“Lifting the Veil” empowers through symbolism while starting important conversations about American history.
Response sculpture in “re:mancipation” exhibit sparks dialogues over history, art, racism
Badger Herald
Category: Arts & Humanities
Understanding the Writers Guild of America strike and its impact
Wisconsin Public Radio
We talk with Michael Childers, a professor in the UW-Madison School for Workers and Department of Labor Education, and an entertainment reporter about the latest in the second week of a massive Hollywood writers strike.
UW alum headed to Cannes Film Festival in France
NBC-15
Hans Obma credits his time at UW-Madison where he took theater classes and studied Spanish, French and German which, he says, is why he usually plays foreign characters in films. That includes the one he created that will be played in Cannes.
UW-Madison launches first American Sign Language program
The Capital Times
The language sciences department will offer a semester-long introductory ASL course starting this summer and fall. Next spring, the department will also add a second level ASL course.
Rhiannon Giddens & Michael Abels Win 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Music
Billboard
The opera is about a real person, Omar ibn Said, and is based on his autobiography A Muslim American Slave: The Life of Omar ibn Said, written in 1831, mostly in Arabic. The work was translated into English by Ala Alryyes and published by the University of Wisconsin Press in 2011.
Q&A: Founder of Badger Film Groups shares rewards of student film
Badger Herald
’What makes this group special is that everyone cares,’ BFG president says.
How to build more trust and engagement between journalists and audiences
Wisconsin Public Radio
Technological changes and attacks on media have eroded public trust in journalism and the news media. Sue Robinson, a UW-Madison journalism professor, joins us to share her new book on how journalists can better engage their communities and build trust with their audiences.
Musical ‘Hadestown’ at Marcus Center sings an old song with a powerful American accent
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Noted: Directed and developed by Rachel Chavkin, the musical “Hadestown” has two important Wisconsin connections. University of Wisconsin alum André De Shields won a Tony for originating the show-stopping role of Hermes on Broadway. And in Mitchell’s 2010 concept album version of “Hadestown,” Orpheus was sung by Justin Vernon, aka Mr. Bon Iver.
An Exhibition Proposes Alternatives to Removing Contentious Statues
The New York Times
In 2020, as statues of Confederate generals and other contentious historical images were being taken down in many cities, Sanford Biggers, the acclaimed New York-based contemporary artist, and Amy Gilman, the director of the Chazen Museum of Art at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, were watching with keen interest.
Bipartisan coalition seeks one-time funds for Wisconsin’s arts and creative industries
Wisconsin State Journal
The coalition is made up of more than 100 organizations from across Wisconsin, including the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Kids from Wisconsin, the UW-Madison Division of the Arts, and Dane Arts.
Ben Chan, Matt Amodio, Aaron Rodgers and other ‘Jeopardy!’ winners with Wisconsin connections
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
One of the biggest “Jeopardy!” winners of all time, Amodio, a native of Medina, Ohio, earned a master’s degree in artificial intelligence from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2017. He won 38 contests on the show in July through October of 2021, and returned in 2022 to play an exhibition match against fellow mega-winners Amy Schneider and Mattea Roach before bowing out in the semifinals in the 2022 Tournament of Champions.
Book pairs ancient knowledge with youth struggles
Indian Country Today
Carla Vigue is the director of tribal relations for the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Her work at the school includes building relationships with tribal nations, communities, and organizations. She was recently named an influential leader in the state.
The Wisconsin Film Festival exhibits the unifying power of cinema
The Daily Cardinal
The ceremony took place in the Great Hall at Memorial Union with a collection of University of Wisconsin-Madison staff members, filmmakers, undergraduate students and community members celebrating the art of cinema and demonstrating continued support for Wisconsin filmmakers.
Wisconsin Film Festival celebrates its 25th birthday at UW-Madison
The Capital Times
If the Wisconsin Film Festival seems a little daunting to you, with 160 films crammed into eight days, director of operations Ben Reiser knows just how you feel.
Hit the mark: How UW dance clubs to make it onstage
The Badger Herald
Dance Elite is allowed to practice at the Nicholas Recreation Center regularly for no cost because of their relationship with RecWell, according to member Erin Anderson. They also receive university funding for their organization.
Art for your feet — made for no one but you
Wisconsin State Journal
There are many different ways to view footwear, a fact not lost on “Hand Made in America,” a popular exhibit at the Lynn Mecklenburg Textile Gallery at UW-Madison’s Center for Design and Material Culture through May 14.
Hilldale movie theater reopens for Wisconsin Film Festival
Wisconsin State Journal
Other showings of the 160 films scheduled for this year’s fest, which runs through April 20, will be on the UW-Madison campus. Venues are Shannon Hall in Memorial Union, 800 Langdon St.; the Chazen Museum of Art, 750 University Ave.; UW Cinematheque, 821 University Ave.; and The Marquee, on the second floor of Union South, 1308 Dayton St. UW-Madison students can receive a free ticket to any film with available seating by using their Wiscard at a box office location or at the door.
UW-Madison to debut Chicana/o and Latina/o bachelor’s degree, first of its kind in UW System
Wisconsin State Journal
UW-Madison is set to launch a Chicana/o and Latina/o bachelor’s degree this fall as the department has seen exploding enrollment in the department’s certificate program over the past decade, director Rubén Medina said. The major was approved by the UW Board of Regents at its March meeting.
‘Without us, there is no Madison’: Arts conference focuses on business
The Capital Times
When the pandemic closed the Chazen Museum of Art in 2020, director Amy Gilman began to repeat a message to her team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Video games as educational tools
Wisconsin Public Radio
The Field Day Lab in the Wisconsin Center for Education Research is creating online video games to be used as learning tools for students. We talk to Sarah Gagnon, creative director for the Field Day Lab in the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the UW–Madison School of Education, about their latest games and how they work.
UW Symphony Orchestra, Anthony McGill enthrall crowd at Hamel Music Center
Badger Herald
Mead Witter School of Music puts on exciting evening for symphony fans.
Children’s Book Center supports educators amid book bans
Badger Herald
’We’re the only long-standing institution that provides these services in the way that we do,’ CCBC director says.
‘Science of reading,’ whole language,’ ‘balanced literacy’: How can Wisconsin resolve its ‘reading wars’ and teach kids to read?
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Quoted: On the other side of the debate is Mark Seidenberg, a psychology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, one of the leading scientists cited by advocates for the science of reading. Seidenberg said there is a large volume of research that sheds light on how children learn to read and that supports the science of reading approach.
Can using such approaches raise the overall success of kids in becoming readers? “I think it’s huge,” Seidenberg said in an interview.
How The Bible Took Shape
Wisconsin Public Radio
How did the Christian and Jewish bibles take their present shape, and how can knowing their historical context help Jews and Christians (and others) think about each other’s scriptures differently? Charles Cohen, professor of history and religious studies at UW-Madison, will give us insights.
Scott Johnson, Playfully Inventive Composer, Is Dead at 70
New York Times
Noted: Daunted by the serialist compositional style that held sway in academia, Mr. Johnson turned to visual art. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison with a bachelor’s degree in art in 1974 and then drove a cab in Madison for a year to finance his move to New York City in 1975.
Chazen Museum of Art presents groundbreaking ‘re:mancipation’ exhibit
Madison365
On the heels of the exhibition “Sifting and Reckoning: UW-Madison’s History of Exclusion and Resistance,” which dealt with the university’s past prejudicial activity, the Chazen Museum of Art has unveiled a new art insulation that takes aim at some of the art in its own galleries.
Summerfest 2023 in Milwaukee reveals headliner lineup, with more than 100 acts
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
This year’s headliners, who will perform across at least seven stages at Maier Festival Park, range from singer-songwriter Noah Kahan (fresh off a sold-out Miller High Life Theatre show in February) to University of Wisconsin graduate and tongue-in-cheek rapper Yung Gravy to Oscar-winning hip-hop veterans Three 6 Mafia to indie rock royalty Fleet Foxes, The War on Drugs and Japanese Breakfast.
Jane Rotonda starts a new chapter as Wisconsin Book Festival director
The Capital Times
The key partnerships for the book festival are endless: the creative writing folks at UW between the Center for Humanities, between all the different cultural studies, programs, and all those specific sectors within the university, but also just in our community. Accessing all of those partnerships, and making myself available to all of those partnerships, all of that is another way to build diversity in the programming.
From ‘Dukes Of Hazzard’ To Broadway To His New Album ‘Simple Man’ – A Conversation With Tom Wopat
Forbes
He had vocal training in junior high and high school, then went on to study voice at the University of Wisconsin.
What’s it like to be a conductor? Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra fellowship helps reveal the answer
Wisconsin State Journal
For an orchestra conductor, raising the baton at the start of a concert is a tiny fraction of the job. “I’d say it’s about 5% of what we do,” says Andrew Sewell, music director for the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra.
It’s that other 95% that Kelby Schnepel and Daewon Kang are learning as graduate students at the UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music — and now as the first recipients of a new conducting fellowship with the WCO.
Professor Mark H. appointed new faculty artistic director of OMAI
Madison365
Professor Mark H. is the newly appointed faculty artistic director of UW–Madison’s Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives (OMAI), home of the First Wave Hip Hop & Urban Arts Scholarship Program, OMAI announced on Wednesday.
An Ode to Inheritance and More: The Week in Reporter Reads
The New York Times
While at the University of Wisconsin, Mr. Lesy chanced upon thousands of photographs taken between 1890 and 1910 by Charles Van Schaick, a photographer in Black River Falls.
WUD Art Committee celebrates 95th anniversary of student art gallery
Badger Herald
The gallery is free of charge to attend and will remain open until March 10 at the Main Gallery and Class of 1925 Gallery located on the second floor of Memorial Union.
The Right Side of History
The New Yorker
The trouble started with a writer on deadline. James Sweet, who goes by Jim, is a white professor of African history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the former president of the American Historical Association (A.H.A.). Every month, he was tasked with writing a column for Perspectives on History, a magazine put out by the association, which is mostly read by academics. Last summer, while he was on vacation in Ghana, he was struggling to come up with a column idea, and so he started looking around for inspiration.
Actors stun in University Theatre’s ‘Fences’
Badger Herald
Production shares poignant, complex narrative of Black experience.
Grammy winner Samara Joy to perform at UW Memorial Union
Madison365
Joy will be in Madison just a few months after winning her first two Grammy Awards including the coveted “Best New Artist” award. Her performance will be part of the Wisconsin Union Theater’s 2022-23 Jazz Series.
Baron Kelly brings August Wilson’s Fences to University Theatre
Badger Herald
Four-time Fulbright Scholar, practitioner and acting technique pedagogist, Dr. Baron Kelly is a decorated actor, director and scholar. Currently, Kelly serves as a professor in the University of Wisconsin Theatre and Drama Department and is directing and acting in August Wilson’s Fences.
‘Formless’ shakes up performing arts by blending art and activism
The Capital Times
“Formless” features a cohort of new performers every year and will premiere for the second time ever on at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Play Circle in the Memorial Union, 800 Langdon St.
With ‘Fences,’ UW-Madison theater department moves into revealing territory
Wisconsin State Journal
Some 700 area high school students already have matinee tickets reserved for “Fences,” the upcoming play from the UW-Madison Department of Theatre and Drama.
Whitney Museum’s first Latina senior curator wants to elevate diverse artists
Axios
Details: Puerto Rican-born Guerrero, who received her doctorate degree in art history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, joined the Whitney in 2017 and was most recently an associate curator.
Sanford Biggers Leads Re:mancipation Project At Chazen Art Museum In Madison, Wisconsin
Forbes
An example of Ball’s Emancipation Group has been on display at the Chazen Museum of Art at the University of Wisconsin in Madison for decades. It has long been a source of controversy. Increasingly so.
University play ‘The Wolves’ inspires, empowers women
The Badger Herald
Attracting the attention of hundreds of Madison residents and university students, the Hemsley Theater was packed on Friday night. After filing down the stairs to the underground hall, the audience settled into seats on each side of the astroturf stage, positioned like sports fans in bleachers, looking down at the players.
UW-Madison professor Laura Schwendinger wins national opera prize
Wisconsin State Journal
A longtime UW-Madison music professor and composer has received one of the nation’s premier music awards for her opera about a 17th-century female painter.
Whitney Names Its First Latino Senior Curator
The New York Times
Guerrero, who holds a Ph.D. in art history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, came to the Whitney from the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, where she helped organize the 2017 exhibition “Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960-1985.”
Two ProPublica Projects Named Finalists for Shadid Award for Journalism Ethics
ProPublica
The Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison announced Monday that two ProPublica projects, “Words of Conviction” and “The Night Raids,” are among five finalists for the Anthony Shadid Award for Journalism Ethics.
Hilldale movie theater to reopen for Wisconsin Film Festival
The Capital Times
The six-screen theater at Hilldale has been a part of the Wisconsin Film Festival since it opened as Sundance Cinemas 608 in 2007, and was the primary off-campus location for the festival. While the festival, produced by the UW-Madison’s Department of Communication Arts, has several screening venues on the UW-Madison campus, such as Shannon Hall and the Union South Marquee Theatre, booking conflicts have meant that campus screenings were limited to the first four days of the festival.
UW Faculty Dance Concert explores choreography of change
The Capital Times
The UW-Madison Dance Department presented its first of six showings of the 2023 Faculty Concert Thursday night in Lathrop Hall. The evening included a total of six works, including five by UW faculty and one from guest artist Charles O. Anderson, Chair of The Ohio State University Department of Dance. Performances continue tonight and Saturday night, and next Thursday, Feb. 16 through Saturday, Feb. 18.
UW-Madison grad’s Watergate documentary nominated for Oscar
The Capital Times
In the 1990s, Debra McClutchy took her camera into Madison music venues like Club de Wash and O’Cayz Corral, gathering footage for a documentary on women musicians who rocked Madison. Next month, she’ll go to the Academy Awards, nominated for a documentary about a woman who rocked Washington, D.C., during the Watergate scandal.
In ‘No Bears,’ banned director Jafar Panahi won’t stay quiet
The Capital Times
“No Bears,” which had its Madison premiere at 7 p.m. Thursday as part of the UW Cinematheque, is a noticeably bleaker film than its recent predecessors, with Panahi taking a darker look not only at the state of his country but his role documenting it.
For soccer-themed play ‘The Wolves’, authenticity is the goooaaalll
The Capital Times
The University of Wisconsin-Madison was closing in on tech rehearsals for “The Wolves” in 2020 when COVID-19 sent everyone home. Director Audrey Lauren Standish knew immediately that they would return to it.
University Theatre presents the play in the Hemsley Theatre Feb. 16-26.
Wisconsin Singers’ program was a hit
Wisconsin State Journal
Letter to the editor: Considering the very cold and snowy weather there was a very good attendance. The audience clearly appreciated both the performances by the Wisconsin Singers, UW-Madison’s Broadway caliber touring production, and Beaver Dam’s own Good Old A Capella under the direction of Mark Lefeber.
UW-Madison exhibit has ‘something new to say’ about race and art
Wisconsin State Journal
When incoming museum director Amy Gilman first saw “Emancipation Group” on display at the Chazen Museum of Art in 2017, she reacted like many visitors: She stopped in her tracks.
WHYsconsin: Tubas in Wisconsin and at UW-Madison
Wisconsin Public Radio
A pair of longtime tuba players and educators answer a WHYsconsin question about the prominence of the lowest brass instrument both around Wisconsin, and specifically in the University of Wisconsin Marching Band.
15 things to know about Charlie Berens, including how he started ‘Manitowoc Minute’ and where he went to high school
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Noted: He studied journalism and environmental geography at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he graduated in 2009. Berens delivered his alma mater’s winter commencement address at the Kohl Center in December.
As Madison movie theaters close, smaller film series find the spotlight
The Capital Times
Since the UW Cinematheque film screening series reopened after shutting down during the pandemic, director Jim Healy has noticed something different about the audiences.
The Ins and Outs of the UW Zoological Museum
WORT FM
In an unassuming building off of West Johnson Street, sits the remains of around 750,000 animal specimens for scientific research in the UW Zoological Museum. One of five museum collections on the UW Madison campus, the collection provides hands-on research material for universities across the country.
Madison artist John Hitchcock honors Native roots in prints and neon
The Capital Times
Hitchcock is a professor of printmaking in the Art Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has lived in the Midwest for more than two decades, but he doesn’t think of it as “home.”
UW film scholar fills in the blanks for ‘Blank Check’ podcast
The Capital Times
Bersch, who recently got his doctorate in film studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is the researcher for the popular film podcast “Blank Check with Griffin & David.” Since its debut in 2016, the podcast hosted by actor/comedian Griffin Newman and The Atlantic film critic David Sims has looked at the complete filmographies of directors, from the masterpieces to the misfires.
With pocket-sized Hello! Loom, weave got it made
The Capital Times
In 2016, then an assistant professor of design studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she launched a “social weaving project” called the Weaving Lab, by the Image Lab created by cartoonist Lynda Barry at the campus’ Wisconsin Institute for Discovery. For two summers, Fairbanks and a small team of UW students took over the Image Lab space, installing four large floor looms so that anyone could pause at a loom, think about the big questions she’d posted beside each, and weave their own contribution to the collaborative tapestries.
Emily Reed Geyman releases new book “Voices of Two Americans: Overseas in the 1920s Work and Adventures”
Journal of the San Juan Islands
Harvey, in his 30s and a graduate of the University of Wisconsin College of Agriculture, was invited by the YMCA to establish a new program in Vladivostok, Russia.