The Milwaukee Art Museum

The Milwaukee Tourism Board has a really weird logo:

Kind of a majestic swish. It makes me think of sailboats, or maybe a whale. I didn’t really get it until I actually arrived in Milwaukee and was introduced to the most definitive and unique feature of their skyline:

 The Milwaukee Art Museum looks like it belongs in some chic European city like London or Barcelona.  This makes sense because it was designed by the famous Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. The most well known feature are the huge birdlike metal wings. In the morning they unfold, at noon they flap once, and in the evening they close. The whole process takes less than a minute so seeing it takes perfect timing.

The Quadrucci Pavilion as it’s called was built in true post-modern style to resemble many different things: a bird, a ship, a cathedral. It’s weirdly futuristic yet elegant. The museum almost doesn’t need any art in it at all to look amazing:

Once you stop marveling at the ceiling and look at the actual art work it’s pretty interesting as well. There are over 35,000 works of art with an emphasis on German artwork (Milwaukee is a German city remember). There is an extensive collection of Georgia O’Keeffe’s (did you know she’s from Wisconsin?), interesting sculpures and a whole section dedicated to Outsider Art.

I loved how they paired new and old pieces together in interesting ways:

I’m not a huge museum freak, but the Milwaukee Art Museum is a must visit even for non-art enthusiasts. Even if you don’t look at a single picture the building alone is worth the trip.

I visited Milwaukee as a guest of Visit Milwaukee. All awe struck opinions are my own.