Students to unveil campus arts district plan

A new, student-driven plan to establish an arts district at the university will be unveiled Saturday, Sept. 16, as part of UW–Madison’s first “Arts Night Out.”

The eight students chose to design the proposed district as part of art professor John Rieben’s graphic design course over the summer.

According to Tino Balio, executive director of the UW–Madison Arts Institute, which suggested the project to the class, the students have offered a viable plan for showcasing the performing and visual arts on campus. “This plan complements the city’s Overture Project for an arts district downtown,” he says.

Most of the university’s arts venues — the Wisconsin Union Theater, Humanities Building, Music Hall, Lathrop Hall, Vilas Hall and the Elvehjem Museum of Art — already are located together on or near North Park Street. However, the buildings lack a collective identity, says Jason Hendricks, student coordinator of the project. “Although many of their galleries, theaters and recital halls are grouped together, arts departments and programs are scattered all over campus, so it’s been hard to established an identity,” he says. “This exhibit will show how we can create more awareness of the arts at UW–Madison through a visual and navigation system involving signage and technology.”

The students will unveil their plan Sept. 16 from 4:30-10 p.m. at Gallery 736, 736 University Ave. The premiere will coincide with “Arts Night Out,” a first-of-its-kind sampling of arts across campus for new university students and members of the general public. The exhibition will reopen Sept. 18-22 from noon-5 p.m. A public reception will close the exhibition Friday, Sept. 22, 4:30-7 p.m.

For more information about the plan or “Arts Night Out,” contact the Arts Institute, (608) 263-4086.