Museum Celebrates Lost Arts of Workers

Lost Arts, A celebration of the working past at the Grohmann Museum. Photo by Erol Reyal.

MSOE’s Grohmann Museum is a unique institution, both in this state and nationally, with its focus on working people. Its “Man at Work” collection comprises more than 1,300 paintings and sculptures dating from 1580 to the present. The works reflect a variety of artistic styles and subjects that document the evolution of organized work: from farming and mining to trades such as glassblowing and seaweed gathering.

Recently the museum held its ninth annual Lost Arts Festival, which celebrates the activities and ways of work captured in the paintings and bronzes in its permanent collection. Blacksmiths, shoe carvers, spinners, lace makers, rug weavers, sculptors, master painters, a luthier and glass founder all shared their expertise and demonstrated their techniques as the museum and its surroundings became a laboratory for creating and celebrating the “Lost Arts.” Live music was provided by Frogwater.

If you missed the celebration, you can still immerse yourself in the subject by visiting the Grohmann Museum, which welcomes visitors to three floors of galleries where a core collection is displayed as well as themed exhibitions. The museum is owned by MSOE, an independent university with about 2,900 students. Visit msoe.edu/museum or call 414-277-2300 for more information.

Meanwhile, our many photos below capture the action, and we do mean action, at the Lost Arts Festival.

Photo Gallery

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