When Thomas Gibson is inaugurated as UW-Milwaukee’s 10th chancellor, part of the ceremony will connect a longstanding tradition with the hands-on work of a new generation of artists.
Gibson will receive a Chancellor’s Medallion created through UWM’s Peck School of the Arts. The medallion represents the chancellor’s position as the university’s chief executive and becomes part of the official regalia worn at commencement.
Department of Art & Design faculty member Erica Meier oversaw the creation of the medallion with students Marlena Weghorn and Abraham Anderson.
Weghorn is a double major in studio art and art education, and Anderson is a studio art major. Both are focusing their studio art studies on jewelry and metalsmithing.
For Meier, the commission was a natural fit for a discipline centered on created objects meant to last.
“Making heirloom objects is literally what we train students to do,” Meier said.
Building the future into design
The medallion takes its inspiration from “Forthcoming,” a concept representing continual progress, collective support and the promise of a future shaped by education, leadership and community.
At its center is the official UWM seal, constructed from layered metal elements with contrasting black and gold finishes. The layers represent the accumulation of knowledge, and the contrast between dark and luminous evokes both foundation and aspiration.
Surrounding the seal is a ladder-like structure inspired by architectural scaffolding and buttressing. The forms represent upward movement, access, stability and the collective support that makes growth possible.
“Forthcoming means growth,” Anderson said. “Through my time here, I’ve seen so much growth, so many positive things happening, and the way I think we really showed that through the medallion is through that structure around the main piece.”
The neckpiece extends that symbolism through interconnected lattice-like links representing UWM’s schools, colleges, divisions and affiliated programs. Freshwater pearls within the links connect the piece to Milwaukee’s location on Lake Michigan.
Together, the elements portray the university as an evolving structure strengthened by the people and programs within it.
Learning through making
Bringing the design to life required the students to translate initial sketches into digital models and eventually a complex physical object through fabrication, assembly and plenty of problem solving.
“You can never fully predict everything that’s going to happen,” Weghorn said.
For her, one of the rewards was watching individual components become something much larger.
“Starting with small pieces of tubing and wire and sheet, all of a sudden, I have 16 ladder structures that support a medallion.”
Meier said the university commission also gave the students experience with the professional side of their discipline.
“It is absolutely experiential learning,” she said. “It is an opportunity for the students to learn what it’s like to make a living with their skills.”
The finished medallion will remain part of UWM’s ceremonial regalia, giving Weghorn and Anderson the unusual opportunity to leave a piece of their work with the university.
“If you would have told me two years ago even that I was working on something that would exist within UWM forever, I don’t know if I would have believed you,” Weghorn said. “It’s kind of exactly my dream and what I’m hoping to do.”
Story by Oliver J. Johnson | Video by Cameron Wise ’26 (BFA Film)