FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How many children participate in program at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center?
Housing programs for a large, diverse population of children in southeastern Wisconsin, more than 7,500 young people visit the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center each week.

Do performances take place at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center?
The Milwaukee Youth Arts Center is primarily a rehearsal and education facility for the programs it houses. Some of the organizations that hold programming in the Center maintain other satellite locations to serve key outlying neighborhoods for program accessibility.

Though it is not designed to be a performance hall, The Milwaukee Youth Arts Center offers excellent amenities for smaller performances—full theatrical lighting and sound, excellent acoustics, a control booth, dressing rooms, modular stage and a mezzanine which can be used by rehearsal observers or audience members. The organizations housed at the Center, however, continue to present their major performances at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts and at numerous other concert venues used around the community.

What kinds of community engagement activities take place at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center?
The organizations that call the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center home have greatly expanded their programming and outreach initiatives. MYSO Progressions (a partnership with MPS offering high impact, high intensity string training to third and fourth grade students in City of Milwaukee schools); First Stage Children’s Theater’s Theater Academy program; Milwaukee Children’s Choir’s Concert Choir Central program and Danceworks’s Mad Hot Ballroom classes and intergenerational programming are just a few of the wide variety of community engagement programs held at the Center. In addition, school groups visit the Center for arts education training and specialized performance field trips during the during the school year.

Does the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center require a membership?
It is not necessary to “join” the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center to participate in the programming housed at the Center. Each individual organization that holds programming at the Center set its own registration policies, fees, and, in some cases, auditions procedures for participation. Financial aid and other types of assistance are available from all Center-housed organizations to ensure that programming is accessible to all young people.

What are the operational hours of the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center?
Since the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center houses programming and events from a variety of organizations, building hours are generally dictated by programming hours. Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra and First Stage Children’s Theater administrative offices, located at the Center, generally operate during typical business hours.

Can my child drop in at Milwaukee Youth Arts Center at any time to stay busy?
While the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center hosts safe, positive programs for young people, the programs are highly scheduled, disciplined and facilitated by staff from the organizations housed at the Center that operate them. The Milwaukee Youth Arts Center does not provide open-ended activities, daycare or supervision for children that are not registered for programs housed at the Center. Area Boys and Girls Clubs or other youth centers are wonderful options for young people seeking drop-in, open-ended program opportunities.   

How can my child become involved in programs at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center?
Visit the websites of the organizations that hold activities at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center to learn how to register for programs.(CLICK HERE)

Additional questions?
Call (414) 267-2900 or send your question to info@youthartscenter.org.