The Milwaukee Art Museum has released the final attendance numbers for its 2011-12 fiscal year, which ended Aug. 31.

These numbers, which total over 395,000 visitors, make the 2011-12 year the third-highest attended year in the museum's history.

"We are pleased to see that the community and the region recognize what an extraordinary art museum and gathering place we have right here in Milwaukee," Daniel Keegan, director of the Milwaukee Art Museum, said in a statement.

"And it’s thrilling to know that visitors from all 50 states and more than a dozen countries around the world travel to our Midwestern city to experience the beauty and splendor of this great museum, its architecture and its art."

This past year included feature exhibitions "Impressionism: Masterworks on Paper," "Accidental Genius: Art from the Anthony Petullo Collection" and "Posters of Paris: Toulouse-Lautrec and His Contemporaries," which Keegan said helped boost attendance.

Additional exhibitions, including "Taryn Simon: Photographs and Texts" and the Kohl's Education Center Gallery exhibition "Animation: Art Goes to the Movies," as well as the success of the Target Free First Thursday program, also contributed to an increase in visitors.