Find your program at the UW-Madison Art Department

Expand your perspective and connect with your classmates, your community, and the world around you!
UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMGRADUATE PROGRAM

Find your program at the UW-Madison Art Department

Expand your perspective and connect with your classmates, your community, and the world around you!
UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMGRADUATE PROGRAM

The University of Wisconsin-Madison occupies ancestral Ho-Chunk land, called Teejop (day-JOPE) since time immemorial. In an 1832 treaty, the Ho-Chunk were forced to cede this territory. Decades of ethnic cleansing followed when both the federal and state government repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, sought to forcibly remove the Ho-Chunk from Wisconsin.

This history of colonization informs our shared future of collaboration and innovation. We respect the inherent sovereignty of the Ho-Chunk Nation, along with the eleven other First Nations of Wisconsin.

UW Art in the News

Read more >>

Ghost writer: someone who writes something for someone else, a Master of Fine Arts Qualifier Exhibition by Daniella Thach

February 4 – 9

Location: Art Lofts Gallery, 111 N Frances St, Madison, WI

Reception: Saturday, February 7, 5-8pm

Daniella Thach is a Cambodian-American artist whose works collapse a violent past and volatile present to envision possible futures. They trace this history and the diasporic impact on their family to form a new, amalgamous identity. In combining new and obsolete technologies, Thach melds timelines across past and familial memory to imagine life and identity after genocide, assimilation, and the loss of heritage.

Often spawned in darkened installations, Thach’s interdisciplinary work coalesces neon, video, sculpture, drawing, printmaking, and ephemera to conjure spiritual visages. The iconography of Cambodia becomes an anchor within a visual language that Thach can speak fluently, making up for the mother tongue they did not inherit. They long to understand the karaoke sung by their grandmother or to follow the steps of a dance no longer performed. Thach mirrors these traditions passed down from parent to child through craft techniques often passed from master to apprentice, echoing the ways in which we preserve culture.

While unearthing unspoken family memories of life during genocide, Thach hopes to shed light on the forgotten history as 2025 marks the 50th year since the Khmer Rouge systemically persecuted and killed 1.5 to 2 million Cambodian people. Bringing forth this history is especially pertinent as we witness the current genocide within Palestine.

Thach has exhibited works across America such as the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington, The Minnesota Museum of American Art in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Zhou B Art Center in Chicago, Illinois. They were an emerging artist in residence at Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Washington and Chautauqua School of Visual Arts, Chautauqua, New York. Their artwork has been featured in publications including New Glass Review, Sixty Inches From Center, and The Oxford Blue.

Events

Spring 2026 Visiting Artist Colloquium

Come visit the University of Wisconsin-Madison Art Department!

Tours are now available by appointment, view our upcoming Art Department events for prospective students at Visit Bucky: apps.admissions.wisc.edu/visitbucky/

UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM
GRADUATE PROGRAM
Lynda Barry's Art 448 Making Comics 1 students pose with their final project comics on the last day of class at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
What Can Art Do Show Reception Gallery 7, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Students critique each others' projects in the Digital Media class taught by Stephen Hilyard the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Grad student Rebecca Kautz celebrates installing her MA Show Protagonyst at the Art Lofts Gallery.
Art faculty Lynda Barry poses with a student in her Making Comics class at the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A student talks about their artwork at Gallery 7 at the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Visitors dance at Matt Mauk and Heather Sutherland's MFA Show Reception at Art Lofts, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Katelyn Alain, a graduate student pursuing a master of fine arts degree in painting, works on a self portrait in her studio space in the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
BFA Show Reception, Gallery 7 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Students use a torch to heat a glass piece at the UW Glass Lab in the Art Lofts Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A student snaps pictures of Ben Skiba's technique throwing a tall pot in the Ceramics Lab at the Art Lofts.
An undergraduate student works on a sculpture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
At left, Eric Adjetey Anang (standing at left), Ghanaian woodcarver, master-coffin builder and Windgate Artist in Residence in the Art Department, listens to undergraduate Jamie Dawson, a first-year student in the ninth cohort of the First Wave program, perform a spoken-word piece as part of an opening exhibit of Adjetey Anang's work at the Arts Loft at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. During the event, Adjetey Anang led a gun-breaking ceremony and invited guests to participate in a symbolic breaking of the barrel of his gun-shaped coffin. The gun-breaking action was in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, and against gun violence locally, nationally and internationally.
Students work together to inflate a glass piece at the UW Glass Lab in the Art Lofts Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A visitor views the University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate student work on display at the Swap Meet trade show with the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.
A student places movable type in a bed for a letterpress project during the Book Arts class taught by Jim Escalante at the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Maixia Xiong poses with her artwork at the BFA Show Reception, Gallery 7 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Lynda Barry leads a "drawing jam" with children during a Saturday Science outreach event at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A student constructs a sculpture project.
A student works on a project their Metals studio at the George Mosse Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Graduate art student Will K. Santino poses with his work in his studio space in the Art Lofts building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Fresh Hot Press Students pull a shirt printed with a design on the mobile serigraphy press at the Art Lofts building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Graduate art student Sarah Deppe works on a piece in her studio space in the Art Lofts building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Graduate student Justin Eccles passes out customized trucker hats at the Art Department new graduate orientation event at the Art Lofts Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Students work in the printmaking labs in Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison during assistant professor Emily Arthur's Serigraphy course.
Elise Berry cleans plaster-cast remnants from a glass sculpture she is finishing in the UW Glass Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A student examines the writing on a painting at the First Year Grad Show, Witnesses, on display at the Art Lofts Gallery.
Visitors explore the Biennial Neon and Light Exhibit held inside the Stock Pavillion at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Many of the sculptures and artwork were created using glass and varying light sources. In addition to UW-Madison artists, as well as independent artists from around the country, participating artists hail from schools including the Alfred University School of Art and Design, Pratt MWP, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Stevens Point, UW-River Falls and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Students enjoy a tea party using handcrafted tea sets created in ceramics class at the Art Lofts Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
First Year Grad Show Reception, Art Lofts Gallery, Department of Art University of Wisconsin-Madison
John Hitchcock reviews prints with a student in the serigraphy class in the George Mosse Humanities building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A student works on an acrylic painting in the Advanced Drawing class.
From back to front of canoe, Wayne Valliere, a Native American artist-in-residence with the Department of Art and member of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, and Tim Frandy, an outreach specialist at the UW Collaborative Center for Health Equity, take a traditional Ojibwe birchbark canoe for an inaugural paddle in Lake Mendota near the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The canoe is known in Ojibwe language as wiigwaasi-jiimaan, and was handmade by Valliere as part of his residency.
Art faculty Fred Stonehouse poses with a student in his Drawing class at the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
BFA Show Reception, Gallery 7 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Student Michelle Bridwell prepares artwork to be displayed during a student art sale.
A student touches up their drawing on a lithography print at the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Katie Hudnall, Windgate Artist-in-Residence, sketches ideas for a woodworking project at her studio in the Humanities Building, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Art faculty Lynda Barry holds up assignment instructions for a student exercise in her Making Comics class at the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Students work together with an assortment of tools and blown air to shape a piece of molten glass and form Madison'’s largest glass ornament during a UW Glass Lab event in the Art Lofts Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The public event featured students performing a number of interesting glass experiments and working together to create a giant Christmas ornament that was auctioned off for charity.
Graduate art student Noel Ash poses with her paintings in her studio space in the Art Lofts building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Students watch a wheel throwing demonstration by a visiting artist in a Ceramics class at the Art Lofts.
A student pulls a print off a lithography stone in Lithography class at the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Glass artist Yuki Wakamiya works with an assortment of tools and blown air to shape a piece of molten glass during a demonstration at the Glass Lab open house at University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Students work in the printmaking labs in Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison during assistant professor Emily Arthur's (in red apron) Relief Printing course.
Lynda Barry reviews the work of one of her students, lecturer Allison Welch, at left, in the Making Comics class at the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Ceramics faculty Gerit Grimm reviews a project with a student at the Art Lofts Ceramics lab.
An art education student practices hands-on learning teaching a youth art class. Art education students experience a four semester sequence of classes introducing students to the teaching profession, including child development, learning theories, inclusive schooling strategies, curriculum and instruction, history of American education, and rigorous Art Education methods courses, plus 200 hours of practicum and 18 weeks of student teaching.
Students enjoy a tea party using handcrafted tea sets created in ceramics class at the Art Lofts Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
BFA Show Reception, Gallery 7 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Lynda Barry reviews the work of one of her students, lecturer Allison Welch, at left, in the Making Comics class at the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Art faculty Lynda Barry poses with a student in her Making Comics class at the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A student constructs a sculpture project.
Visitors explore the Biennial Neon and Light Exhibit held inside the Stock Pavillion at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Many of the sculptures and artwork were created using glass and varying light sources. In addition to UW-Madison artists, as well as independent artists from around the country, participating artists hail from schools including the Alfred University School of Art and Design, Pratt MWP, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Stevens Point, UW-River Falls and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
An undergraduate student works on a sculpture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Students work in the printmaking labs in Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison during assistant professor Emily Arthur's (in red apron) Relief Printing course.
A student places movable type in a bed for a letterpress project during the Book Arts class taught by Jim Escalante at the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A student snaps pictures of Ben Skiba's technique throwing a tall pot in the Ceramics Lab at the Art Lofts.
A student talks about their artwork at Gallery 7 at the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Graduate art student Sarah Deppe works on a piece in her studio space in the Art Lofts building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
An art education student practices hands-on learning teaching a youth art class. Art education students experience a four semester sequence of classes introducing students to the teaching profession, including child development, learning theories, inclusive schooling strategies, curriculum and instruction, history of American education, and rigorous Art Education methods courses, plus 200 hours of practicum and 18 weeks of student teaching.
Glass artist Yuki Wakamiya works with an assortment of tools and blown air to shape a piece of molten glass during a demonstration at the Glass Lab open house at University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Graduate art student Will K. Santino poses with his work in his studio space in the Art Lofts building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Lynda Barry's Art 448 Making Comics 1 students pose with their final project comics on the last day of class at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Graduate art student Noel Ash poses with her paintings in her studio space in the Art Lofts building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Fresh Hot Press Students pull a shirt printed with a design on the mobile serigraphy press at the Art Lofts building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A student works on a project their Metals studio at the George Mosse Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Students work in the printmaking labs in Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison during assistant professor Emily Arthur's Serigraphy course.
A student touches up their drawing on a lithography print at the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Student Michelle Bridwell prepares artwork to be displayed during a student art sale.
What Can Art Do Show Reception Gallery 7, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Students watch a wheel throwing demonstration by a visiting artist in a Ceramics class at the Art Lofts.
Grad student Rebecca Kautz celebrates installing her MA Show Protagonyst at the Art Lofts Gallery.
A visitor views the University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate student work on display at the Swap Meet trade show with the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.
Maixia Xiong poses with her artwork at the BFA Show Reception, Gallery 7 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
A student works on an acrylic painting in the Advanced Drawing class.
Ceramics faculty Gerit Grimm reviews a project with a student at the Art Lofts Ceramics lab.
Katelyn Alain, a graduate student pursuing a master of fine arts degree in painting, works on a self portrait in her studio space in the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A student examines the writing on a painting at the First Year Grad Show, Witnesses, on display at the Art Lofts Gallery.
Visitors dance at Matt Mauk and Heather Sutherland's MFA Show Reception at Art Lofts, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Art faculty Lynda Barry holds up assignment instructions for a student exercise in her Making Comics class at the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Students use a torch to heat a glass piece at the UW Glass Lab in the Art Lofts Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Students work together to inflate a glass piece at the UW Glass Lab in the Art Lofts Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
John Hitchcock reviews prints with a student in the serigraphy class in the George Mosse Humanities building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
At left, Eric Adjetey Anang (standing at left), Ghanaian woodcarver, master-coffin builder and Windgate Artist in Residence in the Art Department, listens to undergraduate Jamie Dawson, a first-year student in the ninth cohort of the First Wave program, perform a spoken-word piece as part of an opening exhibit of Adjetey Anang's work at the Arts Loft at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. During the event, Adjetey Anang led a gun-breaking ceremony and invited guests to participate in a symbolic breaking of the barrel of his gun-shaped coffin. The gun-breaking action was in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, and against gun violence locally, nationally and internationally.
BFA Show Reception, Gallery 7 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
From back to front of canoe, Wayne Valliere, a Native American artist-in-residence with the Department of Art and member of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, and Tim Frandy, an outreach specialist at the UW Collaborative Center for Health Equity, take a traditional Ojibwe birchbark canoe for an inaugural paddle in Lake Mendota near the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The canoe is known in Ojibwe language as wiigwaasi-jiimaan, and was handmade by Valliere as part of his residency.
Lynda Barry leads a "drawing jam" with children during a Saturday Science outreach event at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Katie Hudnall, Windgate Artist-in-Residence, sketches ideas for a woodworking project at her studio in the Humanities Building, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
First Year Grad Show Reception, Art Lofts Gallery, Department of Art University of Wisconsin-Madison
Graduate student Justin Eccles passes out customized trucker hats at the Art Department new graduate orientation event at the Art Lofts Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A student pulls a print off a lithography stone in Lithography class at the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Elise Berry cleans plaster-cast remnants from a glass sculpture she is finishing in the UW Glass Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Students critique each others' projects in the Digital Media class taught by Stephen Hilyard the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Students work together with an assortment of tools and blown air to shape a piece of molten glass and form Madison'’s largest glass ornament during a UW Glass Lab event in the Art Lofts Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The public event featured students performing a number of interesting glass experiments and working together to create a giant Christmas ornament that was auctioned off for charity.
Art faculty Fred Stonehouse poses with a student in his Drawing class at the Mosse Humanities Building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Arts at UW

Did you know?

The UW-Madison Art Department is:

  • #1 in Printmaking
  • Ranked among the top 15 Fine Arts MFA programs
  • Founded the 1st collegiate Glass program in the U.S.
  • 1 of only 5 universities in the nation with a Neon program

Ranking Source: U.S. News & World Report

The University of Wisconsin-Madison ART DEPARTMENT is committed to teaching art in the context of a major research university and a vibrant intellectual community. Offering the following degrees: B.S., B.F.A., M.A., & M.F.A. in Studio Art, B.S. in Art Education, Certificate in Art Studio, and Certificate in Graphic Design.

Take a 720° virtual tour of the Art Department

 

HUMANITIES
ART LOFTS