Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts
2519 Northwestern AvenueRacineWI
53404-2299414-636-9177414-636-9231

Program: Victory in Peace Program
Year Started: 1992
Focus: Creative Writing & Visual Arts
Youth Served: 60
Ages: 6-11
Budget: $100,000

The effectiveness of teamwork evidenced by the partnership of four diverse Racine agencies--the Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts with the Racine Urban League, The Taylor Home and Education Center and the Racine Council for the Prevention of Drug and Alcohol Abuse--is a paradigm for the youth they serve. Program participants are recommended by teachers in 27 public schools and include children with learning disabilities, gang participants and children acting out in classrooms. The agencies are introducing the Museum to a constituency it had not yet tapped, and the Museum is showing the agencies how the arts can serve their common goal of steering youth away from destructive be havior. The 1-year program engages students weekly for 1 1/2 hours through arts projects and, more intensively, a summer book workshop that takes participants through the process of creating and producing a book--writing the stories, making the paper and designing the pages. The books have been so successful that some copies have been placed in the public library and the Museum; some have been sold to museums and rare book collections around the country. The other arts projects take advantage of such opportunities as a Fair Housing Poster contest. Victory in Peace participants also receive help with their homework, transportation from school and to their homes and other needed support services through the Program. Victory in Peace also organizes field trips to museums, libraries, concerts and other special places.