Young artists to perform live at Milwaukee showcase
Young artists to perform live at Milwaukee showcase
Anya Sesay, Milwaukee Journal SentinelWed, May 6, 2026 at 10:05 AM UTC
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The children who once decorated stainless steel fridges with finger paintings and called the family to the living room for an impromptu dance recital are gathering at North Division High School, 1011 W. Center Street, to share their now developed talents in a youth arts showcase on May 15.
The Partnership for the Arts & Humanities Showcase, happening from 4 to 7 p.m., is the celebration of Milwaukee Public School-funded efforts to connect community arts organizations with schools and youth-serving agencies. Open to the public, the free event offers hands-on art activities, carnival games, giveaways and refreshments for attendees, in addition to the arts showcase.
The Partnership for the Arts and Humanities fund, distributed by Milwaukee Recreation, allocates $1.7 million to select afterschool and summer arts and humanities-related programs for young people and their families.
At the biennial showcase, students from all artistic disciplines present work they developed with at least one of the partner organizations that received funding. The more than 30 partner organizations span a variety of missions and artforms.
Students from across the Milwaukee area have developed creative skills through community programs that received funding from the Partnership for the Arts and Humanities program. The fruits of their labor will be on display at the biennial youth art showcase on May 15.
Among the organizations is Bembé Drum and Dance, an arts education initiative focused on percussion-based Afro-Latino rhythms that partners with artists and educators to teach music and dance classes and produce public performances. Another group, Casa Romero Center, hosts overnight retreats, summer day camps and afterschool programs for youth from low-income families to collaborate with professional artists across visual arts, creative writing and music.
Hope House of Milwaukee, a long-term housing facility and community center for people experiencing homelessness, runs a visual arts program for youth. Artist-in-residence Marina Lee works with Hope House to provide weekly hands-on, mixed media visual arts training. The participating cohort, ages 7 to 12, work with Lee to transform Hope house, where some participants live, into a youth arts gallery.
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Young artists, ranging from small children to adolescents, will display artworks of all disciplines in Milwaukee Recreation's Partnership for the Arts & Humanities Showcase on May 15, 2026.
Vision Minds Entertainment, a special collaborator, invited Milwaukee students to submit original, radio-friendly lyrics for a chance to participate in a songwriting workshop on May 12 and a recording session and live performance during the May 15 showcase.
See the full list of partner organizations on Milwaukee Recreation’s website.
Anya Sesay covers arts and culture for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Send her story ideas, things to see and people to meet at asesay@usatodayco.com. Follow her on Instagram @anyanic0lette.
Anya's reporting is supported by the Richard and Ethel Herzfeld Foundation, the Maine-based Rabkin Foundation, and reader contributions to the Journal Sentinel Community-Funded Journalism Project. Journal Sentinel editors maintain full editorial control over all content. To support this work, visit jsonline.com/support. Checks can be addressed to Local Media Foundation (memo: “JS Community Journalism”) and mailed to P.O. Box 85015, Chicago, IL 60689.
The JS Community-Funded Journalism Project is administered by Local Media Foundation, tax ID #36-4427750, a Section 501(c)(3) charitable trust affiliated with Local Media Association.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Young artists to perform live at Milwaukee showcase
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