Preserving Paul Bunyan: saving one of the Union’s most treasured rooms
By Herschel Kissinger & Zach Thomae, Wisconsin Union interns Being in the Paul Bunyan Room earlier this June was like watching a story being untold. At first, the room was alive with warmth and color with the tales of Paul Bunyan being illustrated on all four walls. As the hours grew longer, the story came down in pieces, unscrewed and dismantled panel by panel, until all that was left were empty walls. A woman named Joan Gorman...
The many faces of the Wisconsin Union Theater
By Erin Bannen, Union Theater marketing intern The Wisconsin Union Theater will soon be going dark for renovations. But don’t worry! We still have a fabulous season for next year. We’ll simply be using some of the other lovely performance spaces on campus. It doesn’t take interning here to know that over its 73-year history, some fantastic things have happened between the walls of this beloved Union Theater. To celebrate our...
Student Director Embraces the Absurd at Play Festival
By Zach Thomae Jacob Turner laughs, filming the stage. He’s filming a play. Right now, a woman named Hawkins is the target of a great deal of laughter, because her boss, Burchard, has put laxatives in her drink. She’s upset with him, but in a silly and aloof way, stumbling through a series of sudden, embarrassing exits. Jacob laughs with the audience, perhaps because of how the characters onstage seem to acknowledge how lowbrow and...
Ceramic Tile Installation at Union South Now Finished
Gloria Van Dixhorn, the artist who coordinated the student art around the bubblers in Union South, has just completed two ceramic tile murals near the Prairie Fire. The tiles are based on two of Aesop’s Fables. The first portrays the Tortoise and the Hare: The second features the Fox and the Crow: See our artistic tour of Union South here. You can read about the indigenous tile project led by Van Dixhorn at Union South here. Photos by...
Save the date! For a special Union Theater celebration
For 73 years, the Wisconsin Union Theater has been home to thousands of performers, students and guests, and countless memories. As a cherished Union member and friend, we invite you to join us on May 31, 2012 for a festive celebration as we prepare for the historic, two-year renovation of the beloved Union Theater. Here are a few reasons you should plan to attend: Enjoy an evening of great food, drink, and conversation with others...
Photo sneak peek of Humanimals exhibit now on display
By Zach Thomae From Feb. 3rd to March 20th, the Porter Butts Gallery in the Memorial Union is housing the Humanimals exhibit, featuring human-sized sculptural cabinets of animals. Each animal represents a common animal idiom for human behavior (for example, “pigheaded”), with collages of images showing the ways that humans abuse animals on the inside. Humanimals was created by Gayle Weitz, a professor at Seton Hill University who grew...