The Quadracci family has committed $10 million to the Milwaukee Art Museum to establish the Quadracci Pavilion Preservation Endowment Fund, which will support the long-term care and maintenance of famed Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava’s first building in the United States.
The Quadracci Pavilion is marking 25 years on Milwaukee’s lakefront. The building is named for Harry and Betty Quadracci, who provided a $10 million lead challenge grant at the project’s inception. Construction of the $121 million project began in 1997 and was completed in 2001.
The latest gift comes from Joel and Caran Quadracci, Drs. Kathryn Quadracci Flores and Raja Flores, Elizabeth Quadracci Harned and Chris Harned, and H. Richard Quadracci, who died in July.
“Our parents wanted to do something big and bold,” Joel Quadracci, trustee of the Windhover Foundation, chairman and CEO of Quad, and a Milwaukee Art Museum trustee, told Milwaukee Magazine of the decision to support the construction of the museum’s stunning and much-heralded addition. “It wasn’t just about the Art Museum; it was about the city overall and striving to be a wonderful, expanding community. Over the years, it’s played that role and It’s a very unique building.”
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Maintaining the Quadracci Pavilion is of great importance and fueled the decision to create the preservation fund, said Quadracci, who leads the printing and marketing company that also owns Milwaukee Magazine.
“Our belief is that these gifts aren’t one and done,” he said. “You must continue to mind the shop. I’ve seen a lot of institutions over time where they have these great buildings, but then budgets get affected, and building maintenance falls behind and suddenly you’ve got to do a lot of catching up. Our family’s name is on this building, so we want to make sure that it not only lives up to our expectations but also to the expectations of the community.”
The Quadracci Pavilion Preservation Endowment Fund will provide annual income to support the long-term care of the structure’s defining architectural features. In addition to the initial lead challenge grant, the Quadracci family has supported a multitude of projects and programs at the Milwaukee Art Museum. With this latest gift, the family has contributed $30 million in support of the museum over the past three decades.
“The museum was one of the most important things to them just because they believed that if you surrounded people with art, it would get them to think creatively. They were very focused on bringing the joy of art to the community,” Elizabeth Quadracci Harned, president of the Winderful Foundation and a trustee of the Quad/Graphics Inc. Voting Trust, told Milwaukee Magazine.
The initial support of what would become the Quadracci Pavilion was the largest philanthropic investment Harry and Betty Quadracci made during their lifetimes.
“It was a stretch for them at the time, but they were so engaged in it,” Kathryn Quadracci, president of the Windhover Foundation and CEO of QuadMed, said in an interview with Milwaukee Magazine.
The project has helped drive Milwaukee’s resurgence, she said.
“The Calatrava project is not just part of the Art Museum and a work of art itself, it’s an engineering feat,” Quadracci said, specifically pointing to the Burke Brise Soleil, the massive, moveable, wing-like sunscreen that sits atop the Quadracci Pavilion.
“Those wings are constantly opening and closing,” she said. “Any time you have moving parts, that’s going to cost more. We wanted to make sure that this was a fund solely for the upkeep of that building. The museum has protected it, but we wanted to make sure that funds are always available come hell or high water to keep it up to snuff.”
Joel Quadracci also spoke of the maintenance challenges stemming from the structure’s “wings.”
“There’ll always be issues, but this isn’t the result of some sort of challenge that’s there now,” he said. “But over time, the wings, those are difficult mechanical structures that have wear. The bearings need to be replaced.”
During his address to the crowd of Milwaukeeans in 2001, Calatrava expressed his aspiration for Milwaukee: “I hope that … we have designed not a building, but a piece of the city.”
Quadracci family members believe the Pavilion has accomplished exactly that as well as what Harry and Betty Quadracci had hoped for when they first put their support behind it.
“I still think it’s one of the most magical structures globally. It never gets old,” Elizabeth Quadracci Harned said. “It looks different in every sort of weather. When the wings are up, it looks like it’s going to fly away. It’s such a special thing for Milwaukee and I’m just really happy that my siblings and I can be part of what my parents envisioned for Milwaukee and this structure.”
Joel Quadracci described the Pavilion as “a very unique building that’s recognized worldwide.”
“There’s a wow factor and it’s still there,” he said. “This then allows us to talk about the collection of the Milwaukee Art Museum while also telling the story of Milwaukee, in general. It’s a community that invests in itself and wants to be better.”
Kathryn Quadracci said the Pavilion takes on different looks each and every day, depending on light, the angle of the sun, weather conditions and other factors.
“It still takes my breath away. That’s true of Calatrava’s incredible architecture. It takes your breath away because it constantly shifts,” she said. “It sits there like a falcon over Lake Michigan. It’s incredible. It’s done exactly what our parents had hoped and I hope that what we’re doing will protect if for generations to come.”
In a 2022 interview during a rare visit to Milwaukee, Calatrava told Milwaukee Magazine that the Quadracci Pavilion, along with other buildings designed by Eero Saarinen and David Kahler on the 24-acre lakefront campus, work together as a “magnet” for the city.
“That’s very beautiful. The museum has become kind of a landmark,” Calatrava said.
The Milwaukee Art Museum is in the midst of a yearlong celebration of the Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion’s 25th anniversary.
“When the Quadracci Pavilion opened, it expressed a belief in what art could make possible for Milwaukee,” Milwaukee Art Museum Director Kim Sajet said in a statement. “The Quadracci family’s generosity carries that spirit of civic leadership forward, helping ensure this extraordinary building continues to welcome and inspire generations to come.”
