Lakefront Festival of Art Promises Stunning Views of the Water—and a Dizzying Array of Fine Craft

The event begins on Friday morning with rising Milwaukee-based DJ and producer DJ AK Stan . Her high-energy house and dubstep set will kick off a live-music lineup that includes indie rock, folk, and singer-songwriter offerings from Wisconsin-based bands. Hue Vietnamese, Bel Air Cantina, and Pete’s Pops are standouts among the festival’s food vendors. For visitors who want to take the art experience beyond looking, there will be opportunities to meet the artists and hands-on artmaking activities, including drawing and painting, on the grounds and in the museum’s kid-centered Kohl’s Art Studio. 

Festival tickets allow full access to the museum itself, where, along with lauded collections of  American, European, and Haitian art, visitors can take in Knowledge Beings, an ongoing exhibition of ceramics by a wide range of contemporary Native artists. 

And if you’re in need of overnight accommodations in the Cream City, you can amplify your art experience by checking in to Saint Kate: The Arts Hotel, a 20-minute walk from the lakeshore. High-quality contemporary art—including fiber works, ceramics, and other craft-based pieces—is everywhere in this stylish boutique hotel, especially in its ground-floor gallery, which is the downtown Milwaukee satellite location of the Museum of Wisconsin Art, based in the suburb of West Bend.

Saint Kate’s quirky, highly creative aesthetic extends to the rooms, each one of which is supplied with colored pencils, a pad of paper with enigmatic suggestions for doodling, a turntable, a handful of vinyl records, and a ukulele.