Grohmann Museum 15th Anniversary

1,700 works of art, 49 exhibitions, three floors, one rooftop sculpture garden, and 15 years of excellence. The Grohmann Museum is home to the world’s most comprehensive art collection dedicated to depictions of human work, and is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year with a blockbuster exhibition, Oktoberfest celebration and more.

The Grohmann Museum is named in honor of Dr. Eckhart Grohmann, an MSOE Regent, Milwaukee businessman and avid art collector who donated his collection to MSOE in 2001 and subsequently the funds to purchase, renovate and operate the museum. The original collection included 450 works of art and served as the foundation of the Grohmann Museum collection. Today that collection has grown to 1,700 paintings, sculptures, and works on paper from 1580 to the present. They reflect a variety of artistic styles and subjects that document the evolution of organized work—from farming and mining to trades such as glassblowing and seaweed gathering. Thousands of visitors—both locally and from around the globe—visit the museum and enjoy the ever-growing collections and special exhibitions each year.

To commemorate this milestone, the Grohmann Museum hosted a 15th Anniversary Oktoberfest celebration of Grohmann on Oct. 1. The event included music, food, drinks, games, art and artisans, plus a special unveiling of a portrait of Grohmann. The portrait was painted by renowned painter Patrice Hudson and depicts Grohmann in his office within the top floor of the museum.

In its 15 years, the Grohmann Museum has seen endless growth and prosperity, hundreds of thousands of visitors and field trips of all ages. It serves as a cornerstone of campus, offering space for classes, opportunities to integrate art into class projects, and houses the Humanities, Social Science and Communication Department. From gallery nights and artist visits, special events and rooftop gatherings, the Grohmann Museum provides a space for the community to gather, learn and enjoy world renowned artistry.

Three generations of Grohmanns with the new portrait of Eckhart Grohmann that was unveiled at the Oktoberfest celebration. Left to right: Erik Grohmann, Eckhart Grohmann and Tom Grohmann, Eckhart’s grandson and son.

A Time of Toil and Triumph: Selections from the Shogren-Meyer Collection of American Art

Through Feb. 26, 2023

For its 15th anniversary, the Grohmann Museum organized a blockbuster exhibition from one of the premier collections of American industrial art—The Shogren-Meyer Collection. Focused primarily on the art of the 1930s and ’40s, it also includes many fine examples from the surrounding decades, with many created during the depression era—a time of both toil and triumph.

Edmund Lewandowski (1914–1998), The Waterfront (Buoy Tenders), 1935, Oil on canvas, 32 x 47 in.

Philip Pinner (1910–1977), Roof Tops, 1932, Oil on canvas, 24 x 17 in.

Jack Keijo Steele (1919–2003), The Sweeper, ca.1940, Oil on Masonite, 35 x 26 in.

David Plowden: The Architecture of Agriculture

April 21–Aug. 20, 2023

The Grohmann Museum once again showcases the photography of David Plowden in honor of the artist’s 90th birthday. But instead of Plowden’s trademark work featuring railroads, bridges and heavy industry, this exhibition looks at feed mills, grain elevators, barns and the altered landscape of the Midwest and the Great Plains.

Over 50 years of photography is distilled in this collection of vanishing views of America’s past. As with much of Plowden’s work, many of the scenes captured are no more, existing only on film, in memory, or in scattered remains across the rural countryside.

David Plowden (b.1932), Carter, Montana—Street and Grain Elevator, 1971