Category: Alumni News

MFA grad awarded Fulbright Fellowship for work in Poland

UW–Madison alumna Devon Stackonis, who earlier this month graduated with an MFA in printmaking from the School of Education’s Art Department, has been awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to pursue research in Wrocław, Poland, furthering work she started as a student at UW–Madison. Stackonis will head to Wroclaw in Sept. 2024, where she will spend 10 …

Capital Times publishes Q&A with new MMOCA director, UW–Madison alum Paul Baker Prindle

The Capital Times published a Q&A with the new director of the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMOCA), Paul Baker Prindle, a Wisconsin native and UW–Madison alumnus. Prindle, who earned his MFA in printmaking from the School of Education’s Art Department, recently returned to Wisconsin to head the museum, starting his role on May 9. …

UW–Madison alum receives Dissertation of the Year Award

UW–Madison alumna Erin Hastey, who graduated with a PhD from the School of Education’s Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis in 2023, has received the Dissertation of the Year Award from the Council for the Study of Community Colleges (CSCC). For over a decade, Hastey “has empowered organizational leaders to move from conflict to …

UW–Madison’s Castro discusses ‘science of reading’ law’s impact with Wisconsin State Journal

The Wisconsin State Journal utilizes the expertise of UW–Madison’s Mariana Castro in a recent article examining the impact of a new law in Wisconsin that overhauls reading education. The law, Act 20, aims to improve low reading proficiency rates by requiring instruction to be grounded in “the science of reading,” the article explains. Among other …

UW–Madison alum is second place winner of Wisconsin Biennial exhibit

The second place winner of the 2024 Wisconsin Artists Biennial Exhibit, hosted by the Museum of Wisconsin Art (MOWA) in West Bend, is a UW–Madison alum. Scott Espeseth, who earned an MFA in printmaking from the School of Education’s Art Department in 2000, is the recipient of the second place award. “His work often depicts …

New York Times previews exhibition featuring art by UW–Madison alumna

The work of UW–Madison alumna Rita Benissan was spotlighted in the New York Times recently in their article previewing the Gallery 57 exhibition, “Constellations, Part 1: Figures on Earth & Beyond.” “Constellations, Part 1,” which opened March 14 in the Ghana-based Gallery 57’s London outpost, “brings together emerging and established artists from within the gallery’s …

Nine from Art Department win 2024 Creative Arts Awards

The UW–Madison Division of the Arts has announced the recipients of the 2024 Creative Arts Awards, who will be recognized at special gala event on Tuesday, May 2, at the Hamel Music Center. Among the award winners are nine individuals with ties to the School of Education’s Art Department. The Creative Arts Awards program enables …

Embark on a time-traveling journey across centuries in University Theatre’s ‘Orlando’

By Kari Dickinson Based on Virginia Woolf’s feminist classic, University Theatre’s newest production, “Orlando” — which opens this Thursday — will take the audience on a journey across the world and through centuries in a profound, moving, and sometimes funny story about one person’s search for love and artistic fulfillment.  The show runs April 18-28 in …

Two with School of Education ties named among Wisconsin’s most influential Native American leaders

Two individuals with ties to the UW–Madison School of Education were among the 11 Badgers named on Madison365’s annual list of “Wisconsin’s Most Influential Native American Leaders” for 2024. Nicole Bowman, an associate scientist and evaluator with the Wisconsin Evaluation Collaborative (WEC), housed in the School of Education’s Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER), was recognized by …

In podcast, UW–Madison’s Velliquette speaks on ‘presence and permanence’ in paper sculpting

UW–Madison faculty member Michael Velliquette appeared recently on the Level Up Artists podcast for an episode that is titled, “Presence and Permanence with Michael Velliquette.” In the episode, Velliquette, an artist and paper sculptor, talks about discovering paper as a complex creative medium, exploring where present and permanence intersect, pursuing opportunities that are genuine to the work, and nurturing …