By Julie Lawrence Special to OnMilwaukee.com Published Sep 29, 2010 at 11:17 AM

The Milwaukee Ballet has teamed up with the UWM Peck School of the Arts and the Medical College of Wisconsin to launch the Harmony Initiative, a new vision for Milwaukee's performing arts and education community.

The initiative will help establish a nationally recognized destination for Milwaukee's fine arts and higher educational institutions and satisfy a critical need to develop a unique business model that better addresses funders' and audiences' needs, while allowing the city to utilize its creative community as a force for civic engagement and economic development.

As part of the project, the Medical College intends to develop a full sports medicine clinic within the space that will serve as the new home for Milwaukee Ballet and its school.

UWM's Peck School of the Arts will amplify its partnership with the Ballet by providing students a state-of-the-art space to stage public dance programs, heightening its accessibility and visibility within the dynamic arts district in downtown Milwaukee.

The Richard and Ethel Herzfeld Foundation has announced a $1 million gift, which allows the partnership to take critical next steps that establishes a project cabinet, considers additional creative partners, and identifies a studio site, while also pursuing an architect of record.

Julie Lawrence Special to OnMilwaukee.com

OnMilwaukee.com staff writer Julie Lawrence grew up in Wauwatosa and has lived her whole life in the Milwaukee area.

As any “word nerd” can attest, you never know when inspiration will strike, so from a very early age Julie has rarely been seen sans pen and little notebook. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee it seemed only natural that she major in journalism. When OnMilwaukee.com offered her an avenue to combine her writing and the city she knows and loves in late 2004, she knew it was meant to be. Around the office, she answers to a plethora of nicknames, including “Lar,” (short for “Larry,” which is short for “Lawrence”) as well as the mysteriously-sourced “Bill Murray.”