Milwaukee Art Museum

The Milwaukee Art Museum is worth visiting for the building alone, regardless of how your family feels about art. Designed by Santiago Calatrava, the Quadracci Pavilion is one of the most photographed buildings in America -- a white concrete, steel, and glass structure on the Lake Michigan shoreline that features the Burke Brise Soleil, a movable sunscreen resembling enormous wings.

The wings are the spectacle. The Burke Brise Soleil is a 217-foot-wide movable structure composed of 72 steel fins that open and close like a bird's wings. The opening happens at 10 AM (and partially closes at noon, fully at closing).

Watching the slow, mechanical unfolding of this massive structure is mesmerizing for all ages. Kids stand in Windhover Hall -- the soaring, cathedral-like main lobby with glass walls overlooking the lake -- and watch the wings extend overhead.

The art collection spans 30,000+ works from antiquity through contemporary art, with particular strengths in German Expressionism, American decorative arts, and folk art. For families, the folk art galleries and the contemporary art wings tend to be most accessible. The museum offers family guides and scavenger hunts (available at the front desk) that help kids engage with specific artworks.

Practical family advantages: kids 12 and under are always free. The first Thursday of each month is free for everyone. The museum is closed on Mondays. The adjacent Betty Brinn Children's Museum creates a natural pairing -- parents with kids of different ages can split up, with one parent at the art museum and the other at the children's museum.

The building's lakefront setting is beautiful year-round. The pedestrian bridge approaching the museum frames it dramatically. The outdoor promenade offers Lake Michigan views and connects to the lakefront bike path.