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Experimental Tuesdays: The World and Works of Portia Cobb

December 1 – December 2

Black-and-white portrait of a person seated with hands under their chin, framed like a film negative against a simple studio backdrop.

Date & Time
Tuesday & Wednesday, December 1-2, 2026 (7–9:30 p.m.)

Location
UWM Union Cinema

Join us for two nights of works celebrating the radical work of the legendary Portia Cobb. Her interdisciplinary practice as an artist and filmmaker is deeply interested in telling stories that reflect the double-consciousness of African American history, identity, memory & forced forgetting. This creative body of work and research has joined these themes and found form in videos, photographic essays, field recordings, ephemeral installations and site-specific performances.

The Spring of 2026 marked her final semester as a Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Peck School of The Arts: Department of Film, Video, Animation & New Genres. Tuesday brings a retrospective sampling of Professor Cobb’s work while the following evening features an archival look at the incredible work she made with Milwaukee youth as part of the Community Media Project.

Both evenings will feature Professor Cobb in person!

Experimental Tuesdays is a free public series featuring celebrated work of contemporary and historical artist-made film and video. This weekly series presents films and artists that explore the creative and critical potential of moving images. It also amplifies marginalized voices by hosting artists that represent diverse populations, such as LGBT, Native American, Black and Latinx artists. Hosted by the Department of Film, Video, Animation & New Genres, and presented in partnership with UWM’s Union Cinema, this series is a bedrock of the Milwaukee arts landscape. Recent screenings include Silvia das Fadas, Courtney Stephens, Simon Liu, Helena Wittman, Jessica Bardsley, Suneil Sanzgiri, Mary Helena Clark, Angelo Madsen, and Rhayne Vermette to name a few.

UWM Union Cinema

2200 E. Kenwood Blvd.
Milwaukee, WI 53211