UW–Madison’s vibrant, interdisciplinary campus arts culture attracts students and professors from around the world. But don’t just take our word for it.
They come for the lakes, and those starburst chairs coloring the Terrace at Memorial Union in John Deere green, Allis Chalmers orange, and sunshine yellow. They come to participate in the Wisconsin Idea, drawing on a rich legacy of research, innovation and collaboration to build a brighter future for all. They come for more than a dozen academic arts majors — and, regardless of major, they come for the plays, exhibitions, performances, readings, concerts, slams, films, residencies, open mics, studios, workshops, student clubs, more than 30 on-campus galleries, and the Chazen Museum of Art, the largest collecting museum within the Big Ten conference. We asked five members of the campus arts community what drew them to UW–Madison, and what excites them now that they’re here.
Able Broyles, Student, Third Year MFA in Ceramics
Georgia native and clay artist Able Broyles chose UW–Madison because of a key professor — Christina West, “an artist and individual I had admired for many years,” Broyles says. They were also keen to take advantage of the rare opportunity to work with neon (UW–Madison is one of only a handful of schools in the U.S. that has a full service facility for creating neon art), the arts funding and exhibition spaces they didn’t find at other universities, and the culture of collaboration across disciplines and schools. “I love having non-art majors in my classes,” Broyles says, “and finding connections and commonality across our separate research.” Broyles is most looking forward to the Visiting Artist Colloquium lecture series, in particular artist Stephanie Syjuco. “With the rise of AI, I think many of us are craving the tangible and returning to craft,” Broyles says. “Plus the skills you exercise in studio classes, from creative problem solving to material knowledge, can be carried through your studies across the university.”