University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee (Peck School of the Arts)

MISSION

The mission of the Peck School of the Arts is to provide the highest quality education and professional training in the arts at the baccalaureate and master's degree levels. The school is committed to recruiting faculty, staff, and students who reflect the richness and diversity of art-making in a variety of cultures. As the only school of the arts in Wisconsin in a major urban environment, the Peck School of the Arts encourages collaboration with community arts organizations and artists to provide professional experiences for its students.


HISTORY

The University of Wisconsin Board of Regents approved the creation of the School of Fine Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in December 1962. It was the third school created at UWM, joining the College of Letters and Science and the School of Education. As one of the pioneering schools in the newly created University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, this new academic unit, comprised of departments of art, music, dance, and theatre, became a center for the creative and performing arts in a city that lacked such a nucleus. In 1974 a department of film was added to provide a full complement of arts training and programming.

The UWM Art Museum was created in 1982 to consolidate exhibition support and gallery space for the Art Department. In 1996 the museum's name was changed to Inova (Institute of Visual Arts). Today Inova is one of the world's top venues for contemporary art.

In 1999 the school was renamed the Peck School of the Arts in recognition of the generosity of the Milton and Lillian Peck Foundation in supporting and sustaining the school's many programs. In 2000 the school acquired the temple across the street from campus, formerly the home of Congregation Emanu-El B'ne Jeshurun, and renamed it the Helene Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts in recognition of the lead donation for the acquisition made by the Nathaniel K. Zelazo Revocable Trust. The Helene Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts is one of the premier performance venues in the greater Milwaukee area. It is home to the Helen Bader Concert Hall and the Peck School of the Arts Department of Music and its many ensembles.

Today the Peck School of the Arts offers eighteen degree programs serving more than 1,700 student majors, making it one of the largest and most comprehensive arts schools in the region. The Peck School is a vital home for the arts, presenting more than 270 events each year.


Degree Programs

The Peck School of the Arts offers eighteen degree programs serving more than 1,700 student majors, making it one of the largest and most comprehensive arts schools in the region.

Dance

In the UWM Department of Dance, our continued collective commitment to skillful performance, artistic individuality and dynamic teacher training is producing students who are making impressive contributions to the profession locally and nationally. In 2006, our curriculum expanded to include a Musical Theatre component, and across the Peck School of the Arts additional collaborative performing opportunities continue to expand within a scholastic environment of creativity, innovation, and national prominence.

The Dance Program at UWM is growing and our numerous achievements have been recognized by Dance USA and the American College Dance Festival. Our students are receiving recognition in the field as well. UWM alums are dancing up a storm here in Milwaukee and other major cities across the country. These artists are the best evidence of our continued commitment at UWM to training technical and creative dance artists.

Training UWM dance artists is a faculty that is one of the most professionally skilled and diverse in the school or any school that I have ever come across. Take a look at the faculty biographies on the website (arts.uwm.edu/dance) and prepare to be impressed!


Film

We offer two integrated tracks of study leading to a BFA in Film, with emphasis on either Production or Conceptual Studies in Media Arts Production. Both tracks are designed to train media artists and accommodate differing approaches to and styles of student learning. We also offer an MFA in Film.

Our BFA and MFA programs focus on the education of the independent media artist. Unlike other departments where students are separated into professional specialties -- cinematographers, editors, directors -- at UWM we endeavor to develop the media artist as a self-sufficient producer. We want to educate people who can express themselves with eloquence and authenticity, people who can function effectively in every aspect of the film/video continuum.

Conceptual Studies, established in 2004, resides in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Department of Film. The curriculum promotes visual thinking, media literacy, and an historically informed approach to theory/practice. Student work incorporates a range of tools from pencils to podcasting; for example, students experiment with film, video, photography, and web-based technologies, such as blogging, interactive database film, and e-publishing. When inserted in a larger history of ideas and images, these activities inspire new modes of thought and expression. In this way, the program creates a space for students to develop an intellectual and artistic spin on their place in remix culture.

Together, our programs attract talented individuals locally and from around the world, resulting in a learning and producing environment rich in inspiration and a variety of experience.


Music

In a beautiful neighborhood near Lake Michigan and only minutes from downtown Milwaukee, UWM offers an ideal cultural environment for aspiring young musicians.

With 26 full-time and 20 adjunct professors, the UWM Music Department offers you first-rate instruction by highly qualified professionals in all areas of music. We offer BFA, BA and MM degrees in a variety of areas. At UWM you will study with an artist-teacher who maintains an active professional career. We pride ourselves on utilizing regular faculty members for undergraduate courses (even freshman classes). Our faculty takes the time to get to know you personally, and with our low 10-to-1 student/faculty ratio, you get the individual attention you deserve.


Theatre

The Department of Theatre at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Peck School of the Arts. We hope you will explore these web pages to learn more about our theatre degrees and production programs as well as the rich artistic environment and learning opportunities you will find in all Peck School of the Arts programs.

UWM Theatre boasts an outstanding teaching faculty of working professional theatre artists whose work has been seen in regional and commercial theatres across the country, including the Tony-winning Utah Shakespearean Festival, Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Montana Repertory Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, The Public Theatre, LaMama, ETC, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, the Skylight Opera Theatre, Chamber Theatre, Music Theatre of Wichita, New American Theatre, Peninsula Players, Renaissance Theatreworks, and Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre.


Visual art

From stone-carving to digital design, the Department of Visual Art offers a wide array of experiences to make and think art. We train the physical skills necessary for manipulating materials using the tools of the trade, but more importantly, we train the "thinking eye." In our ever-increasing world of visual communications, art and design are exciting areas of study for dedicated students.

Our department, one of the oldest and largest in the Midwest, offers an outstanding undergraduate program in visual art. Incoming students all begin with a year of Foundations classes. These core classes prepare students for an intensive college-level study of the visual arts by guiding students toward an understanding of the language used to see, to talk about, and to make art. Students who have completed Foundations may choose among three degrees: Bachelor of Fine Arts with Teacher Certification (Art Education); Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art; and Bachelor of Arts (which enables students to combine studio courses with a broader humanities component).


Inter-Arts

The BFA in Inter-Arts is designed to provide basic knowledge in several arts areas or related fields rather than specialization in a single field. Combined with a careful selection of core curriculum electives, this program offers students the background for future work not only as artists, but also as critics, scholars in the arts, and arts program coordinators and administrators. Students majoring in Inter-Arts may choose one of two tracks: the Inter-Arts track or the Digital Imaging, Visualization, Animation and Sound (DIVAS).


Teaching the arts

The Peck School of the Arts offers teacher certification in Dance, Music, Theatre and Visual Art. Our Visual Art Education program is the largest in the state--training, interning and placing students in professional careers in public and private schools. Our Music Education program has a 100% employment placement record.

In addition, the school offers several graduate degrees in music education, including and M.S. in Art Education and an M.M. in Music Education. There are also many opportunities for teachers seeking graduate degrees in their areas of arts specialization.

Our arts education faculty serves as a resource in the community: training teachers, conducting research, and creating and implementing innovative programs—from Video in the Schools to the Youth Wind Ensemble—that serve Milwaukee’s K-12 population.

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Peck School of the Arts Art School Location

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