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Cecilia
Davis is helping to foster a lifelong love affair with the
arts.
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What do you get when you put a lot of
musically and theatrically talented kids under one roof? Milwaukee’s
newest space for children — the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center.
The 80,000-square-foot building, a
former Schlitz warehouse, is located in Milwaukee’s Bronzeville
neighborhood.
The Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, which
celebrated its first year in January, is home to a number of
partnering organizations with one thing in common: grooming children
and young adults for a lifelong passion in an artistic discipline of
their choice.
"We’re really excited to have
our site be in a part of the community that was historically an arts
district in Milwaukee," says Cecilia Davis (right), community
partnership coordinator, adding that the center’s programs are
provided "to a diverse population of children" from 14 area
counties. "What we have in common is that we all run youth-based
programs."
Plans for the center’s creation began
as First Stage Children’s Theater and Milwaukee Youth Symphony
Orchestra were separately looking for bigger spaces to handle an
expansion in their organization’s size and scope. They quickly
hooked up and started to shop for a space together. Soon after,
Danceworks, Festival City Symphony, Milwaukee Children’s Choir and
African American Children’s Theatre joined in.
Hundreds of children from pre-school
through 12th grade enter the center each week for music or theater
rehearsal, and also to relax in a central commons area with Internet
stations and snack vending machines.
All of the spaces within the building
are acoustically sound-proof. One is large enough to house an
orchestra, and there are also nine classrooms, five large spaces and
workshop space.
"There can be a lot of events
going on but there really is no sound transfer," says Davis,
which is a perk for those trying to focus intently on a music or
theater activity.
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