The Year’s Most Popular Arts & Entertainment Stories
Many were insider stories about key institutions in Milwaukee.
You can’t have an arts and entertainment scene without money. And without good leadership.
Which brings us to our most popular 10 A &E stories of the year. Often they were about leadership, good or bad, and money or lack of it. Here are the stories that had the most readership in 2026.
And Happy New Year!
10. Murphy’s Law: The Remarkable Rise of MOWA
Museum of Wisconsin Art. Photo courtesy of MOWA.
9. Marcus Center Problem Has Been 40 Years in the Making
1001 N. Water St. in April 2025. Photo by Urban Milwaukee staff.
8. Murphy’s Law: Don Smiley’s 12 Years of Lavish Pay
Don Smiley speaks to the media. Photo taken December 8th, 2016 by Michael Horne.
7. Murphy’s Law: The Last Paycheck of Don Smiley
Don Smiley speaks to the media. Photo taken December 8th, 2016 by Michael Horne.
6. Murphy’s Law: San Felippo Served As President of Summerfest’s Private Company
Ron San Felippo. Photo by Michael Horne.
5. Museum Staff a Casualty of Villa Terrace, Charles Allis Privatization
Charles Allis Art Museum (top) Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum (bottom).
4. Murphy’s Law: Bronzeville Center for Arts Loses Its Main Donor
Conceptual, non-site-specific rendering of Bronzeville Center for the Arts. Rendering by Wilson & Ford Design Studios.
3. Murphy’s Law: Betty Brinn Museum Must Move
Photo courtesy of the Betty Brinn Children’s Museum.
2. Murphy’s Law: Trouble at Milwaukee Art Museum?
Milwaukee Art Museum. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
1. Murphy’s Law: Secret Donor to Milwaukee Artist Resource Network Revealed
MARN Art + Culture Hub 91 N. Broadway. Photo by Sophie Bolich.
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