Museum of Wisconsin Art (West Bend, WI)

My oldest daughter turned 21 today and since she had no interest in celebrating at a bar, I decided to take her to the Museum of Wisconsin Art in West Bend since she's both a talented artist and is working toward an art history degree. It was our first time there and turned out to be a great choice.

First of all, when it came to price, you will have a hard time finding a better deal. It was just $50 for a "crew" of up to four adults. This in itself is considerably less than we can usually expect to pay on family outings (House on the Rock, for example, cost us more than $100). Adding to that value, however, is it is a membership fee that lets us re-visit as many times as we want for up to a year without paying anything more. It doesn't even need to be the same group. We can bring grandmas, uncles, friends, etc.

The museum isn't overly large; it took us between an hour and 90 minutes to walk through it. It does, however, have quite a collection with some rooms almost being a bit overwhelming. It's a good mix of mediums as well, ranging from 100+ year-old paintings to modern-day artwork. This includes the eye-catching Carl von Marr work The Flagellants. This doesn't even include the artwork in storage (as part of a rotation) that can be seen through glass walls.

The Flagellants with Cynthia Helmer standing in front of it for scale.

The museum's staff were friendly and knowledgeable, quick to answer questions and offer added information about specific works. It was clear they enjoyed what they were doing, which is key with places like this.

There is a gift shop, which is a bit small but does have quite a variety of items ranging from affordable to a bit pricey. I liked how they included artwork that, while expensive, was unique enough to be considered an investment.

If I were to suggest anything to improve the experience, it would be some chairs near the front desk area. It's not a big deal, but after walking through the museum, it would have been nice to have a place to sit down while waiting for my daughters to re-visit some of their favorite exhibits and while they were trying to make up their minds in the gift shop.

If you're in the West Bend area, it's worth stopping at.