MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Art Museum reopened its Collection Galleries November 24 following a 14-month, $34 million renovation and reinstallation.
The project, the first-ever large-scale reimagining of the museum’s collection areas, is designed to create an intuitive and welcoming visitor experience and better showcase its world-class collection.
The renovation, which included the Museum’s 1957 Eero Saarinen–designed War Memorial Center and 1975 David Kahler–designed addition, added 25,000 square feet of exhibition space, bringing the total to 156,000 square feet, allowing the museum to put more than 1,000 addition works of art on display.
The dramatically different exhibition space features bright, flowing galleries. Some areas, including European and American art, are double in size, while others are entirely new, such as those dedicated to photography, media arts and design.
All feature innovative displays that combine visitor favorites with new acquisitions and rarely seen collection objects.
A new entrance and cafe along the Lake Michigan waterfront connects the museum to the popular pedestrian lakefront path. Glass walls offer panoramic views of both the lake and the museum’s iconic Santiago Calatrava–designed Quadracci Pavilion.
The renovation also doubled the space for feature exhibitions and made critical infrastructure repairs
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