Explore the arts beyond the classroom
Co-curricular Arts Units
Co-curricular life plays an important role in the student experience at UW–Madison. Co-curricular arts units provide opportunities for students to engage in structured, non-credit activities that highlight, integrate and enhance formal academic learning.
Chazen Museum of Art
Museum staff have been working for the past few years to reimagine how the collection artwork is presented in the galleries.
Cinematheque
Madison’s home for great movies—a specially curated program of timeless classics and the best in new international cinema.
Center for Design and Material Culture
The center focuses on the study of textiles, material culture, and design, and is a hub for innovative programs that engage local, national, and international audiences.
Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives
OMAI provides culturally relevant and transformative arts programming to promote positive social dialogue and to give cultural art forms a legitimate academic forum.
Tandem Press
Tandem Press is a fine art print publisher affiliated with the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Wheelhouse Studios
Wheelhouse Studios is an open art studio with three versatile workspaces, flexible studio designs, drop-in art opportunities, and classes for enthusiasts and first-time artists alike.
Wisconsin Union
The Union connects students, faculty, staff, members and visitors through shared cultural, social and recreational events and experiences.
Wisconsin Union Theater
The Wisconsin Union Theater (WUT) brings extraordinary music, dance, and theater to life through its annual season.
UW Libraries and Special Collections for the Arts
Looking to learn more about the arts or further your own research?
UW–Madison Libraries offers world-class opportunities to research art. Explore catalogs and digital archives with the expert guidance of UW–Librarians and unearth hidden treasures in collections of books, photos, and music.
Kohler Art Library
- Large collection of contemporary and historic art books and exhibition catalogs
- Over 100 art magazines and journals for browsing
- Study space
- Expert guidance on finding and using art resources.
- Online art and design resources available exclusively through the Libraries include image databases, fashion and design trend forecasting, historical primary source material, and art encyclopedias and bibliographies.
Located on the first floor of the Elvehjem Building.
Special Collections
The university community and the general public are welcome to view and do research with the collections. Artists might be especially interested in holdings related to fashion and design, the science of color and dying, printmaking and print history, literary subcultures and countercultures, and the history of science and technology.
- Rare books, manuscripts, archives, ephemera, and a significant reference collection.
- Exhibits, tours, classes, lectures, and other events.
Located on the ninth floor of Memorial Library.
Mills Music Library
Mills is the primary resource for music materials and information on campus and in the state.
- Vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, DVDs, books, and scores in collections available for borrowing
- Scholarly journals and general interest magazines
- A Music Software Workstation
- Archival materials, many of which are available online in UW Digital Collections.
Located in the basement of Memorial Library.
University Archives
The University Archives & Records Management (UA) gathers and preserves historical documents to help anyone interested in exploring the history of the arts and artists at UW–Madison.
- Special focus on collecting and producing oral histories
- UA works with campus groups to create and manage archives and records.
Located inside Steenbock Library.
Elsewhere on campus, you may plunge into poetry in College Library’s Gaus Collection, explore Memorial Library’s materials on creative writing, dance, film studies, and theater, and buttress your arts business and arts administration awareness at the Business Library.