On Wednesday, June 12, the United Performing Arts Fund (UPAF) announced that the 2019 UPAF Campaign had raised $11.9 million to fund performing arts projects throughout Milwaukee and surrounding areas. Included with the campaign money were two gifts of seed money for the new Milwaukee Ballet Baumgartner Center for Dance and for First Stage to expand the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center. The news was announced at UPAF’s 2019 Campaign Finale, which was held at Potawatomi’s Northern Lights Theater. Featured at the Northern Lights Theater were performances by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Ballet and Skylight Music Theatre, all of which were member groups of UPAF.
That night, awards were presented to recognize many of the donors who supported the 2019 UPAF Campaign. These donors were individuals and companies, including Rockwell Automation, EPIC Creative and the Milwaukee Bucks. Katie Korek, the public relations and social media coordinator at UPAF, says, “We are very close to the $12 million mark, and as always, we will continue to fundraise through the summer in hopes of reaching that.” The rest of the money raised will go to UPAF’s 14 member groups and 15 affiliate groups.
Expanding the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center will provide a place for thousands of students to get involved with the performing arts. “In terms of the large brick-and-mortar projects we are contributing to this year,” Korek says, “we are helping to create spaces that allow for the performing arts to touch even more lives.”
Besides helping First Stage, the money will also help Milwaukee Ballet build a place to house their Tour de Force program. “The performing arts are fundamentally essential to a thriving community,” she continues, “so having the opportunity to provide funding to our member groups is extremely important.”
While UPAF works year-round to raise funds, the bulk of their fundraising occurs during a 15-week campaign. This year, the campaign ran from March 4 to June 12 and included their largest special event, UPAF Ride for the Arts, which was a bicycle ride with routes ranging from Port Washington to South Milwaukee. This year’s Ride for the Arts was held on Sunday, June 2, and gathered almost 4,000 riders.
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For more information about UPAF’s campaign and member groups, visit upaf.org.
