Dropout is now hosting Hundreds of Beavers, a critically acclaimed slapstick comedy created by alums Kurt Ravenwood (BFA 2011, Film), Quinn Hester (BFA 2021, Film), and Ryland Brickson Cole Tews (BFA 2014, Film). The feature-length film follows a drunken applejack salesman as he battles hundreds of beavers to become North America’s greatest fur trapper.
Alum Maggie Koenig (BFA 2008, Theatre Production) assisted in designing costumes for upcoming war film Gettysburg 1863, a historical fiction about the aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg. Previously, she designed a costume for the Smithsonian’s Living History Initiative.
The South Chicago Dance Theatre, founded and led by alum Kia Smith (MFA 2019, Dance), is set to make its Cincinnati debut on October 2 and 3 at the Aronoff Center’s Jarson-Kaplan Theatre. The performance consists of five contemporary works that combine dance with storytelling rooted in history, culture, and family.
Alum Jennifer Bastian is the first artist featured at UWM’s Student Union Gallery for the 2026–27 school year.
Alum Paula Hare (BFA 1981, Art Education) has been named the Cedarburg Cultural Center artist-in-residence for August.
UWM alum David Busse (BFA 2011, Film) appeared on WUWM’s Lake Effect’s Chirp Chat to discuss his new film “Beyond Our Senses: Bank Swallows,” a documentary about how the bluffs of Lake Michigan have been shaped by bank swallows.
Alum Kristina Saldarelli (MFA 2023, Dance) is planning to open Saldarelli Arts Dance where Movement & Sound Dance was located. Saldarelli was a faculty member at the Buffalo Grove-based studio for seven years and will honor the space by picking up where the previous owners left off.
Alum Joy DeNicola (BFA 1987, Fiber-Arts) and faculty member Shane Walsh are set to participate in the 2026 “North of the 45th” art exhibition, a juried showcase featuring work from artists across Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota.
Magdalena Bermudez (MFA 2023, Cinematic Arts) is set to screen her 16mm film Hiding Places at the European Media Arts Festival in Osnabrück, Germany, on April 25. In her experimental narrative, female artists from New York and Philadelphia recount their experiences creating the patterns used in military camouflage suits.
A documentary by PSOA alum Sky Hopinka (MFA 2016, Performing Arts) has been selected as one of the first 10 selections for this year’s Milwaukee Film Festival. Hopinka’s film, Powwow People, explores the traditions and culture of the powwow.
Alum Kiersten Hoff (BFA 2024, Film) won Best Student Film at the Door County Film Festival last Thursday. Hoff presented their senior thesis film, Mindframe, competing against films from across the Midwest. This success follows a series of wins at the Milwaukee Independent Film Awards …
Peck School of the Arts is well represented at the Museum of Wisconsin Art’s (MOWA) 2026 Biennial. Artists with ties to PSOA include First Year Program lecturer and Studio Art MFA graduate Tanner MacArthur, Painting & Drawing faculty and alum Cynthia Hayes, Art & Design graduate candidate Aaron Boyd, and Painting & Drawing associate professor and co-chair Angela Piehl. Several alumni are also exhibiting.
Alum Kiersten Hoff’s (BFA 2024, Film) senior film, Mindframe, is to be featured in the Door County Film Festival. Hoff’s film will screen in the Student Films category and will be showing February 12 at Fish Creek’s Northern Sky Gould Theatre. To read the full announcement, visit Door County Pulse.
Assistant Professor Alex Wier and Associate Professor Jennifer Clippert (BFA 1999, Music Performance) are performers on “Voiceless Mass,” an album that made it onto Bandcamp’s Best of 2025 list in the Best of Contemporary Classical Music category.
Gillian Waldo (MFA, 2024) has been named a recipient of a 2026 Creative Capital Award. This year’s awardees were selected from a pool of 4,546 applications from all 50 states and regions in the United States via a democratic, national open call.