Museum of Wisconsin Art

What Museum of Wisconsin Art does

The Museum of Wisconsin Art (MOWA) is a private nonprofit art museum founded in 1961 in West Bend, Wisconsin, and incorporated in Wisconsin. The museum operates a 32,000-square-foot modernist flagship building known as 'The Mothership' on the Milwaukee River in downtown West Bend, opened in 2013 and designed by Jim Shields of HGA Architects. Beyond the flagship, MOWA runs three additional touchpoints: MOWA | DTN, a satellite contemporary art gallery inside Saint Kate–The Arts Hotel in downtown Milwaukee (opened 2019); MOWA on the Lake, a partnership exhibition space at Saint John's on the Lake retirement campus; and an annually curated exhibition at the Wisconsin Governor's Residence in Madison. The museum holds a permanent collection of Wisconsin art spanning the 1800s to the present, anchored by the founding Carl von Marr collection and supplemented by loans from Art Bridges (Alice Walton foundation).

MOWA's core offerings include rotating exhibitions (Georgia O'Keeffe, Frank Lloyd Wright, contemporary Wisconsin artists), a permanent collection viewable through five galleries plus second-floor visible storage, and educational programming across K-12, teen, adult, and family segments — including docent-led tours serving 5,000+ students annually and a Teen Council. The museum runs the biennial MOWA Contemporary fundraising auction featuring 30+ works at $500–$20K+, the annual Art & Chalk Fest drawing 20,000+ visitors, and an artist fellowship program. Technology footprint is modest: a website with e-commerce shop, PayPal payment processing, and standard Google/Facebook analytics and advertising integrations.

MOWA generates revenue through a diversified mix: annual memberships (entry at $15, family CREW at $50, free teen tier), MOWA Shop retail sales (98%+ Wisconsin-artist merchandise), donations and fundraising (including the biennial auction), event space rentals (atrium up to 150 guests, courtyard up to 100, studios up to 36), and publications. The organization is led by Executive Director Laurie Winters and an inaugural Deputy Director (Jane L. Aspinwall, appointed 2023), employs 31 people, and welcomes roughly 200,000 visitors annually across its locations and 175+ programs per year.

Name

Museum of Wisconsin Art

Legal name

Museum of Wisconsin Art

Website

https://wisconsinart.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1961

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Museum of Wisconsin Art (MOWA) is a nonprofit art museum founded in 1961 that collects and exhibits American art through the lens of Wisconsin, operating a flagship in West Bend plus satellite locations in Milwaukee and Madison. It serves general visitors, K-12 students, families, and Wisconsin artists through exhibitions, educational programs, memberships, and fundraising events.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Art Museum Services

NAICS

Museums (712110), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (7121), Art Dealers (459920)

akta.pro primary industry

Art Museums (THAJADAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Museum, Zoo & Attraction Gift Shops (CRALAJAG), Art Galleries & Exhibition Spaces (Commercial & Nonprofit) (THAJADAH)

Keywords

• Art museum services
• Art education programs
• Museum memberships
• Event venue rentals
• Art exhibitions

Headquarters

HQ city

West Bend

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Memberships: Annual membership providing unlimited museum access for one full year. The museum emphasizes this model replaces single-day admission with affordable membership, offering free unlimited access for an entire year for everyone.
2. Gift Shop Sales: The MOWA Shop sells unique, artist-driven products including museum-branded items, objects for the home, and artist-made exclusives. Over 98% of merchandise is designed by Wisconsin artists or handmade. Online sales with 7-10 day shipment, credit/debit card accepted.
3. Donations and Fundraising: Donations to the MOWA Fund support museum programming. Major fundraising includes biennial MOWA Contemporary auction featuring 30+ works ranging from $500 to $20,000+, with 50% of sales shared with artists. Annual Art Ball and other fundraising events.
4. Event Space Rentals: The museum generates revenue through renting spaces for weddings, corporate events, social gatherings, and photography sessions. Venues include the atrium (up to 150 guests), studios (up to 36 guests), courtyard (up to 100 guests), and gardens.
5. Publications: Sale of exhibition catalogues and publications documenting museum exhibitions. Available through the shop including titles like Frank Lloyd Wright: Modern Chair Design ($55), Tom Jones: Here We Stand ($49.95), and others.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

The Museum of Wisconsin Art collects, preserves, and exhibits American art through the lens of a single state, operating physical gallery locations in West Bend, Milwaukee, and Madison. Its core offering combines rotating exhibitions and a permanent Wisconsin art collection with membership-based admission, K-12 and adult education programs, a gift shop featuring 98%+ Wisconsin-made merchandise, event space rentals, and artist fellowships.

Product overview

The Museum of Wisconsin Art (MOWA) operates as a unified cultural institution offering a diverse portfolio of products and services centered around its core mission of collecting, preserving, and exhibiting Wisconsin art. The primary offerings include rotating exhibitions featuring regional, national, and international artists; the MOWA Shop e-commerce platform; education programs for all age groups; the annual Art & Chalk Fest festival; event rental spaces; artist fellowships; publications and catalogs; and museum memberships. These products and services work together to fulfill MOWA's dual focus on artistic programming and community engagement, with the exhibitions and permanent collection serving as the anchor offerings that drive membership, education program participation, shop sales, and event rentals.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• MOWA | DTN: The museum's downtown Milwaukee satellite location inside Saint Kate—The Arts Hotel, featuring contemporary and emerging art exhibitions.
• MOWA on the Lake
• MOWA | Governor's Residence
• MOWA Contemporary
• Art & Chalk Fest

Products and services

• MOWA Exhibitions Rotating exhibitions featuring Wisconsin artists and national figures such as Georgia O'Keeffe and Frank Lloyd Wright, shown across the museum's physical locations including the West Bend Mothership and MOWA | DTN.
• MOWA Shop

Quantifiable outcome

• 200,000 annual visitors welcomed to museum and programs
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Saint Kate—The Arts HotelcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019MOWA | DTN satellite location operates inside Saint Kate—The Arts Hotel in downtown Milwaukee's cultural district. The partnership provides exhibition space for emerging contemporary art and has helped make Saint Kate one of the most dynamic and highly rated hotels in the Midwest.
• Art BridgescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing partnership with Art Bridges, a foundation established by Alice Walton in conjunction with the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, AR. Art Bridges provides loans from its growing permanent collection to MOWA, along with financial support for initiatives connecting local audiences and communities to American art. MOWA presents Art Bridges loans including Frank Lloyd Wright Laylight and Georgia O'Keeffe works.
• Saint John's on the LakeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFor more than a decade, the trendy retirement campus of Saint John's on the Lake in downtown Milwaukee has partnered with MOWA in hosting exhibitions, talks, and programs. Open to public 9:00-7:00 daily with no admission fee.
• Governor's Residence (Madison)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIn Madison, MOWA partners with the Governor and First Lady on an annually curated exhibition in the Governor's Residence. Wisconsin art is available on public tours as well as at official gatherings and diplomatic dinners.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Madison Museum of Contemporary Art: Wisconsin-focused contemporary art museum in Madison with a similar mid-sized footprint, programming-led model, and educational/community orientation. Closest comparable in mission, scale, and geographic catchment.
• Figge Art Museum: Regional art museum in Davenport, IA serving a comparable Upper Midwest population base. Similar scale, educational programming depth, and reliance on memberships/donations.
• John Michael Kohler Arts Center: Wisconsin-based arts institution with artist-in-residence programs, community-engaged exhibitions, and an arts-environment collection. Comparable in scale and regional focus, with strong educational and fellowship components overlapping MOWA's offerings.
• Racine Art Museum (RAM): Wisconsin-based art museum with strong craft and contemporary craft collections, educational programming, and similar mid-sized regional footprint. Directly comparable peer in mission and scale.
• Minnesota Museum of American Art: Mid-sized Upper Midwest art museum focused on American art with rotating exhibitions and community programming. Comparable in regional scope, scale, and mission emphasis on accessibility.
• Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum: Free-admission regional art museum in Wausau, WI with strong decorative arts and educational programming. Comparable in size, mission, and reliance on regional donors, with a similar "art for everyone" accessibility posture.

Broad incumbents

• Milwaukee Art Museum: Wisconsin's largest art museum, with a far broader collection and major Santiago Calatrava-designed lakefront building. Direct regional competitor for Wisconsin visitors, donors, and touring exhibitions, but operates at a much larger scale and endowment.
• Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art: National-scale American art museum in Bentonville, AR, founded by Alice Walton and the parent organization of MOWA's Art Bridges lending partner. Indirectly comparable through shared American-art focus and collection-loan channel.

Regional players

• Haggerty Museum of Art (Marquette University): University-affiliated art museum in Milwaukee with a smaller footprint focused on exhibitions and educational programming. Comparable scale, free admission model, and Wisconsin/Midwest curatorial scope.
• Chazen Museum of Art (University of Wisconsin-Madison): University art museum in Madison, WI with a teaching-oriented collection spanning global art history. Comparable educational mission and Wisconsin catchment, though broader than MOWA's Wisconsin-only curatorial lens.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/MuseumofWIArt
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/MuseumofWisconsinArt/feed?view_as=public
• Facebookfacebook.com/MuseumofWiArt
• Instagraminstagram.com/museumofwiart
• Pinterestpinterest.com/museumofwiart
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/museum-of-wisconsin-art

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Museum of Wisconsin Art