Art Museums

Regional Art & Culture

Charles Allis Art Museum

A lavish Tudor-style home that now displays a permanent art collection that spans more than 2,000 years as well as changing exhibitions and programs that celebrate Milwaukee’s diversity and Wisconsin art and artists. The Charles Allis Art Museum is a rich cultural institution that serves the entire Milwaukee community.

Collection dedicated to industry

Grohmann Museum

The world’s most comprehensive art collection dedicated to all forms of human work from Medieval times to the present. Located inside a renovated automobile dealership, this magnificent creation of concrete, glass and steel house more than 1,000 paintings and sculptures on the Milwaukee School of Engineering campus.

Free Museum

Haggerty Museum of Art

Ever-changing special exhibitions, featuring old masters, self-taught artists, modern American print-making and photography, contemporary art from around the world, and more are on display in this free museum on the Marquette University campus.

Contemporary American Art

John Michael Kohler Art Center

Innovative explorations of contemporary American art in nearby Sheboygan. See something new with 30 changing exhibitions, make something in the free drop-in ARTery studio, and definitely don’t skip the bathrooms – they’re works of art too. Special events, artist talks, performances, and festivals (such as their annual Midsummer Festival of Art) keep their visitors involve and engaged in Wisconsin art.

Regional Art

Museum of Wisconsin Art

One of the nation’s leading museums of regional art, located just north of Milwaukee in West Bend. Nearly 5,000 works of contemporary and historic art showcases the value, diversity and uniqueness of Wisconsin art and artists. This museum also hosts MOWA on the Lake four times per year, in conjunction with Milwaukee’s Gallery Night & Day to bring further awareness of Wisconsin art and artists.

contemporary craft collection

Racine Art Museum

Home to North America’s largest and most significant contemporary craft collection. No gallery space is dedicated solely to the permanent collection, with changing exhibitions focused on ideas rather than mediums. The museum plays a vital role in arts education with community outreach programs, studio art classes and workshops taught by regionally and nationally known artists.

Decorative Arts

Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum

Fine and decorative arts live inside this Italian Renaissance-style villa, including fine and decorative arts dating from the 15th through the 18th centuries and wrought iron pieces by Cyril Colnik, the “Tiffany of wrought iron masters.” The stunning, tiered Renaissance Garden overlooks the picturesque Lake Michigan.

Galleries

Warehouse Art Museum | WAM

This stunning renovated former factory and warehouse houses curated exhibitions from the permanent, private collection of collectors Jan Serr and John Shannon as well as other sources. The Warehouse is free and open to the public by appointment as well as during lectures and other special events.

Fiber Arts

Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts

This restored, historic 1850s farmstead in nearby Cedarburg displays quilts, traditional needle arts, and contemporary fiber arts with the purpose of educating the public about the artistic, cultural, historic, and social importance of quilts and fiber arts. Classes & workshops help adults, beginner to advanced, explore fiber arts.