Current Exhibitions

Sept. 4 – Dec. 20, 2026
Lina Bertucci: Railroad Voices—The Milwaukee Road, 1974–1977

Lina Bertucci was hired by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (The Milwaukee Road) in 1974 as a brakeman (brakewoman). She was only the second woman to work in the Milwaukee Road yards, following her aunt, Cindy Angelos. Both Bertucci and Angelos entered training on the same day, and their arrival immediately sent tremors through the male-dominated field. But through ambition and optimism, they settled in by demonstrating full competence in their many challenges. While difficult, the work paid more than most other entry-level jobs and appealed to their adventuresome spirits.

As an aspiring artist, Bertucci arrived armed with her camera in her bag, at first hoping to simply fit in, to be respected as more than just the “girl with the camera.” Before long, she was accepted by most of her colleagues and set about chronicling her experience and daily toil, and did so for three years, until The Milwaukee Road filed for bankruptcy protection in 1977. In recalling her work, she notes that “these photographs were never simply creative memories of a personal experience, but a record of a social and historical moment—a communal cultural and industrial transformation that intersected with my own identity as I stood witness to its passing.”

Bertucci’s work while on ‘The Road’ resurfaces for this special display of an important part of Milwaukee’s industrial history and a woman’s impact on art and industry. Through her portraits of the railroad and the railroad worker, we are provided an insider’s view of a world few had access to, but so many were impacted by.

July 8 – Nov. 30, 2026
One Step Ahead of the Wrecking Ball: The Best of David Plowden from the Grohmann Museum Collection

The Grohmann Museum has had few better friends than renowned photographer David Plowden (1932-2026). We are both proud and fortunate to have him as a friend and to have hosted five exhibitions of his work. From railroads to bridges, steel to agriculture, his portraits of industry remain unparallelled in the canon of American photography.

Plowden greatly admired the Museum’s dedication to preserving and showcasing the art of industry, so much so that he gifted over 700 photographs to the permanent collection, placing us among the leading repositories of his work. He not only helped build the collection, but also taught us how light, shadow, and form come together to make a photograph of the altered landscape and other scenes of human achievement.

As he often said, he “tried like hell to stay one step ahead of the wrecking ball.” In so doing, he captured the last of the steam locomotives on the late 1950s and early ‘60s. He viewed bridges not just for their architecture, but the ways in which they connected people and the modes of production that helped shape our country. Plowden saw the vanishing steel mills of the 1970s and made it his mission to document the seismic shift from large traditional mills with their massive blast furnaces to the small specialty mills and their move to high-voltage electric arc production.

As Plowden lamented the loss of the vibrant main streets in small town America as corporate agriculture took hold, he was determined to celebrate its central role in 20th century culture. While he was captivated by the monumental industrial apparatus he so expertly framed, his photographs often returned to sociology of work and the worker, further strengthening his link the Museum and its patrons.

As fellow industrial photographer Christopher Winters wrote upon learning of Plowden’s passing: “His light shines on. Rest easy, Old Lion. Well and nobly done.”

Thank you, David. You will be dearly missed.

Upcoming Exhibitions

Jan. 15 – April 25, 2027
At the Intersection of Art and Industry: The League of Milwaukee Artists
Gallery Night Event – Friday, Jan. 15, 5-9 p.m. – Featuring a Gallery Talk with the Artists at 6:30 p.m.      

For our second such collaboration, The League of Milwaukee Artists (LMA) has again been provided the opportunity to create new works—all with a working or industrial theme—specifically for this display.  League members readily accepted this challenge and have been busy creating paintings, sculptures, photos, and prints for inclusion.

As LMA President Bob Fesser notes, “Our exhibition, At the Intersection of Art and Industry, will help kick off a year-long celebration of the 20^thAnniversary of the Grohmann Museum and its amazing collection of art.  To the artists of the League, collaborating with the Grohmann is a profound opportunity to bridge the history of human industry with contemporary creative expression; we are thrilled to contribute to the legacy of such a unique institution.  We very much look forward to participating, not only with our exhibition, but throughout the year as additional opportunities arise to help celebrate, such as Plein Air events and artist demos.  Congratulations on the first 20 years, and here's to 20 more!”

Upcoming Events

Past Exhibitions

2026

• WE THE PEOPLE: Portraits of Veterans in America
• Boots and Sand: The Marines of 29 Palms 
• Dave Clay's Industrial Atmospheres

2025

• The Legend Lives On—50 Years Later
• The Kalmbach Art Collection: Pairing Words and Imagery
• Going to Work for the Community: A Visual History of the Beckum-Stapleton Little League
• On the Edge: The Labor and Environment of Dimensional Stone Quarries

2024

• Gil Reid and Friends: Working on the Railroad
• Crossing the DMZ: A Contemporary Look at Working Women
• Patterns of Meaning: The Art of Industry by Cory Bonnet
• H.D. Tylle at Seventy: American Worklife

2023

• Mining Gems: Stories from the Collection
• Excavations: Paintings and Drawings by Michael Newhall
• David Plowden: The Architecture of Agriculture

2022

• A Time of Toil & Triumph: Selections from the Shogren-Meyer Collection of American Art
• Familias Unidas: Tribute to the Migrant Farm Worker Labor Movement in Wisconsin, 1960s-70s
• Robert O. Lahmann: Working in Wisconsin

2021

• The Railroad and the Art of Place: Photographs by David Kahler 
• artWORK by the League of Milwaukee Artists 
• Electric Steel: Recent Photographs by Michael Schultz 

2020

• TWO EDMUNDS: Fitzgerald and Lewandowski—Their Mark on Milwaukee 
• IRONBOAT: New Photography by Christopher Winters 

2019

• The Magnificent Machines of Milwaukee 
• Roll Up Your Sleeves 
• Growing Place: A Visual Study of Urban Farming 

2018

• David Plowden's Portraits of Work
• Wallace W. Abbey: A Life in Railroad Photography 
• The Art and Mechanics of Animation 

2017

• Masterworks from the Grohmann Museum - Celebrating 10 Years 
• Artists at Work: The Cedarburg Artists Guild 
• STEEL: The Cycle of Industry by David Plowden 

2016

• On the Job: Photography by Jim Seder 
• Milwaukee's Industrial Landscapes: Paintings by Michael Newhall 
• Art of the North Shore Line 

2015

• Forge Work: New Photography by Michael Schultz 
• Metal for Mettle: Historic Commemorative Medals Honoring Labor and Achievement 
• H.D. Tylle: Studies 
• Carl Spitzweg in Milwaukee
• The Art of the Milwaukee Road 

2014

• Erich Mercker: Painter of Industry
• Art Shay: Working 
• Trains that Passed in the Night: Railroad Photographs of O Winston Link 

2013

• A Working Ranch by Jim Brozek 
• Born of Fire: Scenes of Industry from the Westmoreland Museum of American Art 
• Bridges: The Spans of North America - Photographs by David Plowden 

2012

• MSOE at Work: Selections from the Campus Archives 
• Carl Spitzweg: The Poor Poet and Other Characters 
• Great Lakers: Selections from the Great Lakes Marine Collection of the Milwaukee Public Library 
• H. D. Tylle: Touring Germany and Working in Wisconsin 

2011

• Requiem for Steam: The Railroad Photographs of David Plowden 
• Milwaukee Mills: A Visual History 
• Lake Boats: The Photography of Jim Brozek and Christopher Winters 
• Wonders of Work and Labor: The Steidle Collection of American Industrial Art, Penn State University 

2010

• Working Wisconsin: Selections from the Museum of Wisconsin Art 
• Foundry Work: A View of the Industry, The Photographs of Michael Schultz 

2009

• Midwest Murals: Joe Jones and J.B. Turnbull from the Haggerty Museum of Art, Marquette University 
• The Bookworm by Carl Spitzweg (1808-1885) 
• Wisconsin at Work: Thorsten Lindberg Paintings and Drawings from the MCHS Collection 
• Cradle of Industry: Works from the Rhineland Industrial Museum 
• American Steel: Works from the Collection of Tom and Lorie Annarella 

2008

• A Focus on Figures
• Stone

2007

• Physicians, Quacks, and Alchemists