Community Corner

Rare Exhibit Opens Today at Waukesha County Museum

"Owen Gromme: the 115th Birthday Exhibition" features family collection.

Owen Gromme: the 115th Birthday Exhibition debuted today, July 5, in the Waukesha County Historical Society and Museum.

The rare exhibit features the Wisconsin native’s original works of arts and objects, according to a news release from the museum.

Gromme began his career as a taxidermist at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. After World War I, he worked for more 40 years at the Milwaukee Public Museum, holding multiple positions before retiring as the curator of birds and mammals in 1965. During that time, he went on several museum expeditions, including the well-known 1928 Cudahy-Massey expedition when he and a team spent 10 months in Africa collecting materials for large museum displays.

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“We feel fortunate to work with Owen Gromme’s children to honor their father and one of Wisconsin’s most famous artists,” said Kirsten Lee Villegas, executive director of the Waukesha County Museum, in the release. “The art is beautiful and inspiring, the stories behind them provided by his children give you an insider’s glimpse into the man behind the art.”

Today, July 5, would be Gromme’s 115th birthday. The exhibit is guest curated by his surviving children, Roy and Ann Marie, the release states. The release also states that the entire private collection will not be exhibited again after its stay in the Waukesha museum.

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The exhibit, which runs through October 2011, more than 30 original works and numerous personal items still held by the Gromme family that have never been publicly exhibited until now. Objects will include Gromme’s African expedition rifles, his personal paint palette and painting smock, original field notes, family photographs, and never-before-seen originals, the release states.

“Our reputation has grown of being a trusted institution that has the creativity and flexibility to create one-of-a kind shows for the community,” Villegas said. “It is exciting to be attracting these types of high caliber artists and individuals to our museum.”

The Waukesha County Museum is located at 101 W. Main St. at East Avenue in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Exhibits and the museum store are open regularly from Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. General admission is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors aged 62 and above, $3 for children 6-17 and college students with ID and free for children 5 and under.

For additional information, call (262) 521-2859 or visit www.waukeshacountymuseum.org

All information in this article was provided by the Waukesha County Historical Society and Museum.


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