Nighttime is the right time for Arts Night Out!
A string quartet will play with fire, ceramics will get smoking hot and dancers will burn up the floor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Arts Night Out! on Saturday, Sept. 30.
Artists, performers and organizations from across campus invite people to experience the arts, from traditional to cutting edge, at no charge. Special family friendly events will release the creative spirit in budding artists of all ages.
Arts Night Out!, the UW–Madison campus arts festival, presents an array of arts programming that is regularly offered by campus galleries, theaters, and music and arts groups on a single day. From noon to midnight, participants can immerse themselves in exhibitions, performances of all kinds, films, demonstrations, receptions and more.
Participants in the day of eclectic, artistic adventure can get fired up at a pottery demonstration of raku-glazing; learn how stage-fighting scenes are put together; experience cross-cultural dance; and hear the world-renowned Pro Arte String Quartet perform works by Mozart, Schumann and Shostakovich, plus much more.
Programs to thrill the young and young at heart include a theater workshop for the whole family at the new UW–Madison Welcome Center — complete with ice-cream treats; a tour of sculptures at the Chazen Museum of Art, followed by a sketching session that will concentrate on the art elements of line, texture and shape; and a matinee screening of “Gregory’s Girl,” a gentle story of puppy love, soccer and growing up.
Susan Cook, executive director of the Arts Institute, says the family friendly events are set up to easily give children a range of arts experiences. “We were discovering from past years that our Arts Night Out! audience, while targeted at new students, was increasingly drawing from the off-campus Madison community,” Cook says. “Many of our arts programs have specific activities that focus on youth — such as our Chazen Museum education programs and our Youth Theatre program — so we wanted to draw attention to that part of our arts curricular offerings. No one’s too young or too old to benefit from what the arts on campus have to offer.”
Arts Night Out! is sponsored by campus arts departments and organizations, Visitor & Information Programs and the UW–Madison Arts Institute. For information and connections, call (608) 263-2400, stop by the Campus Information Center in the Red Gym on Langdon Street or the Welcome Center at 21 N. Park St.
The arts at UW–Madison are rich in tradition and continue to lead the way in excellence and innovation. The university’s first gallery was built in 1877, and today the university’s art galleries, museums, libraries and working presses educate students and welcome visitors. The university offers more than 1,500 performing arts events each year. These events often have reasonable ticket prices or are even free, providing an opportunity for families, students and community members to experience high-quality performing arts without the high prices.
For more information and a complete schedule of Arts Night Out! call Visitor & Information Programs, (608) 263-2400.
