AWE 2020 Annual Report

Artists Working in Education Annual Report 2020

Our Mission is to provide youth in the Milwaukee area with arts enrichment programs to enhance human potential, advance learning, and cultivate community.

Like so many other organizations in Milwaukee, AWE faced a challenging year in 2020. When we had to start canceling our in-person programs in March, we envisioned a quick return to engaging youth in our exciting, hands-on art education programming at Milwaukee Public Libraries, schools like Doerfler Elementary School, and other public spaces like Common Bond Communities. We quickly realized that we wouldn’t be able to take on our usually busy summer season with traditional programs in the parks or collaborative murals outdoors, so we pivoted to a virtual model.

As we carefully tread through 2020’s challenges, we found new strengths and opportunities among our lean 5-person staff and collaborative of teaching artists. We harnessed these strengths to produce virtual art-making programs that we are carrying into 2021, with plans to facilitate these adapted and expanded programs for as long as necessary to ensure that all youth in Milwaukee have access to meaningful, relevant arts education opportunities.

“I think this summer has given me a different perspective on what the pandemic really means... Having to modify the entire way that we do programming has really shown that we shouldn’t strive to go back to the old normal but learn to adapt...Of course I miss the past but, in a way, not having this very established way of doing things really did make me not only fall back in love with the work we do at AWE, but also find a silver lining in the middle of a pandemic that has taken away so much time and so many experiences that we won’t get back.”

-Truck Studio Teaching Artist

AWE’s Artist-in-Residence (AIR) program provides youth with opportunities to engage in neighborhood revitalization through the design and creation of public art in their neighborhoods. Youth work collaboratively with a professional artist to understand and make creative decisions that align with broader community goals to enhance neighborhood infrastructure, contribute to neighborhood beautification, activate underutilized public spaces, or respond to a pertinent community issue. In schools, after-school and community spaces, AIR programs honor and lift youth voices and experiences to highlight and celebrate their communities while equipping youth with artistic, research, collaborative, and leadership skills.

Studio

AWE’s Truck Studio program builds connections and community by activating public spaces with free-of-charge, drop-in art-making experiences for youth of all ages. Uniting with partners like Milwaukee Recreation, Milwaukee County Parks, and Milwaukee Public Library, AWE reaches youth where they are gathered to offer a safe, enriching, and fun environment for youth and families. AWE continues to adapt and innovate to best serve youth and families through the Truck Studio program, promoting culturally-relevant art-making activities, hiring and training a diverse staff of teaching artists, and developing SmART Tool-kits for families to continue making art at home.

AWE’s Arts X Tech program infuses our Truck Studio-style art-making programming for youth with technology to increase access to STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts & design, and math) education for the youth we serve. Youth learn about digital drawing, filmmaking, animation, and more tech-focused art media during drop-in programs and week-long animation camps.

Arts Outreach Programs

AWE’s Rising Artists Council (RAC), formerly known as the Youth Arts Council, is designed as a cohort-style learning experience for middle and high school-aged youth to build their art-making and leadership skills to prepare for their futures in creative careers. During weekly meetings, RAC members hear from accomplished Milwaukeeans with creative careers, learn new artistic techniques, take field trips to galleries and other artistically-focused places, and learn and practice career-readiness and leadership skills.

AWE’s Creative Services fuse community art making and individual artistic exploration, while fostering the careers of local artists. AWE artists specialize in curating a creative experience based on the unique needs of our clients and partners. We are able to utilize a variety of media and techniques that put individuals and organizations in control of their creative process while leaving the details to us. Our Creative Services have the flexibility including bringing a Truck Studio to local events, creating a one of a kind mural, or even a public art installation. All of our fee-based services support our mission.

Rising Artists Council Fee for Service

2020

Accomplishments Truck Studio

While the Summer Truck Studio program was expectedly limited in 2020, we were able to hire three teams of teaching artists who produced 60 instructional videos that were available to watch any time online and hosted live programming online as well. One team developed art lessons that centered mindfulness and were designed to be therapeutic in nature. Another team produced videos in English and Spanish highlighting Latinx artists and stories. The team who hosted live programming introduced free, easily accessible, browser-based art-making programs that youth could explore.

The spirit of Truck Studio is often to utilize common household items so that youth can replicate the projects using materials they already have, but without in-person opportunities to explore high-quality art supplies together, we strove to offer those opportunities at home. Teaching artists curated boxes of supplies to coincide with the online video projects and then distributed the kits at MPS free meal sites, providing safe, meaningful engagement with the youth.

Accomplishments

Check out the archive of each 2020 Summer Truck Studio team’s project lessons and Arts X Tech shows on AWE’s youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/AWEMilwaukee/playlists

Arts X Tech

Animators Jon Brown and Terry Spears transformed AWE’s traditional in-person Arts X Tech animation camps into an exciting series of online events that engaged youth in games, challenges, and camaraderie despite their distance. Participants even had chances to win prizes to further their digital art-making!

Artist-in-Residence

Throughout 2020, our Artist-in-Residence program was able to pivot and develop innovative strategies to engage with youth and community members virtually. Although we were not physically together, the virtual space provided an opportunity for us to deepen our community partnerships and create new ways to conceptualize, design, and execute our programming and art installations. We were also able to keep artists employed and let their voices shine in our community through a series of artistic board up murals located in areas of Milwaukee where organizing and protesting took place. These murals honor the Black Lives Matter movement and the fight for racial equality.

In the virtual space, we convened with the community and provided workbooks and art supplies with prompts to gain ideas, themes, and concepts. These workbooks had questions and activities developed by community members so they were driving what was being asked of them in order to gain the most authentic responses to curate into collaborative art installations. The art came to fruition in the form of murals on walls and pathways in the neighborhoods and parks we serve: a billboard at Mayfair Mall, and backboard designs installed at Moody Park and Killiebrew Court. We were able to engage over 250 youth and community members through this hybrid process while continuing to add joy and beauty to our environment.

Rising Artists Council

Before moving to virtual programming, there was still some time for Rising Artists Council participants still had the opportunity to explore art Milwaukee had to offer. From exploring Teen Night at the Milwaukee Art Museum to experimenting with new mediums like printmaking at Bay View Printing Co. Even though we had to put in-person gathering on hold, participants ceased the opportunity to gather virtually for a majority of 2020. Each participant received an art kit ensuring that they could complete projects along with giving them the chance to explore new mediums while getting paid for their creative production. In the fall, Rising Artists Council members joined forces with Milwaukee artist LaNia Sproles over a three part workshop to create a mural as part of the social justice stroll. Despite missing in-person interactions and collaboration, participants of Rising Artists Council still found ways to make creative collaboration work for the safety of everyone.

“I liked learning about new kinds of art and careers in art that I really never thought of before. I also ended up trying out some new mediums, and I realized that I really like working with watercolors, which I hadn’t done a lot before. I feel like being part of this program also encouraged me to make art more.

When I was younger I was always drawing or painting but in the last year or two before this I had kind of stopped doing a lot of art, and joining this program made me get back into that.”

-Ava, RAC member

Creative Services

During 2020, AWE began to expand the scope of services that AWE’s Creative Services offered. Plans included determining capacity of fee-for-service as a whole, updating the van fleet to meet anticipated need, and streamlining our menu offerings to ensure high quality programming in both our AIR and Truck Studio fee-for-service. Despite our 2020 projections for growth being put on hold due to the pandemic, Creative Services still had plenty of projects happening. We have gained client relationships with local municipalities that have allowed us to employ 15+ artists, many of them new to AWE. Additionally we were able to install public art and build relationships with community organizations in areas all over the city.

Healing Arts Studios

AWE was fortunate to receive National Endowment for the Arts funding for the first time in 2020, enabling us to launch a pilot program geared towards arts-integrated health and wellness in partnership with the City of Milwaukee Health Department. The NEA’s Our Town grant will support creative placemaking efforts in city-run health clinics. While we were unable to effectively begin the program beyond planning in 2020, due to the pandemic, we look forward to sharing our progress as we activate space within the clinics and develop an arts-focused app for healthcare workers.

Staff

John Kowalczyk, Program Director - Artist-in-Residence

Audrey Moore, Program Manager

Reanna Ottoson, Senior Program Director - Truck Studio

Drea Potter-Talton, Outreach Manager

LaShawndra Vernon, Executive Director

Board

Janine Kolbeck, President

Armando Ibarra, Vice President

Tony Panciera, Treasurer

Alex Carson, Secretary

Jezamil Arroyo-Vega

Adam Carr

Sakuri Fears

Johannah Karstedt St. John

Barbara Manger, Co-founder

Natalie Neals

James Sokolowski

Emily Sullivan

Shameka Tyler

Honorary Board Members

Barbara Brown Lee

Diane Buck Nancy Gazzana

Mary Kamps

Julilly Kohler

Janice Lutton

Janet Matthews

Joan Michaels Paque

Janine Smith

Carolyn White Travanti

Staff & Board

Other

Liabilities

Liabilities

Net

Thank you to our 2020 Donors!

Anonymous

Bader Philanthropies

Brico Fund

City of Milwaukee Office of Violence Prevention

Four Four Foundation

Greater Milwaukee Foundation

A. O. Smith Foundation

Anonymous Cousins Foundation

Dorothy Inbusch Foundation Eppstein Uhen Foundation

Foley & Lardner Gardner Foundation Godfrey Family Foundation

Heil Family Foundation

Herb Kohl Philanthropies Herzfeld Foundation

MPS Community Partnership

MPS Partnership for the Arts & Humanities

National Endowment for the Arts Northwestern Mutual Foundation RDK Foundation

Anonymous

Lee Barczak

Betty Bostrom

Ann T. Bowe

Kathy & Stewart Friend

Nancy & Tom Gazzana

Carole & Adam Glass

Holz Family Foundation

Kapco, Inc.

Ted & Mary Kellner

Marie Kohler Maihaugen Foundation

Barbara Manger

Martin Family Foundation Marvin Haesle Fund for the Arts

Milwaukee Arts Board

Melissa Muller

Nonprofit Management Fund Park People of Milwaukee County

Symon Family Foundation Kalluru Venkateswar

We Energies Foundation Weiss Family Foundation Wisconsin Arts Board

Jane & Bob Gleeson

Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors Youth Foundation

Mary Kamps

Lola & Bob Loepfe

Lynn Rix

Janine & Bruce Smith

Ben Anderson

Amy Baumgart

Bill & Idy Goodman Family Fund

Diane & David Buck

Adam Carr

Cincinnati Insurance

Anonymous

Claire Becker

Benevity Danielle Bly

Jeanette Braun

Gisela & John Brogan

Clairyssa Browning

Janet Carr

Lynn & James Connolly

Erin Craig

Kyle Dlabay Christine & Peter Duback

Joy Adams

Nicole Angresano

Anonymous MacArthur Antigua

Nancy Aten

Amy Austin

Davette Bakermounce

Tom Bartz

Monique Bates

Tyra Baumier

Kim Bbm

Amanda Beggs

Tammy Belton-Davis

Fatima Benhaddou

Marcia Blackman George Blomgren

Julie Bock

Margie Burkwald

Elysse Chay

Sachin Chheda

Maiyah Clark

Sakuri Fears Google, Inc.

Margarete & David Harvey

Russ Jankowski

Lilah Jones Susan Kasten

Sally Duback

Susan & Charles Engberg

Grace Gallagher

Sue & Dan Haislmaier

Ed Hammond

Dawn Helmrich

Lashonda Hill

Armando Ibarra Dana & Jim Jones Mathew Leber Kathy Lynch Jamie Marcello

Anthony Courtney Miriam Cross

Laura Danzer-Dorow Richard H. Dean Sarah Dollhausen-Clark John Dunlap Deena Findley

Jan Marie Forsch

Mark Gesner Brigid Globensky

Lizzy Hannaman

Krystal & London Hardy Lisa Harsch

Liza Herbst

Doreen Hickey

Valarie Hill Ray Hill

Celeste & Steve Horvath Randall Hoth

Lauren James Rita Kaffer

Sidney McCain Teresa Olson Paul Schmitz Carolyn White-Travanti

Pamela & Blane Woodard

Mae Carol Matousek

Janet Matthews

Julie & David Meier

Jan & Bob Montgomery

Gary Mueller

Patricia Mueller

Jan Porath & Dennis Grzezinski

Angela Quigley

Jeanne Reichert

Alex Runner Janessa Schwobe

Sandra & Harold (Butch) Klabunde

Janine Kolbeck Erika Krueger Dani Kuepper Susan Larkin Mary & Robert Lerner Peggy Lott April Lynne Lisabeth Marquardt Monique Meese Cindy Menako Salita Mohn Jane Moore George Morris Kimberlyn Mueller Ann Navin Natalie Neals

Nicole Neals

Trina Nicole Barbara Nielsen Sarah Null

April Nunn

Audra O’Connell Kenisha Oatis Ameleah Ochieng Erica Olivier Sadie Olson Kelly Otis Reanna Ottoson Nicole Palasz Jolynn Palmbach Pat Parulski

Robert Puissant Jacob Reddin

Jennifer Reed

Josh Rep Cameryne Roberts Sharon Robinson Anna Rose Annie Rosenstock Mecca Ross Mark Ruedinger

Laurie Shawger

Madonna Sivwright

Donna & Paul Tanzer

Peggy Thurston Farrell

Sarah Titus Melissa Ugland John Wiener

Stacey Williams-Ng Brian Wilson

Jolie Woehrer

LaShawndra Vernon

Brianna Sas-Pérez Olivar Schaar Justin Shetterly Shavonda Sisson Janet Slater Minna Smith Ann Stover Christine Straw Sara Todd Maximilian Traut Amy Turim Marilka Velez Ruadhan Ward

Jacquiline Ward Taryn Webb Kathleen Wegrzyn Ruth Weill

Keely & Greg Welton Maxine Wishner Tiffany Young Jane Zeft