The Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM) will now be free for kids age 12 and under through an anonymous gift of $3.54 million.
The gift will enable the museum to establish a endowment that will fund the admission waiver in perpetuity. The gift went into effect the day of the museum’s official announcement on December 3.
“It just is one of these gifts that I’m just beyond words, so deeply grateful, and so excited that this will impact generations of kids to come,” Amy Kirschke, the museum’s Barbara Brown Lee Chief Learning and Engagement Officer, told ARTnews. “It’s so exciting. It’s anonymous donor, but to the generosity of spirit, and having been inspired by their own childhood experiences at the museum, and wanting to share that with the community in perpetuity is again just such a tremendous gift.”
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Kirschke, who has worked at the museum for more than 20 years, said describing the gift as “transformative” would be an understatement. “So many of our grants we’re so grateful for, but they are a year to year, maybe every two years,” she said.
Both museum spokesperson Cortney Heimerl and Kirschke said the anonymous donor had previously supported other programs at the museum, also anonymously, and wanted to continue to avoid any personal credit for their generosity with this latest gift.
The anonymous gift is intended for youths who visit the museum with caregivers or family units. Kirschke said the museum’s school programs have a minimal fee, and there are other funders for its educational programming and kid-friendly activities. These include ArtPacks and SketchPacks, Family Guides, costumes, Museum Moments cards, as well as hands-on art projects on weekends in the Kohl’s Art Studio.
“Every day, our youngest Museum visitors will be able to access, engage with, and learn from world-class exhibitions and programs free of charge thanks to the generosity of an individual who believes in the power of art to strengthen our community,” Milwaukee Art Museum chief development officer André Allaire said in a press statement.
The museum sees approximately 20,000 kids 12 and under visit each year. “And we hope that will only continue to grow with this new gift,” Kirschke said. “Once a family knows that kids are free every day always that means you can come for a short visit or a long visit, and you can come again and again. I think it takes so much pressure off of families and reduces those barriers to seeing the museum as a regular place for them to engage in their lives.”