And yet 35% of the audience were men. What gives? “The current level of uncertainty and turbulence and anxiety accounts for part of that crossover among genders,” said Nancy Wong, a professor of consumer science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “People associate ‘Barbie’ with a more comfortable, simple and stable time in their lives.”
Category: Arts & Humanities
The role of Barbie in popular culture and how it’s changed over the years
The Barbie movie has seen great success at the box office. We talk with Christine Whelan, a UW-Madison consumer science professor, about the doll’s cultural legacy and latest form.
Muralist Kiba Freeman unveils new piece in downtown Madison as part of UW-Madison, City collaboration
Chris Walker, director for the Division of the Arts at UW-Madison, spoke to the liveliness of the artistic work being done in the city, as well as the importance of stewardship in how we treat the earth. “Thank you for such a beautiful contribution to our city,” said Walker. “Earlier, someone said that the collaboration between our campus and our city can be challenging. Some of the work that the Division of the Arts is trying to do is to alleviate some of those barriers. Making this type of outcome the norm and more common, because of the brilliant work that is happening on our campus.”
Author Q&A: Book within a book supplies the mystery
Q: I know you also work full time at UW-Madison. Did you take time off to finish “I Know What You Did?”
A: When I get excited about an idea, I take any possible time I can find to write. I do lunch hours, evenings and weekends. I do occasionally take myself on mini writing retreats.
With ‘Top Chef’ coming, these are some of Wisconsin’s most iconic reality TV moments
Speaking of food, a pair of University of Wisconsin food science graduate students won “The Amazing Race 25,” winning the globetrotting contest that featured 11 teams.
Kayla McGhee appointed as arts outreach and engagement coordinator for UW-Madison Division of the Arts
Recent developments at UW-Madison’s Division of the Arts will see Kayla McGhee as the new arts outreach and engagement coordinator to build connections between the Division and campus partners, along with the local creative industry and community.
Rapper Yung Gravy will return to Summerfest to fill amphitheater vacancy after AJR’s exit
The Milwaukee music festival said early Sunday that Yung Gravy, the rapper and University of Wisconsin-Madison alum who headlined Summerfest’s Generac Power Stage Friday night, will perform at the American Family Insurance Amphitheater at 7:30 p.m. July 6. Admission to the concert will be free with general admission to Summerfest.
‘Falcon Lake’ conjures the ghosts of summer romance
The Madison premiere of “Falcon Lake” kicks off the UW Cinematheque summer series at 7 p.m. Wednesday at 4070 Vilas Hall, 821 University Ave. The screening is free, and seating is first-come, first-serve.
Poem: Conditions for Retention
Anne Boyer is a poet and an essayist. Her memoir about cancer and care, “The Undying,” won a 2020 Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction. Jennifer Nelson is the author of three books of poems: “Aim at the Centaur Stealing Your Wife” (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2015), “Civilization Makes Me Lonely” (Ahsahta Press, 2017) and most recently “Harm Eden” (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2021). They are also an assistant professor of early modern art at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the author of two art history books,
UW Choral Union ends after 130-year run
AUW-Madison choir group founded in the late 19th century that brought together students, alumni and community members has been disbanded as the university seeks to shift resources to more student-centric offerings.
UW center says diversity in kids’ literature is growing, amid challenges to books nationwide
According to new numbers from UW-Madison, diversity is growing in the books read by kids, not only in the characters they read about but also in the people who make them.
TV actor’s Wisconsin roots inspired award-winning short film
Actor Hans Obma wrote and starred in an original film that was an official selection of one of the biggest film festivals in the world. The Wisconsinite and 4th generation University of Wisconsin-Madison alum wrote and starred in his original film “A Question of Service.”
Art for everyone at Memorial Union’s Wheelhouse Studios
If you’re looking to flex those creative and artistic muscles this summer, Wheelhouse Studios located on the lower level of Memorial Union invites you to indulge.
Brandon Taylor: ‘Writing is the most fun I’m capable of having’
The American author talks about growing up queer in a family of ‘wolves’, poverty and class in the US, and the 19th-century writers who inspired his latest novel.
The Three Graces
Poem by Paul Tran, a Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. Their début poetry collection, “All the Flowers Kneeling,” was published in 2022. They teach at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
He returned to the ‘cave of bones’ to solve the mysteries of human origins
Excerpt from “Cave of Bones” by Lee Berger and John Hawks, paleoanthropologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Chazen’s latest exhibit ‘re:mancipation’ uses art to reinterpret problematic works
A collaborative project to reinterpret and reimagine problematic works of art has culminated into a months-long exhibit at the Chazen Museum of Art. We speak to Sanford Biggers, the lead of “re:mancipation.”
Book Review: Brandon Taylor is back with a new campus novel, ‘The Late Americans’
The novel follows the lives and loves of a group of graduate students and townies in Iowa City, home of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where Taylor earned an MFA after getting a master’s degree in biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
UW Russian Folk Orchestra to host 25th Anniversary Concert
Ensemble will perform Slavic and East-European music Saturday night at first live performance in four years.
Response sculpture in “re:mancipation” exhibit sparks dialogues over history, art, racism
“Lifting the Veil” empowers through symbolism while starting important conversations about American history.
Understanding the Writers Guild of America strike and its impact
We talk with Michael Childers, a professor in the UW-Madison School for Workers and Department of Labor Education, and an entertainment reporter about the latest in the second week of a massive Hollywood writers strike.
UW alum headed to Cannes Film Festival in France
Hans Obma credits his time at UW-Madison where he took theater classes and studied Spanish, French and German which, he says, is why he usually plays foreign characters in films. That includes the one he created that will be played in Cannes.
UW-Madison launches first American Sign Language program
The language sciences department will offer a semester-long introductory ASL course starting this summer and fall. Next spring, the department will also add a second level ASL course.
Rhiannon Giddens & Michael Abels Win 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Music
The opera is about a real person, Omar ibn Said, and is based on his autobiography A Muslim American Slave: The Life of Omar ibn Said, written in 1831, mostly in Arabic. The work was translated into English by Ala Alryyes and published by the University of Wisconsin Press in 2011.
Q&A: Founder of Badger Film Groups shares rewards of student film
’What makes this group special is that everyone cares,’ BFG president says.
How to build more trust and engagement between journalists and audiences
Technological changes and attacks on media have eroded public trust in journalism and the news media. Sue Robinson, a UW-Madison journalism professor, joins us to share her new book on how journalists can better engage their communities and build trust with their audiences.
Musical ‘Hadestown’ at Marcus Center sings an old song with a powerful American accent
Noted: Directed and developed by Rachel Chavkin, the musical “Hadestown” has two important Wisconsin connections. University of Wisconsin alum André De Shields won a Tony for originating the show-stopping role of Hermes on Broadway. And in Mitchell’s 2010 concept album version of “Hadestown,” Orpheus was sung by Justin Vernon, aka Mr. Bon Iver.
An Exhibition Proposes Alternatives to Removing Contentious Statues
In 2020, as statues of Confederate generals and other contentious historical images were being taken down in many cities, Sanford Biggers, the acclaimed New York-based contemporary artist, and Amy Gilman, the director of the Chazen Museum of Art at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, were watching with keen interest.
Bipartisan coalition seeks one-time funds for Wisconsin’s arts and creative industries
The coalition is made up of more than 100 organizations from across Wisconsin, including the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Kids from Wisconsin, the UW-Madison Division of the Arts, and Dane Arts.
Ben Chan, Matt Amodio, Aaron Rodgers and other ‘Jeopardy!’ winners with Wisconsin connections
One of the biggest “Jeopardy!” winners of all time, Amodio, a native of Medina, Ohio, earned a master’s degree in artificial intelligence from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2017. He won 38 contests on the show in July through October of 2021, and returned in 2022 to play an exhibition match against fellow mega-winners Amy Schneider and Mattea Roach before bowing out in the semifinals in the 2022 Tournament of Champions.
Book pairs ancient knowledge with youth struggles
Carla Vigue is the director of tribal relations for the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Her work at the school includes building relationships with tribal nations, communities, and organizations. She was recently named an influential leader in the state.
The Wisconsin Film Festival exhibits the unifying power of cinema
The ceremony took place in the Great Hall at Memorial Union with a collection of University of Wisconsin-Madison staff members, filmmakers, undergraduate students and community members celebrating the art of cinema and demonstrating continued support for Wisconsin filmmakers.
Wisconsin Film Festival celebrates its 25th birthday at UW-Madison
If the Wisconsin Film Festival seems a little daunting to you, with 160 films crammed into eight days, director of operations Ben Reiser knows just how you feel.
Hit the mark: How UW dance clubs to make it onstage
Dance Elite is allowed to practice at the Nicholas Recreation Center regularly for no cost because of their relationship with RecWell, according to member Erin Anderson. They also receive university funding for their organization.
Art for your feet — made for no one but you
There are many different ways to view footwear, a fact not lost on “Hand Made in America,” a popular exhibit at the Lynn Mecklenburg Textile Gallery at UW-Madison’s Center for Design and Material Culture through May 14.
Hilldale movie theater reopens for Wisconsin Film Festival
Other showings of the 160 films scheduled for this year’s fest, which runs through April 20, will be on the UW-Madison campus. Venues are Shannon Hall in Memorial Union, 800 Langdon St.; the Chazen Museum of Art, 750 University Ave.; UW Cinematheque, 821 University Ave.; and The Marquee, on the second floor of Union South, 1308 Dayton St. UW-Madison students can receive a free ticket to any film with available seating by using their Wiscard at a box office location or at the door.
UW-Madison to debut Chicana/o and Latina/o bachelor’s degree, first of its kind in UW System
UW-Madison is set to launch a Chicana/o and Latina/o bachelor’s degree this fall as the department has seen exploding enrollment in the department’s certificate program over the past decade, director Rubén Medina said. The major was approved by the UW Board of Regents at its March meeting.
‘Without us, there is no Madison’: Arts conference focuses on business
When the pandemic closed the Chazen Museum of Art in 2020, director Amy Gilman began to repeat a message to her team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Video games as educational tools
The Field Day Lab in the Wisconsin Center for Education Research is creating online video games to be used as learning tools for students. We talk to Sarah Gagnon, creative director for the Field Day Lab in the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the UW–Madison School of Education, about their latest games and how they work.
UW Symphony Orchestra, Anthony McGill enthrall crowd at Hamel Music Center
Mead Witter School of Music puts on exciting evening for symphony fans.
Children’s Book Center supports educators amid book bans
’We’re the only long-standing institution that provides these services in the way that we do,’ CCBC director says.
‘Science of reading,’ whole language,’ ‘balanced literacy’: How can Wisconsin resolve its ‘reading wars’ and teach kids to read?
Quoted: On the other side of the debate is Mark Seidenberg, a psychology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, one of the leading scientists cited by advocates for the science of reading. Seidenberg said there is a large volume of research that sheds light on how children learn to read and that supports the science of reading approach.
Can using such approaches raise the overall success of kids in becoming readers? “I think it’s huge,” Seidenberg said in an interview.
How The Bible Took Shape
Scott Johnson, Playfully Inventive Composer, Is Dead at 70
Noted: Daunted by the serialist compositional style that held sway in academia, Mr. Johnson turned to visual art. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison with a bachelor’s degree in art in 1974 and then drove a cab in Madison for a year to finance his move to New York City in 1975.
Chazen Museum of Art presents groundbreaking ‘re:mancipation’ exhibit
On the heels of the exhibition “Sifting and Reckoning: UW-Madison’s History of Exclusion and Resistance,” which dealt with the university’s past prejudicial activity, the Chazen Museum of Art has unveiled a new art insulation that takes aim at some of the art in its own galleries.
Summerfest 2023 in Milwaukee reveals headliner lineup, with more than 100 acts
This year’s headliners, who will perform across at least seven stages at Maier Festival Park, range from singer-songwriter Noah Kahan (fresh off a sold-out Miller High Life Theatre show in February) to University of Wisconsin graduate and tongue-in-cheek rapper Yung Gravy to Oscar-winning hip-hop veterans Three 6 Mafia to indie rock royalty Fleet Foxes, The War on Drugs and Japanese Breakfast.
Jane Rotonda starts a new chapter as Wisconsin Book Festival director
The key partnerships for the book festival are endless: the creative writing folks at UW between the Center for Humanities, between all the different cultural studies, programs, and all those specific sectors within the university, but also just in our community. Accessing all of those partnerships, and making myself available to all of those partnerships, all of that is another way to build diversity in the programming.
From ‘Dukes Of Hazzard’ To Broadway To His New Album ‘Simple Man’ – A Conversation With Tom Wopat
He had vocal training in junior high and high school, then went on to study voice at the University of Wisconsin.
What’s it like to be a conductor? Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra fellowship helps reveal the answer
For an orchestra conductor, raising the baton at the start of a concert is a tiny fraction of the job. “I’d say it’s about 5% of what we do,” says Andrew Sewell, music director for the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra.
It’s that other 95% that Kelby Schnepel and Daewon Kang are learning as graduate students at the UW-Madison Mead Witter School of Music — and now as the first recipients of a new conducting fellowship with the WCO.
Professor Mark H. appointed new faculty artistic director of OMAI
Professor Mark H. is the newly appointed faculty artistic director of UW–Madison’s Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives (OMAI), home of the First Wave Hip Hop & Urban Arts Scholarship Program, OMAI announced on Wednesday.
An Ode to Inheritance and More: The Week in Reporter Reads
While at the University of Wisconsin, Mr. Lesy chanced upon thousands of photographs taken between 1890 and 1910 by Charles Van Schaick, a photographer in Black River Falls.
WUD Art Committee celebrates 95th anniversary of student art gallery
The gallery is free of charge to attend and will remain open until March 10 at the Main Gallery and Class of 1925 Gallery located on the second floor of Memorial Union.
The Right Side of History
The trouble started with a writer on deadline. James Sweet, who goes by Jim, is a white professor of African history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the former president of the American Historical Association (A.H.A.). Every month, he was tasked with writing a column for Perspectives on History, a magazine put out by the association, which is mostly read by academics. Last summer, while he was on vacation in Ghana, he was struggling to come up with a column idea, and so he started looking around for inspiration.
Actors stun in University Theatre’s ‘Fences’
Production shares poignant, complex narrative of Black experience.
Grammy winner Samara Joy to perform at UW Memorial Union
Joy will be in Madison just a few months after winning her first two Grammy Awards including the coveted “Best New Artist” award. Her performance will be part of the Wisconsin Union Theater’s 2022-23 Jazz Series.
Baron Kelly brings August Wilson’s Fences to University Theatre
Four-time Fulbright Scholar, practitioner and acting technique pedagogist, Dr. Baron Kelly is a decorated actor, director and scholar. Currently, Kelly serves as a professor in the University of Wisconsin Theatre and Drama Department and is directing and acting in August Wilson’s Fences.
‘Formless’ shakes up performing arts by blending art and activism
“Formless” features a cohort of new performers every year and will premiere for the second time ever on at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Play Circle in the Memorial Union, 800 Langdon St.
With ‘Fences,’ UW-Madison theater department moves into revealing territory
Some 700 area high school students already have matinee tickets reserved for “Fences,” the upcoming play from the UW-Madison Department of Theatre and Drama.
Whitney Museum’s first Latina senior curator wants to elevate diverse artists
Details: Puerto Rican-born Guerrero, who received her doctorate degree in art history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, joined the Whitney in 2017 and was most recently an associate curator.
Sanford Biggers Leads Re:mancipation Project At Chazen Art Museum In Madison, Wisconsin
An example of Ball’s Emancipation Group has been on display at the Chazen Museum of Art at the University of Wisconsin in Madison for decades. It has long been a source of controversy. Increasingly so.