Community

arts4all is our way of saying “everyone deserves the opportunity to experience the arts!” On Saturdays, the A@L Community Center comes alive with art activities for the whole family. Local artists guide participants to explore their creativity in visual art, music, dance, theatre and the literary arts. Throughout the year, we host workshops that encourage life-long learning using a variety of art forms. arts4all experiences are free or low cost for participants – all made possible by generous contributions to Arts @ Large from Foundations, corporations and individuals. 

Arts @ Large SUMMER ARTS CAMP  is offered to 3rd – 8th grade students for 6 weeks, each summer. Campers have the opportunity to engage with multiple community artist educators and our partners, focusing on a different art form each week. Our themes for the summer of 2021 include MILWAUKEE, STORYTELLING, FRIENDSHIP, NATURE and SOLIDARITY. Throughout the program, campers learn the importance of healthy communities and relationships. At the end of each week, students will have the opportunity to share their work with their families directly in the A@L Gallery! 

Each year, High School students have the opportunity to apply for a paid Junior Counselor position, working with A@L staff and artist educators facilitating activities throughout the summer. Applications become available in the spring of each year. 

Music Under the Stars is our premiere performance program. Local musicians are featured in FREE performances for the public at our community center and at Paliafito Eco-Arts Park, within walking distance from our center. Theatre, dance and performance art are featured throughout the year – free or at a minimal admission fee. We do this with the generous contributions we receive from the community. 

At Arts @ Large, we feel strongly that support for the arts, especially arts education for children is critical to helping them navigate with the unprecedented challenges they face daily. That’s why Black Box Fund and Arts@Large collaborated to distribute 8,000 “My Art Bag” project kits to children in the Milwaukee community. A series of seven different bags (approximately 1,000 each) containing a variety of art supplies, along with an age-appropriate book and art curriculum specifically tied to the book were created and distributed to the community. The creation, assembly and distribution of the bags had an estimated value of over $200,000 that went directly to the community. Thank you to all of our partners who supported the project! Continue to enjoy by downloading the My Art Bag Activity Sheets below.

ABC’s of Milwaukee

Christian Yelich

Giannis Antetokounmpo

Harley and the Davidsons

Lulu and Rocky in Milwaukee

Moon Rope

Only One You

With the support of multiple partners, Arts @ Large transformed a .52-acre city-owned neighborhood park into an outdoor eco-arts learning center called Paliafito Eco-Arts Park. The primary goal of the eco-arts learning center is to engage students, families, educators, neighborhood residents, and the broader community in hands-on, project-based environmental and arts learning. Primary features of the park include a 7,000 gallon stormwater cistern, native plantings, an urban agricultural feature, and a performing arts stage. Arts @ Large presents a free concert series Music Under the Stars, festivals, art making workshops, and environmental education programs that build neighborhood connections in an outdoor environment.