Milwaukee Art Museum, a Wisconsin Treasure

Story and Photos by Shifra Stein

It's a bright, clear day in Milwaukee. The downtown shoreline shimmers under the radiance of a sun that is dazzling in intensity. Its luminous glow lights up the visually stunning structure of gleaming steel and concrete that is the Milwaukee Art Museum. Gracing the city's downtown lakefront area, the Museum is a marvel of architecture and engineering that owes its existence to the imagination and ingenuity of its creator, Santiago Calatrava. His role in the Museum's monumental expansion project, completed in October 2001, has turned the Museum into a cultural cornerstone for national and international visitors to the Milwaukee community and region.

Calatrava, an internationally renowned architect, artist, and engineer, conceived and built the Museum's 142,050-square-foot Quadracci Pavilion as the first Calatrava-designed structure to be completed in the United States. The Calatrava-designed Reiman Bridge, a 250-foot-long suspended pedestrian bridge boasting an unusual 200-foot angled mast with cables, leads to the Museum's main entrance. The Museum's crowning glory is the elegant Brise Soleil, a moveable wing-like sunscreen that rests atop the parabolic-shaped, glass-enclosed Windhover Hall, with its 90-foot high ceiling. Comprised of 72 steel fins, the Brise Soleil has a wingspan of 217 feet at its widest point. The "wings" also "flap" (close and open) each day at noon creating a moving sculpture. Time Magazine called the Calatrava-designed structures the "Best Design of 2001".

The vast complex sparkles with color and texture. Inside are permanent collection galleries, a large museum store and auditorium, and constantly changing feature exhibitions such as Rembrandt and His Time: Masterworks from the Albertina Museum, Vienna, which runs through January 8, 2006. The show was organized in conjunction with the 400th anniversary of the artist's birth and explores the pivotal and influential role of Rembrandt's art. Included are 27 of his drawings and prints along with some of the greatest art ever produced by Netherlands artists. To complement this display is the Milwaukee Art Museum's permanent collection of 17th century Dutch paintings and 18th century French paintings.

The Museum also boasts a large collection of 19th Century American paintings, furniture, ceramics, glass, silver, and other works as well as an extensive exhibit of modern American and European art, especially with regard to European modernism during the first half of the 20th Century. Important pieces such as Robert Henri's "The Art Student", and George Bellows' The Sawdust Trail " can be found here

An unusual permanent collection of 22 paintings by celebrated artist Georgia O'Keeffe can be found in the museum's Bradley Galleries-making the museum a leading repository for the famed artist's paintings and the only dedicated Georgia O'Keeffe gallery east of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Other important acquisitions include contemporary works by Mark Rothko, Andy Warhol, Alexander Calder, Robert Motherwell and Frank Stella. The Milwaukee Art Museum also holds an excellent photography collection that is a "must" for anyone who is a fan of modern and contemporary masters such as Henri Cartier-Bresson and the controversial Robert Mapplethorpe.

Strolling through the museum's many galleries, or stopping to watch the Brise Soleil open its wings to the sky at noon, you can't help but feel that you are experiencing something very different. The Milwaukee Art Museum is, itself, an extraordinary accomplishment that should be on the "don't-miss" list of every visitor to this city by the lake.

For more information see the museum's website at www.mam.org or call 414-224-3220 for information and brochures on hours, exhibits, and more.

To learn aboutb what else there is to see and do in and around Milwaukee, or to get information on accommodations, restaurants, shops and attractions, go to the Visit Milwaukee website at www.milwaukee.org or email visitor@milwaukee.org; or phone: 800-231-0903.

Travel writer and author Shifra Stein has penned stories about travel, art, and creativity for over two decades. She is the creator of the Day Trips® series for Globe Pequot Press. See her books in print on www.amazon.com or visit her website at www.artforhealth.us ; email: shifra@artforhealth.us