Eisner Museum revamps image becomes Foundation

The Eisner Museum of Advertising and Design has transitioned to become The Eisner Creative Foundation, which has a new mission to help discover, educate and inspire the next generation of Wisconsin’s creative professionals.

“As a board we decided to focus all of our financial assets into being able to give grants and scholarships to organizations and individuals that can further our mission as a creative foundation,” said Bill Eisner, president of the Eisner Creative Foundation board of directors and Partner at Nonbox in Hales Corners. “Our mission is to inspire and educate the next generation of young people to discover their turning points into a creative profession.”

The Eisner Museum of Advertising and Design was forced to close its physical space back in 2010 when the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, the owner of the building, put it up for sale.

“Our first plan, when we lost the physical space, was to digitize our archive and put the museum online,” Eisner said. “We discovered we had approximately eight semi-trailers full of archival material, and as an all-volunteer organization it became pretty time and cost prohibitive.”

According to Eisner, the board collectively decided creating a foundation would be the best way to fulfill the organization’s mission.

“We looked at a number different paths available to us,” Eisner said. “Rather than using our finances to hire staff and pay for infrastructure, we decided to continue to raise funds and help with financing for programming in our community.”

The Eisner Creative Foundation has announced its first round of funding for individuals and organizations in the community, Eisner said.

“We have about $25,000 to give individuals and organizations in our community who need financial assistance in bringing educational opportunities or speakers and programming to students in our community,” Eisner said.

According to Eisner, the board did not want to limit scope of the grants, but all grants that will be made will expand the Eisner Creative Foundation’s mission of educating and inspiring young people to pursue creative professions.

“Our goal is to continue to work with already existing organizations like the Creative Alliance of Milwaukee to help grow the creative economy here in our region,” Eisner said. “We’re looking forward to receiving the first round of applications, because we’re not limiting it, we’re expecting a lot of creative ideas to come through.”

Grant applications are available on the Foundation’s new website, www.eisnercreativefoundation.org.

Grants will be given on a quarterly basis and will range in amounts from $250 to $5,000. The first grant deadline is March 15.

The Eisner Creative Foundation already has upcoming events planned with the BMA Milwaukee Chapter and others. For a complete schedule of events, visit the Foundation Website.