The Museum of Wisconsin Art was founded in 1961 to collect
the works of Milwaukee-born artist Carl von Marr (1858-1936). It currently
holds the best and most comprehensive collection of his work anywhere. In 1998,
after recognizing that no institution was building a comprehensive survey collection
of Wisconsin art, the Early Wisconsin Art Collection was unveiled on the state’s
sesquicentennial. This has grown to be the most comprehensive collection of
its kind anywhere.
On Sunday, May 7th, 2006, the Museum of Wisconsin Art hosted the 3rd Annual Wisconsin
Visual Arts Lifetime Achievement Awards in collaboration with two other organizations:
Wisconsin Painters and Sculptors/Wisconsin Artists in All Media and The Wisconsin
Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters. Initiated in 2004, the WVALAA’s mission is
to recognize individuals and organizations that have played an outstanding role
in the development of Wisconsin art. The MWA received one of these prestigious awards
in recognition of 45 years of collecting and championing Wisconsin art. The same
day saw the state legislature issue a proclamation acknowledging the fact that the
Museum of Wisconsin Art is, to all intents and purposes, the museum of Wisconsin
art.