arts<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following its debut at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the exhibition comes to Milwaukee amid significant national acclaim. The Washington Post called it \u201ca smart, bracing show\u201d offering the \u201cclearest view of America,\u201d while The Wall Street Journal praised its examination of \u201cthe massive industry and the difficult tradeoffs essential to U.S. energy development.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Spanning 180 years of photography, Beneath the Surface<\/em> explores how photographers have worked to make visible the mining and drilling that power modern life yet often remain unseen. From early historical images to striking contemporary works, the exhibition traces how artists have continually developed new ways to picture the expansive yet elusive activities of extracting, transporting, and processing natural resources across the United States.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n The photographs reveal landscapes transformed, communities affected, and the labor and systems behind the materials and technologies used every day. They also chart photography\u2019s ever-changing role, whether promoting industrial expansion and finding beauty in machinery or examining social issues like environmental injustice, labor conditions, and climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the heart of the exhibition is a revealing paradox: Photography has been a principal medium for documenting resource extraction while depending on extracted materials for its own creation. Silver and copper were essential to early photographic processes, just as copper, lithium, petroleum products, and other materials remain integral to digital cameras, smartphones, and contemporary printing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Milwaukee presentation will include approximately 140 works, ranging from daguerreotypes and stereographs to photobooks, documentary images, conceptual projects, aerial photographs, and large-scale digital prints. Together, they demonstrate how photographers have repeatedly adapted the medium\u2019s technologies and visual strategies to represent industries that unfold underground, across vast networks, and over long periods of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPhotography has shaped public understanding of resource extraction for nearly two centuries, central to both depicting and critiquing the processes that enable our contemporary world,\u201d said Kristen Gaylord, Herzfeld Curator of Photography and Media Arts at the Milwaukee Art Museum<\/strong>. \u201cBeneath the Surface<\/em> highlights how, even with this most challenging of subjects, artists have innovated time and again to reveal the scale of these activities and their repercussions for peoples and lands across the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gaylord co-curated the exhibition with Diane Waggoner, acting head and curator of photographs at the National Gallery of Art. Gaylord oversees the research, preservation, acquisition, and presentation of MAM\u2019s photography and new media collections. Before joining the Milwaukee Art Museum in 2023, she was associate curator of photographs at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art and held several curatorial roles at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Her recent MAM exhibitions include Currents 40: Widline Cadet<\/em> and Erin Shirreff: Permanent Drafts<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The exhibition\u2019s themes have particular resonance in Wisconsin. The state\u2019s history includes the lead mining that contributed to its \u201cBadger State\u201d nickname, processing and transportation of natural resources contributing to the local economy, and an ongoing legacy of Indigenous leadership in protecting Wisconsin\u2019s lands and water. By connecting these regional histories to a broader national story, Beneath the Surface<\/em> invites visitors to reconsider the systems and materials embedded in everyday life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBeneath the Surface<\/em> reflects the kind of ambitious, nationally significant scholarship that defines the Milwaukee Art Museum\u2019s exhibition program,\u201d said Dr. Kim Sajet, Donna and Donald Baumgartner Director of the Milwaukee Art Museum<\/strong>. \u201cThe exhibition asks us to look closely at the materials and systems behind modern life while demonstrating photography\u2019s extraordinary ability to make complex histories visible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Milwaukee Art Museum was among the first American institutions to collect photography and today holds nearly 4,000 photographs, as well as a growing collection of time-based media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Beneath the Surface<\/em> will be installed in the Herzfeld Center for Photography and Media Arts, the Museum\u2019s dynamic space dedicated to photography, film, video, and light installations. Since its establishment in 2015, the Herzfeld Center has been home to cutting-edge exhibitions featuring artists who shape, push the boundaries of, and expand photography and media arts. The center provides a dedicated setting for original scholarship, significant collection presentation, and encounters with artists advancing the possibilities of image-making today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This exhibition is organized by the National Gallery of Art in collaboration with the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Amon Carter Museum of American Art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The exhibition is curated by Kristen Gaylord, Herzfeld Curator of Photography and Media Arts at the Milwaukee Art Museum, and Diane Waggoner, acting head and curator of photographs at the National Gallery of Art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To learn more, visit https:\/\/mam.org\/exhibitions\/beneath-the-surface\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Leadership sponsor<\/strong> Supporting sponsor<\/strong> Contributing sponsors<\/strong> Exhibitions in the Herzfeld Center for Photography and Media Arts are sponsored by<\/strong> The Milwaukee Art Museum extends its sincere thanks to the Visionaries for their support of the exhibition program.<\/strong> Beneath the Surface<\/em> is on view October 23\u2013January 18, 2027, in the Herzfeld Center for Photography and Media Arts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Programming<\/strong> Admission<\/strong> Thursday Nights at MAM<\/strong> Museum admission includes access to collection and exhibition galleries and the Art Studio, which is open Friday through Sunday, 10 a.m.\u20134 p.m. and Thursdays, 4\u20137 p.m. Memorial Day through Labor Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Membership<\/strong> Experience the Burke Brise Soleil<\/strong> The Milwaukee Art Museum is an essential destination for art and architecture and a vital cultural resource that connects visitors to dynamic art experiences and one another. Housed in iconic buildings by Santiago Calatrava, Eero Saarinen, and David Kahler on a 24-acre lakefront campus, the Museum is Wisconsin\u2019s largest art institution and home to both broad and deep collections, with exceptional holdings in American painting, sculpture, and decorative arts; conceptual and minimalist art; prints and drawings; European art from the Renaissance through the nineteenth century; photography and new media; modern and contemporary design; folk and self-taught art; and twentieth-century Haitian art. A bold symbol of Milwaukee\u2019s ambition and forward-thinking vision, the Museum is a place for community building, education, and celebration that fosters creativity, free speech, and critical discourse for audiences of all ages and backgrounds. For more information, visit mam.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n For more information or to request hi-res images, please contact:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cortney Heimerl<\/strong> Co-curated by MAM\u2019s Kristen Gaylord, the landmark exhibition reveals how 180 years of photography has made the hidden industries behind modern life visible. MILWAUKEE, Wis.,\u2014 Aug 20, 2026\u2014The Milwaukee Art Museum will present Beneath the Surface: Mining and American Photography, on view Oct. 23, 2026, through Jan. 18, 2027, in the Herzfeld Center for Photography … Critically Acclaimed \u201cBeneath the Surface: Mining and American Photography\u201d Opens at Milwaukee Art Museum Oct. 23<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mam.org\/info\/pressroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mam.org\/info\/pressroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mam.org\/info\/pressroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mam.org\/info\/pressroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mam.org\/info\/pressroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6914"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mam.org\/info\/pressroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6914\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6916,"href":"https:\/\/mam.org\/info\/pressroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6914\/revisions\/6916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mam.org\/info\/pressroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mam.org\/info\/pressroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mam.org\/info\/pressroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/mam.org\/info\/pressroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/beneaththesurface.jpg\")
Milwaukee Art Museum, Purchase, with funds from the Photography Council, M2024.57.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nBuilding on MAM\u2019s Leadership in Photography<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Support<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
In memory of Christina L. Balk<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anonymous<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Shaheda Govani and Neil DeKarske
Milwaukee Art Museum\u2019s Photography Council
Christopher E. Olofson
The Ruttenberg \u201952 Collection<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Herzfeld Foundation<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Debbie and Mark Attanasio
Donna and Donald Baumgartner
Murph Burke
Bill and Sandy Haack
Chris Harned and Elizabeth Quadracci Harned
The Helmerich Trust
Kenneth and Alice Kayser
Joan Lubar and John Crouch
Jeff and Gail Yabuki<\/p>\n\n\n\nVisit<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Oct. 22: Member Opening
Oct. 29: Expert Series
Nov. 5: Curator-led Gallery Talk
Dec. 3: Haberman Local Luminaries
Dec. 11: Curator-led Gallery Talk
Dec. 12: Slow Art Saturday
Jan. 16: Guest Gallery Talk with James Kieselburg<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Adults: $27
Students, seniors (65+), military: $20
Kids 12 and under: Free, thanks to an anonymous donor
Wisconsin K\u201312 teachers: Free with valid school ID or pay stub
Members: Free<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every Thursday, admission is pay what you wish from 4 to 8 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Members enjoy free admission, exclusive programs, and special access throughout the year. Learn more at mam.org\/membership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Designed by Santiago Calatrava, the Museum\u2019s iconic wings open daily with the Museum, close and reopen at noon, and close at 10 p.m. The wings are illuminated nightly from sundown to 10 p.m.; movement is weather permitting.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAbout the Milwaukee Art Museum<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Media Contact<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Milwaukee Art Museum
communications@mam.org<\/a>
414-940-0490<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"