Events

Celebrate the history of scraping and how these innovators make old objects into something useful again. Learn about this vital industry through a presentation by 'Scrap' curator, museum consultant and historian, Zachary Paul Levine, a performance of family folk music featuring the washboard by local duo Fox & Branch, and a virtual tour of the exhibit with JMM staff.

'All-of-a-Kind Family' by Sydney Taylor is the first popular children’s fiction centered on Jewish experiences. Join Jewish Museum Milwaukee and our partners at the Coalition for Jewish Learning to consider the role this classic book played in the US and the challenges it poses in 2021.

Wisconsin scrap dealers have sought opportunities where other people saw materials to discard. Trace the evolution of scrap dealing in Wisconsin and track the parallel evolution of the Wisconsin economy.

Explore artifacts and stories from early Jewish immigrants as they navigated southern spaces to find and build communities. Learn how southern Jews maintained their identity and became part of the fabric of southern society. The MSJE team, including Milwaukeean Lizzi Meister, will walk us through the galleries and have a conversation about this unique yet universal story. 

Rather than taking up space in a landfill, many electronics can be taken apart, and individual components can be recycled. NJT Automation Salvage & Industrial Electronics Recycling will be on-site all day recycling old electronics and any kind of scrap metal. Get $2 off admission by bringing an accepted electronic to recycle!

Tia Nelson, internationally recognized environmental steward and daughter of Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, highlights the history of environmental policy in Wisconsin and explores the challenges and opportunities to create equitable environmental policy. Explore issues around access to clean water and ways in which leaders take on industry, apathy, and entrenched inequality to ensure access to clean water in their communities.

Every year, 85% of all discarded clothing and other textiles — over 21 billion lbs. — is sent to U.S. landfills. Better Earth Textile Recycling puts discarded textiles back in the use cycle through recycling and re-purposing, and in doing so keeps them out of landfills and helps to conserve the earth’s precious natural resources. Get $2 off admission by bringing an accepted textile to recycle!

Milwaukee Public Library facilitates a craft workshop where we will upcycle old objects to create a fireless menorah that your child or grandchild can safely light each night of Chanukah. Then stick around to find out why upcycling is an important way that we can create a more sustainable earth with a kid-friendly tour of Scrap Yard: Innovators of Recycling.

Did you know that a television can run for 3 hours from the energy saved by recycling one aluminum can? In America, 105,800 aluminum cans are recycled every minute. Learn more about recycling and its history with FREE ADMISSION to 'Scrap Yard: Innovators of Recycling' in celebration of America Recycles Day.

Explore the journey from a small family scrap yard (like Minter grew up in) to massive recycling operations that span around the globe. Find out why scrap is global, its true impact on the environment, and why scrapping is still one of the best ways for an ambitious immigrant (like Minter’s great-grandfather) to make a living.