Kathryn Henry ’16 returns to Florentine Opera next season
Kathryn Henry (BFA 2016, Music) will be featured in Florentine Opera’s 2024-25 season. Henry will sing Micaëla in their production of Bizet’s “Carmen” on May 16 & 18 next year, reports Jim Higgins for the Sheboygan Press.
A native of Wisconsin, Henry received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from UWM in 2016 before continuing to study as a Toulmin Foundation Scholar at Juilliard School in New York City, earning her Master of Music degree in 2018. Since then, she has performed at the Florentine Opera on several occasions most recently in the title role of Viardot’s “Cinderella.” Henry is currently performing through April 7 in Verdi’s “Aida” at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Read more about the Florentine Opera’s season on their website.
PSOA alumni receive recognition at Music Education Awards Showcase
The 2024 ceremony provided teachers with a well-deserved moment in the spotlight. Among them were several Peck School of the Arts alumni, building on the Department of Music’s long history of graduates who have been honored through Civic Music Milwaukee.
This year, Antonio Kitchens (BFA 2020, Music Education) received the Emerging Music Educator Award, Annie Schmidt (MA, Music) received a Certificate of Excellence in Instrumental Music Instruction, and Karl Mueller (MA 2013, Music Education) received a Certificate of Excellence in Youth Music Instruction.
PSOA Professor of Music Education Sheila J. Feay-Shaw believes that music, for many students, is a motivator for success in school. She highlighted the importance acknowledging educators for their important role in the lives of students.
“These [award] programs highlight what might otherwise fly under the radar,” said Feay-Shaw. “Many of the teachers I know who have received these awards are very humble people whose care and concern are for their students rather than the glory of performing, which is why many of them became teachers in the first place.”
Feay-Shaw reflected on Emerging Educator winner, Antonio Kitchens.
“Antonio has been in his position for several years at a school that has struggled to help students meet academic standards, which always puts the arts at risk,” she said. “What people often fail to realize is that for some of these kids, the arts (music in particular) are the reason these kids come to school. Antonio grew up in Milwaukee Public Schools and had a determination to return to teach in the district that provided him with a quality start. His attitude of believing in the children he teaches and the opportunities that he provides make a difference.”
Story by Jason McCullum ’25
CBS 58 covers UWM Wind Ensemble performance at state capitol
In March, the UW-Milwaukee Wind Ensemble Chamber Winds performed at the Wisconsin state capitol. Director of Bands, Dr. Thomas Gamboa, spoke with CBS 58 about the opportunity for students to perform. In addition to the beautiful reverb and special nature of the space, Gamboa emphasized the importance of advocating for continued support of the arts from government leaders.
Theater student blends signing with singing in Skylight production
Musical theatre major Aidan Black’s interest in American Sign Language was sparked in high school. So when he was choosing a language credit at UWM, he signed up for an ASL course in UWM’s School of Education.
Now ASL is an integral part of his role in the Skylight Music Theatre’s production of “Spring Awakening,” which incorporates deaf and hearing actors. The Tony-award winning rock musical is based on an earlier play about teen angst and sexual awakening in the 19th century. It opens March 1 and runs through March 17 at Skylight, 158 N. Broadway in Milwaukee.
After he began taking ASL classes, Black became intrigued, and ended up making ASL Studies his minor. He found it also helped with his acting.
“Before I started studying ASL, I had trouble with my facial expressions. That’s a strong component of ASL since different signs mean different things depending on what your face is doing. That’s helped me be aware of what my face is doing.”
Being able to use his skills in the play, his debut with Skylight, is important to Black.
“It’s something I’m very passionate about,” he said. “I always want to bridge my interests with what I’m working on.”
UWM a good fit
Black, a senior, decided to major in musical theater when he was in high school in Portage, Wisconsin. UWM was on his short list of universities. “I toured UWM first, and I was like, oh wow, I really like this.”
He auditioned for the role in “Spring Awakening” over the summer and got the callback this fall. Coincidentally, he was using ASL in another play, “Peter and the Starcatcher,” a prequel to Peter Pan that incorporated deaf and hearing actors.
The Skylight production is based on a version of the play developed by Deaf West Theatre in California, which used deaf and hearing actors. “The difference is that our production has taken a specific look at the English-to-ASL translations as well as the signing presentation to make the production even more accessible,” he said. “It’s fine tuning the use of language so everyone can understand.”
A mix of actors
The Skylight version incorporates seven deaf or hard of hearing actors, a few actors with some signing experience as well as some who have never signed before.
“It’s really crazy how well it works,” Black said. “It’s the same dialogue, the same script, but through a deaf perspective. The whole production is accessible for hearing and deaf audiences.”
Black, who also teaches children’s classes at First Stage, hopes to keep up with his ASL as he continues his acting career after graduating in May. Creating a bridge between theater and Deaf culture is important to him, he said.
Building those bridges is one of the reasons the Skylight’s production is significant, Black said. “Hearing people don’t have a lot of experience or understanding of deaf people. This is a very good introduction and a start to their journey with Deaf culture.”
Skylight is offering UWM students a special ticket price of $26 to see any “Spring Awakening” show. They can use the promo code SASTUDENT to receive up to two tickets at a discount on the Skylight Music Theatre website.
NY Times article highlights success of film produced by PSOA alum
Kurt Ravenwood (BFA 2011, Film) is one of the producers of “Hundreds of Beavers,” a mostly wordless indie comedy that the New York Times reports has been touring the country and holding energetic screenings, complete with appearances by the star species. A recent Midwest tour of 14 cities nearly sold out entirely.
PSOA faculty and administration support bi-partisan bill to create state film office and tax incentives
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 media industry and beyond.
Several members of the PSOA faculty and administration are members of Action! Wisconsin, a statewide coalition of film and television personnel, industry partners, and supporters. Among them is lecturer Jeff Kurz (Department of Film, Video, Animation, & New Genres), who worked with the nonprofit arts advocacy organization Imagine MKE to create Action! Wisconsin.
Kurz knows firsthand the benefits that Peck School students, alumni, and faculty would receive.
“Seventy-five percent of the crew who worked on my last movie, DEEP WOODS, were graduates of the FVANG Department and many of them have left [the state] for better-paying jobs. Film and TV production tax incentives would create jobs, allowing UWM students and graduates to stay in Wisconsin,” Kurz said. “It would encourage productions from outside the state to come to Wisconsin and hire Wisconsin residents. They would spend money on productions, boosting local economies.”
According to a release issued by Action! Wisconsin in February, Wisconsin is among only ten states that do not offer any production incentives, and nearly every state has a film office, including neighboring Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Minnesota. Wisconsin is one of only five in the country that does not.
As a result, Wisconsin misses out on significant benefits realized by other states.
For example, a 2023 study by the Georgia Screen Entertainment Commission found that every one dollar invested in film incentives in the state generated $6.30 of economic benefit. Similar results were found in Montana, where production on Paramount Network’s Yellowstone created 2.1 million new visitors to the state, totaling $730 million in local economic activity.
Members of Action! Wisconsin have acknowledged PSOA Head of School Kevin Hartman throughout this process. Hartman has been a supportive and helpful colleague in the mission to improve Wisconsin’s film industry.
UWM’s Department of Film, Video, Animation, and New Genres is highly regarded in the film industry,” Hartman noted. “This proposal will enhance that reputation by creating new pathways for our fantastic faculty and staff to turn their creative visions into realities and by creating new learning experiences for our students. Everyone wins should this bill become law.
Those who wish to get involved and show support for the proposed bill can do so by visiting actionwi.org.
Story by Jason McCullum ’25
Partnership with Kesslers Diamonds results in one-of-a-kind pieces and experiences
For the past five years, UWM students studying jewelry and metalsmithing have gained career-defining experience thanks to a multifaceted partnership between Kesslers Diamonds and the Peck School of the Arts.
Kesslers provides expensive materials and equipment, three scholarships each year, and exclusive availability to internships with the Wisconsin-based and employee-owned company. At a time when goldsmiths are difficult to come by, Kesslers benefits from an expanding pool of talent already familiar with their business practices.
Freedom to Create
This past fall, 29 Jewelry & Metalsmithing students received a complimentary diamond and silver casting grain from Kesslers to create a unique work of art. For students, this was an invitation to be truly creative with their art and experiment in ways they typically would not be able to, largely due to the cost of materials.
Anthony Zelazoski, a current student in the program, described how receiving materials from Kesslers allowed him to make a unique piece without investing his own money: “I made a one-of-a-kind necklace with the diamond they donated. I got to work freely on a piece and take greater risks than I would have otherwise.”
Zelazoski is just one example of students who create pieces that break away from the formal pieces that diamond stores typically offer. Peck School students design work that is challenging and complex, showcasing the range of their craft and the skills they have harnessed through education.
A Sparkling Exhibition
Once completed, Kesslers will display student work at their location in Germantown leading up to UWM x Kesslers Sparkle Gala, one of the focal points of the collaboration.
“A week before the show, Kesslers rearranges a few store cases and displays the pieces the students made,” said Erica Meier, teaching faculty and interim area head of jewelry and metalsmithing.
All 29 jewelry and metalsmithing students will have their work voted on by Kesslers employees. The results of the vote determine which three students will be awarded scholarships.
Kesslers also photographs and promotes the work students produce, ensuring they receive the recognition they deserve.
A piece by Aaron Boyd. Click to view more select works.
The gala additionally serves as an occasion for students interested in an internship to take tours of the goldsmithing workshop.
“From an experiential learning side of things, students get a sense of their atmosphere, environment, and staff,” said Meier. “It gives them a taste of what the internship would look like.”
Michal Schwab, a senior, was Kesslers most recent intern. “Throughout my time as Kesslers intern, I got an insight into how every department functions. I did a lot of polishing and finishing, a lot of bench work, and even got to understand the business of ordering and the sales floor.”
Growing Careers
The collaboration with Kesslers has grown significantly since it began in 2018, and students have been provided a variety of learning experiences within the partnership that illustrate various career paths within the field of Jewelry and Metalsmithing.
Many students involved with Kesslers have gone on to work full-time, including former intern and current goldsmith Abby Seymer. Her time with Kessler’s proved to her that she could “have a future in metals, not just have a degree in it.”
Doreen Rosen, Kesslers Director of Service and Repair, would agree. “I think some see goldsmithing as a hobby, rather than a career. Bringing students to our headquarters and offering shop tours has been a real eye-opener that has drawn many people to the program. The student body has more than doubled since last semester!”
Story by Jason McCullum ’25
Work by PSOA alumni, students, and instructor on view at MOWA Wisconsin Artists Biennial
Peck School of the Arts is well-represented at the 2024 MOWA Wisconsin Artists Biennial. The competitive exhibition showcases emerging artists throughout Wisconsin, highlighting excellence in creative and self-expression. Over a dozen of the artists selected for the exhibition have ties to PSOA, accounting for a quarter of the total artists on view.
The ongoing series in celebration of Black History Month is open to viewers of all backgrounds but primarily seeks to display a side of identity that the Black community can directly relate to. For Mays, this entails carefully curating a run of shorts and feature films that highlight Black representation across all genres.
“We are showing a lot of different stuff and moving across genres,” Mays said about the repertoire of films being showcased. “Our relationships to films are different and I try to ensure that there are options for everyone to feel seen and heard.”
The ongoing series is being programmed by Mays for the second time and has already featured many noteworthy screenings.
According to Mays, screening Beyonce’s concert film Renaissance was a once-in-a-lifetime experience: “Renaissance was the opening film this year and we screened it one year to the day that Beyonce announced her ‘Renaissance World Tour.’ “We were also the only theater in America screening the film on that night. I am super grateful that we got to have that experience.”
Mays continued to note the themes of joy, expansiveness, and grandiosity in Renaissance as a perfect way to begin Black History Month, with the Oriental working as an ideal setting.
Nine films are screened throughout February, each selected by Mays as part of his role as a programmer for the Black Lens program, which is a year-round role.
“I have the pleasure of watching films and shorts that talk about and explore the Black experience globally. I then bring those films to the Oriental Theatre for screenings throughout the year,” Mays noted.
Mays’ position as a programmer makes him a remarkable professor at PSOA.
Given his involvement in viewing films for Oriental, he remains in the know about what is happening in modern contemporary film. As a result, his students get to be heavily involved in the innovations happening in film today.
“The public’s understanding of film has been a bit archaic for quite some time. I always stay in the know of what is happening in the industry, which I then bring into the classroom. I feel my students are always interacting with fresh films, leading to fresh perspectives.”
Story by Jason McCullum ’25
UWM student reflects on ‘crazy, amazing, exciting’ Super Bowl experience
After a few media interviews, Davien Holton is running out of adjectives to describe his experience performing at the Super Bowl on Sunday.
Holton applied in December, sent in a video audition, and found out in January that he’d been selected to be one of the 300 on-field performers during a show headlined by Usher.
Holton had never been to Las Vegas. In fact, he said, “it was my first time ever at a football game.”
Seeing famous people at work
The rehearsals before the event were especially exciting and fun, he added. “You could just see it all coming together.”
“People I’ve only seen on TV were just casually walking by or riding past in golf carts. They were just normal people going about their day. That was probably one of the highlights,” he said.
Holton grew up in Milwaukee, and decided when he was about 6 years old on his future career after enjoying dancing at his church, Greater New Birth Church. “My mom (Brandy Webb) saw I had a passion for it and really let me run with it.” After attending the Milwaukee High School of the Arts, he headed to Arizona State University. But the pandemic led to a decision to return to Milwaukee. He applied and was accepted into UWM’s dance program.
A full schedule
Holton’s UWM friends and instructors describe him as energetic, and that word fits. In addition to his studies, he’s been a campus ambassador since his sophomore year, serves as a tour guide and also performs with the Milwaukee Bucks 414 Crew, the team’s hype team and dance ensemble. His siblings, he said, call him the “busybody” of the family. He has six brothers and two sisters.
The Bucks connection led him to another opportunity. This coming weekend (Feb. 17-18), he’ll be traveling to Indianapolis for the NBA All-Star weekend, where he’ll be a brand ambassador for New Era, a sports apparel and caps company.
Holton’s goal for the future is to set up his own artistic institution to encourage other young people like himself who want to learn how to navigate the arts industry. That’s one of the reasons he’s minoring in Journalism, Advertising and Media Studies.
“I really love helping people with their brand and PR…to learn how to market themselves,” he said.
NEA grant to fund creation of dance work at UWM with noted choreographer David Roussève
A grant from the National Endowment for the Arts will fund a multiyear creative research project at UWM to support the creation and presentation of a new dance theater work from choreographer, writer, director and filmmaker David Roussève.
Roussève will serve as the artistic lead of the project, which culminates in a new dance work made with and for the Milwaukee BIPOC LGBTQ+ community about the ways in which communities under assault care for themselves. The project will interact with the aging HIV community, among others, and especially with Milwaukee vogue dancers, groups that long ago redefined the nature of community, support and “family.”
Roussève is a distinguished professor of choreography at UCLA and founder of the dance/theater company REALITY.
“David Roussève’s work as a choreographer, director, and master storyteller promises to build a dynamic relationship among the Dance Department, the Peck School of the Arts and our community partner,” said Daniel Burkholder, chair of the Department of Dance at UWM. “David will work closely with the Diverse and Resilient community and Milwaukee’s vogue and ballroom community to understand their stories and to illuminate their voices through dance.”
During the initial phase of the project, Roussève will gather stories and lead movement/theater workshops with dance and non-dance program participants. The next phase of the project will involve choreographic research with Milwaukee-based vogue dancers, storytelling and dance literacy engagements with the public, and a residency with UWM dance majors.
The project emerges in a political climate that struggles to accept gender diversity and queer identity in the Midwest.
“Forty years ago, Wisconsin established its leadership in LGBTQ activism as the first state to pass a gay rights bill, ushering in LGBTQ anti-discrimination laws,” said Associate Professor Maria Gillespie, who will serve as the project director. “Our NEA grant and collaboration with David moves Wisconsin and UWM closer to our shared goal of advancing LGBTQ rights. It will support David as he builds bridges to develop a dance work that uses storytelling to center queer and trans resilience and joy.”
In total, the NEA will award 958 Grants for Arts Projects awards, totaling over $27.1 million as part of its first round of fiscal year 2024 grants. Of those, 81 projects are in the dance category, totaling nearly $2.3 million.
PSOA alums and faculty among artists selected to display work at new Baird Center
As a part of the new Baird Center opening this May in downtown Milwaukee, 21 artists have been commissioned to create original pieces that will be displayed throughout the complex. Among them are four artists who either graduated from or teach at the Peck School of the Arts, or both.
John Fleissner (Certification 2020, Art Education) Marc Sijan (MS 1971, Art) Nicolas Lampert (Senior lecturer, Art & Design) Kathryn Martin (MFA 2007, Art; MA 2005, Art; lecturer, Art & Design)
Additionally, Tuan Tran (BS 2005, Architectural Studies; MA 2008, Architecture) is connected to PSOA through the College of the Arts & Architecture, which also includes the School of Architecture & Urban Planning.
The commissioned pieces have been described as works meant to pique the interest of convention attendees. Given that all selected artists are local to Milwaukee, the overarching goal is to create a work that showcases and emphasizes what makes our city unique.
The Baird Center will display all works during an open house event in May 2024.
Read more in an article by Bobby Tanzilo for OnMilwaukee.
PSOA alums among the artists to be featured at community hub in Bronzeville neighborhood
Carvd N Stone reports that ThriveOn King has named 20 local artists to add art installations to its first floor. Among the artists are Mutope J. Johnson (MFA 2014, Art) and Evelyn Patricia Terry (BFA 1970, Art; MS 1973, Art). ThriveOn King, is a new community hub in Milwaukee’s Bronzeville neighborhood, is being developed by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation (GMF), the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), and Royal Capital.
ArtsECO alum who uses art to make a difference in her community receives national award
Jeanette Arellano, an alum of UWM’s ArtsECO program, has been receiving recognition for using art in her classroom to make a difference in the Milwaukee community.
Recently, the National Education Association award Arellano with their César Chávez Acción y Compromiso Human and Civil Rights Award. The award acknowledges her for embodying the spirit of César Chávez and making “noble contributions to the labor movement through commitment, action, negotiation, and art.”
Arellano came to UWM as a post-baccalaureate art education student taking part in the ArtsECO program, which supports teachers in integrating the arts into their classrooms. She found a diverse cohort of teachers through the program that assisted her through scholastic and community involvement.
Read more about Jeanette Arellano’s story on UWM Report.
Teaching Faculty Elena Abend shares her story on PBS program Adelante
Elena Abend (Teaching Faculty and Area Head of Piano) was featured on the Milwaukee PBS show, Adelante. Abend and her husband, Orlando Pimentel ,shared their unique story about how they have recently brought their excellent musical skills to a pair of local schools.
A graduate of the acclaimed Juilliard School of Music, Abend is a Venezuelan pianist who has played with major orchestras throughout her home country, including recording with the Filarmonica Nacional. Abend has also performed at renowned venues all around the world, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Wigmore Hall.
