The Milwaukee Art Museum Announces the 2011 Lakefront Festival of Arts
Quad/Graphics and Milwaukee Magazine present annual arts showcase
Milwaukee, Wis. – June 14, 2011 – The Milwaukee Art Museum’s 2011 Lakefront Festival of Arts (LFOA) will be Friday, June 17, through Sunday, June 19, on the grounds of the Museum along Lake Michigan. The 49th annual LFOA is presented by Quad/Graphics and Milwaukee Magazine.
The family-friendly event is one of the top twenty-five art festivals in the country, featuring work by more than 180 artists, including wearable art and jewelry, paintings, sculpture, home décor, and more. LFOA will also include expanded food offerings from local restaurants, a wine garden, a sculpture garden, and the PNC Children’s Experience, including the Grow Up Great Mobile Learning Adventure where kids can dress up as different professionals and take home fun activity books and learning kits. Families can also visit and participate in Milwaukee Public Schools’ fence art installation featuring unique works of art, or interact with face painters, jugglers, and magicians.
This year’s festival poster artist is South Korean-born Seung Lee. Lee’s multicolor woodblock print entitled Watertown will be featured on apparel and on merchandise, including a poster available in the festival boutique. Lee began his art career as a painter, which inspired him to approach the traditional woodcut differently, and makes for a very painterly effect in his work.
For the second consecutive year, LFOA artists will also be exhibiting inside the Museum, and the festival will be open until 9 p.m. on Friday. In addition, five juried artists from China will be travelling to Milwaukee to display and sell their artworks at LFOA.
“We are honored to welcome these five artists to our Milwaukee lakefront during the Summer of CHINA to display their works of art alongside the more than 180 artists from around the country at LFOA,” said Daniel Keegan, director of the Milwaukee Art Museum. “It’s a testament to LFOA that it continues to offer museum-quality art for purchase, and year after year, the festival draws large crowds of people of all ages and interests to the Museum.”
This year’s LFOA attendees will also be among the first to experience the Museum’s Summer of CHINA, an ambitious schedule of five concurrent exhibitions covering 3,000 years of Chinese art and architecture. The feature exhibition for the Summer of CHINA is The Emperor’s Private Paradise: Treasures from the Forbidden City. Milwaukee is the final destination for the more than 90 objects of ceremony and leisure from private retreat of the Qianlong Emperor before they return to China, never to leave again. The Museum is one of only three museums in the world to showcase these never-before-seen objects, which include murals, paintings, furniture, architectural and garden components, jades, and cloisonné arts.
In honor of the significance of this exhibition schedule for the Museum, as well as the City’s close ties with China, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett has declared the summer of 2011 to be the “Summer of China” in the City of Milwaukee.
“LFOA is a must-experience event, with art, music, food, and family entertainment,” said Keegan. “Combined with the stunning Summer of CHINA exhibitions, I look forward to sharing in the festival with our artists and guests.”
LFOA admission is $8 in advance, $14 at the gate, or $20 for a three-day pass. Tickets can be purchased online and at participating locations throughout Southeastern Wisconsin. Festival hours are:
• Friday, June 17 — 12 p.m. to 9 p.m.
• Saturday, June 18 — 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• Sunday, June 19— 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
LFOA is presented by Quad/Graphics and Milwaukee Magazine and sponsored in part by PNC, MillerCoors, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Hawks Nursery, Fields Automotive, Potawatomi Bingo Casino, Sommer’s Automotive, Renewal by Andersen and Inet-PC-Web.
About Lakefront Festival of Arts
The Lakefront Festival of Arts (LFOA) is one of the premier art festivals in the country, featuring artists from across the nation with art for sale in a variety of media, including paintings, sculptures, jewelry, photography, printmaking, wood, ceramics, fiber, and more. Since 1962, the Lakefront Festival of Arts has been a primary fundraiser for the Milwaukee Art Museum and organized with the help of Friends of Art volunteers. For more information on LFOA, please visit http://lfoa.mam.org/.
About the Milwaukee Art Museum
The Milwaukee Art Museum’s far-reaching holdings include more than 25,000 works spanning antiquity to the present day. With a history dating back to 1888, the Museum houses a collection with strengths in 19th- and 20th-century American and European art, contemporary art, American decorative arts, and folk and self-taught art. The Museum includes the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion, named by Time magazine as “Best Design of 2001.” For more information, please visit www.mam.org.
About Friends of Art
The Friends of Art (FOA) is the primary volunteer support organization of the Milwaukee Art Museum. FOA raises funds in support of the Museum and develops activities to stimulate visual art appreciation and inspire volunteer leadership. Over 1,300 individuals volunteer annually to help organize and operate FOA’s fundraising events. Over $7 million has been generated through FOA events since it was founded in 1957. For more information on FOA, please visit www.mam.org/involved/details/foa.php.
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Kristin Settle
PR Manager, Milwaukee Art Museum
kristin.settle@mam.org
414-224-3246
Milwaukee Art Museum
700 N. Art Museum Drive
Milwaukee, WI 53202
414-224-3200
www.mam.org
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