9:45 am or 11:45am, meet your guide at the Milwaukee Art Museum’s (MAM’s) front door so you can see the building’s iconic Wings rise at 10 or flap at noon.
Inside view the soaring Quadracci Pavillion’s vaulted ceiling and lakefront view. Learn how the Santiago Calatrava designed building came to be. How was Calatrava chosen? What are some of his key design features?
We will adjust or focus based on your interests. Whether you're new to museums or visit them all over the world, our aim is to make viewing and discussing art engaging and fun.
Your guide is fond of sharing: “my language is deliberately casual, but my scholarship is rigorus.”Also, how we read/view an artwork is highly personal, so there are no right or wrong answers!”
Our preferred plan includes works from select periods and artistic movements - with an eye towards how one period or artist affected the next.
Depending on interests and timing we often view some combination of:
Contemporary: Mark Bradford, Anselm Kiefer
Mid 20C American: Georgia O’Keeffe, Mark Rothko
Early 20C American Ashcan School: Robert Henri, George Bellows
Early/Mid 20C German Expressionist, Ernst Kirchner,
20C Modern European: Pablo Picasso, Wasily Kandinsky, Gabriel Munter
19C European: Pierre Renoir, Edgar Degas, Jules Lepage’s Wood Gatherer.
Early American art.
Earlier European religious art.
Your guide:
For 10 years he led over 150 MAM highlight tours. Before returning to Milwaukee this Summer/Autumn, he was at the Norton Museum- West Palm Beach, Florida. There he led hundreds through the largest Rembrandt show this century. In 2019 he earned a master’s in art history and renewed his AM status with the International Society of Appraisers.
The context he provides is aided by his education and years as lead coordinator/lecturer for Northwestern University’s Osher Lifelong Learnings Exploring the Visual Arts programme.
Additionally, please note:
My 1 ½-2-hour tours are intended for intimate 1-4 person groups where we can converse without a microphone. The Museum offers 10 person minimum, pre planned, prepaid, tours. On many Saturday and Sunday afternoons, the museum has a shorter, free with admission tour.
Reviews from 2025/2026 Norton Surveys or Milwaukee Tours.
1/26: Roger was excellent. Very engaging.
1/17 Rembrandt: Excellent docent!!
2/7: Excellent: entertaining and informative. Would highly recommend.
2/27: Presented in compelling, interesting and welcoming manner.
3/1: We were a private tour group, but others joined us since they saw how great our Roger tour was.
3/6” Great knowledge and humour to keep us engaged.
3/6: Personable and knowledgeable. He encouraged our participation and questions.
2025 private Northwestern Group.
Len G: Roger is an engaging, entertaining and thoughtful docent whose enthusiasm conveys more than merely information.
Bridget S: brought the wonderful collection to life!
Karen K: He gave us a memorable Museum experience.
