After I was done frenetically installing the new show at work I decided to take some time off from the rat-race and go on a trip. Maria and I decided that we didn’t have the time or money to cruise the sun drenched seas of the Caribbean, so, instead, we opted for Milwaukee. Suffice it to say that I was a bit delirious from work and Maria was suffering from cabin fever. These two factors combined with poverty drove us toward the frozen North.

As with most of our trips, we had a thin skeleton of a plan before we set out. We figured we’d hit the art museum, do some clearance rack and thrift store shopping, and stay at a bed and breakfast (in the middle of nowhere - to keep costs down). The rest was left to whismy and the proximity of Cheese outlets to the freeway.

Abu’s Jerusalem of the Gold
Milwaukee, WI

We first lunched at Abu’s Jerusalem of the Gold because we couldn’t pass up a tiny, corner restaurant with a name like that. Good falafel, nice hostess, tiny bathroom.

Next we hit the Milwaukee Art Museum. After foolishly following the parking signs to the public parking and a horrible lack of a “free day,” our trip to the museum cost more than I spent on museum attendence in the last five years. The museum had a surprisingly good collection, but we just missed the Laura Owens’s show by a couple of days. We watched the preparators pack away her paintings which was almost just as fun as seeing the show itself (I’m such an mseum/gallery nerd). We found out that Laura paints/stencils little monkeys on the sides of all her crates. I think I like her more knowing that. The museum also had a very impressive collection of beer steins, but I guess that is only expected in Milwaukee.

Quadracci Pavilion
Milwaukee Art Museum
designed by Santiago Calatrava

The new Quadracci Pavilion, added to the existing museum in 2001, is something to behold. The old museum looks a bit like a frumpy office building from the early 70’s, whereas the Quadracci Pavilion looks like the ribs of the Sydney Opera House if it appeared in Logan’s Run. Once inside, the view across frozen Lake Michigan was very impressive.

Looking down the hallways was like a look down a scene from THX 1138. I half expected to see chrome faced cops patrolling the galleries, especially with Andrea Zittel’s pod-like A-Z Wagon Station lining the west hall.

Quadracci Pavilion, Hallway
Milwaukee Art Museum
designed by Santiago Calatrava

After some bookstore and clearance rack shopping, we spent the evening at The Elliott House - a very pleasant little bed and breakfast in East Troy, WI. We especially enjoyed it since we were the lone occupants that evening (fancy that, we were the only people vacationing in East Troy on the coldest day of the year).

After maneuvering the maze of back, country roads we picked up some cheese curds on the way home at a roadside cheese outlet and I returned home relaxed and cheese-fed ready to start the rat-race all over again.