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You can sign up for your tour preference on site during the preconference.

Ten tours of 20 people each.

1. River Walk Public Art Tour – At one time Milwaukee turned its back on the river, but no longer. Enjoy a stroll along the length of the River Walk from Schlitz Park through permanent installations and changing exhibitions of sculpture downtown, including Cork Marcheschi, Beth Sahagian, Schomer Lichtner, and Richard Taylor. Continue to the Historic Third Ward district section designed by Mary Miss and the pocket park (under construction) designed by Chris Reed of Stoss Landscape Urbanism overlooking the harbor. (long walk)
2. Lakefront Public Art Tour – Consider the most contested sites in Milwaukee. Start at Mark Di Suvero’s The Calling and enjoy an overview of the lake from a park designed by Frederick Law Olmstead. Move north to works by Magdalena Abakanowitz, Beverly Pepper, and Jill Sebastian; descend to the lagoon and Ned Kahn’s newly installed sculpture; and end by exploring the gardens and exterior of the Milwaukee Art Museum. (long walk)
3. Midwest Airline Center Public Art Tour – Explore the extensive interior and exterior art, integrated or collected as part of the convention center’s public/private partnership. Close to 70 works include Vito Acconci, Ginzel and Jones, Carlos Alves, Sheila Klein, Dawoud Bey, and Bing Lee. Five hundred years of Wisconsin literary history is integrated into the building through the Jill Sebastian and Woodland Pattern collaboration. (limited walking)
4. History of Milwaukee Sculpture Tour – Visit John Severino Conway’s The Victorious Charge; an outstanding Civil War Memorial monument, the Court of Honor; and other sculptures. Learn in detail about conservation challenges and successes. (bus and disembark)
5. Brady Street BID Tour – Stroll a nineteenth-century historic street of little shops enhanced by joint business and neighborhood efforts. Citizen-initiated projects include sidewalk and street amenities by Pam Schzniak, a whimsical playground by Marina Lee, and creatures climbing the pumping station by Bill Reid. Learn how this BID has addressed new urban growth by developing its position as a crossroads through the LaDallman Architects Brady Street Bus shelter and marsupial pedestrian bridge. (short bus ride, 7–8 block walk)
6. Washington Heights Developing a Sense of Place Tour – Visit works that give a sense of the change in self definition of this neighborhood, such as a site-specific sculptural pocket park nestled among five baseball fields overlooking Miller Park Stadium, funded and built by the neighborhood under the direction of artist Jill Sebastian. Also see works integrated into the new library by glass artist Steve Feren and into the new police station by Aris Georgiades, Gial Simpson, and Reis Neimi, as well as other sites. (bus and disembark)
7. Southside and Airport Public Art Tour – Meander by bus to various public art projects of interest, including the Kinnikinnic Library and Grant Park (Peter Flanary) to Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport. There explore the program of works by artists including Evelyn Terry, Carlos Alves, Steve Antonakas, and Dennis Oppenheim. Consider the outcome of Milwaukee’s biggest public art controversy, The Blue Shirt. (bus and disembark)
8. Three Towns Become a City Public Art Tour – The merger of Juneau Town, Kilbourn Town, and Walker’s Point became Milwaukee. Traverse the city from near north through downtown to near south and consider the vital role of public art from the Peace Monument to Latino Arts mural projects. (bus and disembark)
9. Riverwest Neighborhood Tour – Explore the former eclectic working class neighborhood that has become home to the highest number of artist owner-occupied property in Milwaukee. Visit the unique businesses, sites, alternative galleries, and studios that have developed such as Woodland Pattern, Hotcakes, Riverwest Artists Association, and Art Bar. (bus and walk)
10. Labor History and Industrial Valley Tour – Revitalizing the Milwaukee River is the focus of current city and Marquette University efforts in the decaying industrial valley. Cross the dramatic  6th Street bridge and explore the old and the new. Visit a sculpture park at the former Peck meatpacking plant, see temporary site-specific student works on the river, and experience the innovative industrial architecture that made Milwaukee “Machine Shop to the World.” (long walk)