For every week in Youth Art Month 2025, we are spotlighting five organizations (or one each day), that uplift and connect Wisconsin's youths to the arts. Here are our five shining stars this week:
Day One
Arts Board Grantee
Prairie Music & Arts is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) arts education organization taking artistic opportunities directly to kids. We foster artistic exploration and inspire personal growth through collaborative, holistic, and creative experiences.
What have they been up to lately, and how have they used their WAB grant?
From Kari, the Executive Director at Prairie Music & Arts:
”Our inaugural summer was a huge success, and we're proud that we reached over 800 youth at 30 events. Arts-based activities included playing ukulele, arts and crafts, dance, poetry, and theatre games. We also had special guest artists join us: Sara Kirru and Marcus Porter (poets), the Gospel Afrobeat Dancers (group dancing), Lagom Yoga & Music (early childhood), and Boo Mullarky (children's music performer). We're planning summer 2025 now, and it's going to be even better!”
Click here to watch a video on some of their recent work.
Click here for an infographic on their successful summer in 2024.
Day Two
ROCKONSIN, a not-for-profit program, is a statewide garageband competition for 7th – 12th grade musicians, of all musical genres, that form a group outside of school.
ALL band members must be attending a Wisconsin public, private, charter, virtual or home school during the current school year. This is the 21st year that Dennis Graham Associates has produced a statewide garageband-styled program, the only one of its kind in the nation.
The Madison Area Music Association (MAMA), a 501 (c) (3) not for profit organization, has joined this effort to provide an opportunity to statewide youth musicians that want to share their passion for creating and performing music live on stage. This State Finals only alternative music competition will feature 10 statewide garagebands performing at Summerfest, The World’s Largest Music Festival.
Day Three
Arts Board Grantee
Now observing its 10th season, Play-by-Play Theatre is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and the first professional regional theatre company in Green Bay. With a vision of mounting plays and musicals (with an emphasis on small cast shows) in which performers and crew can work along side professionals, Play-by-Play is based on an ensemble approach to theatre - a highly personal and cooperative method. Play-by-Play is excited to be part of the growing cultural landscape of Green Bay by bringing professional theatre to Northeast Wisconsin, contributing to its future vitality, and by helping to explore the potential of this community.
Since 2019, Play-by-Play Theatre has presented free or low cost Shakespeare in the Park productions. And in 2023, Play-by-Play Theatre started its educational outreach/arts integration program with local elementary schools.
What have they been up to lately, and how have they used their WAB grant?
From Molly:
“Play-By-Play Theatre completed our second educational youth outreach this past December. Play-By-Play partnered with Doty Elementary in the Green Bay Public Schools to make theatre come alive with the original show, "Percy the Poor Little Penguin" for students Kindergarten to fifth grade. This fast-paced musical follows Percy, a penguin who is allergic to snow, and how they navigate relationships, making friends, and learning about what it means to be kind. Our partners had the opportunity to engage in original arts integration lessons pairing academic and national arts standards where they could learn about such topics as: The science of snow and visual symmetry, penguin migration and dance, fractions in music, reading comprehension and performance and much more. Aligning academic standards and national arts standards, also known as arts integration, is a research based learning strategy aimed to provide the opportunity to increase creative endeavors and student achievement at the same time. By providing this robust learning experience to the underserved and underprivileged, Play-By-Play partnered with the teachers, students, and community by giving them another layer of access to academics and art in places that usually wouldn't have the opportunity to immerse in theatre.”
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Day Four
Previous Arts Board Grantee
From Carey, the Director of Monroe Street Arts Center:
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As an organization we serve over 2,000 students annual in the greater Madison/Dane County area. Our programs serve all ages, with the highest number of students between the ages of 3 to 14 years old. We offer visual art classes, camps, workshops, and more at our space in the Dudgeon-Monroe neighborhood of Madison.In 2022 we launched a financial assistance initiative "Beyond Monroe Street" which seeks to offer accessible arts education opportunities for the broader community. The programs within this initiative often work in collaboration with other organizations in order to best serve the students who have limited access to quality arts enrichment.”
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Day Five
Arts Board Grantee
Art Beet is grassroots non-profit arts organization in Kewaunee County created to develop awareness of and sustain the local art's scene. They support endeavors of individual artists, as well as facilitate involvement in community projects. Art Beet provides support and sponsorship opportunities to visual, performing and literary artists living and/or working in and around Kewaunee County, WI through programming, networking and funding opportunities. They connect the public to the vibrant, diverse cultural scene in Kewaunee County by facilitating community art projects and supporting local artists as needed.
How are they celebrating Youth Art Month?
Each year, March is designated Youth Art Month by the National Art Education Association (NAEA) when the creativity and talent of young people is honored in schools and communities throughout the country. Since March of 2022, ArtBeet collaborated with local artists, students, educators and venues on two very successful Youth Art Months! They are excited about Kewaunee County’s month-long celebration of the young creators and artists who live in our community, and thank all who make this event a success!
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Keep up with the Youth Art Month celebration on our socials (Instagram, Facebook), and check back next week for another recap of the week's features!