Day Trip

Yesterday was a gorgeous day here so we decided to take a drive up to the Milwaukee Art Museum, which is located along the Lake Michigan waterfront. The museum building itself is quite a masterpiece. The main pavillion is a Santiago Calatrava designed building featuring glass walls enclosed by the Burke Brise Soleil, which is a sunscreen that can be raised and lowered creating a unique moving sculpture. At noon the huge wing-like sections of the building slowly lower down enclosing the glass walls. It is worth going to the museum just to see this amazing structure!
The photo below is taken inside the pavilion looking up at the Burke Brise Soleil.
Below is the view from inside the main pavillion which overlooks Lake Michigan. It is an absolutely marvelous setting. The museum cafe where we ate lunch looks out over this same view.

Another example of the cleverly designed bulding where the structure itself creates a work of art.This Chihuly glass sculpture is the only bit of color inside the pristine, white marble and glass pavillion. After finally getting over our amazement of just the museum building, we went on to enjoy a special exhibition of Impressionist Camille Pissarro, whose work inspired great artists like Renoir, Monet and Cezanne. In addition, the musuem is the home to great works by Monet, Picasso, O'Keefe, Worhol, and Rodin just to name a few. It was a delightful way to spend a sunny June day.