This Show at the Milwaukee Art Museum Is a Memorable One

The show is running in three different parts this fall.

The organizers of the Milwaukee Art Museum’s “American Memory” exhibit pose a bold question in their curatorial statement: “Can a single image tell us a complex, multifaceted story or expose the truth of a historical incident?”

“American Memory” doesn’t attempt to provide a pat answer to that question. What it does do – through a sprawling group show that spans time periods, genres and mediums – is examine how artworks can shape our memories and our collective understanding of events.


 

Join us at the 2024 Chef Event. It’s a foodie’s favorite night out!

April 17 | Downtown Kitchen


Many of the artists featured in the exhibit are women or people from the BIPOC or LGBTQ communities. That’s no accident. These people have historically been excluded from major museum collections. And even today they’re still largely underrepresented – which means that their stories often go untold.

A single show can’t right centuries of wrongs. But it can begin to reframe the story we tell ourselves about our world and our place in it. And that’s a start.

The show is organized into three chapters, or discrete exhibits that can be viewed on their own or as a part of a larger whole. The first two are on view through Oct. 31 and Dec. 5, respectively. The third will run Oct. 1-Jan. 16. Visit mam.org for more info.


 

This story is part of Milwaukee Magazine‘s September issue.

Find it on newsstands or buy a copy at milwaukeemag.com/shop

Be the first to get every new issue. Subscribe.

Comments

comments

Lindsey Anderson covers culture for Milwaukee Magazine. Before joining the MilMag team she worked as an editor at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and wrote freelance articles for ArtSlant and Eater.