Milwaukee Public Museum Reveals Future Museum Name and Logo

MILWAUKEE – Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM) announced today that it will change its name to the Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin and adopt a new logo when it opens the doors to its new home at the corner of N. Sixth Street and W. McKinley Avenue in downtown Milwaukee in 2027.

The Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin will continue to care for and display the priceless Milwaukee County collections and carry forward MPM’s mission to inspire curiosity, excite minds and increase desire to preserve and protect our world’s natural and cultural diversity through exhibitions, educational programs, collections and research.

“This is a very exciting time for our institution. Our new museum’s name, the Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin, honors the work we’ve been doing for nearly 150 years—sharing the intertwined stories of our natural world and the diverse cultures that shape it,” said MPM President & CEO Dr. Ellen Censky. “Our longstanding mission will continue to ring true through the Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin’s galleries as we invite in guests from across Wisconsin and beyond to celebrate and spark curiosity about our shared history, all in one space.”

As MPM does currently, the Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin will continue to serve as a statewide institution while proudly located in Milwaukee. As the most visited museum in Wisconsin—with collections items from all 72 counties—and originally chartered by the State of Wisconsin in 1882, the new name highlights its shared statewide natural and cultural history and identity, which will be showcased throughout the exhibits and reflected in the building’s design.

MPM cares for more than 4 million collections items, including specimens from nature and objects created by people representing cultures from around the world and across time. Every specimen and object holds a story, and together they reveal the complex ways nature and culture are connected. The Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin’s galleries and exhibits will highlight how the natural world has shaped human experience—and how people, in turn, have influenced the natural world—making its new name an authentic reflection of the work and stories MPM has always shared.

Paired with the new name is a unique logo for the Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin, representing both the museum’s exterior shape and the rock formations at Mill Bluff State Park in central Wisconsin that, as previously shared, served as design inspiration. The museum’s primary and secondary color palette selections are drawn from the natural landscapes of Wisconsin and the global artifacts and specimens found in MPM’s collections. The colors are formally identified as red ocher, Wisconsin waters, Northwoods green, spring green and limestone.

As previously announced, the Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin will feature five permanent exhibit galleries: Time Travel, Winifred & Spencer Kellogg Gallery: Wisconsin Journey, Milwaukee Revealed, Living in a Dynamic World and the We Energies Foundation Gallery: Rainforest. These exhibit galleries and the museum’s numerous amenities, including the Daniel M. Soref Planetarium, Puelicher Butterfly Vivarium, Bucyrus Rooftop Terrace, a café, parking structure as well as the outdoor commons called the Plaza will be located at the Milwaukee Museum Center—the name of the entire complex at 6th and McKinley streets. The Center is also where the Milwaukee County collections will be cared for and prominently featured in the museum’s exhibits.

More information about the new name and logo can be found at www.mpm.edu/future/brand.

About the Milwaukee Public Museum
The Milwaukee Public Museum is Wisconsin’s natural history museum, welcoming visitors from all 72 Wisconsin counties, all 50 states, and from many countries around the globe. Located in downtown Milwaukee, the Museum was chartered in 1882, opened to the public in 1884, and currently houses more than 4 million objects in its collections. MPM has three floors of exhibits that encompass life-size dioramas, walk-through villages, world cultures, dinosaurs, a rainforest, and a live butterfly garden, as well as the Daniel M. Soref Dome Theater & Planetarium. MPM is operated by Milwaukee Public Museum, Inc., a private, non-profit company, housed in a county-owned facility with collections that are held in trust and supported by Milwaukee County for the benefit of the public.

About the Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin
The Milwaukee Public Museum, Wisconsin’s natural history museum, is relocating from its current location on Wells Street in downtown Milwaukee to a newly constructed building, set to open in early 2027. At that time, the museum will also change its name from Milwaukee Public Museum to the Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin. The Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin will be owned and operated by a private nonprofit, with collections items that are held in trust and supported by Milwaukee County for the benefit of the public.

The Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin reflects its role as a statewide institution and identifies it as a museum that explores the relationship between humans and their natural environment throughout time. The nearly 145-year-old institution will carry on its mission to inspire curiosity, excite minds, and increase desire to preserve and protect our world’s natural and cultural diversity through exhibitions, educational programs, collections, and research.

Heavily influenced by the ecological histories of Milwaukee and Wisconsin, the new museum’s design will be reminiscent of the geological formations in Mill Bluff State Park, emblematic of the region’s diverse landscapes formed by the movements of water through time. The building spans approximately 200,000 square feet, including five stories. An additional 50,000-square-foot collections storage building is located offsite.

To learn more about the Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin, visit mpm.edu/future.

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.