Students work to create pieces that represent themselves and the changes they want to see
Though the University of Wisconsin is known as a sports and research haven, the institution’s classrooms are teeming with art forms and artists of all kinds.
They have been doing so throughout history and continue to do so today. Artists as disparate but equally brilliant as the late architect Frank Lloyd Wright, fashion designer Virgil Abloh and TV producer/writer Jill Soloway, once roamed this campus’ many halls and took something different from their time at UW.
Wright, perhaps America’s most important architect, quickly decided school was not for him and dropped out after two semesters.
Abloh used his fashion to rebel against UW’s engineering program. In a New York Magazine profile, Soloway said it was a life-changing chance encounter near Lake Mendota that provided the impetus for award-winning shows like ‘Transparent.’
Today, artists of many disciplines, trained in classes or practicing on the side, continue to hone their crafts on campus.
The artists behind the art
Some students come to UW with a passion and art form already wedged into their brains. Others happen across theirs by chance, like taking a random course or attending some speaking event.