Milwaukee Public Museum reveals new name and logo for future location
Image: Ennead Architects & Kahler Slater
The museum will be housed in a newly constructed building at the corner of N. Sixth Street and W. McKinley Avenue in downtown Milwaukee
The Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM) has announced it will change its name to the Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin when it opens its new location in early 2027.
The museum will be housed in a newly constructed building at the corner of N. Sixth Street and W. McKinley Avenue in downtown Milwaukee. The current MPM on Wells Street will remain open until then.
The new name reflects the museum’s focus on the relationship between humans and their natural environment through time, highlighting its shared statewide natural and cultural history and identity. This will be showcased throughout the exhibits and reflected in the building’s design, according to a press release.
The newly revealed logo represents both the museum’s exterior shape and the rock formations at Mill Bluff State Park in central Wisconsin that served as design inspiration.
Image: Milwaukee Public Museum
The new museum will include five permanent exhibit galleries:
• Time Travel • Winifred & Spencer Kellogg Gallery: Wisconsin Journey • Milwaukee Revealed • Living in a Dynamic World • The We Energies Foundation Gallery: Rainforest
New amenities include:
• Daniel M. Soref Planetarium • Puelicher Butterfly Vivarium • Bucyrus Rooftop Terrace • Café • Parking structure • Outdoor commons area called “the Plaza”
Building design
The building design is inspired by rock formations at Mill Bluff State Park in central Wisconsin. The 200,000-square-foot, five-story building will reflect Wisconsin’s natural landscapes.
The museum’s color palette draws from Wisconsin’s natural environment: red ocher, Wisconsin waters, Northwoods green, spring green, and limestone, according to the release.
The museum will continue to care for more than 4 million collection items from all 72 Wisconsin counties.
“This is a very exciting time for our institution. Our new museum’s name, the Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin, honors the work we’ve been doing for nearly 150 years—sharing the intertwined stories of our natural world and the diverse cultures that shape it,” said MPM President and CEO Dr. Ellen Censky. “Our longstanding mission will continue to ring true through the Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin’s galleries as we invite guests from across Wisconsin and beyond to celebrate and spark curiosity about our shared history, all in one space.”
As Wisconsin’s most visited museum, it will maintain its mission to “inspire curiosity, excite minds, and increase the desire to preserve and protect our world’s natural and cultural diversity.”
To learn more about the Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin, visit mpm.edu/future.
