Milwaukee Public Museum's latest exhibition, which opens Friday, looks at the institution's 142 years of history.
"Groundbreaking: The Evolution of a Natural History Museum" looks at the way the natural history museum has developed over its long history in multiple locations and how its "tradition of innovation will continue in its new home."
The exhibition, which runs through Jan. 20, is included in museum admission.
The museum's new home, at 6th and McKinley, is already under construction and is expected to open in 2027.
“The design and construction of the Museum’s future home has sparked renewed interest both from the public and our staff about MPM's history and impact,” said MPM President & CEO Dr. Ellen Censky.
“What better way to celebrate this institution’s legacy and build upon the excitement surrounding the new location than to look back on how the Museum has evolved – from its first specimens collected by schoolchildren in the 1850s on field trips to formally becoming a museum in 1882, and now, preserving more than 4 million collections items and serving half a million people annually.”
The special exhibit will bring out artifacts, taxidermy and old exhibit props from its vast collections to show how the museum has innovated in the dioramas and exhibit design, as well as in scientific research and community involvement.
Especially interesting is the interactive “follow the object” feature that traces five museum objects through time to show perspectives have changed over the years along with developments in technology, scientific discovery and cultural responsiveness.
According to MPM, "Groundbreaking" will show how the museum innovated by Carl Akeley's creation of the world’s first habitat diorama, which led to these features being called “Milwaukee style” scenes; starting the first educational outreach program in the country; being among the the first museums to work with tribal members to create a Native American exhibit; designing the first walk-through diorama; building the first permanent tropical rainforest exhibit in the world; and pioneering exhibits that installed life-size dinosaur models into scenes depicting their natural habitats.
“With each of these ‘firsts,’ MPM took a risk in developing and implementing new methods in research, education and preservation that had never been done in the museum world,” said MPM Collections Interpretation Manager Amanda Kopp.
“Each innovation was prompted, in part, by changes happening in society. As we begin to transition to our new home, it’s important to understand that MPM and museums in general are ever-evolving – physically and conceptually – to reflect the larger scientific, technological and cultural shifts occurring in the world.”
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.
