40 X $4,000 Anniversary Forward Fund

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An exclusive opportunity for our visionary supporters

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Forward Funder pledge form

The Haggerty Museum of Art (HMA) is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a campaign engaging 40 visionary supporters like you who contribute $4,000 or more to support the Museum’s innovative, impactful academic and community engagement. As a member of this very special circle of supporters you will be named on materials of the 40th Anniversary Awards Dinner on May 22, 2025 and on the Museum’s donor wall the following academic year. Plus, you will be given membership to the President's Society at Marquette University and invited to President's Society events. A shared credit line for the campaign will be used on materials for the Spring 2026 Rauschenberg at 100 exhibition.

Forward Funder contributions (totaling more than $160,000) will support the museum’s 2025-26 programming and related costs to launch the Museum’s next 40 years. Your support directly underwrites free exhibits and programs for over 10,000 visitors each year from on and off campus.

Celebrating 40 years of inspiration, education, and connection

In 1984, the Haggerty originally opened as a home for Marquette’s unique works from the Renaissance to contemporary artists, and as a center for learning through the visual arts. Since then, the Museum has connected people—on campus, in the community, and around the world—to art, to ideas, and to one another.

As the most accessible art museum in the city, HMA’s free exhibits and programming have delighted Milwaukee area audiences for 40 years. Our special anniversary exhibits this Fall and Spring draw particular attention to the ideas and impulses that have fueled artists through the recent century, as shown through highlights from the Museum’s collection of 10,000 works.

HMA hosts 10 inspiring exhibitions each year, with a range of complementary tours and talks. For each exhibit and program, the Museum partners within and outside the University, connecting people and organizations from across the Milwaukee community. HMA provides educational opportunities for all ages, including classes from across all academic departments, in service of MU’s commitment to care for the whole person.

On May 22, 2025 the Museum will hold a special 40th Anniversary Awards Dinner honoring Dr. Curtis Carter and all past Apple and Kairos award winners. Please Save the Date!

Forward Funders are vital for our future

As the new Director John McKinnon and Museum’s team start the next 40 years, Forward Funders are vital to support the museum’s 2025-26 season. The HMA changes all its exhibition spaces each semester with new, accessible, relevant, and diverse exhibits. Supporters of this 40 x $4,000 campaign will help underwrite direct and indirect costs of these shows, including educational, logistical, and administrative costs.

In addition to the donor wall with individual names, the shared credit line of 40 Friends of the Haggerty Museum of Art Forward Funders will be used on materials supporting the museum’s Spring 2026 must-see exhibition Rauschenberg at 100. Along with other museums around the world, HMA will hold an exhibition and interdisciplinary programming commemorating 100 years since the pioneering artist Robert Rauschenberg’s birth. The show will give the Museum an opportunity to showcase its deep collection of his print work, along with artists today working with similar themes. This free exhibit, and others within the 2025-26 season, are sure to broaden the Museum’s audiences into the wider Milwaukee community.

Together, you and the other Forward Funders, will help ensure our next 40 years of cultural enrichment. 

What your donation supports:

  • Costs associated with exhibition logistics, ranging from design to installation to marketing, to help the Museum produce and host world-class shows.
  • Free public programs for each season’s exhibitions that complement each season’s exhibitions and invite educational opportunities for people of all ages. These include workshops, tours, talks, and other special events.
  • The production of interpretive materials by guest curators and Museum staff.
  • Semester-long paid internships; exhibition production expenses; speaking programs and class visits by nationally and internationally renowned artists.
  • Operations and salary support for the talented group of museum professionals who create and manage all of the above – including curators, preparators, and registrars.

See the Forward Funder pledge form for more details about membership, Awards Dinner, and tax-deductibility. Please call 414.288.7290 with any questions.

Thank You for Supporting the Haggerty Museum of Art’s 40 x $4,000 Forward Fund Campaign