We were finally able to get away this Memorial Day weekend for a little excursion from Chicago. Since we have family in Wisconsin, we decided Miles would stay with them while Caroline and I had some time to ourselves (which we get little of these days).
We decided on Milwaukee, since it was pretty close to where we were dropping off Miles. We were especially looking forward to visiting the Art Museum, as we’d heard so many good things about it.
I have to admit that I’m pretty into the Art Institute of Chicago. I work not too far from it, and my favorite kind of lunch break is to wander over to its collections and hit refresh on my creativity. The recent Eggleston exhibit was a particular favorite of mine. It played no small part in my picking up a camera again.
So you can imagine that I was skeptical to visit another art museum, especially one as small as in Milwaukee (I mean, the AIC isn’t the Louvre, but it’s a pretty big place). You’ll be happy to know that Milwaukee did not disappoint.
To be honest, I found the collection itself to be only OK. My opinion may have been influenced by my love of the AIC. It’s hard to top it. But what makes the Milwaukee Art Museum special is the Quadracci Pavilion designed by Santiago Calatrava. The pavilion’s brise soliel is so beautiful it has gained international recognition.
Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get a good shot of the outside of the building, so this photo is courtesy of urbanfeel on Flickr. I think it gives you a clear picture of what makes this building special. It has an actual wingspan that opens to let in the sun, and closes at night or during bad weather.
Of course we did other things on our trip, but they mainly consisted of sleeping in, relaxing, reading, and generally recharging away from our little one. It was a great weekend all around, but the highlight was definitely the architecture at the museum. A few more photos of our entire trip are below.
PS, I should also give a shout out to a place we ate that was just fabulous. It was called Roots Restaurant & Cellar, and if you’re ever in Milwaukee looking for a great meal, great wine selection and a fantastic view of the city, I highly recommend it.
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