Current Exhibition

May 16–August 19, 2025
The Kalmbach Art Collection: Pairing Words and Imagery
Opening Reception—May 16, 5-8 p.m. featuring a presentation by Kevin Keefe at 6 p.m.

The Center for Railroad Photography & Art (CRP&A) along with the Grohmann Museum present the first public exhibition of Kalmbach Media’s historic art collection. Totaling fifty-five original paintings and drawings, it is a pillar of rail-themed art filled with landmark works from Howard Fogg, George Gloff, Gil Reid, Ted Rose, John Swatsley, and many others. Tens of thousands of railroad enthusiasts have viewed these paintings thanks to their use in Kalmbach publications including Trains magazine and best-selling books such as The Hiawatha Story and The Nickel Plate Story.

The exhibition celebrates the importance of imagery in Kalmbach’s printed materials and the company’s collaborations with artists. Strong bonds formed between the company’s editorial staff and the artists they hired or commissioned; they helped each other. Artwork brought publications to life while words added context and meaning to the paintings. This pairing of images and words created decades of memorable stories for railroad enthusiasts. Kevin P. Keefe, a CRP&A board member and former vice president-editorial at Kalmbach Media said, “In so many ways, Trains and Kalmbach Books played indispensable roles in creating the world of railroad imagery we love so much, and the company’s original art is a big part of that legacy.”

Upcoming Exhibition

October 1 – December 1, 2025
The Legend Lives On – 50 Years Later
Gallery Night Reception—October 17, 5-9 p.m. 

In remembrance of the tragic event of November 10, 1975, this exhibition marks the 50^th Anniversary of the sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald.   However, the legend lives on in both art and popular culture.

Included in this show are original paintings of the boat under construction and of the completed Edmund Fitzgerald.  Models, photographs, and other Fitzgerald ephemera will also be on view for this special display linked to what was the largest ship to travel the Great Lakes at the time of her launch in 1958.

Upcoming Events

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Past Exhibitions

2025

• Going to Work for the Community: A Visual History of the Beckum-Stapleton Little League
• On the Edge: The Labor and Environment of Dimensional Stone Quarries

2024

• Gil Reid and Friends: Working on the Railroad
• Crossing the DMZ: A Contemporary Look at Working Women
• Patterns of Meaning: The Art of Industry by Cory Bonnet
• H.D. Tylle at Seventy: American Worklife

2023

• Mining Gems: Stories from the Collection
• Excavations: Paintings and Drawings by Michael Newhall
• David Plowden: The Architecture of Agriculture

2022

• A Time of Toil & Triumph: Selections from the Shogren-Meyer Collection of American Art
• Familias Unidas: Tribute to the Migrant Farm Worker Labor Movement in Wisconsin, 1960s-70s
• Robert O. Lahmann: Working in Wisconsin

2021

• The Railroad and the Art of Place: Photographs by David Kahler 
• artWORK by the League of Milwaukee Artists 
• Electric Steel: Recent Photographs by Michael Schultz 

2020

• TWO EDMUNDS: Fitzgerald and Lewandowski—Their Mark on Milwaukee 
• IRONBOAT: New Photography by Christopher Winters 

2019

• The Magnificent Machines of Milwaukee 
• Roll Up Your Sleeves 
• Growing Place: A Visual Study of Urban Farming 

2018

• David Plowden's Portraits of Work
• Wallace W. Abbey: A Life in Railroad Photography 
• The Art and Mechanics of Animation 

2017

• Masterworks from the Grohmann Museum - Celebrating 10 Years 
• Artists at Work: The Cedarburg Artists Guild 
• STEEL: The Cycle of Industry by David Plowden 

2016

• On the Job: Photography by Jim Seder 
• Milwaukee's Industrial Landscapes: Paintings by Michael Newhall 
• Art of the North Shore Line 

2015

• Forge Work: New Photography by Michael Schultz 
• Metal for Mettle: Historic Commemorative Medals Honoring Labor and Achievement 
• H.D. Tylle: Studies 
• Carl Spitzweg in Milwaukee
• The Art of the Milwaukee Road 

2014

• Erich Mercker: Painter of Industry
• Art Shay: Working 
• Trains that Passed in the Night: Railroad Photographs of O Winston Link 

2013

• A Working Ranch by Jim Brozek 
• Born of Fire: Scenes of Industry from the Westmoreland Museum of American Art 
• Bridges: The Spans of North America - Photographs by David Plowden 

2012

• MSOE at Work: Selections from the Campus Archives 
• Carl Spitzweg: The Poor Poet and Other Characters 
• Great Lakers: Selections from the Great Lakes Marine Collection of the Milwaukee Public Library 
• H. D. Tylle: Touring Germany and Working in Wisconsin 

2011

• Requiem for Steam: The Railroad Photographs of David Plowden 
• Milwaukee Mills: A Visual History 
• Lake Boats: The Photography of Jim Brozek and Christopher Winters 
• Wonders of Work and Labor: The Steidle Collection of American Industrial Art, Penn State University 

2010

• Working Wisconsin: Selections from the Museum of Wisconsin Art 
• Foundry Work: A View of the Industry, The Photographs of Michael Schultz 

2009

• Midwest Murals: Joe Jones and J.B. Turnbull from the Haggerty Museum of Art, Marquette University 
• The Bookworm by Carl Spitzweg (1808-1885) 
• Wisconsin at Work: Thorsten Lindberg Paintings and Drawings from the MCHS Collection 
• Cradle of Industry: Works from the Rhineland Industrial Museum 
• American Steel: Works from the Collection of Tom and Lorie Annarella 

2008

• A Focus on Figures
• Stone

2007

• Physicians, Quacks, and Alchemists