We also collaborate with many colleges and universities throughout the year to provide additional clinics, coaching, lessons, and performance opportunities for our students.

Herzfeld Foundation

The Herzfeld Foundation recognizes that arts and culture are vital to communities and awards grants to support access for all. The foundation supports the role of arts education in expanding thinking, stimulating creativity, and enhancing self-awareness for children of all ages. At MHSA, the Herzfeld Foundation provides tickets and transportation for our students to see full Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra performances.

Lynden Sculpture Garden

The Lynden Sculpture Garden is a collection of more than 50 monumental sculptures across 40 acres of park, lake, and woodland. Lynden’s “BE THE CHANGE” program supports refugee youth through arts-centered programming. Program participants collaborate with students in our Arts in the Community class to work together on World Refugee Day celebrations at City Hall.

Marquette University

Marquette is a Catholic, Jesuit university with more than 11,000 undergraduate and graduate students in 11 nationally and internationally recognized colleges and schools. Our Literary Arts students can take Creative Writing classes at Marquette, and Visual Arts students take an annual field trip to their Haggerty Art Museum. The museum offers educational programming within walking distance of MHSA.

Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC)

Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) is a two-year institution that offers more than 170 degree, diploma, and certificate programs. MATC has numerous transfer partners, including pathways through guaranteed admission agreements with four-year colleges and universities. MATC offers dual-enrollment courses to MPS students through Start College Now, MATC Transcripted Credits, and the M3 (M-Cubed) College Connections program.

MATC is one of three lead partners of the M3 initiative (M-Cubed). Along with Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM), this collaboration is dedicated to transforming the future of Milwaukee through education. M3 offers the College Connections Program, which allows MPS students to earn high school and college credit at the same time through dual enrollment courses at MATC and UWM.

Milwaukee Art Museum

The Milwaukee Art Museum collects and preserves art to inspire and educate. It is a premier educational resource with programs that involve classes, tours, and a full calendar of events for all ages. In addition to regular field trips, Visual Art students at MHSA apply for and regularly receive internships in the museum’s teen programs, Art Xpress and Teen Satellite.

Milwaukee Film

Milwaukee Film is a nonprofit arts organization dedicated to entertaining, educating, and engaging our community through cinematic experiences. Since 2009, the annual Milwaukee Film Festival has brought together film fans and filmmakers to celebrate the power of cinema. MHSA participates in Milwaukee Film’s Reel Talks program.

Milwaukee LGBT Community Center

The Milwaukee LGBT Community Center is dedicated to supporting our city’s vibrant LGBT community. At MHSA, students in our Arts in the Community class collaborate with their Older Adult Program and curate a gallery event at MHSA to celebrate Pride Month in June.

Milwaukee Public Library

Milwaukee Central Library collaborates with The Bindery each year to host Milwaukee Zine Fest (MZF), a celebration of zine culture, DIY creative literary work, and other self-created wonders. MHSA students design their own zines to display and sell at MZF!

Milwaukee Rep

Milwaukee Rep is one of America’s largest professional theaters, welcoming up to 300,000 people yearly to its performances. They have a national reputation for introducing new work, affecting community change, and providing arts education programs. At MHSA, Milwaukee Rep brings its Reading Residencies curriculum.

Next Act Theatre

Milwaukee’s Next Act Theatre engages audiences with productions intended to stimulate thought, foster the exchange of ideas, and promote the development of new perspectives and understanding. Their Community Youth Project allows a select group of MHSA students to create an artistic response to the current Next Act production.

Present Music

Present Music is an ensemble dedicated to the performance and commissioning of new music. Through their Creation Project, MHSA students are coached and mentored by professional local composers to create new musical works. Their pieces are ultimately performed, recorded, and produced professionally.

Renaissance Theaterworks

Renaissance Theaterworks aims to create theater experiences that celebrate what it means to be human. They are committed to promoting the work of women onstage and off, and they offer the Fran Bauer Young Critics Project (FBYCP) to young women at MHSA to encourage them to use their voices.

Skylight Music Theatre

Skylight Music Theatre’s Education Department strives to promote creativity, inclusion, and education through musical theater. They are committed to instilling an appreciation of the arts, encouraging and guiding aspiring young artists, developing future audience members, and establishing arts education as a vital component of a well-rounded curriculum. At MHSA, Skylight offers tickets to dress rehearsals and master classes with visiting artists. Our students can perform in their high school musical theater showcase and participate in their TeenWrites program.

University of Wisconsin–Madison

UW–Madison is an exhilarating campus with almost 48,000 students from all 50 U.S. states and around 6,000 international students from over 130 countries. MHSA students may participate in UW–Madison’s Great Texts Program.

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UWM)

UWM provides affordable, world-class education to 23,000 students from 86 countries. The university is one of three lead partners of the M3 initiative (M-Cubed) and hosts the TRIO & PRE-College program, preparing Milwaukee Public Schools students for academic and career success before and beyond graduation day.

Through UWM, the String Academy of Wisconsin offer intensive private lessons, solo and orchestral coaching, and performance opportunities for our advanced students. UWM’s Peck School of the Arts also runs the annual High School Theatre Workshop, as well as other field trip opportunities. MHSA students travel to the campus, have lunch, and get a glimpse into what it means to study the arts in a higher education setting. During the Theatre Workshop in particular, students can choose from various college-level workshops taught by UWM Theatre professors.

Visiting Professors

• Professor John Aley – University of Wisconsin–Madison
• Dr. Zack Durlam – University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
• Jerron Liddell – University of Arkansas–Pine Bluff
• Dr. Matthew Olson – Carleton College (MN)
• Professor Christopher Ramaekers – University of Wisconsin–Whitewater
• Dr. David Ronis – University of Wisconsin–Madison
• Professor Steve Weist – University of Wisconsin–Whitewater
• Professor Benjamin Whitcomb – University of Wisconsin–Whitewater
• Dr. Jeremy Winston – Central State University
• Professor Bernard Zinck – University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee

Wisconsin Conservatory of Music (WCM)

The Wisconsin Conservatory of Music is more than a community music school. It guides and inspires children and adults alike to find their voice, discover their desired instrument, and develop their music-making capabilities. At MHSA, WCM instructors coach and tutor our instrumental students.

Xalaat Africa

Xaalat Africa Drum and Dance for Life aims to provide quality artistic experiences and promote physical well-being through arts education. At MHSA, they offer students a pre-professional experience in African Dance and drumming. Ensemble members rehearse and perform for an annual concert at MHSA, as well as performances at several community venues.