University of Wisconsin – Madison (Art Department of UW-Madison)

We are part of an internationally known research university with a remarkable history. We are proud of the accomplishments of our faculty and alumni and of the creative promise in our students. A wealth of resources on campus, in the Madison arts community and abroad, enable us to bring established artists to meet with our students and faculty. We are especially excited about the recent move of our glass and foundry facilities to the soon-to-be renovated Art Lofts and plans for an adjacent art building that will eventually house the department in a single, contemporary site. We invite you to come and explore the inspired, creative world of the UW-Madison Art Department.

Degree Offerings:
B.S., B.F.A., M.A., & M.F.A. in Studio Art, B.S., M.A., & Ph. D. in Art education


Programs

* 2d

Painting and drawing
This program emphasizes advance mastery of the "artistic discipline." The course of study provides an understanding of historical and contemporary painting and drawing practices, skills and techniques for further creative and expressive development. Individual expression is encouraged and supported by faculty who advocate a wide range of aesthetic views.


Life drawing
Life Drawing trains the hand, eye and mind in the timeless pursuit of the figurative image. The human figure challenges the observant artist working with drawing and painting materials on paper as no other form can. Students sharpen their observational skills, enlarge their figurative visual repertoire or engage in provocative self-expression. Through the act of "drawing ourselves" via the model, we engage in a complex dialogue of understanding who we are from the distance and dispassion of an observer. As we try to reveal the truth of what we see before us, we also confront and celebrate the uniqueness of the human form in the psychological and emotional connections resident in no other subject.


Concepts of figuration
Courses in figuration encourage creative exploration of the "figurative" transmission of the "human condition." Anthropological, cultural, socio-political, gender, sexual, racial, and dreamlife imaging become primary to the understanding of personal or group identity, place, cultural and familial dynamics, sexuality and gender identification. Figurative painting is open to the use of traditional and extreme image making methods including observational, illusionism, fictive representation or other conceptual premises relevant to the successful presentation of privately held concerns.


Contemporary abstraction
Contemporary abstraction examiness the understanding and development of issues related to abstraction's concerns. It focuses on the conceptual and technical advances during the last twenty years. Drawing on the re-emergence of the debate that characterized the role of painting initiated by Clement Greenberg in the 1940's and Michael Fried in the 1960's. Contemporary abstraction explores the observations fostered by the prevailing art critics and artists currently practicing and writing about abstraction. Emphasis is placed on the development of the technical and conceptual skills necessary to realize personal vision and critical evaluations as well as the investigation of materials and techniques currently applied by contemporary abstract painters.


* 3d

Jewelry and metalsmithing
The Metals program at UW-Madison, one of the oldest and most respected Metals programs in the country, challenges students to learn about the making of art through specific materials, techniques, history, and the cultural meaning of metalsmithing and jewelry design.

With approximately 4,500 square feet of instructional and studio space our facilities include acetylene and propane torches, annealing booths, band and jig saws, centrifugal and vacuum casting equipment, digital projectors, enameling and electroforming equipment, flex shafts at every work station, a gas forge, a large selection of anvils, hammers and stakes for raising, forming and forging, lathes, milling machines and drill presses, mold making equipment, a dedicated polishing room, rolling mills, a sand blaster, sheet metal working equipment, shears, spray booths, spray etchers, and a full compliment of hand tools. We also have a library/resource center with a computer for student use.

Ceramics
The graduate ceramics area is a 3,500 sq. ft. studio with clay mixing equipment and storage, a complete glaze studio and a kiln room containing two forty cubic foot down draft kilns and six electric kilns. Graduate students are provided with individual studio space in this self-contained workshop separate from the undergraduate space. A one hundred cubic foot wood fired kiln, a forty cubic foot salt kiln, and a ten cubic foot raku car kiln are also available.

Digital modeling
3-D Digital Studios-Students have access to labs that have high-end graphic computers, software packages, and peripherals to use in producing electronic sculptures, designs, virtual reality programs, and animation. Emphasis in this area of study is placed on the development of technical competence in the medium, professional attainment in the art forms, and the development of individually significan research and fine art directions. Traditional and non-traditional philosophies and presentations are encouraged in the study structure.

The Computer and Visual Arts-The focus of this program is on a broad exploration of the functions and uses of computers in the visual arts. The mastery of technical skills in computer graphics, conceptualization of the medium and an appreciation of the historical development of the computer in art are the major emphasis of these courses. Students work on animation, three-dimensional visualization, image-sound integration and the fusion of the computer with other media such as printmaking, painting and video. Students have access to microcomputers and more sophisticated systems with the support of software, digitizer, color printers and video disc players.

Glass and neon
The glass program started in 1961, as the first university glass program in the country. Courses stress proficiency in the basic manipulations and decorative processes inherent in the glass medium, such as blowing, casting, mold work, fusing, slumping, glass painting, etc. Facilities are available to accomplish most hat and cold working methods. The program also includes a fully equipped neon illumination facility.

Video and performance
Courses in non-static forms include video, performance art, and installation. This area of study is integrative and interdisciplinary. Philosophically, the courses combine both theory and practice. Individual development is encouraged through creative expression, technical proficiency, critical analysis and theoretical discussion. Courses also stress practical aspects including methods of exhibition, documentation, and distribution that are unique to the non-static media. Both individual and collaborative projects are possible and frequent opportunities for students to exhibit or perform are available.

Sculpture
The sculpture program is flexible, varied, and open. Facilities are available for most of the processes needed to produce sculpture: welding, including MIG and TIG; a large glass working studio; a foundry with a large alpine sculpture kiln for foundry molds, or ceramic works; shops for metal and wood construction, casting, paint and other sculptural techniques.

Wood/furniture
The wood/furniture program stresses the innovative use of wood as a material for the construction of both functional objects and sculpture. Using a project-based curriculum, the design process is emphasized through sketching, technical drawings, model making and computer rendering. Students will develop a high level of proficiency in the various manipulative, construction and finishing processes of woodworking. The projects combine appropriate technical requirements with conceptual challenges that encourage creative problem solving and critical thinking. Both hand-tool and machine techniques are taught.

The wood studio has 5000 square feet of floor space. Graduate students have a private bench room. There are two machine rooms, a classroom, a separate finishing room with several spray systems and an office/library. Each student works at their own bench and has access to a locked personal tool cabinet which contains essential hand-tools. The extensive collection of power equipment is commercial quality with all machines connected to state-of-the-art dust-collection.


* Graphics

The graphics program consists of courses in printmaking, paper making, photography, and graphic design. A faculty of specialists offers instruction emphasizing in-depth technical knowledge and utilizing state-of-the-art print equipment in studios designed and outfitted for specific printing techniques. The program stresses skill and technical command with a major emphasis on the development of ideas and concepts. Graphic design is defined in the broadest terms to include typography, book design and structure, artists books, paper making, illustration, production techniques, and computer typesetting.

Printmaking
Digital Printmaking-Courses in digtial print production techniques provide graphics students with the necessary skills to take original art or digital media to printed output. It also provides a thorough explanation of the various systems, software, and hardware fundamentals involved in the integration of digital forms with etching,lithography, screen printing, photography, book arts, and graphic design.

Etching/Intaglio- The etching/intaglio classes present a thorough grounding in traditional techniques, while encouraging experimentation and an orienting of the print in the center of current artmaking. There is an emphasis on sophisticated color printing and the incorporation of other non-traditional formats. The facilities include four etching presses and a state-of-the-art platemaker for photoetching.

Lithography-The lithography classes are based on individual conceptual development as well as "hands on" course work geared towards craftsmanship and professionalism. All phases of lithography are stressed including direct, transfer, photo and computer generated imagery utilizing both stones and plates. The center of the program is a well equipped workshop incorporating five presses, a large graining sink, and over 75 stones of varying sizes up to 30 by40 inches.

Relief Printing-These courses offer instruction in woodcut, wood engraving, and linocut. Skill in the use of hand tools is stressed, as well as experimentation with power tools and the laser engraver. Besides its use as a powerfully expressive medium on its own, the relief print as it is used in typographic design and fine book production is also explored.

Serigraphy-Classes in serigraphy (screenprinting) explore various techniques used to develop stencils from basic hand drawn and cut paper designs, to advanced photo and digitigraphic processes. With a workshop linked directly to the digital printmaking studio, these courses emphasize the integration of traditional silkscreen methods, photo techniques, and current computer image processing with large format printing.

Graphic Design and Typography
The program in graphic design emphasizes the process of visual communication of ideas and information with attention to aesthetic considerations, techniques and methods. Coursework in computer typesetting introduces the historical and visual aspects of formal typography, and serves to facilitate experimentation with the communicative properties of type. Practical study in this area involves the design and production of books, broadsides, brochures and posters; the development and application of logotypes and design formats; using computer technologies and graphic reproduction techniques.

Book Arts
Artists' Books- Book structures and artists books examines the interplay between form and content found in books made by artists. By exploring the various structures of a book, the student learns the balances of visual imagery vs. leterary imagery. Combining various media and collaborating with other artists and writers is strongly encouraged.

Paper Making-The program in paper making is concerned with understanding the inherent qualities of the materials used in this medium, first, as applied to traditional sheet forming and , second as, they relate to contemporary concepts involving casting, pulp painting, and vacuum forming. Printmakers are encouraged to study the basic substructure that carries their images and to be sensitive to the subtle influences in the expressions found in handmade papers.

Photography
The photography labs include facilities for black and white photography, digital photography, alternative processes, with large scale black/white and digital printing. Photography classes, at the graduate level, have a high teacher to student ratio in order to promote an atmosphere of personal growth.


* Foundation program

* Art cohort
* 2D design
* 3D design
* Contemporary art survey
* Drawing

* Art education

The program in art education prepares students to teach art in public and private elementary and secondary schools; and for education roles in various other institutions (e.g., museums). Graduates are eligible for licensure in the State of Wisconsin in art education at both the elementary and secondary levels.

A diverse cohort of students enriches the Art Education Teacher Certification Program as well as the profession in meeting the needs of pupils, society, and emerging local, regional and global challenges while ensuring that all students are afforded an art education that is broad in terms of visual arts, design, and multiple perspectives.

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Art Department of UW-Madison Art School Location

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