Program Overview
A.W.E. artists guide children through projects that engage the imagination, motivate learning, promote self-knowledge, cultivate creativity, develop new ways to see the world, and build community support and parent involvement.
TRUCK STUDIO – Fleet of Imagination
A.W.E.’s summer Truck Studio program partners with Milwaukee
County Parks and Milwaukee Recreation Playgrounds to offer three hours of free
arts enrichment activities daily over a six week period in Milwaukee’s most
underserved neighborhoods. Our drop-in, child-centered programming is very
hands on and A.W.E. artists collaborate closely with participants to engage
them in a number of imaginative take home projects from sculpture to painting.
See the summer schedule here. There is a new theme of study each day and projects often utilize both fiction
and nonfiction books. Neighborhood youth
come together to learn about art history, famous styles of art, basic elements
and principles of art, along with introductions to various cultures and
historical movements.
A.W.E. currently operates a fleet of 4 donated vans comprised of a team of lead artists, interns, and MPS artist interns; our staff of community-minded artists provide opportunities for youth to gain confidence in their creativity and provide positive adult attention to the youth we serve. Truck Studio accommodates all families, but is best for children ages 4-14.
Truck Studio Sequential: A.W.E.Truck Studio programming that is offered year round through sequential (meaning multiple visits and lessons over a long period of time) programs at schools, libraries, and community centers throughout Milwaukee. Goals, scope and program projects for our sequential series are very similar to our summer program. One of our cornerstone sequential programs is the Truck Studio library program, which partners with Milwaukee Public Library, and has grown significantly in the past two years. In 2012 we were able to provide year-round Truck Studio for the first time ever! We had MPL programs in the Spring, Summer, and Fall and ran multiple programs at every Milwaukee Public Library location.
Special Events: A.W.E. Special Events are one time visits for events throughout the Greater Milwaukee area. These events include festivals, block parties, fundraisers and other community events. Lead Artists and interns are hired to provide our same high quality, hands on Truck Studio programming as our other programs. These “Fee for Service” events often generate earned income for A.W.E. There are several special events allocated each year, which either have a strong impact on the neighborhoods we serve or help bring awareness about A.W.E. to a large audience, where program fees are waived; these events assist A.W.E. in marketing our programming and help to build stronger relationships with our community partners.
SCHOOL STUDIO – Artist-in-Residence Program
A.W.E. sponsors professional artists to collaborate with students on permanent and/or significant projects in the school environment that brings together the school, the artists and the community. Projects focus on the creative process, giving the children a safe and engaging space to explore their imaginations. While our primary focus is the visual arts, A.W.E. sponsors two-discipline projects combining visual art mediums such as sculpture, painting, animation, photography, felt making, video and collage with creative writing, poetry, music and natural science. Artists also design an art related field trip to the Milwaukee Art Museum, Lynden Sculpture Garden or The Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design as inspiration. When the project is complete the students celebrate their accomplishments with the artists, the school and the greater community. Statistic: During its first 15 years A.W.E. directly impacted 16,929 children through 199 School Studio art residencies employing 129 artists!
After School Studio: An extension of School Studio, the After School studio program is designed to increase the impact A.W.E. artists have on a particular school and community. After School Studio programs run simultaneously with School Studio residency programs. The projects are permanent and/or significant but maybe smaller in scale than the School Studio projects to accommodate for the high energy and drop in nature of after school programs.
Satellite Studio: A pilot program developed in 2012, Satellite Studio is a hybrid of School Studio and Truck Studio programming. Professional artists work with children and older youth on collaborative large scale or significant works of art in parks, playgrounds and community gardens. Many projects combine visual art mediums such as sculpture, painting and collage with other disciplines such as dance, digital music, writing/storytelling and natural science. Many parents and community members engage with their children in making the works of art alongside the artists creating a true community artistic collaboration.
Through both the School Studio and Truck Studio programs, A.W.E. provides arts learning experiences that help children become: