When you visit the Milwaukee Art Museum, where do you usually start? The featured exhibition? The permanent collection? It seems those typically get the most attention, but somewhere in the middle is another tier of exhibit: the smaller, temporary shows that make their way into the galleries.
One in particular -- on view now -- is worth checking out, especially if you love Milwaukee history. It’s called Portrait of Milwaukee and features more than a 100 original photographs from 20th century Milwaukee. I recently went to MAM for a tour.
Listen to the story and check out photos below.
The exhibit is organized by theme rather than by time. There’s a whole section dedicated to the civil rights movement in Milwaukee, a section on photojournalism, a particular kind of flash photography invented in Milwaukee, industry at the confluence of water, and familiar faces and places.
Ariel Pate, assistant curator of photography, takes me to a case full of faces, a collection that tells an unbelievable story. Skip to the 1:00 mark to get right to it.
Portrait of Milwaukee is on view now at the Milwaukee art museum through March 1.
