Photo by Sean Oster
South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center
South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center
At a time when public schools across the U.S. slashed arts education budgets, the South Milwaukee School District did a courageous thing. They put a referendum before voters, funding school infrastructure that included a new space for the arts. The resulting South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center is a state-of-the-art facility for student productions and a venue for international touring acts and community rentals. This September, SMPAC celebrates its 20th anniversary.
Director Rachel Abraham has been there since before the beginning. She attended school board meetings and put her corporate communications skills to work, helping convince South Milwaukeeans to pass the referendum. She joined the board of the nonprofit SMPAC Council and left her communications job to become box-office manager. Two years later, she became SMPAC’s director.
“My parents were music educators, and I grew up with an appreciation for the arts,” Abraham says. She now heads a staff that also includes technical director Nick DaVia and box office/marketing director Michelle Majerus-Uelmen.
Student productions have priority on the calendar of SMPAC’s 786-seat theater. For the remaining dates, Abraham rents the facility to concert promoters and community groups and books eight or nine touring performers. This season begins with the Glen Miller Orchestra (Sept. 28) but also includes Milwaukee-bred SistaStrings (Nov. 22) and the first ever tour by three rising young classical musicians, Tessa Lark, Joshua Roman and Edgar Meyer (March 26).
“Our motto is ‘Creative, Innovative, Diverse,’” Abraham says. “We try to hit those marks with a balanced season with something for people of all ages and interests. Every season is a bit different. We look for acts that are the best in their genres.”
Rentals this fall at SMPAC include everything from a fundraiser and a body-building contest to Rick Wakeman in concert. SMPAC encourages visiting performers to conduct master classes for South Milwaukee students, giving them a rare opportunity to learn from experienced artists.
