Museums & Galleries in Milwaukee

In addition to your two-person unlimited admission to the museum, membership includes a 10% discount to the museum store, a subscription to the museum's e-newsletter, a museum decal and magnet, free admission for tykes under the age of 17, and a free copy of the museum's swimsuit calendar, Corrugated Cardboard.

The Art Advocate Membership entitles you to free admission to view the museum's 20,000 works of art for two adults and their children, including members' children and grandchildren 17 and under, as well as unlimited access to feature exhibitions. The permanent collection includes wide-ranging pieces, from German Expressionism to Haitian art to the works of renowned artists such as Monet, Picasso, and Warhol. The rotating cast of feature exhibitions currently displays American Quilts: Selections from the Winterhur Collection, a collection of more than 40 skillfully stitched quilts from 1760–1850 America (runs until September 6). You'll also receive open invitations to members-only preview days, exhibition openings, and special programs, as well as invitations to special day trips.

In 1928 the famous stage-acting couple Lynn Fontanne and Alfred Lunt declared that from then on they would only appear onstage together. They also refused to act during the summer so they could spend the season at Ten Chimneys—their 60-acre estate retreat in the rolling hills of Kettle Moraine. Alfred had begun the construction himself in 1914, designing the first part of the three-story main house. In 1922 he and Lynn, newly married, began making additions: they converted the house's chicken coop into a private five-room country cottage and built a Swedish-style log cabin for use as a performance studio. Here, they lived and entertained a revolving cast of actors, writers, and artists until their retirement in 1960.

Today, trained docents lead small groups on tours through the cottage, the studio, and the main house's 18 rooms. Some of these confines bear unique titles such as the Flirtation Room, whereas others are named for past guests Helen Hayes, Laurence Olivier, and Noël Coward. Guides divulge the history behind many of the eclectic artifacts found there, such as Staffordshire figurines, pre-Civil War oil lamps, and Delft china, and reveal details about more personal pieces such as handmade gifts from Helen Hayes and Noël Coward, photographs with Charlie Chaplin, and murals painted by set designer Claggett Wilson. Outside, they lead visitors past a creamery and greenhouse, and point out a copper mermaid—designed and crafted by Cecil Beaton—that sits atop the estate's pool house to scare away sailors.

Throughout the year, Ten Chimneys hosts special theater-centric events. Play readings held in partnership with the Milwaukee Repertory Theater showcase the theater's interns as they read works connected to the Lunts or guests at their estate. During Music in the Drawing Room, cabaret artists from around the country gather around Noël Coward's historic piano to perform for small crowds and confuse unprepared time travelers. The estate also invites well-known local or national theater practitioners for a guest-speaker series inspired by the theater-minded talks that took place at the Lunts’ dining table.

It was the late 1970s, decades after the Holocaust, but neo-Nazis hadn’t disappeared: they threatened to march in Skokie. Realizing the need to combat this kind of intolerance with education, Chicago-area survivors and their supporters banded together to create the Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois. This initiative evolved into the museum which was built to honor the memory of Holocaust victims, educate visitors, and explore the human intolerance that continues to lead to genocide today.

The Rockford Art Museum has more than a century of creativity hanging from the walls in its galleries. It acquired its first piece in 1913 and has since collected more than 1600 pieces from local and international artists. Glass sculptures, 20th century American photography, and impressionist paintings vie for attention alongside the dynamic images of the American southwest from the Taos Society of New Mexico. The collection houses the detailed work of regional artists trained at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Royal Academy of Arts and the earthy, meaningful paintings of outsider art, such as Richard Burnside’s untitled painting of a cat made from paint and pinecone pieces.

Standing apart from the main collection, the museum’s RAM Art Annex houses educational programs and the museum store stocks an inventory of jewelry and glass pieces by local artists. The annual Greenwich Village Art Fair also shares art appreciation with the community. The fair gathers more than 100 artists in an atmosphere filled with live music.