Friday, October 16, 2026·Focal News

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Milwaukee’s Marshall Building to open artist studios for free Gallery Night weekend

The Historic Marshall Building will welcome visitors during Gallery Night MKE on Oct. 16-17, with artists and galleries in the Third Ward opening their spaces to the public. The event is free, and the building is home to more than 70 creative tenants, its owner says.

Milwaukee’s Marshall Building to open artist studios for free Gallery Night weekend

Visitors can step inside working studios and galleries at Milwaukee’s Historic Marshall Building during Gallery Night MKE on Oct. 16-17, as the annual event brings free art viewing to venues across the city.

The building, in the Historic Third Ward, is home to more than 70 creative tenants, including artists, designers, photographers and galleries, according to owner Bob DeToro. Among the spaces featured are the Manger/Duback Studio and Sadler Gallery.

Artists Sally Duback and Barbara Manger share a studio on the building’s third floor. Duback works in painting, printmaking and sculpture, with subject matter that includes nature, environmental stewardship and endangered species. She has also completed more than 50 collaborative public art projects, including murals made with neighborhood, school and nature-center communities.

Manger makes monotypes using natural materials such as leaves and grasses, drawing inspiration from growth and change in nature. She also helped found Artists Working in Education in 1999, an organization that provides free art experiences for children in Milwaukee schools and parks.

Sadler Gallery, in Suite 200, represents artists including Eric Oates, Tom Hoffman, Lisa Brobst and Ilya Zomb. Gallery owner Frank Sadler said the space aims to support artists and connect visitors with original work.

Gallery Night MKE features photography, sculpture, drawing, painting and mixed media, with opportunities to view and purchase art by local, regional and international artists. The Historic Third Ward Association produces the event; admission is free at participating venues during event hours.

The Marshall Building dates to 1906-07 and was designed by Milwaukee architects George Ferry and Alfred Clas. In 2002, it was designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark for being the oldest surviving example of engineer Claude Allen Porter Turner’s Spiral Mushroom System.

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