Collection Highlights
Only a fraction of the more than five thousand works in the museum’s collection are represented in the Collection Highlights. The selection includes perennial favorites, as well as art historically significant works.
Meet Our Artists
The Artist Index includes over three hundred artists currently represented in the MOWA collection.
DIVERSITY COMMIT MENT
Our Commitment
Diversity Commitment
MOWA is committed to presenting creative voices and narratives that have historically been under-represented, such as women and LGBTQ+ artists, Indigenous artists, and artists from our state’s Black and Brown communities.
The intention is to include all voices, challenge assumptions, and inspire fresh ways of thinking about culture and the history of Wisconsin art.
302
artists in the collection
23%
women artists
10%
BIPOC and underrepresented communities
About the Collection
Founded in 1961 by Melitta Hedwig Suder-Pick—a woman clearly ahead of her time—MOWA has been unconventional and forward-thinking from its earliest days. Suder-Pick established the first museum with three hundred paintings and drawings by her great uncle Carl von Marr. Six decades later, and way down the road from these humble beginnings, MOWA’s collection has grown exponentially in both historical range and stylistic depth.
Today, the museum’s collection represents more than three hundred artists, spans two hundred years of history, and includes over five thousand works of art that tell the story of the American experience. Artists include H. H. Bennett, Beth Lipman, Truman Lowe, Rosemary Ollison, Edward Steichen, Tom Uttech, John Wilde, Frank Lloyd Wright, to mention just a few.
With a growing interest in the art and artists of our time, MOWA’s contemporary collection has more than doubled in the last decade with major acquisitions in painting, photography, and studio glass. As MOWA continues to expand and diversify its holdings, the museum is committed to actively collecting work by contemporary artists with a special focus on underrepresented communities.
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