MPM continues to dismiss community concerns, reducing them to talk of “plants and fences.” But our objections have never been about landscaping — they are about the heart of the Milwaukee Public Museum: the Streets of Old Milwaukee, the European Village, WPA murals, dioramas, and the environments that carry our collective memory.

 

These are not trivial details. They are the very things generations of Milwaukeeans have cherished, and they cannot be replaced once dismantled.

For years, PreserveMKE and community members have raised these issues with the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors, asking them to step in and exercise their oversight. We have submitted letters, testimony, and public records requests — most recently a series of formal letters urging Supervisors to intervene on the public’s behalf and require transparency from MPM.  Read more about these efforts here → LINK

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Our concerns are justified. MPM’s newly released Disposition Plan explicitly positions the museum as the owner of exhibit “components” — a word that allows them to sell, donate, or dispose of the very items we are asking about. By redefining treasured public assets as disposable components, MPM claims control over what belongs to the people of Milwaukee County.

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The public has every right to demand accountability. These environments are not nostalgia; they are our shared history. And their future should not be decided behind closed doors.  Come to the Meeting September 2nd: