Hold Close
Cooking
Undersea Scraptacular
How I Write Stories
Just Around the Corner
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Milwaukee Visionaries Project (MVP) gives middle and high schoolers a chance to tell their stories through video and animation. Our award-winning students use industry-standard professional tools and learn a lot while having fun!
WHO WE ARE
KIM COSIER
Kim Cosier is Professor Emeritus of Art Education in the Peck School of the Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she has been happily teaching since 2001. She is a member of the activist art collective the Art Build Workers and she is founder and director of the Milwaukee Visionaries Project, an award-winning media production/literacy program for urban youth. With her wife, Josie Osborne, she is also a founder of ArtsECO, a program that develops teachers as change-makers backed by a strong and sustainable community of arts organizations, non-profits and K-16 school partnerships. She believes in the power of art and the human imagination to create a more just and joyful world.
HOLD CLOSEA Collaborative Animation by the MVP Students and Staff of the 2025-2026 school year!In uncertain times, members of Milwaukee Visionaries Project share what they hold close, what problems they would like to solve, and what they are willing to fight for.
COOKINGDirector: Lucas Lovo
A cooking endeavor goes awry thanks to some furry visitors...
JUST AROUND THE CORNERA Collaborative Animation by the MVP Students and Staff of the 2023-2024 school year!JUST AROUND THE CORNER is a hand-cranked scrolling style of animation that provided 20+ youth at Milwaukee Visionaries Project the opportunity to explore and express their beliefs and interests through a unified medium. This exquisite corpse style collaboration uses an absurd amount of alliteration to thread together the various thoughts that went through their minds when they questioned what they would see "if they were to suddenly awaken in the year 2077"
UNDERSEA SCRAPTACULARA Collaborative Animation by the MVP Students and Staff of the 2021-2022 school year!One day, some students saw some spare scraps of paper lying around in the art studio.... and got an idea! Meet Clammy, Daji, Franklin, Jimmy, Morkus, and the Pants that Dance... an unruly and eccentric crowd.
WHEN HATE RUNS FREEDirector: Maddie O'ConnellWhen Hate Runs Free is a poignant PSA that covers gun violence and it's resulting trauma. This PSA is not typical; it's not a morning show announcement. It's not a nightly news special. These are real thoughts and scars within our minds.
DANGEROUS DAYSDirector: Clayton AllenIn a fantastical world created by master set designer and puppet maker Clayton Allen, a stranger arrives in a local tavern with an air of mystery, a pocketful of treasure, and a dangerous proposition.
CRIMSON AND LILACSDirector: Maddie O'ConnellIn a time of turmoil, one must stop to smell the roses.Film based on a poem by Maddie O’Connell
HOW I WRITE STORIESDirector: Francis BresserA guide to compelling storytelling by Francis Bresser of Pathways High School
THE ART OF GETTING BYDirector: Collaborative Film- 25 MVP Students and Faculty members during Spring 2020What happens when an after school arts program is forced to move online during Covid-19 quarantine? The gang at Milwaukee Visionaries Project (MVP), explores this through a documentary and fantastical approach.This film piloted experimentation in CGI animation using the 3D modeling program Blender, projection mapping student work created in quarantine. It also utilizes video and sounds captured by students in their homes during this uncertain time.
GOOD VIBES ONLYDirector: Leo Prosen-OldaniA staff member daydreams... how do you deal with a really annoying boss?
COMO LA FLORDirector: Mirna Estrada SanchezA popular song is a source of artistic inspiration.
JUST A THOUGHTDirector: Carson TorresSo many times, people take teenage love for granted; just another waste of breath. This song tells the story of struggling for self-identity and self-esteem through these experiences.
HASTEDirector: Manny Manzanet and Leo Prosen-OldaniHASTE is an open-ended short story intended to leave you with more questions than answers. Viewers are asked to interpret for themselves what happened the night of the film while following the main character through a tense situation.
INCARNATEDirector: Clayton AllenA young man must deal with his inner demons.
PAINTING WITH LIGHTDirector: Maddie O'ConnellWith the power of documentation, comes great responsibility.
CLAYTON'S CAVALCADE (OF CONFOUNDING CREATURES)Director: Clayton AllenA series of short stop-motion animations featuring a rogue's gallery of quirky characters.
NIATSUSDirector: Maddie O'ConnellA series of short stop-motion animations featuring a rogue's gallery of quirky characters.
MID-DAY OF THE LIVING DEADDirector: Kyen DitzenbergerThis short story analyzes the modern day dependence on technology through a young man's experience in a zombie filled world.
IN THE MINDDirector: Bryan MercadoThis is a short story about the interior life of a middle school boy. It shows the joy and imagination underneath a veneer of indifference in his external persona.
FUTURE MEDirector: Jair RamirezA young adult learns an important lesson in growing up from a most unusual stranger.
FUTURE MEDirector: Wiedman Morales and Manny ManzanetAn animated origami dance representing the call and response in Afro-Latino music.
THE BROOKLYN BRIDGEDirector: Marcelo QuezadaA young adult grapples with the pressures of being a teenager.
WHAT IS MILWAUKEE TO ME?Director: Students from the Boys and Girls Club Summer Program;
Allen Field Middle School, MilwaukeeStudents attending the Allen-Field Boys and Girls Club summer program were taken out to record sounds and images of their neighborhood and assemble them in a way that expressively represents themselves. The series of interviews investigates what it's like to grow up in Milwaukee's Historic Mitchell Street neighborhood.
IERODirector: Gabby Avila and Alexia JasoA young girl who lost her parents befriends a very special alien.
THEY NEVER CAME BACKDirector: Alondra MercadoChildren from immigrant families tell their stories.
FLOWERS IN BLOOMDirector: Ale SalinasA short film about growing up, graduating, and moving on.
SPIDER DOGDirector: Gabby Avila and Alexia JasoA superhero character, named Spider Dog, intervenes to stop criminal hijinxs involving two thugs and a friendly neighborhood taco truck.
MY HANDSDirector: Maria RamirezA horror story with an eccentric cast of characters.
LA DECISIONES DE TU VIDA (THE DECISIONS OF YOUR LIFE)Director: Alondra MercadoThis is a story about how a young girl chooses to deal with bullying and peer pressure.
BITE MEDirector: Gabby Avila and Alexia JasoA love story comes to a tragic end.
JOIN US!
Questions?
Drop us a line; we'd love to hear from you!
Interested in joining us for the 2026-2027 School Year?
Fill out the form below and a member from our team will be in touch with you regarding future openings.
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.