A Home for Milwaukee's Young Artists: Milwaukee Youth Arts Center

Elisabeth Gasparka
May 13, 2024
2 min read

How might a young person’s future look different with exposure to and training in the arts? This is the proposition at the heart of the mission of Milwaukee Youth Arts Center. In this episode of Creative MKE, Elisabeth speaks with Chad Tessmer, the Executive Director at MYAC. They discuss how equitable engagement in the arts has a measurable positive impact on young people’s development—and on their entire lives. Located at the corner of Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive and Walnut Street, MYAC is at the intersection of several Milwaukee neighborhoods including Halyard Park, Brewer’s Hill, Harambee, Schlitz Park, and The Deer District. Since its founding in 2005, the space has served as a home to First Stage and Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra, as well as many other local arts organizations.

MYAC Milwaukee Youth Arts Center lit up at dusk — Milwaukee Youth Arts Center (source: VISIT Milwaukee)

While MYAC is not in the business of trying to “turn every student into a performer at Carnegie Hall,” the organization seeks to give young people means to explore their voices and express themselves artistically in a safe, inclusive and professional environment. And because the employees at MYAC are creatives themselves (some of them alumni!), they believe in the promise and purpose of the institution, and “pay it forward” every day by shaping high quality and equitable access to transformative arts experiences.

As the organization evolves, MYAC seeks new ways to engage with young artists across their developmental trajectories in to support their creative professional development.

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Full Interview Transcript (Click to Expand):

Note: the following podcast dialogue has been auto-transcribed, and accordingly, may contain some minor spelling or formatting errors.

Chad Tessmer:

If you want to look at having a, a net positive economic impact on the life of a young person, expose them intentionally to the arts. If you want to have a a, a measurable academic impact, engage them in the arts. You want to have a social emotional impact, engage them in the arts. You wanna have a physical health outcome, engage them in the arts. So at, at every point on, on sort of the adverse childhood outcomes or impacts equitable engagement in the arts has a a positive outcome.

Elisabeth Gasparka:

Welcome to Creative MKE, a podcast production from Imagine MKE. I'm your host, Elisabeth Gasparka. Each episode, we feature conversations with arts leaders in Milwaukee and beyond, who are impacting Milwaukee's arts culture, and creative industries. We explore the cultural assets that make our community so special, and opportunities to help Milwaukee become a more vibrant city for all. Join us as we delve into topics, including the urgent need for funding for the arts in Wisconsin and Milwaukee. How arts organizations and creative entrepreneurs are fueling our economy, public art projects, and much more. Today, my guest is Chad Tessmer, the Executive Director of the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center. Welcome to Creative MKE. Chad,

Chad Tessmer:

Thank you so much for having me, Elisabeth.

Elisabeth Gasparka:

So, to kick off our conversation, for those out there who may not be familiar with MYAC, what is the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center? Oh,

Chad Tessmer:

What isn't the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center? No, the MYAC was founded, we opened to the community in 2005, and we were founded in collaboration with Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and First Stage who recognized in the early two thousands that their access to space was limited, particularly in the context of the growth that they wanted to have in the community, and launched a community campaign to build MYAC. I say that MYAC is a community center, and our identity is young people and creativity. And so if you want to participate in those communities, if you wanna serve those communities if you wanna be an observer or a supporter of those communities serving young people and, and creativity, I believe MYAC should be a home for that work. And that's the message we're trying to get out there. And, and that's the service we're trying to manifest every day.

Elisabeth Gasparka:

So, beyond the collaborative, ongoing use of the space between First Stage and the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra, what kinds of events and programs take place at MYAC?

Chad Tessmer:

Sure. you know, from our founding partners at First Stage and MYSO, how I describe our resident community partners in, in Dance Works or Festival City Symphony, Bel Canto frankly, music, Milwaukee Children's Choir. These are folks that are there on an annualized basis, you know, day after day, week after week, we also provide space and really a platform for other partners and other partner organizations like project Kindred, the A CLU of Wisconsin. Milwaukee Public Schools leverages our space pretty significantly. Again, anytime you're finding yourself wanting to have a conversation or experience around young people or creativity, increasingly MYAC is the destination for that. And I think we're just scratching the surface on what's possible there. A big chunk of the mandate in our Capital campaign was to make high quality space more accessible. And what we're finding is there's a real hunger for that, and it's really just about making sure that folks know, we can say that we're here for everyone but we have to earn that, the right to say that in how we show up every single day. And I think that's been the work that we've been going through over the past couple years, is, is, is earning that reputation and earning that brand. Hmm.

Elisabeth Gasparka:

So you mentioned the location on the corner of MLK and Walnut. Mm-Hmm.

Chad Tessmer:

<Affirmative>, I think the most organic and authentic intersection in all of Milwaukee. I'm biased. Say more. Well, you know, when you look at that intersection, you know, it is, it is truly the confluence of five very unique neighborhoods in Milwaukee from, you know, Hallard Halliard Park, to Brewers Hill to Harambe and Historic MLK, Schitz Park, the Deer District, and, and sort of its migration north. Everything really comes together at this intersection. It is the entree point to downtown, to the Upper East side. And two, what is reemerging? Rightfully as as Bronzeville, right? Mm-Hmm. And I'd love to tell you, we are there with all that intentionality. We got super lucky, you know, 18 years ago in finding a location that fit our needs physically. And now that location for me is a responsibility. It's a call to action, right? Mm-Hmm. How are we serving all the communities that come together at that intersection? How are we serving young people and artists who aren't driving to and from MYAC, but have the ability to walk to and from, to ride their bike, to and from, to mass transit to and from? So that's part of the evolution, that's part of that inflection point of, of MYAC entering our third decade of service.

Elisabeth Gasparka:

So we're talking about the sort of meta picture of MYAC Yeah. And how it fits into Mm-Hmm. Fabric of Milwaukee's Mm-Hmm. Arts and culture scene. But I want to zoom in a little bit, paint a picture for us. What is the energy of the space like Mm-Hmm. On a typical day. Yeah.

Chad Tessmer:

So we are, our building is actually a legacy Schitz building, right? It was a distribution center for Schitz, big old warehouse, right? And it wasn't Schitz for a particularly long period of time. What it was for most of its life was a distribution center for the Milwaukee Journal. The infrastructure of the building itself was really helpful to us as we were building out, because it has very thick floors and walls. It has very high ceilings, and it, it, it had this palette that we could fill in. I think what separates MYAC from other spaces for young people and artists, is that it really amplifies quality, right? No expense was really overlooked in making a quality space for young people and artists, because all too often, quality is the first thing to go when you're talking about young people and artists, right? Oh, you can do your play in any sort of storefront. You can play your violin on any corner, and that is all true, and that is all valid. But we believe that in a quality space, young people and artists can hear each other differently. They can see each other differently. And that's where sort of, there's that net advancer of learning and collaboration and that creative spirit. So I think that's what separates MYAC in the whole, what are we, we are a community center with seven large rehearsal and performance halls with 14 classroom or breakout spaces. And with another eight small group instruction studios. We have two community common spaces. We have a costume shop, we have instrument storage. We are a very large facility that was really intentionally designed to bring communities together. And, and, and in those spaces that are open for everyone, really lift up the type of creativity that these young people wanna demonstrate, wanna practice, and wanna, wanna experience. Hmm. You asked about the energy. Every day is different, right? It is a real privilege to get to work in and for a space where the voices of young people exploring new disciplines and new practices, and trying on new identities and, and, and literally practicing new pieces. It, it is a remarkably high energy place, and I think it is increasingly radically inclusive. We talk a lot about our culture of hospitality and how are we welcoming folks into the space? What are we doing in the space to affirm every person's unique journey and experience and perspective? And at the end of the day, our job is to ensure that every person that comes into the space is empowered to do their best work. When you cross the threshold into maac, we wanna have removed every barrier that that stands in the way between you and your best work. And I think every day we do that a little bit better, and I think our young people are better for the opportunity. And our job is to make sure that every young person has that opportunity. Mm-Hmm.

Elisabeth Gasparka:

Having visited the space several times over the years Yeah. For different programs and activities, I can definitely feel that professionalism that you all are trying to create for the children. And children are people, right?

Chad Tessmer:

<Laugh>. Yeah. I mean, I use, I use the term young person all the time. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>, right? I think, you know, there is, there's an ageism that, that comes into play, right? And, and particularly in these spaces, and I think this is the, this is the benefit we receive by having high quality partners. And I don't think folks in the community know how lucky we are as Milwaukeean to have some of the institutional partners we have, right? Mm-Hmm. First stage is among the best theaters for young, young people in the country. The wonky symphony Orchestra is among the best youth symphony orchestras in the country. And we are remarkably fortunate in this community to have the type of institutional leaders and assets that we have. And we can't take that for granted, right? Young people deserve quality. When you look at the, the engineering costs, the, again, quality is the first thing to go. And intentional inclusion is the next thing after that. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>. And if you're talking about creativity and you're talking about creation, ha, having that baseline of quality is just the foundation for all the goodness that comes after it. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. Now, we don't wanna create such a high barrier in our professionalism that folks don't feel like it's for them. Right? We have to make sure that there are easily accessible, brightly lit on ramps. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>. So that young people know this space is for you. And then we have to allow the, the space then to reflect that back to the young people that are choosing to come in. That's the everyday work. That's the fun stuff. I guess the, the more important question is what is the energy that you feel when you walk through, right? Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> as a, as a person who's been a guest of ours. 'cause That's what's much more important than what I think, right?

Elisabeth Gasparka:

<Laugh>. Oh my goodness. Well, I'm happy to reflect on my last experience coming through or last significant experience coming through. It was actually last year in the lead up to the release of the 4 1 4 day video during that production. That's Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>, we were fortunate enough to be granted access to Myack and the facilities and to first stage and miso practicing groups. And it was just a feast for the senses. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. And as a former theater nerd, music obsessed person, it just formed my heart so much. We, we started with a rehearsal for little women, and that was fantastic. Like, you could just feel the passion and the energy of the young performers. And from there we went to two string ensembles. One a smaller string ensemble that was being visited by a luthier, and they were demonstrating for these very young kids, some of whom, you know, their feet weren't even reaching the floor, but they're holding their violin with such attention. And it was just very sweet. And then we actually went into a larger string ensemble that was much more developed, a little bit older kids, and it blew us away. I mean, the, the quality of the performance was, was excellent. And then from there, we went to my favorite stop, which was the steel drum band in the basement. Incredible. That was just next level. Yeah. Just the fire and the energy and the, the smiles were just contagious. Yeah. So

Chad Tessmer:

It's if you ever wanna feel bad about yourself, listener, you know, come hang out at MYAC on an afternoon and, and listen to some of these young people rehearse and perform because the, the amount of talent that they have Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> and the dedication they've put into their craft, it makes you wonder what you were doing wrong. <Laugh> at 12. Right? it, it is, it is really something remarkable watching the young people come and go, but then really getting an opportunity to sit and, and observe sort of the payout of their hard work and their talent and follow the journey. Right? My office directly abuts our largest hall youth arts hall, and I literally get to hear the evolution of a piece from the first time off the sheet to, you know, a perform a community performance that Myel will give for an MPS school. And that evolution alone is, is remarkable. But when a few years ago, we asked our young people, you know, how would you describe MYAC? And, and you know, it as part of a branding exercise, but overwhelmingly what they said was that MYAC feels like home. The community has created this, this third space, right? Somewhere between home and school or home and work is MYAC. I think that's the, the north light that we have to continue to follow in terms of every decision we make it, it should not fly in the face of, of feeling like an extension of home for the young people that make it part of their day.

Elisabeth Gasparka:

Chad, obviously, we both drink the Kool-Aid. We both believe in the power of the arts.

Chad Tessmer:

I just swim in it all, all the time.

Elisabeth Gasparka:

Yeah. Yeah. We might both be swimming in the ko. Yeah. That's, that's a more apt metaphor. So we know that there are so many positive reasons to have children and young people engage in the arts as they're growing and developing. I would just love to hear from your perspective, what stands out to you as some of the most exciting social, economic and health outcomes that are associated with youth arts engagement.

Chad Tessmer:

Yeah. You know, it, it's, what's funny is you have to be an evangelist for the story, right? And talking about institutional support and talking about corporate support and talking about governmental support for the arts. And it, it does become a little exhausting because it is empirically apparent in every data point that you look at. If you want to look at having a, a net positive economic impact on the life of a young person, expose them intentionally to the arts. If you want to have a, a, a measurable academic impact, engage them in the arts. You want to have a social emotional impact, engage them in the arts. You wanna have a physical health outcome, engage them in the arts. So at, at every point on, on sort of the adverse childhood outcomes or impacts equitable engagement in the arts has a, a positive outcome for us. The, the challenge, I guess, is to somehow synthesize that in a way that resonates with the broader community. But it's fascinating to me that we're always rolling that boulder up the hill, because again, every statistical outcome shows that the intervention of arts, or the intersection of arts and a young person's development is net positive economically. It is amongst the best return on investments you can possibly make is, is that investment in, in a equitable arts experience. And then you lay it against the reality of how our young people are growing up differently than maybe how you and I did. Right? You look at the, sort of the organic access they have in the school environment. It's lesser today than it was 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, right? So there's less intentional interaction in the school system. There's less intentional interaction in the recreational system. So the, the network that we had, the foundation that we had growing up is being diminished. And so the, the, the chasm and the delta is larger than it's ever been before. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>, I say all that, and it sounds pessimistic, and it makes me wildly optimistic about the change that we can have Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> at, at meac, knowing that there are partners who do see see the impact that's being had and are increasingly jumping into the pool of Kool-Aid that you and I swim in <laugh>. But it does, it, it does, it does beg the question of why we have to continue to roll the boulder up the hill. Mm. When all the data points say there is nothing more impactful we can do Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> than making this investment at this time. And it's not a large investment. It doesn't require, you know, the type of earth shattering figures that, that you think it does, but it is more necessary today than it's ever been.

Elisabeth Gasparka:

I mean, you highlight the fact that it is bucking the trend to invest in the arts in this community. I mean, it's, it's been a trajectory of disinvestment and something needs to shift.

Chad Tessmer:

Well, and I, you know, we will sort of stand at the ready with you and the team at imagine MKE to continue to bang on that drum, whether it's a metaphorical drum or an actual steel pan drum. We'll, we'll do the banging because to your point earlier, we get to see it every day. Mm. Right? Mm-Hmm. We see the change, or we see the continuation of the positive trajectory. We know the e economic drivers that it has, you know, that arts have in the communities that we serve. And for us, we're reminded that we are not necessarily in the business of creating the next professional musician to play at Carnegie Hall, right? Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>. But what we know is no matter where these young people go next, they will be positively impacted through the learning type experiences they had in these art settings. And I count myself among those. Right. And, you know, my ability to sit at a microphone and have a hopefully con coherent conversation with you is directly informed by the type of training and education I got in a theater environment. So consider, you know, your 15-year-old at home and, you know, flash them forward 15 years to their first board presentation. How might it look different if they had access to the arts? One of my favorite stories ever, there was a CEO of a, of a large company, a la large public company here in Milwaukee, who years ago was deeply invested in the up a value proposition. And he would say, when I am hiring engineers for my company what I am looking for first and foremost is have they played an instrument in their life? Because I know if they had access to musical training, the creativity that they would apply to the engineering challenges we have in front of us would be vastly improved than if they hadn't had that experience at all. And, you know, again, that's where you start to hear the gospel being read from the other side of the funding aisle. And, and maybe that's where the change comes from. I don't know. But again, we'll continue to to advance that case at every opportunity we have.

Elisabeth Gasparka:

Well, it is true that more and more employers are citing creativity as the number one facet that they're looking for percent in, in new employees, no matter what the sector is. So that is very validated. I wanna talk about the concept of how MYAC treats these young people, like artists, like young artists and not like children. And what that looks like in terms of the life cycle of these creatives when their time is over at MYAC, what kind of continuation of a relationship might there be? Right. Because if you're part of this very nurturing, wonderful community space, you know, the other side of that is at some point you have to leave. Yeah. Or at some point you have to progress Yeah. And move, move on. So are there ways that students in their growth and evolution can remain connected? Yeah. And what does that

Chad Tessmer:

Look like? Yeah. I think you're, you're hitting on one of the $64,000 questions that, that we wrestle with. You know if you look at the MYAC acronym, the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, it actually doesn't have an age definer in there. Right? It's not Milwaukee Youth ages five to 17, right? Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>. But we have defaulted to a particular you know, age range. And I think that's part of how we have to think differently, right? Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>, what does youth mean in Milan? What does Milwaukee mean? What does youth mean? What does arts mean in, in the, in the MYAC acronym? You, you call out a huge gap that I don't know that we're serving with the type of intentionality that we should be. And I think we have to be doing more of, you know, the, the traditional trajectory was, you know, if you had the opportunity to engage in this type of high quality learning environment with a first stage or a miso, you would reach a certain point and then you would go and continue that education in college. And then, you know, you would either, you would carry that with you into whatever you were doing next, or perhaps you were gonna go to grad school, or perhaps you were gonna go into residency somewhere. And, and, and, and that was the through line. I don't know that it is as much as it, as it was, it still is for Mm-Hmm. For many, but not, but not for everyone. So there is now this gap, right? Mm-Hmm. And what I believe is that the traditional model of arts engagement need needs a revisiting Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>, right? And a lot of what it has been over the, you know, the first, let's say a hundred years of organized institutional arts education has been, Hey, young person, hey artist, here's something we think you would enjoy. Why don't you go ahead and do it? Right? And I think the paradigm now shifts to the responsibility on institutions being, Hey, young person, what is it you wanna say? And how can we help lift that up creatively? What access do you need to resources or space, or whatever it is you need to, to, to practice your creativity? How does that show up? And I think that shows up most necessarily for these, you know, emerging young adult audiences. And what you're finding is that young adults are manifesting that creativity. They just don't necessarily have the access to the resources to do it at the level that they wanna be doing it. And that's a niche that I think we need to be filling in general, because otherwise, slowly but surely, the energy you're going to have to put into making your voice heard diminishing returns will occur. Mm-Hmm. And then you'll stop saying anything at all. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. So it's something I think we're really excited to tackle in terms of, you know, how do we differently define the youth? But providing a platform for all ages of youth to express their creativity is definitely a gap that I think we have an opportunity to fill.

Elisabeth Gasparka:

Well, you make a really good point about the access to resources, right? I mean, first of all, the technology around art making is continuously changing. So having access to, you know, resources for a, a budding musician Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> is a huge, it's a huge boon, right? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. And so I, I'll be interested to see how MYAC solves for that or expands the, the access over time for, for youths who maybe aren't part of an ensemble strictly, but still want to benefit from that really excellent soundproofing that you guys have in the space.

Chad Tessmer:

I mean, I think there's, there's an economic call to it. There's a, a, you know, a jobs training call to it. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>. There's also just a relevancy call to it. How are most young people engaging in or producing new music? They're doing it on a digital device and they're uploading it to the cloud Right now, I don't think those things are separate from one another. 'cause I know that because we listen to a lot of hip hop in my house the vast majority of, of, of hip hop has an orchestration background to it. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>. Or it has a performance of an instrument to it. Well, what would happen if we brought these audiences together? What if we had live orchestra or orchestra music with the digital acumen to produce and to, and to promote and to publish? What might that look like? As we bring those things together? The lift is not that large to get there. Right? and there are models across the country where that is working, that that very model is working. Milwaukee's just a little behind. There's a huge opportunity for us to not segregate emerging methodologies or emerging disciplines from traditional methodologies or traditional practices, but actually bringing 'em together and giving them a home to sit side by side or, or intersect with one another. And that's what we do. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, right? So every day when I walk in, I just see that opportunity to do more of that with more intentionality.

Elisabeth Gasparka:

Mm-Hmm. Well, it's already in motion, right? So yeah. At MYAC, there are opportunities for professional development, workforce development in the form of committees that students can serve on. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> like leadership committees. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. And then to speak to sort of MYAC's engagement with the life cycle of the artist, I was delighted to discover that the spoken word poet, Brit Nicole, who is an alumni from MYAC, also is employed there, <laugh>. So as I was entering the space recently, I got to see her and catch up with her.

Chad Tessmer:

Yeah. You know, we have we have a tremendously talented team at Maac. And almost all of our staff describe themselves first and foremost as creatives. Across our, you know, our hospitality team, our operations team, there's just this wealth of creative talent. So they believe in the promise of it, and they believe in the responsibility of it. And while that can show up on a day-to-day basis as sweeping the floors and setting out the chairs, and setting the schedules, and doing some of the brass tacks of HVAC management, <laugh> it all comes back to providing a home for young people and artists to express their best self. We all believe in that. 'cause We all benefited by that. Hmm. Right. And I can sit here and tell you that my life has been improved because of the privilege that I was, that, that I was best bestowed, but it was also dramatically improved because I had access, equitable access to arts experiences, and it's time to pay that forward. Hmm.

Elisabeth Gasparka:

So how can the community learn more and get involved in, in MYAC,

Chad Tessmer:

Well visit. Right. I would welcome anybody at any time to come on by and visit their youth art center. Right. And that's, that's really what it is. It, it is a, it is a community center for the entire community. I think finding an opportunity to host an event or to leverage the space in some way directly benefits the young people that we, that we serve. Mostly however you, listener want to individually support the arts and communi arts and creativity ecosystem, please do so and please do so with a, a special verve right now. <Laugh>, you know, arts organizations are continue to struggle, contributed revenue is down for most nonprofit arts organizations. Any little bit of investment will go a long way. Buying the ticket, buying the ticket ahead of time will help a lot. MYAC doesn't need to be your first call in terms of how you can help. Right. Let's help the, the nonprofit arts organizations that are doing the work and employing the folks first and foremost. And, and then MYAC will be there to support their vision and their service. Hmm.

Elisabeth Gasparka:

Well, thank you so much for all your insights today, Chad. Oh, thank you. It's been a delight to chat with you.

Chad Tessmer:

It's been a delight. I, I so appreciate the work you and your team do every single day to galvanize support and advance the mission and any way that we can help. We're, we're standing right next to you.

Elisabeth Gasparka:

Thank you. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend, like subscribe or leave a reading and review. Follow Imagine MKE on socials to hear and see more Milwaukee Arts stories, learn about arts events and opportunities, and to receive arts, advocacy, news and alerts. To get involved or learn more about the work of Imagine MKE, visit us on the web. Creative MKE is produced and edited by me, Elisabeth Gasparka, with support from Adam Braatz. The Season's episodes were recorded in downtown Milwaukee and in Washington Heights, with support from the good folks at PodCamp Media and the Washington Park Media Center. Our show's music is by Bobby Drake. Additional audio support provided by TankThink and Silver City Studios. Thank you to WUWM for the opportunity to broadcast creative MKE on the radio. And thanks to the Shepherd Express for their ongoing partnership. For more than 40 years, Shepherd Express has proudly advocated for arts and culture in the Milwaukee area. You can hear more podcasts like this one at shepherdexpress.com.