MYSO moved into the acclaimed Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, a collaborative initiative of MYSO and First Stage, in Milwaukee’s historic Schlitz Park. Various parts of this industrial building served in different roles in its history. One section was a Journal Company distribution center. A section of the building built in the 1920s was used by the Schlitz Brewery as a beer distribution hub which included a rotating platform used to turn around beer wagons and later, a section was used as the city-wide sales office for the company.
Home to dance and vocal music training programs, as well, this 56,000 sq. ft. state of the art facility has become a national model for arts education, with a mission of using the arts to enhance all children’s lives.
Several innovative MYSO offerings designed for City of Milwaukee young people, the Community Partnership Programs, were made possible by the move including a Jazz Studies Program, Progressions, a high-impact, high-intensity string training program for third and fourth graders; later, a steel pan band, established in 2007 (and a second level added in 2014), additional central city string programs and other programs were created.
