Young Artists Launch Careers in Union Galleries
Porter Butts, the Wisconsin Union’s first Director, envisioned making art a part of the everyday lives of people who visited the building. Take a stroll through Union South or Memorial Union you can see how this rings true today, thanks to the numerous galleries and displays waiting to be explored. Step into Memorial Union’s new Class of 1925 Gallery and you’ll see a special exhibit part of three Master of Fine Art (MFA) student exhibitions displayed over the next two months.
“More artists that are working toward an MFA now are really looking for exhibition experiences partly through their graduate experience,” said Robin Schmoldt, Wisconsin Union Directorate Art Committee Advisor. “It’s a pretty competitive process.”
The WUD Art committee uses a list of criteria to evaluate every proposal for overall quality, whether it encourages dialogue opportunities, whether it challenges the audience and if it fits the Union and the campus. First-year graduate student Jeremy Nuttall’s MFA exhibit is currently displayed in the Class of 1925 Gallery and is designed to interact with the audience. Jeremy, who still has two more years as a graduate student, plans to become involved with WUD Art operations as he prepares for his MFA show next year.
“I was very excited and a little nervous at first when the committee accepted my proposal, but the atmosphere and dialogue was very calming,” Jeremy said. “All the gallery spaces on campus are great, but I really enjoy the new Class of 1925 Gallery and am pleased how my work fits the space.”
Finding adequate exhibition space on campus and around Madison is still a challenge for students, which is why gallery space in the Union can be critical for young artists looking to display their work for the first time.
“It’s meant to be a really good professional experience for them as well,” Robin said. “Everything we do in the behind the scenes management of the exhibitions mirror what the artists can expect to experience once they get outside of campus and they’re proposing to academic galleries and museums or trying to pitch to commercial or retail galleries.”
A number of artists that have exhibited at the Union as students have gone on to flourishing careers in New York. José Lerma, who studied at UW-Madison and whose art is still displayed in Memorial Union, now has a significant art career with galleries across the globe.
“It’s great to see artists early in their career through programs like this because you never know who’s going on to do what once they leave here,” Robin said. “Seeing that early part of what could be a very long trajectory of artwork being produced is really fascinating.”
