Milwaukee Public Museum
The Milwaukee Public Museum is a local tradition, a childhood rite of passage since 1962 when it welcomed the public in its current building. Knowing the building will be demolished in 2027 and its collections relocated, I wanted to document that tradition before it disappeared forever. At first, I was opposed to the new public museum project. Twenty first century education-oriented museums are full of touchscreens that lack the theatrical art direction at the heart of MPM. I wanted to make photographs that observed then revealed the illusion of the immersive displays; photographs that drew upon nostalgia but showed the artifice. However, contemplating the museum from a 21st century perspective became problematic. Social attitudes towards indigenous people, climate change and cultural patrimony have shifted dramatically. My creative strategy changed. Revealing the artifice of the displays could also reveal the 20th century world view that created them. Portrait-like close ups of taxidermy specimens could draw attention to habitat loss and mass extinction. Careful observation of mannequins dressed in traditional clothing could emphasize a mythic past that no longer exists in the globally digitized now. I realized a new MPM is necessary, a museum that emphasizes the interdependence of our planet rather than a world view that stages ‘the other’.
-Thomas Hellstrom 2024