A recent photo gallery created to spotlight Summer Term courses at UW–Madison featured images of classes offered by the School of Education’s Art Department and Dance Department.
The story notes “thousands of Badgers enroll in Summer Term courses to make progress on degree requirements, get hands-on training or even try something new. This year was no different. From mid-May to early August, students flexed their minds and their muscles with a variety of unique classes ranging from chemistry and engineering to the arts.”
The following courses, Art 454 (Neon: Light and Sculpture) and Dance 135 (Pilates Mat I), were featured:
Christian Ulloa, a second-year graduate student in the sculpture program, crafts his neon sculpture during Art 454 (Neon: Light as a Sculpture), a Summer Term class, in UW–Madison’s Art Lofts. Christian says that he took the class to learn a niche skill that isn’t available most places and says that he feels privileged to work with a medium that most artists never get to touch. UW–Madison is one of only a handful of schools in the country that has a full-service facility for creating neon art. Photo: Taylor Wolfram / UW–Madison
Students learn how to make neon sculptures from start to finish, designing their pieces with sketches and bringing them to life through physical creation. The skillful dance between art and science begins with simple clear tubing. Students learn to heat and melt the glass tube, as shown here, before bending and reinflating it with a hose into the desired shape. Electrodes are attached to energize the gas particles inside the tube, then students “bombard” their creations to remove impurities like moisture, and fill them with neon and argon gas to make plasma that emits the characteristic neon glow. Photo: Taylor Wolfram / UW–Madison
Lecturer Kelsey Macomber uses an expanding ball and a model skeleton to instruct her students on lung function during Dance 135, Pilates Mat I, in Lathrop Hall. Kelsey says that her favorite part of teaching the class is “seeing transformation of student bodies and awareness.” Pilates is a physical conditioning program that creates balance, improves posture, decompresses joints and creates elongated, toned muscles. The exercises focus on core strength, breath, and a flexible spine. Photo: Taylor Wolfram / UW–Madison
Macomber supports student Marvin Yang and offers suggestions to improve his form. Kelsey says that the smaller summer classes are a great opportunity to give a lot of good attention to each student. In the normal academic year, Pilates Mat I has three to four sections that are capped at 50 students. Photo: Taylor Wolfram / UW–Madison