Wilson Center Announces Major Grant from Wisconsin Humanities

Brookfield, WI (November, 2024) The Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts (SLWCA) is honored to announce that we have been awarded a Major Grant from Wisconsin Humanities. Our upcoming residency with Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble supports Wisconsin Humanities’ mission to strengthen democracy through educational and cultural programs that build connections and understanding among people of all backgrounds and beliefs throughout the state. The scope of this offering includes a live musical performance, moderated artist talk with O’Farrill, gallery exhibit, multi-artist gallery talk, student workshops and visual arts class.

This renowned multi-Grammy winning composer, pianist, and collaborator brings his Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble to the Wilson Center for his Milwaukee debut. In a special collaboration with Latino Arts, Inc., Mr. O’Farrill will be leading workshops with students throughout Greater Milwaukee, culminating in this hot night of Latin jazz on the Jorgensen stage. The Arturo O’Farrill performance and Milwaukee area residency will feature a visual arts exhibit by local collective, The Macondo Project.

This residency will offer opportunities for participants to engage in a multi-disciplinary cultural experience that showcases and inspires creative expression in many forms. We are intentionally reaching out to engage students in their own local settings with the intention of highlighting the reality that creative expression can be a path of cultural, personal and interpersonal exploration, and that it begins in one’s own life setting.

Join us on Saturday, February 1, 2025 at 6:30pm for a moderated pre-performance talk with Arturo followed by a 7:30pm performance by Arturo O’Farrill and The Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble. Tickets available at www.wilson-center.com

Join us on Friday, January 17 at 6pm for the Macondo Project Collective: Realismo Mágico – the gallery opening and panel discussion of this exploration of magical realism in visual art.

About the Wilson Center

The Sharon Lynne Wilson Center of the Arts is under the leadership of Sandy Wysocki. Wysocki is in her third year as Executive Director of the Wilson Center after having served on the SLWCA Board of Directors.

The Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts (SLWCA) is a multidisciplinary nonprofit cultural arts facility, recognized as a cultural anchor in the Greater Milwaukee community. The mission is to be a vibrant destination expanding, inspiring, and delivering a lifetime of arts education and experiences. This mission is realized when we provide audiences of all ages with opportunities to play through engagement, connect with the artist and each other, explore new art forms, dream through artistic expression, and have experiences that inspire and transform.

Situated in a beautiful 400-acre park in Brookfield, Wisconsin, the Wilson Center focuses on three main disciplines: Performing Arts, Arts Education, and Visual Arts, while celebrating our five core values of excellence, innovation, passion, stewardship, and collaboration. Since opening in 2002, the Wilson Center has grown to annually welcome more than 50,000 people, including more than 10,000 students—many of whom are being introduced to the arts for the first time.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.