Charles Allis-Villa Terrace Museums

Programs: Charles allis and villa terrace museums, inc. (cavt) stewards two historic homes and their art collections, bequeathed to the citizens of milwaukee by their original owners - charles and sarah allis and agnes smith curtis - to educate, inspire and delight. Both families played prominent roles in the early development of milwaukee's industrial, artistic and civic life. Both homes are listed on the national register of historic places, and are designated by the city of milwaukee, milwaukee county, and numerous arts and cultural organizations for their continued significance to milwaukee's historic, cultural and artistic life. Through interpretation of these homes and their collections, and through collaboration with the community, cavt inc. Seeks knowledge and understanding of societal, cultural, artistic, historic and contemporary issues from local, national and international perspectives. Cavt inc. Produces exhibitions, programming and events that interpret these issues for diverse audiences. Cavt collaborates with other cultural and educational entities to achieve its mission. In 2017, cavt mounted the following exhibitions at the villa terrace decorative arts museum: activate (addressing themes of inequality stemming from a global economy, loss of language and culture, gender violence, equality and identity through the work of artists with a south east asian background), barbara manger (featuring work from milwaukee based artist barbara manger life long career), and fold: artist accordion books (from the extensive collection of stephen perkins featuring work from jennifer bartlett, ginger burrell, chirsto, robert indiana, niki de saint phalle, kiki smith, buzz spector, and dennis oppenhiem). In 2017, cavt mounted the following exhibitions at the charles allis art museum: echoing concerns (featuring the wood block prints of carlos hermosilla alvarez, the father of chilean printing making and contemporary prints from milwaukee based artist collin matthes. The exhibition explored these mediums of art as a means of communicating awareness of socio-political causes, lois bielefeld: all in: shorewood girls cross country team (through the lens of bielefeld's black and white photography tells the story of this high school girls cross country team over the course of a year, and telling the story of the coach's innovative approach to inclusivity and personal achievement), and clandestine possessions and family time (curated by 2016 forward grand prize winner, james pederson). Community arts programming included many events in connection with our changing exhibitions, art in the garden (a program supporting mps art teachers through field trips to the villa terrace, culminating in an exhibition of student artwork at the museum), work with rufus king high school's international baccalaureate arts curriculum culminating in a graduate art exhibition at the charles allis art museum, and collaboration with community arts organizations and groups that offered opportunities to experience theatre, dance, music, film and the visual arts.