In addition to showing the best contemporary Wisconsin art, the MWA is committed to building and enhancing its already fine holdings of historic work. Drawn from our vaults, this chronological installation will showcase our collection and chart the changing course of art within the state from the 1830s to the turn of the 21st century. Portraits of the state's original tribes by James Otto Lewis and early photographs of the Dells area by H.H. Bennett, will reflect the changing ethnic and physical appearance of Wisconsin. Other stellar works, such as Alexander Marquis's portrait of John Wayles Jefferson and Thomas Stevenson's painting of Elkhart Lake will also reflect the role immigrant artists played in capturing the appearance of both people and places in the state's early years.

Women will be well represented with standout works by Ellen Baxter, Lydia Ely, Vinnie Ream Hoxie, Helen Farnsworth Mears, Lucia Stern and Elsa Ulbricht on view. These women played pivotal roles in the Rural Art Association, the building of Milwaukee's Veteran's Home, presidential sculpture, public sculpture, abstract art, and teaching teachers and regular citizens respectively.

The Panorama Painters of the 1880s such as Richard Lorenz, Wilhelm Schroeter and George Peter will be represented together with the artists of the early and mid 20th centuries who did much to reflect the changes in Wisconsin and how they were at once unique yet part of a larger national scene.

While some old favorites by the likes of Francesco Spicuzza, Gerrit Sinclair, Gustave Moeller, Carl Holty, Edward Steichen and Owen Gromme will be displayed, since our renaming in 2007, we have accessioned many new works into our collection - many of these will be exhibited for the first time ever.

This year-long exhibition will serve as another marker in the MWA's ongoing goal of creating and exhibiting the best single display that charts the ongoing development of the visual arts in the state.