Milwaukee Art Museum
700 N Art Museum Dr, Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee, WI
A great white building on the Lake Michigan shore whose winglike sunscreen opens and closes over the day, above one of the finest art collections in the Midwest.
The Milwaukee Art Museum is one of the great cultural landmarks of the Upper Midwest, as famous for its architecture as for the art inside. Its most celebrated feature is the Quadracci Pavilion, a gleaming white structure by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, crowned by a movable sunscreen whose enormous fins open and close like the wings of a bird.
The building sits right on the shore of Lake Michigan, and the moving wings, called the Burke Brise Soleil, have become a symbol of the whole city, opening in the morning and folding down at day's end. Beneath and beyond that dramatic pavilion lies a serious and wide-ranging collection that has been growing for well over a century.
What Guests Love
- The Burke Brise Soleil, the museum's great winglike sunscreen that opens and closes each day
- The soaring, light-filled Windhover Hall beneath the wings, with its view of the lake
- A broad collection spanning centuries, with real depth in certain areas
- A lakefront setting with parks, paths, and Lake Michigan just outside the doors
Worth Knowing
- The moving sunscreen typically opens in the morning, flaps midday, and closes in the evening, weather permitting
- High wind can keep the wings closed, so a calm day gives the best chance to see them move
- The lakefront setting is lovely but exposed, so dress for the breeze off Lake Michigan
- Check the museum's schedule for open days and any special exhibitions before you go
Details
Milwaukee, WI
Learn about Milwaukee Art Museum
The building with wings
When the Quadracci Pavilion opened in the early 2000s, it instantly redefined Milwaukee's lakefront and put the city on the architectural map. Designed by Santiago Calatrava, it is a soaring composition of white ribs, glass, and cable, evoking the sails and shorelines of the lake it faces.
Its signature is the Burke Brise Soleil, a vast sunscreen of louvered fins mounted atop the pavilion. Over the course of a day the fins spread wide like wings and then fold down again, a slow mechanical performance that gathers crowds to watch. High winds can keep the wings closed for safety, so seeing them in full motion has a touch of luck to it.
A collection with real depth
Behind the spectacle of the building is a collection built over more than a hundred years, spanning ancient work to the contemporary. The museum holds strong holdings across many periods and media, with particular strengths that art lovers travel to see, and it mounts changing special exhibitions that draw on collections around the world.
The galleries move through history at a human pace, and the architecture keeps the art in conversation with the lake and the light. In Windhover Hall, the great vaulted space beneath the wings, the building itself becomes a kind of exhibit, framing Lake Michigan through a soaring wall of glass.
On the lakefront
The museum's setting is part of the experience. It stands amid the parks and paths of Milwaukee's lakefront, linked to downtown by a graceful pedestrian bridge, with Lake Michigan stretching out beyond the glass. On a clear day the water and sky become a backdrop to the whole visit.
That lakefront is one of Milwaukee's great civic assets, a nearly continuous ribbon of green and shoreline trail. A visit to the museum pairs naturally with a walk along the water, and the setting shifts beautifully with the seasons, from summer sailboats to the stark drama of winter ice.
Milwaukee at the doorstep
Beyond the lakefront, downtown Milwaukee spreads out with plenty to fill a day. The Historic Third Ward, a district of old warehouses turned into shops, galleries, and a public market, is close at hand, and the RiverWalk threads along the Milwaukee River through the heart of the city.
Milwaukee's identity is bound up with brewing, immigration, and industry, and that history is visible everywhere, from grand old buildings to landmark breweries. The art museum, modern and soaring, makes a striking counterpoint to the sturdy brick city around it.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Milwaukee
Historic Third Ward
About 1 mile
A former warehouse district turned into a lively neighborhood of shops, galleries, restaurants, and the Milwaukee Public Market.
Lakefront and Milwaukee RiverWalk
At the doorstep
Miles of shoreline parks and paths along Lake Michigan, plus a riverside walk threading through downtown.
Pabst Mansion
About 2 miles
The lavish Gilded Age home of beer baron Captain Frederick Pabst, restored and open for tours west of downtown.