We went there during the Milwaukees Doors Open, it has beautiful view over looking Lake Michigan…read more Going downhill you will also find a big lawn area and garden. In the villa, it has so many rooms that is also a museum.

Even though the Villa Terrace is an art museum, the real superstar here is the Villa/property. From…read morethe moment you step into the courtyard - complete with an impressive sculpture of Mercury - you're going to feel as though you were transported to a small Italian village. It's an exquisite time capsule of a place. And the views of Lake Michigan are the cherry on top. Your entrance ticket grants you access to both floors, the courtyard, the outside terrace and the grounds that you can walk down. There's small art exhibits that get rotated out every few months and plenty of community events including yoga, sound baths and a cafe in the warmer months. This place also moonlights as a wedding venue (in case you're about to tie the knot!) Entrance is $15 pp but there are free days offered throughout the year including during Milwaukee's annual museum days. And if you have a Milwaukee County library card you can checkout a pass for Terrace Villa which is how we got to experience this hidden gem.

What a nifty way to spend an afternoon. Provided that you're a vaguely cerebral (fair to say,…read more"nerdy") older sort, especially if you're a fella (I wouldn't recommend the place for most kids - especially not a gaggle of tween girls). All manner of The Work of Man memorialized in sculpture and painting, with a particularly nice Carl Spitzweg side gallery (worth a visit if you ever admired Norman Rockwell's "The Bookworm" - the original of which is also there, right outside the Spitzweg room - because you'll find its inspiration). Oh, and it's five bucks (I didn't even ask about the Senior Rate). And be careful not to trip over the students sunbathing on the grass in bikinis when looking at the magnificent sculptures in the rooftop garden.

Been living in the neighborhood almost a year and never gave thia place a secons thought. Realizing…read moreit was right next door to one of my favorite coffeeshops (Discourse) and that it was only $5, I gave it a shot. This is one of the best kept secrets in Milwaukee, honestly. The artwork on display is incredible, with some genuinely masterful pieces, as well as more modern interpretations. Mostly paintings with some sculptures, iron work, and videos. They even have a rooftop which offers incredible views of the skyline and features several large sculptures, just bw aware that it's closed for winter. I took an hour and a half to get through it, and that's just taking a peak at the rooftop. I would say you could spend upwards of 2 hours here with little difficulty.

Though I'm sure the new MPM will be amazing, I'm still bummed to know this museum is closing soon!…read moreMy kids are big fans of this place. So crazy that it hasn't changed a bit since I would go here on school trips years and years ago. The exhibits continue to offer so much! From taking you through the dino-ages, to exploring the rainforest, and Native American history. Lots of areas to check out. Favorite has to be the Streets of Old Milwaukee which is just so immersive. We also love the butterfly room (so many live butterflies!) and the planetarium dome theater, which shows various educational films. They ask that you don't have food and drinks while touring around (understandable), but they have a huge cafe/dining area on the ground level. It's great because you can bring your own packed lunch and snacks, or purchase from their various offerings. Underground parking, easy check-in, and friendly staff, too!

I grew up in the Fox Valley and have fond memories of the occasional field trip to the Milwaukee…read moreMuseum and the occasional family trip to visit as well. It took until adulthood for me to learn there's a button to make the rattlesnake move. (If you know, you know). I enjoyed bringing my own kids when they were little and seeing the exhibits through their enthusiasm. I have nostalgic memories of MPM and I really hope that transcends to the soon to be new facility. I hear the streets of Milwaukee exhibit will be modified in the move. To the powers that be that may stumble across this review - this exhibit and what you do with it when you move will do a lot to make or break public sentiment.

A good small art museum on the campus of Marquette University. Visited for the first time recently…read moreand was impressed with the special exhibit of photographs by Bill Tennessen, who documented the African American experience in Milwaukee, some events that I swear I attended. Dutch Masters and religious iconography represented, and a few outstanding representations of such; but Milwaukee Art Museum is still showing the Dutch Masters (Bader) exhibition, and the Haggerty felt slightly underwhelming by recent comparison. I love the story of the Keith Haring visit - faculty, staff and students got to paint in the characters, and the visit was well documented by Milwaukee media. Incredible showpiece upon entry. The small little museum that could! We visited the Saint Joan of Arc Chapel on the same day, check it out, too.

It is free, and there is street parking in front, but is it worth your time to go there if you…read morearen't in the neighborhood? Possibly not. If you are near by, I would recommend you pop in. The collection is very small, but it does have some interesting pieces. I think I might have enjoyed the architectures as much or more than the collection. It is probably not easy to visit the museum when the university is in session, as there probably won't be easy street parking.

I was lucky to be able to join the tour even though tickets were sold out online. I am so grateful…read morethey squeezed me in. I wouldn't recommend wandering around too much, certain parts did not feel safe to me. The tour, especially for students, is extremely cheap. They should charge more, especially since they are in need of funds! The tour was great. I learned a lot about the history of the block of houses. Each one has a different story and history. There is no AC in the houses. So plan accordingly if you have a hot summer day.

We toured these houses on a beautiful Saturday afternoon and it was a lot more interesting than I…read morewould have expected. I knew little about Frank Lloyd Wright and took the tour with my Dad who is an architect. It was a great experience for the both of us. Our guide was very knowledgeable and did a fabulous job. She really immersed us in the vision Wright had for these houses. We were lucky and got to tour the house that they just acquired and will be restoring soon. It isn't officially part of the standard tour just yet, but we happened to be before a special private tour so they let us check it out too. I would recommend this to anyone who is even mildly interested. The gift shop closes at 3, so be sure to grab any goodies before the tour if you are taking the 2pm.

The Pabst Mansion certainly comes alive during Christmas time with whimsy and play amidst history…read moreand class. It's my favorite time to visit since each room is activated with holiday decor, festive cheer, and pops of color! Year after year, a team of volunteers help staff transform the Pabst Mansion into this whimsical exhibition adding to the MKE beer baron's living experience. Each year, the colors and decor changes adding a unique experience every holiday season! Times entry and same day tickets are available in advance or at the door, though "at the door" occurs at street level in an adjacent building. A very small free parking lot is up the hill onsite next to the mansion but additional free parking is available across the street and is labeled with signage. If you haven't had the chance to visit during the holiday season, I do recommend it as something different to do during the colder months!

We made advance reservations & parked in the complimentary lot across the street. Admission is…read more$19 per person, reduced for seniors, children, and free for members. The building is under construction, we entered through the gift shop. We showed our NARM card for free entry. We started with an informative film about the history of the Pabst Mansion. Fifty of us were on the tour, we were broken into 2 groups & I followed Molly throughout the house. She pointed out interesting pieces & fascinating stories. Our hour long tour of the Pabst Mansion was a fascinating:90. We learned about the home, Pabst family & details about the architecture and furnishings of the home while exploring the 1st through 3rd floors. This house had electricity, inside plumbing, a telephone, central heat & 10 bathrooms. In 1892, Captain Frederick & Maria Pabst completed construction of their mansion, It was designed by George Bowman Ferry and Alfred Charles Clas, & cost $254,000. These art collectors, filled their mansion with priceless treasures. During the years of the Pabst family's ownership, the house was the scene of many fine parties and receptions, a wedding & in the end, their funerals. The Pabst descendants sold the house in 1908 and for 60 yrs. was the archbishop's residence When it was sold in 1975, the mansion was nearly torn down but become a museum & was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Want to cruise Lake Michigan affordably and have a boating experience that recreates history? By…read moreall means, get yourself down to Pier Wisconsin pronto and take a sail on the Denis Sullivan. In my mind, this is one of the most amazing experiences the city of Milwaukee offers. Hands down! The Denis Sullivan is a 140-foot sailing vessel that is a recreation of an 1890s cargo vessel. It has space for 50 on its upper deck, three full sails, and three jib sails on the mast. There's a lower compartment that has a head (bathroom), sleeping quarters, kitchen mess, and a gift shop. An exhibit that is part of Discovery World, your ticket buys you a two-hour tour during the summer. Truly, if boating is your thing, this is an amazing must-do. My family and I took the tour recently and we had a blast. The six of us spanned ages from 2 to 73. We all enjoyed it equally. My two year old great niece enjoyed the fact that she had room to roam around to her liking. She wandered everywhere happily. We got pictures of her steering the boat on the rear wheel that controlled the rudder. All of us enjoyed the performance by the ships cast of 8 crew members. They involved all 50 of us on board in a discussion about safety, then gave commands to hoist all of the sails once we had motored comfortably away from the pier and cut the engine. The ropes and sails were neatly and precisely tucked away in a manner any experienced sailor will tell you is proper. Along with other guests, my great niece and her dad helped hoist the sail, and my niece was fascinated with pulling rope for the rest of the trip, "helping" the crew in her own fashion. The crew was on hand to answer questions and quite hospitable with the guests. "This boat is a fiberglass magnet," one crew member told my family, pointing to the boats that pulled up alongside our vessel. They also noted that the boat was weighted in a manner that if it tipped, it would pop back up - a good feature to have on a sailboat that can lean in the wind. A wonderful bonus occurred when two of the crew pulled out a banjo and a fiddle and performed bluegrass music, singing and clapping. My great niece danced and the rest of us enjoyed the performance. The pristine view of Milwaukee's skyline and lakefront is unparalleled. The breeze is cooling and comfortable and the sail is a most enjoyable thing to do on a weekend. Take a trip on the Denis Sullivan. You won't regret it!

A few weeks ago a woman told me the new Pier Wisconsin building adjacent to the Art Museum on the…read morelakefront has the best view of Milwaukee's skyline available without a boat in the city. Intrigued by that and an indoor aquarium, I stopped by this weekend to check it out. Overall, this is a very cool place. The building is beautiful in a modern way that accentuates the Calatrava next door. The lines are clean and nautical and the slat wood floor in the main hallway/promenade was beautiful and different. In general, there is an unfinished feeling to the place despite its having been open more than a month. I can understand the desire to open to the public as soon as possible, but paying $16 for a lot of unfinished exhibits bothered me slightly. That said, there are some wonderful things in this building, which now houses Discovery World, as well as the Pier Wisconsin aquarium and a permanent home for the Denis Sullivan sailboat. The highlight of the aquarium is a tunnel where fish swim a few feet over your head. The glass is so smooth and clear that from certain angles it feels as if you are viewing the image of fish on a hi-definition screen, not actual fish swimming a few feet over your head in a spectacular mega-tank. There is also an open tank for petting small (barbless) stingrays and other fish. We didn't have tons of time to see Discovery World, but needless to say this place is an educational kids heaven. Everything is designed to be touched, felt and understood. In the new (unfinished) techno-jungle area, lots of hip 20-somethings in white lab coats helped kids play and understand a hovering people mover, an inra-red camera, a storm simulator, and best of all, a virtual reality control that led through the streets of Milwaukee. I unfortunately walked right off the bridge over Lincoln Memorial Drive to the Art Museum before surrendering the control to an actual child. Overall, I think Milwaukee has done very well for itself here. The location is amazing, parking easy (underground), the aquarium spectacular and views from the edge of the building are indeed among the best of Milwaukee's lakeside skyline.

On well-deserved day off I was finally able to visit The Warehouse to see the soon closing exhibit…read moreby William Kentridge. The exhibit was excellent, and of course had all manner of music, film, and other events associated with the exhibition. The Warehouse has free parking in their lot, or free 3-hour street parking on St. Paul Ave. The gallery is free but donations encouraged! I know that I've missed some very nice exhibits in the past due to their M-F 10am-4pm hours. I really wish they would bump that to Tues-Saturday, for those art lovers who y'know, work during the work week! Still five stars. Go see some art, Milwaukee!

In a corporate brick building in an industrial area, with no signage other than the address № is…read morethis nice little gallery. It's a lot different inside from what the outside would lead you to think. But to get there you go along the left side of the building, around the gate and in the door. Staff is super friendly and greeted us at the door. We even got chocolate for some reason. But that would have to be eaten later. They had sanitizer and masks for visitors and all staff were masked up. The exhibition was self portraits. It is not a large space, but they had a range of formats and styles at this show. The kids each found something they liked. Street parking was ample and free. Admission is free; I think it's run by an art storage firm in the building as a side bit. Definitely worth a stop, work it in to a day of small museums, or just go to the brewery next door after.