MENOMONEE FALLS, WIS.- Kohl’s Department Stores today announced a $2 million donation over three years to the Milwaukee Art Museum to continue the Kohl’s Art Generation program, a youth art education initiative. The funding will support two new Kohl’s Art Generation exhibitions and the unveiling of a new Kohl’s Art Generation Lab in 2015. The donation comes from the Kohl’s Cares® cause merchandise program, which sells special merchandise, including plush toys and books, and donates 100 percent of the net profit to benefit children’s health and education initiatives nationwide.

“Kohl’s is proud to continue our partnership with the Milwaukee Art Museum and facilitate new, exciting offerings for the Kohl’s Art Generation program,” said Michelle Gass, Kohl’s chief customer officer. “We are pleased to share in the commitment of enhancing education and enriching the lives of area children and families through art and creativity.”

The Kohl’s Art Generation program consists of four main components:

• The Kohl’s Art Generation Studio is a hands-on art studio that features a variety of art activities, with new projects each month. Children and families can choose to stop in for a few minutes or spend an entire day creating art together. The studio is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

• The Kohl’s Art Generation Gallery is a kid-friendly space that educates children on the fundamentals of art. The current exhibition, “Animation: Art Goes to the Movies,” explores how animators of today’s most popular movies draw inspiration from historical works of art. Two new exhibits will debut in the Gallery in October 2013 and September 2015. The Gallery is open during regular Museum hours.

• The Kohl’s Art Generation Lab is a place for kids and families to explore what happens behind the scenes at an art museum. Visitors are able to X-ray a painting, change the frames on works of art, ask the Museum curators about their career and the exhibitions, and more! Through the new funding, the Lab will be updated with new programming and engagement elements in 2015. The Lab is open during regular Museum hours.

• Kohl’s Color Wheels is a mobile art experience that is an extension of the Kohl’s Art Generation program and Milwaukee Art Museum. The mobile unit brings creativity and ingenuity into the community by visiting festivals, schools and other events throughout the year. Kids and families work on fun projects and grow and learn through art.

“The Kohl’s Art Generation program has become the cornerstone of artistic inspiration for families who visit the Milwaukee Art Museum, thanks to Kohl’s Cares long-standing generosity,” said Brigid Globensky, Milwaukee Art Museum senior director of education and public programs. “We are thrilled to continue our partnership with Kohl’s Cares and provide a fun and interactive art curriculum at a time when creativity is increasingly important to our community’s future success.”

The Kohl’s Art Generation program was created in 2008 with the goal of delivering quality art education to Milwaukee-area families. Before the partnership with Kohl’s, the Milwaukee Art Museum served about 9,000 member families. Since then, the program has seen tremendous growth and now reaches more than 300,000 participants annually.

This program is one example of Kohl’s community giving. Since 2000, Kohl’s Department Stores, together with Kohl’s Cares, have combined to give more than $62 million to support charitable initiatives in the metro-Milwaukee area, including $6.3 million to the Milwaukee Art Museum. To date, the Kohl’s Cares cause merchandise program has raised more than $231 million for children’s initiatives nationwide.