Imagine MKE, a nonprofit organization that aims to support and champion the arts in Milwaukee, announced this week that it has hired
Adam Braatz as executive director.
As executive director, Braatz will be tasked with developing partnerships across the arts, nonprofit, business, and public sectors, and will lead efforts for increased public funding and city and state policies to make the arts sector sustainable, grow the creative economy, and keep talent in the greater Milwaukee area.
“We are excited to have Adam Braatz join the team and lead our advocacy efforts on behalf of a sector that has been hit hard by the (COVID-19) pandemic,” said Deanna Tillisch, Imagine MKE’s board chair. “The arts are essential to Milwaukee’s vibrancy and economic prosperity.”
Braatz steps into this role on the heels of Governor Tony Evers’ proposal to allocate $100 million to the Artistic Endowment Fund to boost the creative economy across the state. But as it stands, despite the sector’s contribution of $9.7 billion in statewide economic impact and over 94,000 jobs, Wisconsin is currently
last in the nation for public funding to the arts and culture sector, according to a Wisconsin Policy Forum report. The City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County collectively reinvest in the sector just 0.3% of the economic impact directly generated by arts and culture.
“I am honored and thrilled to take on this important role at this critical time,” said Braatz. “The need for advocacy to sustain the assets that impact our creative economy has never been greater.”
Braatz has leadership experience in the nonprofit, private, and public sectors. Most recently, he served as vice president of communications & programming for the Wisconsin Veterans Chamber of Commerce; he also has experience as an educator, an arts advocate, and a professional touring musician. Braatz holds a master's degree in business administration and a master’s in nonprofit administration and is a U.S. Air Force veteran.
“As with the founding of Imagine MKE several years ago, we needed to hear from diverse voices and interests within the sector,” Moira Fitzgerald, board member, search committee chair and president of Fitzgerald Consultancy, said, noting that the search involved more than 50 candidates. “The arts community was a key stakeholder in identifying our next leader.”
