Free event on Monday, January 19 to honor student contest winners and community leader Andre Lee Ellis
MILWAUKEE (January 12, 2026) – The Marcus Performing Arts Center (MPAC), along with We Energies, Milwaukee Public Schools, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association, announced today the student winners of the 42nd Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. art, speech, and writing contests. The winners will be celebrated at the 42nd Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration, presented by Bader Philanthropies, on Monday, January 19, at the Marcus Performing Arts Center.
This free event, coordinated by the MLK Steering Committee, will begin at 4:00 p.m. in Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall and highlight this year’s youth contest winners as well as feature remarks from elected officials and performances from I Bei Bambini, the Messmer High School Gospel Choir, Banat Al-Huriyah, and Paj Hnub Hli dance group from the Hmong American Friendship Association. Immediately following the program, all are invited to the Paulette Y. Copeland Reception celebrating the winners in the Bradley Pavilion.
The event will also include a special presentation of the Rev. Joseph Ellwanger Social Justice Award to Andre Lee Ellis, a longtime community leader, artist, and youth advocate whose decades of service have strengthened Milwaukee through urban agriculture, cultural leadership, and community engagement. From empowering young people through agricultural education to building connections through the arts and neighborhood celebrations, Ellis’s work reflects a deep and enduring commitment to social justice.
Download the full press release.
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