Milwaukee Art Museum Announces $10 Million Gift to Establish the Lubar Family Center for Drawings and Prints

The Lubar family's generosity supports the care, study, and exhibition of one of the Museum's most significant collections. 

MILWAUKEE, Nov. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Sheldon and Marianne Lubar, together with Joan Lubar and John Crouch, David and Madeleine Lubar, and Susan Lubar, have committed $10 million to the Milwaukee Art Museum to establish the Lubar Family Center for Drawings and Prints. The gift creates lasting support for works on paper, which span more than five centuries and make up over half of the Museum's collection of more than 35,000 works.

The gift endows the Lubar Family Curator of Drawings and Prints, the Lubar Family Paper Conservator, the Lubar Family Fellow in Drawings and Prints, and the Lubar Family Drawings and Prints Exhibition Program. Together, these positions and exhibitions will support the expertise and care needed to preserve the collection and share it with Milwaukee for generations to come.

"I am really excited to know there will be a dedicated space in the Museum to exhibit works on paper," said Marianne Lubar, Milwaukee Art Museum Life Trustee. "Most great artists start by making drawings. It's where you see their ideas take shape before anything else. Our family has spent so many hours with these works over the years, and we believe they deserve to be seen and celebrated."

"A drawing can bring us close to an artist's thinking, while a print reveals how an idea takes shape through extraordinary skill and experimentation," said Kim Sajet, Donna and Donald Baumgartner Director of the Milwaukee Art Museum. "The Lubar family understands the value of these works and the expertise needed to care for and share them. Their generosity gives us a strong foundation to study this remarkable collection, develop exhibitions, and invite more people to experience it."

"Great cities need great institutions," said Sheldon Lubar, Milwaukee Art Museum Life Trustee. "We're proud to support the Milwaukee Art Museum as Milwaukee's great institution!"

With this gift comes the announcement that Nikki Otten, Ph.D. has been named the Lubar Family Curator of Drawings and Prints and will lead the Lubar Family Center's activities.  Otten joined the Museum in 2018 and has organized exhibitions including, Always New: The Posters of Jules Chéret (2022), LaToya M. Hobbs: Carving Out Time (2024), and Seeking Revelation: German Romantic Prints and Drawings (2026). A noted expert in drawings and prints, Dr. Otten earned both her MA and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities.

"Because works on paper are sensitive to light, they can only be on view for limited periods before returning to storage to rest," said Dr. Otten. "Each exhibition offers an opportunity to share different selections and explore new connections across the collection. This gift supports the research and specialized care that make those experiences possible."

"Some of my earliest memories of this Museum are of standing in front of drawings with my mother and being told to look closer," said Joan Lubar, Milwaukee Art Museum Trustee. "That's what works on paper ask of you. They reward patience and curiosity."

"Prints have always been one of the most democratic forms of art," said David Lubar, president and CEO of Lubar & Company. "Through printmaking, artists like Albrecht Dürer and Käthe Kollwitz could reach far more people than a single painting ever could. That's what moves me about this collection, and it's what this gift is about, too: making sure these works keep reaching people in Milwaukee for generations."

"Behind every exhibition are people who study the art, care for it, and help us see it in new ways," said Susan Lubar. "It's exciting to support that work and to know this collection will continue to be a source of discovery for Milwaukee."

The gift reflects two generations of Lubar family leadership at the Museum. Sheldon Lubar served as president of the Museum's Board and led the fundraising effort that completed funding for the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion. Sheldon and Marianne Lubar have been involved with the Museum for more than 50 years and currently serve as Life Trustees. Their daughter Joan serves on the Museum's board of Trustees.

About the Milwaukee Art Museum
The Milwaukee Art Museum is an essential destination for art and architecture, and a vital cultural resource that connects visitors to dynamic art experiences and one another. Housed in iconic buildings by Santiago Calatrava, Eero Saarinen, and David Kahler on a 24-acre lakefront campus, the Museum is Wisconsin's largest art institution and home to both broad and deep collections, with exceptional holdings in American painting, sculpture, and decorative arts; global contemporary art, with a strength in minimalist and conceptual art; prints and drawings; European art from the Renaissance through the nineteenth century; photography and new media; modern and contemporary design; folk and self-taught art; and twentieth-century Haitian art. A bold symbol of Milwaukee's ambition and forward-thinking vision, the Museum is a place for community building, education, and celebration that fosters creativity, free speech, and critical discourse for audiences of all ages and backgrounds. For more information, visit mam.org.

Media Contact
For more information or to request images, please contact:

Cortney Heimerl 
Milwaukee Art Museum
[email protected]
414-940-0490

SOURCE Milwaukee Art Museum