Arts@Large is the recipient of FCI’s Game Changer Grant in Marchry

March 22, 2018

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Milwaukee-based Arts@Large is a dynamic educational organization that connects arts to academic learning and social justice for nearly 10,000 Milwaukee Public School students. Teri Sullivan, Founder and CEO, says, “Arts&Large is committed to bringing the arts and making it accessible to every student in the Greater Milwaukee community.”

In 2017, Arts&Large started the Fabric of Milwaukee, a peacemaking initiative that focuses on Milwaukee’s growing immigrant and refugee student population. At numbers reaching 8,000 in the Milwaukee Public Schools, these students often report experiences of bullying, harassment and depression.

The Fabric of Milwaukee 10-week initiative provides students with opportunities to celebrate cultures and honor the diversity in Milwaukee’s schools. It gives young immigrants and refugees a chance to network with peers outside of the classroom and build systems of support that displace feelings of being alone in a new country.

Through the Fabric of Milwaukee, students interact with artists who express their own lived immigrant experiences through their art. In turn, students have a chance to share their personal experiences through journaling, scripting and spoken word, giving them the opportunity to build confidence and tell powerful stories.

During the initiative’s pilot year, many key community organizations have partnered with Art’s@Large, including the Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition, Voces De la Frontera and the Jewish Museum of Milwaukee. All are committed to addressing and reducing civic discrimination and race-based misconceptions that stand in the way of intercultural appreciation and immigrant and refugee assimilation into the greater community.

FCI congratulates Arts@Large and the Fabric of Milwaukee. We are proud to help fund this amazing peacemaking initiative!