New institute expected to boost visibility of arts

An institute formed this fall to strengthen UW–Madison arts programs also will help boost the visibility of the arts on campus, organizers say.

The Arts Institute is an outgrowth of the decades-old UW–Madison Arts Consortium. The consortium spent three years studying how campus arts departments and programs might be strengthened and unified, and recommended an Arts Institute to UW–Madison Chancellor David Ward last year.

Motivating the consortium study was the fact that the arts are divided among three separate schools and colleges: Education, Letters and Science, and Human Ecology. The consortium concluded that an institute could foster collaboration among artists, regardless of where they are housed administratively.

In addition to sponsoring interdisciplinary projects, the new institute is charged with:

• Administering arts fellowships and awards.
• Expanding arts outreach efforts.
• Developing a strategic fundraising campaign to support interdisciplinary projects.
• Speaking as a collective voice of the arts to university and external constituencies.

Like its predecessor, the Arts Institute will consist of an assembly of arts departments, programs and presenters. “The assembly will serve as a forum for the discussion of arts-related issues and will foster a shared academic culture among its members,” says UW–Madison film professor Tino Balio, executive director of the institute and former chair of the Arts Consortium.

Governing the institute will be an elected five-member executive committee responsible for implementing the assembly’s proposals. Members of the first committee are Wisconsin Union Theater director Michael Goldberg, School of Music director John Schaffer, art department chair Laurie Beth Clark, film professor J.J. Murphy and Diane Sheehan, professor of environment, textiles and design. The institute will report to a council of deans: Charles Read of the School of Education, Phillip R. Certain of the College of Letters and Science, and Hamilton McCubbin of the School of Human Ecology.

“The type of collaboration we want to encourage is exemplified by the UW- Madison Cinematheque, a coalition of campus departments and Madison film groups,” Balio says. “The institute will look forward to supporting similar collaborative ventures in the future.”

If you have an idea for an arts project, contact the institute at (608) 263-4086.