The Final Act: How the Milwaukee Public Museum’s “Disposition Plan” Removes the Public from Its Own Museum

A decade-long series of administrative maneuvers has culminated in the Plan for Disposition of the Milwaukee Public Museum’s Surplus Personal Property and Milwaukee County Fixtures (File No. 25-586), released in late 2025.

The plan marks the final step in a quiet transfer of public heritage into private control—a process that began when the Museum redefined its collections policy in 2021.

A Plan to Dispose of the Public’s Past

According to the County-approved Plan for Disposition,

[inarticleaad]“Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM)… retains ownership of all personal property not affixed to or integrated into the building structure and not part of the Collection,” and “MPM has the authority to sell, lease, transfer, or otherwise dispose of such property in the best interests of the Museum.”

It further states that “Proceeds from the sale of surplus items will be retained by MPM… to support transition costs.”

Under this framework, dioramas, murals, and the iconic built environments that generations of Milwaukeeans grew up with—Streets of Old Milwaukee, European Village, and countless handcrafted displays—are now treated as “non-collection” items, eligible for sale, donation, or destruction once the museum vacates its current home.

The plan outlines a seven-tiered sequence culminating in public auction and final disposal, specifying that any remaining property “not transferred through the above phases will be removed and discarded appropriately.”
It is, in the museum’s own words, the final clean-out of the people’s museum.

From Custodians to Owners

This outcome traces back to a key policy change four years earlier.
In 2021, under File No. 21-259, the Milwaukee Public Museum quietly rewrote its Collections Policy, introducing a new category of “non-accessioned” objects that fall outside Milwaukee County ownership.

That single redefinition allowed MPM to claim personal possession of much of what visitors recognize as the museum itself.

When coupled with the 2020 Third Amendment to the County lease—authorizing a “Relocation Strategy” and acknowledging affiliated fundraising entities—MPM secured both financial and legal latitude to dismantle the existing museum while continuing to draw public funds.

Today’s Plan for Disposition is not an isolated administrative document; it is the execution of that long-range strategy.

The Public Has Been Removed

Once the exhibits are reclassified, the County’s only remaining oversight pertains to the building and a narrow list of “accessioned collections.”
Everything else—built environments, fixtures, and artwork integrated into exhibits—MPM has reassigned as private “personal property.” MPM was hired as steward of the collections, artifacts and everything in the museum. In subsequent documents they called themselves “partners” and now, with the Disposition Plan of 2025, they are now “owners” of much of the current museum.

The final act of this plan removes the public from its own museum.

No master inventory has been produced, no comprehensive valuation presented, and no opportunity provided for public comment before the process begins.

A Call for Transparency and Oversight

Community advocates and former museum supporters are calling on the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors to:

1.Suspend the Plan for Disposition until an independent master inventory of all exhibits and artifacts is completed and the public is involved.

2. Review compliance with the 2013 Lease and Management Agreement, which states that Milwaukee County owns the museum’s collections held in public trust.

3. Hold a public oversight hearing under File No. 24-880 (“Data Governance and Transparency Resolution”) to determine how this reclassification occurred and who authorized it.

“Right now MPM is preparing to sell, donate or discard our public history based on how they see it fitting into their new private building.” said Cori Huston. “The people of Milwaukee funded and built this museum for generations. They were never told that ‘re-imagining’ it meant erasing it.”

About Preserve MKE / Save MPM Coalition

Preserve MKE.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-partisan civic group advocating for transparency, heritage protection, and accountability in publicly funded cultural institutions. The coalition seeks to ensure that County-owned assets remain under public stewardship and that decisions about Milwaukee’s history are made in the open, not behind closed doors.

SaveMPM.org is an affiliated research and advocacy initiative providing investigative support, document analysis, and public education services in defense of Milwaukee’s historic collections and cultural legacy.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.