Several Peck School of the Arts theatre students spent their summer gaining hands-on professional experience in woodsy Door County, a striking contrast to UWM’s urban campus in Wisconsin’s biggest city. Senior Gabriel Rodriguez interned at Door Shakespeare, a professional theatre …
The Peck School of the Arts guitar program is recognized for its distinguished faculty and the achievements of its students and alumni. Led by internationally renowned artist René Izquierdo, the program continues to produce musicians who thrive on competitive stages around the world. We recap several summer successes from students and alumni.
Art MFA candidate Jack Lehtinen is the artist behind In the Lab: Poking Fun, a solo exhibition that recently closed its successful run at the Krasl Art Center in Michigan. The interactive installation explored how artificial intelligence has shifted physical …
UpStart is an experimental project choreographed, researched, and performed by Dance MFA students at the Peck School of the Arts. Each performance reflects deeply personal themes and self-exploration by the individual artists. Led by dance professor and graduate program director Maria Gillespie, the project features eight first- and second-year MFA students, each taking a unique approach to their work. The performances also include dancers from both UWM and the Milwaukee dance community.
This summer, the Peck School of the Arts is hosting the Kids From Wisconsin, a popular performing arts troupe, for their pre-season production camp. The group kicks off their 57th tour with a premiere performance of “The Heat is On” …
PSOA ended its 2025 school year by hosting Convocation, a ceremony held to celebrate Peck School of the Arts graduates receiving bachelor’s and master’s degrees. The ceremony featured live performances and showcases from each department, spotlighting what students have accomplished …
Senior dance student Megan Holzhauer visited Washington, DC, to present her original choreographic work, “BEHIND THAT GLEAM,” at the 2025 National College Dance Festival hosted by the American College Dance Association (ACDA). Held every two years, the festival showcases the nation’s …
After a year of work, graduating students in the Department of Film, Video, Animation & New Genres will screen their senior thesis films on the big screen to crowds of family, friends, faculty, and fellow students. The annual event is …
Senior musical theater student Abby McBee accomplished her childhood dream of working in entertainment at Walt Disney World. McBee was selected for the Disney College Program (DCP), a paid internship that provides higher education students with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to …
The Peck School’s 2024-25 theatre season ends this week with “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” a critically acclaimed Tony and Olivier Award-winning play. Directed by Ralph Janes, the production integrates advanced technical elements, including suspended televisions, surrounding projection screens, live body-camera feeds and a thrust stage cleverly transformed into an in-the-round configuration.
Springdances: Revel & Reckon opens on Thursday, April 24, and features work from NYC-based artist and choreographer Katy Pyle alongside UWM Dance faculty. Pyle is an accomplished dancer and the founder of Ballez, a New York City ballet company that restages classical dances to promote LGBTQ+ narratives. Pyle visited UWM in the spring semester to work with our dance students ahead of Springdances. Springdances proved to be a perfect opportunity for Pyle to reset a work they created during the pandemic, which was previously only presented via livestream from an empty theater.
Several alums and faculty are screening films this spring as part of the 2025 edition of the Milwaukee Film Festival. The Peck School of the Arts is excited to highlight the incredible work that our filmmakers and artists are bringing to the Milwaukee community. We’ve rounded up some PSOA connections among the festival selections.
The UWM Department of Film, Video, Animation & New Genres will present the Milwaukee Underground Film Festival (MUFF) this week. One of PSOA’s most popular courses in the film program, MUFF is a student-run film festival devoted to screening independent, artist-driven films. Not only does MUFF provide an opportunity for filmmakers to gain exposure in the Milwaukee film community, but it also offers students experience in the business side of the arts.
Theater student and PSOA Arts Ambassador Josh Thone took to the Lincoln Center in New York City to compete in the American Pops Orchestra (APO) NextGen National Vocal Competition Finals. His performance was the culmination of a successful competition period with APO. Out of 250 applicants, Thone was among only ten students selected to perform in the competition in January 2025. The performance took place at the Lincoln Center and was livestreamed to thousands watching online.
This weekend, the UWM Music Department will present Mozart’s Le Nozze Di Figaro (edited by Ludwig Finscher) at the Zelazo Center’s Bader Hall. With a wide array of student performers and live accompaniment by UWM’s Symphony Orchestra, there is a lot for audiences to be excited about. We caught up with three members of the cast to learn more about what excites them most about performing in this production.
