Categories
Art Local Artists Membership

Milwaukee Artist Samer Ghani Featured on Member Mug

Samer Ghani standing in Windhover Hall
Samer Ghani stands in the Milwaukee Art Museum’s Windhover Hall. Photo by Ryan Reeve.

Samer Ghani, local artist, videographer, photographer, DearMKE Award winner, and “cultural documentarian,” captures stories as they emerge from Milwaukee events: from milestone moments like the Bucks’ victory parade to intimate rock concerts in neighborhood music venues. Ghani draws energy and inspiration for his artistic practice from Milwaukee’s unique spirit, landscape, and people.

Ghani’s love of art sparked more than 20 years ago, when he was a student in a Milwaukee Public Schools 4K art class at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Now, Ghani comes full circle by photographing the Museum’s Quadracci Pavilion to commemorate its 20th anniversary. The photograph appears on this year’s Member mug, offered to Members who support the Museum with an early renewal.

Mug featuring an aerial view of the Museum's wings along the lakefront

In a recent interview, Ghani discussed how his connection with the Museum has evolved over the decades.

Categories
Art Collection Contemporary Local Artists Membership

Reginald Baylor and the Museum’s Collectible Member Mug

Man sketching a woman's head on paper
Image courtesy of Reginald Baylor Studio.

This year, the Milwaukee Art Museum was pleased to work with artist and Milwaukee-area native Reginald Baylor for its annual Member mug. The mug features a detail of his painting On Duty, Not Driving, which is part of the Museum’s collection and currently on view.

I recently took the opportunity to ask Baylor a few questions, including some about the painting.

Categories
Art Local Artists Membership

The Local Press That Produced the Museum’s Member Tote Bag

Orange canvas tote bag with a yellow floral design made out of the Museum wings

Each year, the Museum produces a gift exclusively for Members who renew early, in response to the first notice that their membership is about to expire. In 2020, we worked with Orchard Street Press, in St. Francis, to produce a distinct Member tote bag. The bag features an original design by Alison Kleiman, design and brand lead at the Museum, that is a playful abstraction of the Museum’s Burke Brise Soliel, affectionately known as the “wings.”

Categories
Art Local Artists Museum Store

Milwaukee Studio Visit and Coloring Book Collaboration: Reginald Baylor

Cover art for the Collector’s Edition coloring book with Baylor’s drawing of The Wood Gatherer, 1881 by Jules Bastien-Lepage.
Cover art for the Collector’s Edition coloring book with Baylor’s drawing of The Wood Gatherer, 1881 by Jules Bastien-Lepage.

This coloring book is a perfect dialogue between myself as an artist and the art museum in my hometown.

–Reginald Baylor

Ted and I visited Reginald Baylor’s studio space in development in Milwaukee’s Sherman Park neighborhood to talk about his new coloring book collaboration with the Art Museum during a freakishly cold spring storm.