Board Director

ArtWorks for Milwaukee is seeking community leaders with a variety of backgrounds, expertise and interests to join our 15-person board of directors.

Our mission is “Preparing youth for tomorrow by providing transferable career skills through art internships today.”

Founded in 2001, ArtWorks uses arts-based internships to engage teens in reaching their potential by developing transferable job  skills, which are critical in today’s workplace.

2026 marks ArtWorks’ 25th year of providing teens with employment. We’ve helped over 1500 high school students develop and practice transferable career skills such as professionalism, collaboration, public speaking, leadership and initiative, and accountability.

Board Directors serve two-year terms and demonstrate a passion for ArtWorks’ mission by committing their time, talent, and treasure to opening doors for the organization. Our board is very much a working board, with bi-monthly meetings (third Tuesday from 4-5:30 p.m.), committee service, and ad-hoc engagement opportunities. Board Directors should be able to commit an average of 2 hours a week to ArtWorks.

Each Board Director completes a “Give, Get, Do” commitment, which is described below.  These commitments are combined to create an overall Board commitment goal.  Without committing to a personal monetary donation, if you were elected as an ArtWorks Board Director, how do you feel you could contribute to the Board’s overall “Give, Get, Do” commitment goal?

1. “Give” – We ask that each Board Director include ArtWorks as one of their top 3 charitable donations in a given year.  There is no expectation of a specific donation amount or quota.  However, ArtWorks strives for 100% board giving and encourages each director to make a personally significant financial contribution, based on their capacity.
2. “Get” – We ask that each Board Director actively advocate for ArtWorks and participate in fundraising activities.  That could include reaching out to an employer, colleagues, or individuals in their network for monetary and/or in-kind donations.
3. “Do” – In addition to attending monthly board meetings, we ask each Board Director to actively participate or chair a board committee, work on a project, or volunteer in some capacity during their time on the board.