Five things you didn’t know about the Milwaukee Art Museum

Photo: Nicole Radja

Map it: Click here for a Google map of these spots, along with our other favorite Milwaukee restaurants, shops, bars and attractions.

Most of the MAM’s art collection is not displayed in the famed bird-like Santiago Calatrava building. The majority of the artwork is actually held in the adjoining brown brick building. That structure has fewer bells and whistles, but it’s also spectacular: The cube-shaped building was concepted in 1955 by Eero Saarinen, who created the St. Louis Gateway Arch.

Calatrava’s circlelike motif, which resembles feathers on a goose, was influenced by the museum’s Alexander Calder mobile, which hangs in the entryway.

The Calatrava building is situated on the lakeshore so that, when you approach it driving east from the city, it lines up perfectly with Mark Di Suvero’s star-shaped I-beam sculpture The Calling. Some argued the vivid orange 1982 sculpture was an eyesore when seen with the 2001 museum building, but Calatrava said he designed his structure with Di Suvero’s work in mind.

In the late 1800s, the Milwaukee Art Association (the group that would eventually form the MAM) was composed of panoramic mural painters. At the time, panoramas were the dominant entertainment form—the canvases toured the country and were roughly the equivalent of today’s blockbuster movies.

Georgia O’Keeffe, the artist known for her Santa Fe still lifes, is actually a cheesehead. The MAM houses the largest collection of the late Milwaukee native’s artwork outside of her estate, and 15 of her artworks are always on display there.

The MAM is located at 700 N Art Museum Dr (414-224-3200). Visit mam.org for info on tickets and hours.