Our Story Founded in May 2020, the Midwest Artist Academy was created to fill a vital need for arts education opportunities geared toward high school-aged artists in the Midwest. Following a transformative teaching experiences with young students overseas, founder B.J. Hollars and creative writing instructor Maggie Pahos jokingly remarked, ”Maybe we should start a high school!” In the months that followed, that dream became a reality.

Our Mission The Midwest Artist Academy strives to provide high-impact, inclusive, and transformative, arts-themed educational opportunities for gifted, talented, and diverse precollege artists (aged 14-17) throughout the Midwest and beyond. The Academy is not only committed to individual artistic growth, but the growth of the collective.

20180512_CE_0316.jpg Our Purpose We believe artistic success begins with a supportive environment. To this end, all our activities are geared toward building trust, friendship, and collegiality. Throughout the week, young artists will spend their mornings working closely alongside instructors in courses capped at 10. Afternoons will be spent in collaborative artistic “mini-lessons” featuring an array of art forms taught by an array of regional artists. Evenings will consist of live concerts, films, as well as campfires, talent show, ice cream socials, and more. Following a week of collaborative creation, we’ll showcase our efforts with a Saturday night performance at our region’s state-of-the art Pablo Center at the Confluence.

Our Place The Midwest Artist Academy is situated near the confluence of two rivers in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Students will spend the majority of time on the UW-Eau Claire campus—consistently voted one of Wisconsin’s most beautiful campuses—while also exploring Eau Claire, a “top 10 best college town” according to College Gazette. Hailed as an “outdoorsy cultural mecca” by Time Magazine , Eau Claire is home to a transformative downtown, which boasts fantastic art galleries, a thriving literary scene, an impressive comedy showcase, and too many talented musicians to count.

Our Promise The Midwest Artist Academy is open to all. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, ancestry, color, age, familial status, disability, religion, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, lawful sources of income, national origin, or any other discriminatory practice. In addition, we aspire to create an anti-racist atmosphere, which we will implement by way of programming, staffing, and access. We’ll grow together, we’ll learn together, we’ll make mistakes together, and through it all, we’ll continue toward a more just and equitable world.