The exhibit fabrication process for the future Milwaukee Public Museum has begun, the museum announced on Tuesday.
MPM has selected New Jersey-based Kubik Maltbie as the lead fabricator for the new museum project. Kubik Maltbie, a company that has produced exhibits for institutions such as the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, the American Museum of Natural History, the Empire State Building and Griffith Observatory, has also worked on exhibits for the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee.
“Building an entire museum and creating all of the exhibits from the ground up is a unique undertaking across the world. Museums elsewhere have added new wings or renovated existing spaces, but constructing a new home for a natural history museum is rare,” said MPM president and CEO Ellen Censky. “To bring this vision to life in time for our new home to open in early 2027, we needed a fabricator with the expertise to honor our mission and deliver high-quality, diorama-style exhibits. After a thorough evaluation, it was clear that Kubik Maltbie is the ideal partner.”
Kubik Maltbie will lead the construction of collections cases, scenery and dioramas based on designs by MPM curators and Thinc, the museum exhibition design partner. Collection items that will be displayed in the new museum were selected “in collaboration with global community stakeholders, Tribal partners from Wisconsin’s First Nations, scientists and others,” according to a news release.
“Kubik Maltbie is thrilled to have been selected as the exhibit fabricator for the Future Museum,” said Curt Cedarquist, vice president of business development at Kubik Maltbie. “We look forward to joining the museum team and Thinc Design to help create and produce the new world-class exhibits and dynamic visitor experiences for the current and future generations from the city of Milwaukee and the entire state of Wisconsin.”
There will be six galleries across four exhibit floors, including a temporary gallery space for rotating special or traveling exhibitions. The five permanent galleries will be:
- “Milwaukee Revealed”
- “Winifred & Spencer Kellogg Gallery: Wisconsin Journey”
- “Living in a Dynamic World”
- “Time Travel”
- “We Energies Foundation Gallery: Rainforest.”
The future museum will also have two spaces, called the Burke Foundation Culture Connector and the Nature Connector, that will showcase “a rotating selection of collections items with views into research labs and storage areas,” according to a news release. There will also be the Daniel M. Soref Planetarium and the Puelicher Butterfly Vivarium, which will house live butterflies and moths for visitors to see.
Most exhibits will be constructed offsite and then transported and installed in the future museum in 2026, once Mortenson — the construction manager for the project — completes the building’s interior work. Exterior construction work on the future Milwaukee Public Museum is expected to be completed by the end of the year. The museum is set to open in 2027.
