Wisconsin offers numerous facilities for drama, music, and other performing arts, including the four-theater Performing Arts Center in Milwaukee and the Dane County Exposition Center in Madison. Milwaukee has a repertory theater, and there are many other theater groups around the state. Summer plays are performed at an unusual garden theater at Fish Creek in the Door Peninsula. There is also an annual music festival at that site.
The Pro Arte String Quartet in Madison and the Fine Arts Quartet in Milwaukee have been sponsored by the University of Wisconsin, which has also supported many other musical activities. Milwaukee is the home of the Great Lakes Opera Company, the Milwaukee Ballet Company, the Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra, and the Milwaukee Symphony. Madison is home to the Madison Symphony, the Madison Opera, and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra.
The Wisconsin Arts Board, consisting of 15 members appointed by the governor for three-year terms, aids artists and performing groups and assists communities in developing arts programs. In 2003, the Wisconsin Arts Board and other Wisconsin arts organizations received grants totaling $1,033,800 from the National Endowment for the Arts. The Wisconsin Humanities Council was founded in 1972. In 2000, the National Endowment for the Humanities contributed $1,979,499 for 29 state programs. State and private sources contribute funding to supplement federal assistance. The state has over 1,000 arts associations and over 150 local groups.