Welcome to The Wilson Center

As a multidisciplinary nonprofit, cultural arts facility that is recognized as a cultural anchor in the Greater Milwaukee community, it is the mission of the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts 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 55,000 people, including more than 10,000 students—many of whom are being introduced to the arts for the first time.

Through arts education programs such as Beyond the Classroom, ArtsReach, Summer Arts Camp and year-round visual art classes and art exhibitions, the Wilson Center promotes lifelong learning for students of all ages and levels of artistic abilities.

Through the vibrant outdoor artistic landscape of our Lynn Chappy ArtsPark, the Wilson Center joins nature and art in ways that are designed to educate and inspire our shared community.

And through intimate, vibrant, and eclectic performances featuring such renowned artists as Branford Marsalis, Audra McDonald, Suzanne Vega, Leo Kottke, Billy Strings, The Paul Taylor Dance Company, Kronos Quartet, Garrison Keillor, Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Kathy Mattea and many others, the Wilson Center shares with audiences of all ages the endless possibilities of imagination and artistic invention.

Our Mission

Our Values

Excellence

We strive for excellence in artistic and enrichment programming through distinctive, multidisciplinary arts offerings to the public. We aspire to excellence in governance and will exceed our patrons’ expectations because their loyalty is vital to our future.

Innovation

We celebrate ingenuity and insight that result in new connections and fresh perspectives through engagement with the arts on multiple levels. We encourage originality, flexibility, equity, diversity, inclusion, and seeing the world with new vision.

Passion

We are passionate about instilling a life-long love for the arts that will enrich the lives of everyone we serve.

Stewardship

We value the trust of our greater community—people, corporations, and foundations—that contribute time, talent, and treasure to our organization; we promise to use those resources with integrity.

Collaboration

We value the power of collaboration with other organizations through which arts programming is enriched and made accessible to the greater community.