Representatives from 17 Brew City museums were on hand Friday morning to launch the second annual installment of Milwaukee Museum Week, which kicks off Saturday, Jan. 18 and runs through Sunday, Jan. 26.
After the success of last year’s debut event, which organizers say boosted the attendance and profiles at participating institutions, the 17 museums, listed below, have come together to do it again.
Participating institutions include:
- Betty Brinn Children’s Museum
- Charles Allis Art Museum
- Chudnow Museum of Yesteryear
- Discovery World
- Grohmann Museum at MSOE
- Haggerty Museum of Art at Marquette University
- Harley-Davidson Museum
- Jewish Museum Milwaukee
- Milwaukee Art Museum
- Milwaukee County Historical Society
- Milwaukee Public Museum
- Mitchell Park Domes
- North Point Lighthouse
- The Pabst Mansion
- The Warehouse
- Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum
- Wisconsin Black Historical Society and Museum
This year, the event has gotten a boost from an $18,000 state grant, presented by Wisconsin Tourism Secretary Sara Meaney at Friday’s launch event at the Grohmann Museum at MSOE.
New to the event this year are free lunch-time programs at each participating museum. These will join more than 100 other events slated for the week, including hands-on programs, curator talks, behind-the-scenes tours and more.
On Monday, Jan. 20 – when schools are closed in observance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday – all youth will be admitted free at the participating museums.
"I think this is a wonderful, wonderful idea and I think it’s wonderful that it’s come to fruition for a second year," said Mayor Tom Barrett at the launch.
"I’m very excited about this. It’s a great way for people to come together. It’s a wonderful time to celebrate our city and all the treasures we have here."
For more information on Milwaukee Museum Week, including a complete event listing, visit MKEMuseumWeek.org.
Milwaukee Museum Week is sponsored by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, Guardian Fine Art Services and Travel Wisconsin.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
