Mini Makers
MOWA | West Bend
205 Veterans Avenue, West Bend, WI 53095
At the Museum of Wisconsin Art, we believe that where we live is important and we are passionate about everything Wisconsin.
We also believe enjoying art should be easy and welcoming, not an exclusive privilege. That’s why instead of single-day admission, your entrance fee is an affordable membership providing unlimited museum access for an entire year. Learn more
At the Intersection of Art and Public Space
July 22–October 15
MOWA | West Bend
As our streets and boulevards reanimate with pedestrian life, MOWA is also showing up and showing out in The Street. This timely exhibition explores the sights, sounds, and vibrance of city streets and the artists who move and are moved by them.
Featuring more than 40 artists, this exhibition is a love letter to the paved roads and towering buildings that are the backdrop and center stage for our daily work and play, and a continual source of inspiration for artists. With photography, sculpture, and so much more, The Street has something for everyone.
Bad As Can
July 22, 2023 – October 15, 2023
MOWA | West Bend
Bad As Can showcases the work of street photographer Isaac Harris, also known as Breaking Fad. Harris coined the name in 2012 when he moved to New York and the television show Breaking Bad was at the height of its popularity. Breaking Fad refers to nonconformity and having a strong sense of individuality—qualities that are fundamental in Harris’s work. He strives to capture the essence of the human experience, from the glamour of burgeoning influencers and renowned celebrities to people down on their luck.
Garage Interiors: The Topography of Hidden Space
July 22, 2023–October 15, 2023
MOWA | West Bend
With sharp photographic focus and poetic deadpan wit, Madison-based photographer Lewis Koch trains his lens upon an often-overlooked fixture of American life: the wood-framed, one-car garage. Originally exhibited in 1983 as an installation inside Koch’s own garage, Garage Interiors: The Topography of Hidden Space is a series of formal, almost diagnostic black-and-white prints. The underlying construct posits that if the automobile is the brain, then the garage is the skull, and the crumbling brick walls, cracked concrete floors, aged wooden beams, and dusty castoff artifacts found inside are the “membrane of memory.”
Hot House
Opening Party, July 21 | 6:00–8:00
MOWA | DTN inside Saint Kate—The Arts Hotel
Through a complex layering of encoded meaning, personal narrative, and social commentary, Taj Matumbi depicts a dynamic world of alter egos.
September 1, 2023–December 3, 2023
MOWA on the Lake inside Saint John's On The Lake
Showing remarkable commitment and perseverance, every day from September 2020 to September 2021, four Milwaukee residents and friends, Phyllis Bankier, Heather Ho, Diane Rychlinski, and Kathy Smith, photographed the Milwaukee County shoreline as the sun rose.
Everything I Could Ever Want
Opening Party October 13 | 5:00–7:00
MOWA | DTN inside Saint Kate—The Arts Hotel
Using the camera as a tool of self-inquiry, Vaughan Larsen explores personal perceptions of identity.
Disrupting Patterns
October 28, 2023–January 21, 2024
MOWA | West Bend
The exhibition will feature forty-five paintings displayed within a re-created lounge environment of leopard-painted Buddha sculptures, a taxidermy bear, a 1961 camper van, a VW, and plush household furnishings.
Cocktails | Dinner | Art Experiences
Saturday, September 30 | 6:00
MOWA’s biennial signature fundraiser celebrates the tenth anniversary of the museum’s modernist Mothership in support of art acquisitions and art education.
Saint Kate—The Arts Hotel
139 East Kilbourn Avenue
Milwaukee
MOWA | West Bend
205 Veterans Avenue, West Bend, WI 53095
MOWA | West Bend
205 Veterans Avenue, West Bend, WI 53095
MOWA | DTN
139 E Kilbourn Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53202
MOWA | West Bend
205 Veterans Avenue, West Bend, WI 53095
MOWA | West Bend
205 Veterans Avenue, West Bend, WI 53095
MOWA | West Bend
205 Veterans Avenue, West Bend, WI 53095
MOWA | DTN
139 E Kilbourn Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53202
MOWA | West Bend
205 Veterans Avenue, West Bend, WI 53095
MOWA | West Bend
205 Veterans Avenue, West Bend, WI 53095
MOWA | West Bend
205 Veterans Avenue, West Bend, WI 53095
MOWA | West Bend
205 Veterans Avenue, West Bend, WI 53095
MOWA | West Bend
205 Veterans Avenue, West Bend, WI 53095
2023 marks the tenth year since the opening of MOWA’s West Bend facility designed by architect Jim Shields of HGA. Affectionately dubbed the “Mothership” for its modernist design, MOWA has grown into a vital cultural center that represents the art and artists of the entire state.
To celebrate this momentous occasion, MOWA has invited ten of your favorite Wisconsin artists to give special talks as we celebrate the building’s tenth birthday.
A network of locations and community partners
MOWA can be found around the state with two permanent venues—the West Bend “Mothership” and MOWA | DTN in downtown Milwaukee—and two partnering community organizations that make its programs and collections accessible and free.
Land Acknowledgment Statement
The Museum of Wisconsin Art stands on the ancestral lands of the Ho-Chunk, Menominee, and Potawatomi people. We pay respects to their elders past and present and acknowledge the Ho-Chunk, Menominee, and Potawatomi people who have stewarded this land through the generations.
To our members, donors, and community partners—thank you for being an important part of our journey.
Your contribution to the 2022 MOWA Fund will help MOWA continue to fulfill its special role in the arts and culture of our state for generations to come.
04
locations around the state
175+
programs & community events per year
200k
annual visitors