The Richard & Ethel Herzfeld Foundation, a perennial supporter of and partner with Milwaukee arts organizations and area schools, excels at identifying opportunities to advance the arts and culture sector in the city.

Since 2000, the Herzfeld Foundation's Arts in Education Program has provided access for Milwaukee area students to participate in all forms of the arts at prominent institutions including Betty Brinn Children's Museum, First Stage Children's Theater, Florentine Opera, Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee Ballet, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee Public Museum, and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.

"In researching efforts to make investments in education in and through the arts, we were consistently told by arts organizations and educators that transportation was the biggest obstacle to providing meaningful arts experience," said Bill Haberman, Herzfeld Foundation President.  Vice President Carmen Haberman's prior 20 years as Milwaukee Art Museum Director of Development reinforced this feedback. 

The Herzfeld Foundation responded by reaching out to arts and cultural institutions and supplying busses to schools based on how many students the organization could accommodate.  In addition to providing transportation, the Foundation requires curriculum collaboration with the teacher and puts an emphasis on working with MPS schools.

In the 2007/2008 school year over 17,000 students in 90 elementary, middle and high schools benefitted from the diverse cultural experiences offered by the Arts in Education Program.

Arts experiences vary depending on the age of the students, the curriculum, and the individual arts organization; they begin in the classroom and end with a performance or a visit to the museum. 

 "By designing and creating their own museum exhibits, students develop skills in research, critical thinking, collaborative learning and language arts through writing and oral presentation of exhibit content," explains Richard Hedderman, Museum Program Coordinator for the Milwaukee Public Museum, one of institutions engaged in the program since its inception.

A cornerstone value of the Herzfeld Foundation's operations is communicating with grantees to learn about program challenges and to involve them in problem solving.  As the Arts in Education Program evolves, the foundation is both working with their partners to make art experiences relevant to students in the most cost effective way and placing more emphasis on collaboration between teachers and education staff of the arts organization.

With school districts making budget cuts and moving towards meeting standards, the Herzfeld Foundation is insuring arts education doesn't disappear from the school day.