American Style magazine says Milwaukee's arts have serious style. Founded in 1985, American Style's mission, to quote from its Web site, "is to inform craft enthusiasts and art collectors about the significance of handmade objects of art."
As part of the summer issue American Style announced its sixth annual readers choice poll for the Top 25 Arts Destinations in the United States. The story begins, "And breaking into the Top 10 for the first time is Milwaukee, whose arts scene, it appears, has as big a draw as its brewery tours."
The article continues:
"The arts are alive and well in Milwaukee," enthuses resident Don Dorsan, who points to architect Santiago Calatrava's addition to the city's arts museum as placing Milwaukee on the map. "Numbers bear that out. Before the expansion, the Milwaukee Art Museum's attendance averaged 165,000 annually. In the first full year after its expansion, that figure was more than 500,000."
According to Spirit of Milwaukee president Dean Amhaus what is especially interesting about Milwaukee's #10 ranking is the fact that last January when American Style was conducting the poll Milwaukee was not even included in the poll's list of 62 cities.
"Spirit of Milwaukee, as well as a number of other groups, orchestrated a flurry of e-mails to conduct a write-in campaign to correct this oversight," Amhaus says. "This is a great testimonial that when a collaborative group in Milwaukee takes action in voicing our pride for Milwaukee we will get heard loud and clear," Amhaus adds.
Later in the article, American Style expands its overview of Milwaukee's visual arts scene with the following description and a picture of the Milwaukee Art Museum:
"The Milwaukee Arts Museum could well be the decisive element that put the city into the 2003 Top 10. Opened in 2001 the museum's new wing designed by architect Santiago Calatrava, looks like an immense bird sweeping across the shores of Lake Michigan, Its cleverly designed louvers all for control of temperature and light, as well as the space itself. But art has been brewing for nearly as long as beer.
"The Bradley Collection of Modern Art, donated to the Milwaukee Art Museum in the 1960s, reflects the tastes of Margaret Bradley, the wife of an industrialist and friend to Georgia O'Keeffe (who was born in Wisconsin), and includes more than 600 works from the last two centuries.
"Milwaukee's downtown art scene is centered in the historic Third Ward district, with its concentration of loft spaces, galleries, specialty stores and restaurants, anchored by the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. Recently, artists have been flocking to the area around Brady Street, which is experiencing a funky '60s revival. Check out the Capt. Frederick Pabst Mansion, a downtown Victorian home now offering tours; the Charles Allis Art Museum on Prospect Avenue, with its unique collection of antiques; and the Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum, a 1923 Italian-style villa with fine arts from Spanish, Dutch, Flemish and Italian masters from the 15th through the 18th centuries."
"Milwaukee's performing arts community has long been viewed as a national arts leader but now it is great that the visual arts are getting their due respect," Amhaus says with pride, holding a copy of the magazine in his hand.
