Welcomes New Director John McKinnon to Lead Visionary Growth as the Museum Launches its 40th Anniversary Programming – WisPolitics

John McKinnon has joined the Haggerty Museum of Art as it prepares to celebrate its 40th anniversary over the course of the 2024-25 academic year. McKinnon has 17 years of experience leading teams, managing an organization’s creative output, cultivating community support, and overseeing growth, doing so at the Elmhurst Art Museum, Society for Contemporary Art at the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Milwaukee Art Museum. In 2022, he was featured in Newcity Design’s “Design 50: The Fifty People Who Shape Chicago.”

“I admire the Haggerty Museum of Art’s nearly 40-year history as a laboratory for the Marquette campus and greater Milwaukee area with a deep commitment to transformative experiences of art and culture,” McKinnon said. “I look forward to leading this uniquely positioned and free-to-the-public institution into its next chapter.”

“Following a year of strong leadership by acting director Emilia Layden, the Haggerty is entering a period of tremendous growth and opportunity,” said Dr. John Su, vice provost for academic affairs and student success. “Our committee sought a candidate who could build on the Haggerty’s foundation of high impact academic and community engagement and take the institution to the next level. John is warm, energetic, a collaborative leader, and we’re delighted that he is joining the Marquette and Milwaukee community.”

Prior to being the director of the Elmhurst Art Museum, McKinnon was the program director of the Society for Contemporary Art, where he worked with donors and collectors to support contemporary art at the Art Institute of Chicago. He oversaw the independent nonprofit’s budgets, operations, membership, programming, fundraising, marketing and art acquisitions. McKinnon also spent nearly four years at the Milwaukee Art Museum, where he oversaw several major exhibitions as assistant curator of modern and contemporary art. He also acted as the main liaison of the Contemporary Art Society, coordinating their programming and fundraisers.

McKinnon graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a bachelor’s degree in art. He then received two master’s degrees from the Art Institute of Chicago in art and arts administration.

McKinnon’s talent and expertise will be instrumental in presenting the Haggerty’s 40th Anniversary celebratory exhibitions, programs, and special events including the following:

The Big 4-0: New Views of the Collection exhibition
On view through December 21, 2024

This Fall’s exhibition The Big 4-0: New Views of the Collection highlights major works by nearly 40 artists including Mark Bradford, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Enrique Chagoya, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Jeffrey Gibson, Sam Gilliam, Philip Guston, Keith Haring, Wifredo Lam, Elizabeth Murray, Diego Rivera, Richard Serra, and more. More information

Fall 2024 Exhibition Opening Reception
Thursday, September 12, 2024, 6 to 7 p.m.
Free and open to the public but registration is requested.
Celebrate the museum’s 40th Anniversary, the opening of four new Fall exhibitions, and meet the museum’s new Director John McKinnon.

Lunchtime Art Talk by Kirk Nickel, PhD, Marc and Lillian Rojtman Curator of European Art
Wednesday, September 18, 2024, 12:05 p.m.
Featuring the work of Jesús Rafael Soto on view in The Big 4-0 exhibition

Marquette University Choral Concert Concealed Language: A Plea for Help
Friday, September 27, 2024, 5 p.m.

Doors Open Milwaukee
Saturday and Sunday, September 28-29, 2024
10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day
View all four current exhibitions during this city-wide celebration. The Haggerty Museum of Art is always free and open to the public.

A Conversation with the Artists of Luftwerk and Normal Studio
Wednesday, October 9, 2024, 5 p.m.
The Haggerty Museum of Art in partnership with Sculpture Milwaukee will present a conversation with Luftwerk, the Chicago-based artist team of Petra Bachmaier and Sean Gallero, and collaborator Normal (Renata Graw), creators of SOS Color Code.

Material Muses: Medieval Devotional Culture and Its Afterlives Gallery Talk
Saturday, October 12, 2024, 2 to 3 p.m.
Presented by – Abby Armstrong Check, Claire Kilgore, and Tania Kolarik

Lunchtime Art Talk Kirk Nickel, PhD, Marc and Lillian Rojtman Curator of European Art
Wednesday, October 16, 2024, 12:05 p.m.
Featuring the work of Sam Gilliam on view in The Big 4-0 exhibition

Gallery Day
Saturday, October 19, 2024
10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Gallery Night and Day MKE unites the city through art. Experience the vast creative culture in Milwaukee while you discover local galleries, art, and artists. The Haggerty Museum of Art is always free and open to the public.

On Display Dance Performance
Saturday, November 9, 2024
3 to 4 p.m.
This deconstructed art experience, created by Heidi Latsky Dance/NYC, is brought to Milwaukee under the direction of Catey Ott Thompson. Milwaukee residents representing professional and non-professional performers of all body types, ages, and abilities/disabilities will move minimally through an hour-long silent installation.

Lunchtime Art Talk by Kirk Nickel, PhD, Marc and Lillian Rojtman Curator of European Art
Wednesday, November 13, 2024, 12:05 p.m.
Featuring the work of LaToya Ruby Frazier on view in The Big 4-0 exhibition

Keep up to date about other talks and tours with our Events page.

About
The Haggerty Museum of Art is located on the campus of Marquette University, adjacent to downtown Milwaukee in the heart of the Near West Side. FREE and open to the public Monday through Saturday, the Haggerty is one of the most accessible arts venues in the city. At its opening in 1984, the Haggerty Museum of Art was envisioned both as a repository for Marquette University’s collection of fine art and as a center for learning through the visual arts in a way that emphasized necessary connections to other disciplines in the humanities and sciences. The Haggerty Museum of Art connects people—on campus, in the community, and around the world—to art, to ideas, and to one another. The Museum uses the interdisciplinary lens of art to cultivate knowledge, insight, understanding, and belonging, all in service of Marquette University’s commitment to care for the whole person.