Photo credit: Dave Zylstra
Two of Milwaukee’s most beautiful and architecturally significant mansions, originally tenanted by industrial barons during the age when Milwaukee was the “machine shop of the world,” have been maintained for decades as museums by Milwaukee County. Under the guidance of Executive Director John Sterr and Senior Curator Shana McCaw, the Charles Allis Art Museum and Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum have been transitioning from their old role as repositories of beautiful objects into institutions that engage the community more widely. Off the Cuff sat down with Sterr and McCaw around Villa Terrace’s antique dining room table overlooking Lake Michigan to discuss past, present and future.
The current exhibition at Villa Terrace, “Back to School,” features recent work by Milwaukee artists coupled with pieces they did while they were art students. Where did that idea come from?
SM: My husband [and co-curator] Brent Budsberg threw out the idea of showing how an artist’s work changes over time, and how their education influenced them—or not! The more we talked to people, the more we realized how fun the idea was. And it fills the slot at the beginning of the school year.
Are you linking the museums more and more to education and local schools?
JS: For example, we have a program with Rufus King High School’s international baccalaureate program to give students a snapshot of the museum field and what it’s like to be a professional artist. The program is focused more on Charles Allis—the students critique masterworks and the Allis Museum has many.
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You’re also opening an exhibit at Villa Terrace by the great grandson of the mansion’s original owner, A.O. Smith?
JS: Roger Smith’s “Drawings & Watercolors.” He never actually lived in the mansion but he was here on holidays—Thanksgiving, Christmas…
SM: He remembers running around the garden, climbing around the house, getting into mischief.
You’re honoring the past and looking toward the future?
SM: You hit it on the head. We’re not interested in clearing the rooms and turning Villa Terrace or Charles Allis into white cubes. The family history is important. I don’t know if we’re beyond the idea of purely decorative arts museums, but we’re trying to expand the meaning for people of going into historical buildings—to experience the spaces in new ways. In both museums, the whole house is an artifact, but we can bring in contemporary art and performance to create a different experience.
JS: Our mission is to serve the entire community. We want a sense of collaboration—not to be walled off from the community.
SM: The shows we’re planning are meant to reinterpret the space, to find new stories about the objects in our collections, to connect schools in the area with the legacy of these buildings. We ask ourselves: What are the audiences in our community? We can’t be insular.
Charles Allis Art Museum, 1801 N. Prospect Ave., 414-278-8295
Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum, 2220 N. Terrace Ave., 414-271-3656
