He sought more opportunities for student artists. Now he’s leading a major show.
Bryce Dailey, a University of Wisconsin–Madison junior, has found significant success exhibiting his artwork on campus. His pieces have twice been featured in a competitive art show at Memorial Union.
But Dailey wanted to get his work — and the work of his fellow student artists — in front of a broader audience. So he got creative. The result: an independent, off-campus, multi-artist show with a low financial bar for entry and a focus on building community among artists, especially undergraduates.
It’s exactly the kind of thing the university encourages.
“It’s part of the rite of passage to leave the comforts of academia and put it all on the line in a professional space,” says Professor Leslie Smith III, chair of the UW–Madison Art Department.
The 17-artist Midwest Print Showcase, undertaken by Dailey with zero money but a lot of initiative, will run Feb. 26-March 4 at Common Wealth Gallery, 100 S. Baldwin St., Madison.
“As an artist and a student, I know how hard it is to build a résumé,” says Dailey, of Montfort, Wisconsin, a village about an hour west of Madison. “I could have done a solo show, but I wanted to help other artists, too.”
Dailey is majoring in consumer behavior and marketplace studies through the School of Human Ecology, with certificates in studio art and entrepreneurship. He has an eye on a marketing career, with a long-term goal of starting an arts-related business.
Dailey became interested in screen printing as a kid and attempted to make art like Andy Warhol, one of his heroes. A side hustle making T-shirts in high school got off to a rocky start.
“It’s pretty hard to do something like that without top-of-the-line equipment and a lot of experience,” he says. “The sole reason I’m able to make screen print-based art now is because of the equipment UW has — some of the best facilities in the country.”
The printmaking program, housed in the School of Education’s Art Department, was ranked No. 1 in the nation in U.S. News and World Report’s 2021 Best Graduate Schools Specialty Program rankings. Not all programs are rated every year, and that’s the last time U.S. News ranked printmaking programs.
Dailey currently does experimental screen printing and manipulates photographs using a printing technique called cyanotype. He says it is often hard for up-and-coming artists to get the public’s eyes on their work, in part because the fees to apply for open-call gallery shows can be steep. For the show he put together, Dailey set the submission fee at a low $10. He would have skipped a submission fee altogether but needed a way to cover the cost of renting the exhibit space. He will not be taking a cut of any artwork sold; all profits will go directly to the artists.
“What Bryce has managed to accomplish is amazing,” says senior Jordan Hogg, an art education major from Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, who has three pieces in the show. “It is very inspiring to see a fellow art student starting their own art show.”
Another artist in the show, junior Nora Murphy, says that what Dailey is doing is the kind of thing she loves about UW art students.
“They’re always getting involved and trying to connect with each other,” says Murphy, a fine arts major from Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. “The hallways of the art buildings are always covered in posters promoting all sorts of cool art activities and events centered around the students.”
To get the word out to artists for his show, Dailey initially was planning to post his call for submissions on a popular platform for artists and organizers. However, he soon realized it would cost him hundreds of dollars in membership fees and other expenses to do that.
“I had zero budget to work with, and I’m not in a position to dip into my own funds,” he says. “That’s why I had to rely on using the university’s student directory, putting up flyers, sending emails and posting on free sites.”
Most of the 17 artists in the show are UW–Madison students, although residents of Nebraska and Iowa also are represented.
Smith, the Art Department chair, says the art world is a congested place and that many established venues don’t take risks on young artists. Most “new” art scenes are pioneered by up-and-coming artists like Dailey looking to exhibit their work in creative, undiscovered ways, Smith says.
“These students are eager to engage directly with the art world without the protections of academia,” he says, “and that’s how it’s done for those who want to live as artists.”
A reception for the Midwest Print Show will be held at the Common Wealth Gallery from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 28. RSVPs are not required but would be appreciated.