For many years, UWM has welcomed senior students from Hubei University of Technology (HBUT) in Wuhan, China, to complete their Bachelor of Arts in Studio Arts at PSOA. This global partnership not only offers a unique degree pathway for HBUT …
Winifred (Elysse) Newman has been named Dean of the College of the Arts and Architecture, effective June 2, 2025. Dr. Newman comes to UWM from Clemson University where she serves as the Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Affairs, Mickel Professor of Architecture, and Director of the Institute for Materials, Systems, and Environments in the College of Architecture, Art, and Construction.
Late Professor Emeritus Yehuda Yannay was honored and celebrated at a memorial concert presented by UWM Chamber Music Milwaukee last week. The event featured five selections of Yannay’s original works alongside speeches from some of his closest friends and colleagues.
Professor Emeritus Dick Blau, who co-founded the UWM film department is currently utilizing an empty storefront to display his latest art exhibition “The Same River Twice,” a slow-moving, abstract loop of the Milwaukee River.
Mike Gibisser (Associate Professor, FVANG; Director, Film Graduate Program; Co-Chair, Tech & Facilities Committee) was recently awarded the UWM Office of Research/Outstanding Creative Research Achievement Award. Gibisser has accomplished many years of success in filmmaking, with his most recent film “A Common Sequence” being a self-described “labor of creative research.” For many years, Gibbiser has blended his love of film with education, sharing a collaborative space with his students.
Over 35 years of artistic expertise, expression, and activism from Raoul Deal (Teaching Faculty Emeritus, Community Arts) is currently displayed in his expansive exhibition “Continuum 24: Where Everything Begins.” The exhibition is a career retrospective featuring artwork from his time spent in Mexico and South America to the culture shock of moving his family to Milwaukee, and everywhere in between.
Dr. Debra Hardy (Assistant Professor, Art Education) spent her summer in Chicago advancing her research project “Illuminating the Expanse of Bronzeville’s Black Artist-Educator Networks, 1930’s-1960’s.” This opportunity was a result of Hardy receiving a research fellowship with the Black Metropolis …
Melissa Anderson (Lecturer, Dance) has earned the Artistic Achievement Award by the Chicago National Association of Dance Masters, joining a prestigious group of dance educators. Anderson received the award during CNADM’s Summer Workshop.
Maria Gillespie (Professor, Dance; Director, Dance Graduate Program) was recently awarded the 2024-25 UWM Advancing Research Creativity (ARC) Grant to help fund her yearlong choreographic research project. Under the working title “Wild Tongue: Translating Embodied Memory in the Language of Dance,” Gillespie will work with long-time collaborators Kevin Williamson and Nguyên Nguyên to explore a variety of identities through dance. Part of this exploration will root in Gillespie’s Chicana ethnicity and queer performance methodologies.
The UW-Milwaukee Peck School of the Arts (PSOA) begins the 2024-2025 academic year with a new leader. Associate Professor Steve Wetzel officially assumed the role of Interim Head of School for PSOA on July 1, 2024. A respected educator and accomplished artist, Wetzel has been an integral part of the Peck School of the Arts community since his arrival to UWM in 1998.
The UWM Symphony Orchestra will conclude its 2023-24 season with a finale concert at Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts. The performance is centered on Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, a musical work that combines solo instruments with a full orchestra. The piece will feature solos from pianist Jean-Louis Haguenauer, cellist Adrien Zitoun, and violinist Bernard Zinck. The orchestra is conducted by Dr. Jun Kim.
As active professionals, Peck School of the Arts faculty thrive in taking their talents off-campus, creating bridges into the community. Among them are theatre faculty members Jason Orlenko (Assistant Professor of Costume Design) and Dana Rochester (Teaching Faculty II, Costumes & Stage Makeup). Collaborators for nearly two decades, Orlenko and Rochester graduated from UWM in 2008 and have stayed involved in the performing arts ever since.
Current students and alums are not the only ones displaying their work at the 2024 Milwaukee Film Festival. Several faculty members are also currently screening films for audiences, just one of many ways PSOA faculty stay engaged in the film community in Milwaukee and beyond.
The National Art Education Association has named Kim Cosier (Professor Emerita, Art Education) as the recipient of the 2024 Western Region Higher Education Art Educator. This prestigious award, determined through a peer review of nominations, recognizes the exemplary contributions, service, and achievements of an outstanding NAEA member.
A proposed bi-partisan bill focused on the establishment of a State Film Office and tax incentives for film and television production in Wisconsin is heavily supported by the Peck School of the Arts. The bill would be game-changing for the PSOA community of artists, creating a wealth of new jobs in the state’s thriving entertainment industry and beyond.
