opinion

Accelerating Milwaukee's music scene requires all-ages venues, not low-impact grants

A newly announced “accelerator program” for Milwaukee musicians benefits few and misses what’s really holding back local music.

Last week, 88Nine Radio Milwaukee (WYMS-FM) announced $80,000 in grants for Milwaukee musicians with a program called Backline. In partnership with gener8tor, a Milwaukee accelerator that mentors and invests in early-stage companies, Backline aims to “establish Milwaukee’s reputation as an emerging music city.”

But the money will be spread over just four local acts, missing the opportunity to affect real change in the city’s arts scene.

RELATED: Radio Milwaukee, startup accelerator gener8tor create grant program for local musicians

In addition to the innumerable social and cultural benefits of a thriving arts community, growing Milwaukee’s reputation as a creative hub for young people is an essential ingredient in recruiting young people to Wisconsin — a goal Gov. Scott Walker has argued is worth $7 million.

But to attract and create a creative scene that rivals other midsize cities — like Austin, Nashville, or Atlanta — Milwaukee needs to change restrictive policies and attitudes around who can access the arts in our city.

JOIN: The Solutions for Wisconsin group on Facebook

At nearly every local venue, patrons must be of drinking age to enjoy local entertainment, an unfortunate but easily solvable barrier that has been glaringly overlooked in the city’s quest to gain favor on the national stage. The city needs smaller-capacity performance spaces open to patrons of all ages, where youth can watch their favorite local bands and young artists can hone their craft in front of a live audience.

Many of the musicians active in the local music scene today came of age in an all-ages music community fostered by makeshift shows at private residences and the small and mostly extinct network of all-ages venues like the Globe, Mad Planet and the 8th Note Cafe at UWM. None of these formative venues are options any longer, due to closings, rising insurance costs and noise restrictions.

Due to prohibitive city codes, it is difficult for small Milwaukee clubs to step up and host all-ages or 18-plus shows. Larger venues, like Turner Hall, avoid these rules by being licensed as a “center for the visual and performing arts.” This requires either a stage larger than 1,200 square feet or a collection of art on regular public display that’s been vouched for by “recognized experts or art critics” to a city committee. This keeps virtually all small clubs from hosting all-ages shows.

There are plenty of other public spaces that serve alcohol where minors are allowed: hotels, movie theaters, painting studios, even indoor golf facilities. Why can a 20-year-old stand next to someone drinking a beer while they swing a golf club, but they can’t legally stand next to someone drinking a beer while they attend a concert in a venue smaller than Turner Hall?

How can we harness resources to make the biggest impact in our creative communities?

Rather than funding a select few, as the Backline program proposes, we need to invest in successful, youth-oriented arts programs such as Freespace, TRUE Skool, Girls Rock Camp, DJ Bizzon’s Scratch Sessions and Twilight Center, an after-school class offered through the Milwaukee Recreation Department, which introduces music production techniques and processes using digital tools.

We need multi-genre, age-inclusive venues, and the city needs to do its part in enabling young creatives. This means rethinking prohibitive city codes, like the 1,200-square-foot stage minimum. To become a great music city, Milwaukee must invest in making the arts accessible to its youth.

Peter Murphy and Kelsey Kaufmann formed their first band in middle school, going on to perform with several Milwaukee and Chicago-based acts. Kaufmann now runs Cactus Club, a venue in Bay View, and Peter Murphy is a nonprofit professional in renewable energy education. Nicola Fumo is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Forbes, Vanity Fair and others. Fumo met Kaufmann and Murphy at an all-ages music show in 2004.