UW art students honor university’s contributions with exhibit

Can’t repeat the past? Why, of course you can!

At the very least, you can shape and frame it, as two classes of UW–Madison design students discovered when they put together the Wisconsin Idea Sesquicentennial Exhibit, a celebration in photos and captions of the university’s contributions to the people of Wisconsin and the world.

The display, 63 images strong, will be unveiled Sept. 10 at 5 p.m. in the Elvehjem Museum of Art’s Mayer Gallery. The exhibit will remain on view there until Sept. 13; the exhibition then will travel throughout Madison and Wisconsin, making stops in Milwaukee, Green Bay and Janesville. It also will be shown at alumni and donor events across the country.

Eighteen students in associate art professor John Rieben’s Advanced Graphic Design and Special Topics in Design courses developed and assembled the exhibition as a research exercise.

“I wanted to create an opportunity for student involvement in the sesquicentennial and to showcase their talent,” Rieben says. “Academically, I wanted to develop teamwork among students and show them how important research is.”

One of those students is Kathy Klingemann, a senior concentrating in graphic design. “I must have looked at 10,000 photos,” she says.

About 40 percent of the exhibition has been drawn from campus information offices, 40 percent from the University Archives and 20 percent from private collections, Klingemann says. Clustered around five themes — “Enhancing Health,” “Advancing Knowledge,” “Expanding Views,” “Building Pride” and “Shaping Marketplaces” — the photos will be grouped on unique display cubes designed by the students

“We have photos ranging from classes in the dance program to the early days of WHA radio to cranberry bogs,” Klingemann says. “We have a particularly striking shot of surgery in progress at UW Hospital.”

Klingemann says this experience has enhanced her own education immeasurably. “The project taught me more about computer applications in graphic design,” she says. In addition, she was able to expand her appreciation for the university’s history and its role in the state’s development.

“I learned so much about what the university does — I expect taxpayers who come to this exhibition will leave with a greater appreciation for the benefits of UW–Madison research,” Klingemann says.