Find your program at the UW-Madison Art Department

Expand your perspective and connect with your classmates, your community, and the world around you!
UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMGRADUATE PROGRAM

Find your program at the UW-Madison Art Department

Expand your perspective and connect with your classmates, your community, and the world around you!
UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMGRADUATE PROGRAM

The University of Wisconsin-Madison occupies ancestral Ho-Chunk land, called Teejop (day-JOPE) since time immemorial. In an 1832 treaty, the Ho-Chunk were forced to cede this territory. Decades of ethnic cleansing followed when both the federal and state government repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, sought to forcibly remove the Ho-Chunk from Wisconsin.

This history of colonization informs our shared future of collaboration and innovation. We respect the inherent sovereignty of the Ho-Chunk Nation, along with the eleven other First Nations of Wisconsin.

UW Art in the News

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Visiting Artist Colloquium: Melanie Tallmadge Sainz

Visiting Artist Colloquium: Melanie Tallmadge Sainz

Open Studio Hours
Friday, November 6 @ 10am – 4pm
Art Lofts Gallery

Visiting Artist Colloquium Lecture
Wednesday, November 11 @ 5:00 – 6:15pm
Elvehjem L140

Open Studio Hours
Friday, November 13 @ 10am – 4pm
Art Lofts Gallery

Gathering, Making, Sharing Closing Reception
Friday, November 13 @ 4 – 5:30pm
Art Lofts Gallery

All events Free & open to the Public

Melanie Tallmadge Sainz was born in Baraboo, Wisconsin, and was raised in the Wisconsin Dells area. Her parents Roger Little Eagle and Bernadine Tallmadge were trailblazers in the field of cultural tourism in Wisconsin in the mid-1900s. An indigenous artist and cultural educator, Tallmadge Sainz is a guardian of Ho-Chunk heritage who uses her mastery of beadwork and mixed media to sustain and share Native traditions. Her art is inspired by the history and legacy of her Ho-Chunk (English translation: People of the Big Voice) people. An enrolled citizen of the Ho-Chunk Nation, she specializes in traditional and contemporary techniques, including porcupine quill embroidery, beadwork, natural fiber weaving and twining, and mixed-media mosaics.

Her work has been shown in exhibitions throughout the US and Japan, and she has won awards at prestigious art markets including the Eiteljorg Museum, the Southern Highland Folk Art Center, and The Heard Museum. Her public art enriches local spaces, including the UW–Madison Arboretum, the International Crane Foundation, and the Great Sauk State Trail.

Tallmadge Sainz received her degrees in Art Education from Arizona State University and has engaged in non-profits and arts education throughout her career as the Founding Director of Little Eagle Arts Foundation (LEAF), a non-profit organization dedicated to cultural preservation through the arts. Through LEAF, she strives to bridge cultures by creating “teachable moments” and providing support for emerging Native American artists. Her commitment to land stewardship and ancestral traditions—from foraging natural fibers to promoting sustainable harvesting—informs her belief that art is a universal language that fosters community healing and resiliency. In recognition of her decades of service, she received the Art Educator of the Year award by the Museum of Wisconsin Art (MOWA) in 2024 and the 2026 Academy Fellow by the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters. Whether through her studio work at Mąą Wákąčąk (Ho-Chunk place name; English translation: Sacred Earth) or her statewide educational workshops, Tallmadge Sainz remains a devoted proponent of the necessity of the arts for all people. littleeaglearts.org

Reserve your spot for the November 11th Colloquium now!

 

Events

Fall 2026 Visiting Artist Colloquium

Come visit the University of Wisconsin-Madison Art Department!

Tours are now available by appointment, view our upcoming Art Department events for prospective students at Visit Bucky: apps.admissions.wisc.edu/visitbucky/

UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM
GRADUATE PROGRAM
Glass artist Yuki Wakamiya works with an assortment of tools and blown air to shape a piece of molten glass during a demonstration at the Glass Lab open house at University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Art faculty Lynda Barry holds up assignment instructions for a student exercise in her Making Comics class at the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Art faculty Fred Stonehouse poses with a student in his Drawing class at the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
John Hitchcock reviews prints with a student in the serigraphy class in the George Mosse Humanities building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Graduate art student Noel Ash poses with her paintings in her studio space in the Art Lofts building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A student works on an acrylic painting in the Advanced Drawing class.
First Year Grad Show Reception, Art Lofts Gallery, Department of Art University of Wisconsin-Madison
Students work together to inflate a glass piece at the UW Glass Lab in the Art Lofts Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
An art education student practices hands-on learning teaching a youth art class. Art education students experience a four semester sequence of classes introducing students to the teaching profession, including child development, learning theories, inclusive schooling strategies, curriculum and instruction, history of American education, and rigorous Art Education methods courses, plus 200 hours of practicum and 18 weeks of student teaching.
Lynda Barry leads a "drawing jam" with children during a Saturday Science outreach event at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
An undergraduate student works on a sculpture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Elise Berry cleans plaster-cast remnants from a glass sculpture she is finishing in the UW Glass Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Students work together with an assortment of tools and blown air to shape a piece of molten glass and form Madison'’s largest glass ornament during a UW Glass Lab event in the Art Lofts Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The public event featured students performing a number of interesting glass experiments and working together to create a giant Christmas ornament that was auctioned off for charity.
Students work in the printmaking labs in Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison during assistant professor Emily Arthur's Serigraphy course.
A student talks about their artwork at Gallery 7 at the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
What Can Art Do Show Reception Gallery 7, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Maixia Xiong poses with her artwork at the BFA Show Reception, Gallery 7 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
A student works on a project their Metals studio at the George Mosse Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A student places movable type in a bed for a letterpress project during the Book Arts class taught by Jim Escalante at the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A student snaps pictures of Ben Skiba's technique throwing a tall pot in the Ceramics Lab at the Art Lofts.
A student constructs a sculpture project.
A student examines the writing on a painting at the First Year Grad Show, Witnesses, on display at the Art Lofts Gallery.
Fresh Hot Press Students pull a shirt printed with a design on the mobile serigraphy press at the Art Lofts building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
BFA Show Reception, Gallery 7 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
From back to front of canoe, Wayne Valliere, a Native American artist-in-residence with the Department of Art and member of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, and Tim Frandy, an outreach specialist at the UW Collaborative Center for Health Equity, take a traditional Ojibwe birchbark canoe for an inaugural paddle in Lake Mendota near the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The canoe is known in Ojibwe language as wiigwaasi-jiimaan, and was handmade by Valliere as part of his residency.
At left, Eric Adjetey Anang (standing at left), Ghanaian woodcarver, master-coffin builder and Windgate Artist in Residence in the Art Department, listens to undergraduate Jamie Dawson, a first-year student in the ninth cohort of the First Wave program, perform a spoken-word piece as part of an opening exhibit of Adjetey Anang's work at the Arts Loft at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. During the event, Adjetey Anang led a gun-breaking ceremony and invited guests to participate in a symbolic breaking of the barrel of his gun-shaped coffin. The gun-breaking action was in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, and against gun violence locally, nationally and internationally.
Visitors dance at Matt Mauk and Heather Sutherland's MFA Show Reception at Art Lofts, University of Wisconsin-Madison
A student pulls a print off a lithography stone in Lithography class at the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
BFA Show Reception, Gallery 7 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Lynda Barry reviews the work of one of her students, lecturer Allison Welch, at left, in the Making Comics class at the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Students enjoy a tea party using handcrafted tea sets created in ceramics class at the Art Lofts Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Visitors explore the Biennial Neon and Light Exhibit held inside the Stock Pavillion at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Many of the sculptures and artwork were created using glass and varying light sources. In addition to UW-Madison artists, as well as independent artists from around the country, participating artists hail from schools including the Alfred University School of Art and Design, Pratt MWP, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Stevens Point, UW-River Falls and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Graduate art student Will K. Santino poses with his work in his studio space in the Art Lofts building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Katelyn Alain, a graduate student pursuing a master of fine arts degree in painting, works on a self portrait in her studio space in the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Grad student Rebecca Kautz celebrates installing her MA Show Protagonyst at the Art Lofts Gallery.
Graduate art student Sarah Deppe works on a piece in her studio space in the Art Lofts building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Ceramics faculty Gerit Grimm reviews a project with a student at the Art Lofts Ceramics lab.
Art faculty Lynda Barry poses with a student in her Making Comics class at the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Students critique each others' projects in the Digital Media class taught by Stephen Hilyard the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Students use a torch to heat a glass piece at the UW Glass Lab in the Art Lofts Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Students watch a wheel throwing demonstration by a visiting artist in a Ceramics class at the Art Lofts.
A visitor views the University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate student work on display at the Swap Meet trade show with the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.
Graduate student Justin Eccles passes out customized trucker hats at the Art Department new graduate orientation event at the Art Lofts Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Students work in the printmaking labs in Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison during assistant professor Emily Arthur's (in red apron) Relief Printing course.
Student Michelle Bridwell prepares artwork to be displayed during a student art sale.
Katie Hudnall, Windgate Artist-in-Residence, sketches ideas for a woodworking project at her studio in the Humanities Building, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A student touches up their drawing on a lithography print at the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Lynda Barry's Art 448 Making Comics 1 students pose with their final project comics on the last day of class at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Students enjoy a tea party using handcrafted tea sets created in ceramics class at the Art Lofts Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A student constructs a sculpture project.
A student snaps pictures of Ben Skiba's technique throwing a tall pot in the Ceramics Lab at the Art Lofts.
Fresh Hot Press Students pull a shirt printed with a design on the mobile serigraphy press at the Art Lofts building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
From back to front of canoe, Wayne Valliere, a Native American artist-in-residence with the Department of Art and member of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, and Tim Frandy, an outreach specialist at the UW Collaborative Center for Health Equity, take a traditional Ojibwe birchbark canoe for an inaugural paddle in Lake Mendota near the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The canoe is known in Ojibwe language as wiigwaasi-jiimaan, and was handmade by Valliere as part of his residency.
John Hitchcock reviews prints with a student in the serigraphy class in the George Mosse Humanities building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
An undergraduate student works on a sculpture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
An art education student practices hands-on learning teaching a youth art class. Art education students experience a four semester sequence of classes introducing students to the teaching profession, including child development, learning theories, inclusive schooling strategies, curriculum and instruction, history of American education, and rigorous Art Education methods courses, plus 200 hours of practicum and 18 weeks of student teaching.
Lynda Barry's Art 448 Making Comics 1 students pose with their final project comics on the last day of class at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Graduate art student Sarah Deppe works on a piece in her studio space in the Art Lofts building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Maixia Xiong poses with her artwork at the BFA Show Reception, Gallery 7 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Visitors explore the Biennial Neon and Light Exhibit held inside the Stock Pavillion at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Many of the sculptures and artwork were created using glass and varying light sources. In addition to UW-Madison artists, as well as independent artists from around the country, participating artists hail from schools including the Alfred University School of Art and Design, Pratt MWP, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Stevens Point, UW-River Falls and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Students watch a wheel throwing demonstration by a visiting artist in a Ceramics class at the Art Lofts.
Lynda Barry leads a "drawing jam" with children during a Saturday Science outreach event at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
BFA Show Reception, Gallery 7 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Graduate art student Will K. Santino poses with his work in his studio space in the Art Lofts building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
BFA Show Reception, Gallery 7 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Graduate art student Noel Ash poses with her paintings in her studio space in the Art Lofts building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Students critique each others' projects in the Digital Media class taught by Stephen Hilyard the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A student works on an acrylic painting in the Advanced Drawing class.
Students use a torch to heat a glass piece at the UW Glass Lab in the Art Lofts Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A student talks about their artwork at Gallery 7 at the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Glass artist Yuki Wakamiya works with an assortment of tools and blown air to shape a piece of molten glass during a demonstration at the Glass Lab open house at University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Graduate student Justin Eccles passes out customized trucker hats at the Art Department new graduate orientation event at the Art Lofts Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A student works on a project their Metals studio at the George Mosse Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Students work together with an assortment of tools and blown air to shape a piece of molten glass and form Madison'’s largest glass ornament during a UW Glass Lab event in the Art Lofts Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The public event featured students performing a number of interesting glass experiments and working together to create a giant Christmas ornament that was auctioned off for charity.
Students work together to inflate a glass piece at the UW Glass Lab in the Art Lofts Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
At left, Eric Adjetey Anang (standing at left), Ghanaian woodcarver, master-coffin builder and Windgate Artist in Residence in the Art Department, listens to undergraduate Jamie Dawson, a first-year student in the ninth cohort of the First Wave program, perform a spoken-word piece as part of an opening exhibit of Adjetey Anang's work at the Arts Loft at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. During the event, Adjetey Anang led a gun-breaking ceremony and invited guests to participate in a symbolic breaking of the barrel of his gun-shaped coffin. The gun-breaking action was in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, and against gun violence locally, nationally and internationally.
Ceramics faculty Gerit Grimm reviews a project with a student at the Art Lofts Ceramics lab.
Art faculty Fred Stonehouse poses with a student in his Drawing class at the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
What Can Art Do Show Reception Gallery 7, University of Wisconsin-Madison
First Year Grad Show Reception, Art Lofts Gallery, Department of Art University of Wisconsin-Madison
A student examines the writing on a painting at the First Year Grad Show, Witnesses, on display at the Art Lofts Gallery.
Student Michelle Bridwell prepares artwork to be displayed during a student art sale.
Visitors dance at Matt Mauk and Heather Sutherland's MFA Show Reception at Art Lofts, University of Wisconsin-Madison
A student places movable type in a bed for a letterpress project during the Book Arts class taught by Jim Escalante at the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Art faculty Lynda Barry poses with a student in her Making Comics class at the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Students work in the printmaking labs in Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison during assistant professor Emily Arthur's Serigraphy course.
A visitor views the University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate student work on display at the Swap Meet trade show with the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.
Grad student Rebecca Kautz celebrates installing her MA Show Protagonyst at the Art Lofts Gallery.
A student pulls a print off a lithography stone in Lithography class at the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Students work in the printmaking labs in Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison during assistant professor Emily Arthur's (in red apron) Relief Printing course.
Art faculty Lynda Barry holds up assignment instructions for a student exercise in her Making Comics class at the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Katelyn Alain, a graduate student pursuing a master of fine arts degree in painting, works on a self portrait in her studio space in the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Katie Hudnall, Windgate Artist-in-Residence, sketches ideas for a woodworking project at her studio in the Humanities Building, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Lynda Barry reviews the work of one of her students, lecturer Allison Welch, at left, in the Making Comics class at the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A student touches up their drawing on a lithography print at the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Elise Berry cleans plaster-cast remnants from a glass sculpture she is finishing in the UW Glass Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Arts at UW

Did you know?

The UW-Madison Art Department is:

  • #1 in Printmaking
  • Ranked among the top 15 Fine Arts MFA programs
  • Founded the 1st collegiate Glass program in the U.S.
  • 1 of only 5 universities in the nation with a Neon program

Ranking Source: U.S. News & World Report

The University of Wisconsin-Madison ART DEPARTMENT is committed to teaching art in the context of a major research university and a vibrant intellectual community. Offering the following degrees: B.S., B.S. in Art Education, B.F.A. in Studio Art or Graphic Design, M.F.A. in Studio Art, and Certificate in Studio Art or Graphic Design.

Take a 720° virtual tour of the Art Department

 

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