John Szarkowski, University of Wisconsin class of 1947; image: 1986; University of Wisconsin—Madison archives collections.

December 18, 2025 – The Chazen Museum of Art is delighted to announce a generous gift of twenty-eight photographs by celebrated photographer Irving Penn (1917–2009) from The Irving Penn Foundation in honor of John Szarkowski (1925–2007), a UW–Madison alumnus and former photography curator at the Museum of Modern Art.

The group of photographic prints curated by Van Vleck Curator of Works on Paper James R. Wehn, PhD, in collaboration with the foundation, represents a major addition to the Chazen’s collection, where it will augment existing holdings of photographs across multiple genres from the late 1930s to the turn of the twentieth century. The gift surveys Penn’s practice, from his earliest photographs to projects undertaken for Vogue magazine and his independent studio work.

“The Chazen is thrilled to receive this generous gift of photographs from The Irving Penn Foundation,” said Amy Gilman, Senior Director for the Arts and Media, Director of the Chazen Museum of Art. “It is precisely these types of deeply meaningful gifts which have transformed the museum’s collection time and time again, and we are honored to continue John Szarkowski’s legacy of sharing the brilliance of Irving Penn’s work. “

Szarkowski graduated from the UW in 1947 with a B.A. in art history. As Director of the Department of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art, 1962–1991, he played an influential role in establishing Penn as a fine art photographer, most notably in a major retrospective exhibition at MoMA in 1984.

“John Szarkowski looms large in the past century’s pantheon of photography figures, and today—on what would have been the esteemed curator’s 100th birthday—the foundation is pleased to announce this donation of Irving Penn works to the Chazen,” said Tom Penn, Executive Director of the foundation and the artist’s son. “Considering Szarkowski’s lifelong vocation as an educator and his ties to Wisconsin, we feel strongly that placing this group of my father’s photographs in the didactic collection of a teaching museum is an especially fitting way to commemorate the occasion. We’re delighted to partner with the Chazen in honoring Szarkowski, a pivotal champion of Penn’s artistic legacy.”

“These photographs will offer visitors and students insights into Penn’s career and artistic practice,” said Wehn. “Because many of these photographs relate to Penn’s commercial work for Vogue, they reflect aspects of twentieth-century American popular history and related visual culture. They also show Penn’s deep interest in mastering darkroom techniques that produced stunningly beautiful results.”

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Born in Plainfield, NJ, Irving Penn attended the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Arts (later University of the Arts), where he studied advertising design. In 1938, he purchased his first camera with earnings from drawings published in Harper’s Bazaar. After working in various art director jobs, Penn traveled in the American south and in Mexico, taking photographs while briefly aspiring to become a painter. In 1943, he took a position at Vogue magazine, where he worked as a photographer for seven decades. Throughout his career, Penn consistently redefined the photographic medium, blending artistic vision with technical mastery in fashion, portraiture, travel, and still life. Keenly interested in printing photographs, Penn experimented with methods that produced certain aesthetic effects or offered greater control over tonal variations, ultimately developing complex techniques for printing with palladium and platinum metals. He applied these innovations in bodies of work that leveraged his editorial and advertising skills while also advancing photography as a fine art.

ABOUT THE IRVING PENN FOUNDATION

The Irving Penn Foundation was established to promote knowledge and understanding of the artistic legacy of Irving Penn, including the diversity of techniques, mediums, and subject matter the artist explored.

In furtherance of this mission, the foundation’s objectives include preserving in excellent condition those works by Penn that are owned by the foundation; placing representative selections of Penn’s work in the permanent collections of major institutions around the world; serving as a resource for reliable and comprehensive information about the artist’s life and work; fostering high standards of quality in those publications that are authorized to reproduce the artist’s work; and encouraging individuals and institutions whose artistic and scholarly endeavors uphold Penn’s values and advance the mission of the foundation.

A SELECTION OF IMAGES GIVEN TO THE CHAZEN MUSEUM OF ART

All by Irving Penn, all a gift of The Irving Penn Foundation in celebration of the centennial of UW–Madison alumnus John Szarkowski.

Issey Miyake Lacquer Pleats (“Egyptian”), New York, 1990 | Platinum-palladium print © The Irving Penn Foundation

Carson McCullers, New York, 1950 | Gelatin silver print © Condé Nast

Girl in Bed (Jean Patchett), New York, 1949 | Gelatin silver print © The Irving Penn Foundation

Cigarette No. 86, New York, 1972 | Platinum-palladium print © The Irving Penn Foundation

Optician’s Shop Window (C), New York, circa 1939 | Gelatin silver print © Condé Nast

George Grosz (1 of 3), New York, 1948 | Gelatin silver print © The Irving Penn Foundation

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“The Chazen Museum of Art’s reinstallation represents a subtle yet profound shift toward seamless engagement and demonstrates the art museum’s power to forge new understandings and actively engage with the rapidly changing world,” said Amy Gilman, director of the Chazen Museum of Art and senior director for the arts and media at UW–Madison. “As an institution committed to remaining nimble, taking risks and adapting to change, the Chazen will present the permanent collection in a way that will make the museum experience more enriching and intellectually accessible for everyone.”

As a museum embedded in a leading research university, the Chazen Museum of Art has leveraged the expertise of UW–Madison faculty, staff and students across diverse fields — from history and religion to material sciences and studio art — to guide its reinstallation. This collaboration is helping the Chazen reconsider gallery themes and checklists, successfully integrate new scholarship and maximize interdisciplinary connections with art.

The long-contemplated project began several years ago with curators and subject matter experts conducting a deep exploration of the more than 25,000 artworks in the Chazen’s care, including studio glass, figurative ceramics, modern Midwest painting, Japanese woodcuts and more. Stepping away from hierarchies that are common in art museums, the reinstallation highlights strengths in the collection, showcasing works previously less emphasized and weaving important threads through social history.

The reinstallation is rooted in visitor experience. As a part of this effort, the staff is carefully considering what makes museums special alongside elements that might intimidate visitors. Staff has incorporated research on visitor interaction with artwork — from how long guests linger to contemplate works to the amount of time spent reading labels. One-on-one and small group meetings with experts at UW–Madison and in the broader community ensure the reinstallation is structured to resonate with a wide range of perspectives. The Chazen will continue to gather visitor feedback through observation and surveys.

Using this valuable information, the Chazen is reinstalling its collection to spark wonder rooted in intellectual engagement. While visitors might not notice drastic aesthetic changes, they will recognize a refined focus that encourages seamless interactions with both objects and their accompanying labels. This thoughtful process ensures that while the space feels familiar, visitors will enjoy deeper and more rewarding connections with the art, creating an elevated museum experience. With comfortable spaces in the galleries to reflect, visitors will have the opportunity to delve deeper into artistic processes and enjoy enriching conversations about the art world, ultimately fostering a more engaging art museum experience that both accurately explores the past and is easily adaptable for the present.

“The Chazen’s reinstallation highlights the art museum’s power to shape contemporary discourse and sets an important precedent for the museum field that other institutions can adopt or learn from as they respond to their own unique collections,” said Katherine Alcauskas, chief curator at the Chazen Museum of Art. “The Chazen’s reinstallation gives renewed attention to time-honored favorites from the collection, illuminating them with fresh perspectives from new scholarship. This approach will allow visitors to discover something new about familiar pieces and facilitate encounters with works that are new to them.”

The Chazen’s reinstallation will also make the educational components of art more legible to a wider community, emphasizing its connection to social issues and ability to illuminate other fields. Designed to significantly enhance the Chazen’s mission as a learning institution, the reinstallation mirrors object-based learning, a method the Museum has successfully employed with classes at UW–Madison. This approach illustrates how a single artwork can be considered across various disciplines. By mixing genres, mediums and eras, the reinstallation provides a unique opportunity for collaboration, demonstrating how museums can actively enhance learning rather than simply serving as viewing spaces.

The Chazen proved the benefits of using a single work to prompt dialogue and navigate complex issues with “re:mancipation,” their first implementation of the single-object model to reframe a work in the permanent collection. The multi-year project included extensive research and educational materials, a documentary and a 2023 exhibition that critically examined and reinterpreted Thomas Ball’s “Emancipation Group,” which shows Abraham Lincoln standing over a kneeling, partially clothed, formerly enslaved man. The Chazen paired the controversial 19th-century sculpture with works from the Museum’s permanent collection and loans to confront its history and its place within the Museum. The initiative provided critical historical context, addressed themes of systemic violence and institutional racism and included a new commissioned sculpture by artist Sanford Biggers in response. The exhibition was a major success, prompting a rise in visitation and receiving positive feedback. The Chazen’s permanent collection reinstallation aims to create similar dialogues with other works in its holdings.

“By redefining how museums can present their artworks, the Chazen Museum of Art at the University of Wisconsin–Madison is setting a new standard and offering a tangible roadmap for museums seeking new approaches to their collections,” said Gilman. “We recognize that modern life often involves non-linear exploration, and the Chazen creates an environment in which visitors can take the path that suits them best and explore at their leisure, inviting close looking and critical examination.”

With free admission, visitors can drop in often without the pressure of seeing everything in one day. By approaching artwork from different disciplinary perspectives, the reinstallation will enhance knowledge accessibility for visitors, creating various educational entry points for experiencing the beauty and complexity of the collection.

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This phase of the multi-year project will result in the temporary closure of the third-floor Chazen building galleries starting in April, followed by the closure of the first and second floors after commencement in May 2026. The entire museum—both the Elvehjem and the Chazen buildings—will re-open in early September. The closures will allow museum staff to efficiently and safely move artwork, prepare galleries, and reinstall more than 1,000 works of art in the Chazen collection.

Closing at the end of the spring term maximizes access to the collection for classes and scholars. The Chazen Café will announce its closure plans later.  Visitors will be able to track progress on the Chazen website starting at the end of the fall semester.

The reinstallation was planned to coincide with the completion of work on the Elvehjem building, which began in 2023. The exterior envelope repairs and insulation upgrades, along with skylight replacement, will result in improved energy efficiency and better environmental conditions for artworks and visitors. For its protection, the artwork in the Elvehjem building was moved to storage or galleries in the Chazen building during the envelope and skylight work. The museum will take advantage of the empty Elvehjem galleries to repair and paint the walls and refinish the floors for the first time since they were installed in 1970.

Each gallery to have focus object

The long-contemplated comprehensive collection reinstallation project began several years ago with curators and subject matter experts conducting a deep exploration of the more than 25,000 artworks in the Chazen’s care. Stepping away from hierarchies that are common in art museums, the reinstallation highlights strengths in the collection, showcasing works previously less emphasized, and weaving important threads through social history.

Amy Gilman

“As an institution committed to remaining nimble, taking risks and adapting to change, the Chazen will present the permanent collection in a way that will make the museum experience more enriching and intellectually accessible for everyone.”

Amy Gilman, director of the Chazen Museum of Art

Each gallery will include a deeply researched focus object that will anchor a constellation of works from across time, media and cultures with common connections. This change will provide multiple paths to engagement; encourage close looking and discovery; prompt contemplation, comparison and contrast; and ultimately foster deeper connections between art and daily life. This new model for exhibiting the Chazen’s holdings will also allow for more flexible approaches to collecting in the future and celebrate new forms of exploration with museum visitors as well as students, faculty and staff at UW–Madison.

“The Chazen Museum of Art’s reinstallation represents a subtle yet profound shift toward seamless engagement and demonstrates the art museum’s power to forge new understandings and actively engage with the rapidly changing world,” said Amy Gilman, director of the Chazen Museum of Art and senior director for the arts and media at UW–Madison. “As an institution committed to remaining nimble, taking risks and adapting to change, the Chazen will present the permanent collection in a way that will make the museum experience more enriching and intellectually accessible for everyone.”

As a museum embedded in a leading research university, the Chazen Museum of Art leverages the expertise of UW–Madison faculty, staff and students across diverse fields — from history and religion to material sciences and studio art — to guide the reinstallation. This collaboration has helped the Chazen reconsider gallery themes and checklists, successfully integrate new scholarship and maximize interdisciplinary connections with art.

A look at visitor interaction with artwork

The reinstallation is rooted in visitor experience. As a part of this effort, the staff is carefully considering what makes museums special alongside elements that might intimidate visitors. Staff has incorporated research on visitor interaction with artwork — from how long guests linger to contemplate works to the amount of time spent reading labels. One-on-one and small group meetings with experts at UW–Madison and in the broader community ensure the reinstallation is structured to resonate with a wide range of perspectives.

While visitors might not notice drastic aesthetic changes, they will recognize a refined focus that encourages seamless interactions with both objects and their accompanying labels. With comfortable spaces in the galleries to reflect, visitors will have the opportunity to delve deeper into artistic processes and enjoy enriching conversations about the art world, ultimately fostering a more engaging art museum experience that both accurately explores the past and is easily adaptable for the present.

“The Chazen’s reinstallation highlights the art museum’s power to shape contemporary discourse and sets an important precedent for the museum field that other institutions can adopt or learn from as they respond to their own unique collections,” said Katherine Alcauskas, chief curator at the Chazen Museum of Art. “The Chazen’s reinstallation gives renewed attention to time-honored favorites from the collection, illuminating them with fresh perspectives from new scholarship. This approach will allow visitors to discover something new about familiar pieces and facilitate encounters with works that are new to them.”

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Every fall, the Chazen Museum of Art employs graduate students in key roles that support the museum’s mission of connecting people and art through teaching, research, and community programming.

For the 2025–26 academic year, three talented scholars—Tarah Connolly, Richard Ellis, and Xiaoyan Jiang—have come to the Chazen as a public engagement fellow and project assistants. Their work ranges from developing digital resources and gallery interpretation to facilitating class visits and contributing to curatorial projects. With backgrounds in education, art history, and interdisciplinary museum practice, they add to the richness and quality of the Chazen’s work while gaining hands-on experience that will shape their future.

“The work of our project assistants and engagement fellow is so important to the Chazen’s mission,” said Chief Engagement Officer Berit Ness. “They not only strengthen our capacity to serve students, faculty, and the public, but also enrich our team with fresh ideas, research expertise, and a spirit of curiosity.”

Tarah Connolly

Tarah Connolly

A third-year PhD candidate in curriculum and instruction in the School of Education, Tarah Connolly is beginning her dissertation on museum education, with a particular focus on children’s museums and  their role in broader educational ecosystems.

At the Chazen, Connolly will work with Ness in supporting efforts to design interactive spaces in the soon-to-be reinstalled collection galleries, as well as develop new guides to support the overall visitor experience.

This work expands her experience beyond children’s museums and science centers into the world of art museums. “I see myself pursuing a variety of career paths related to museum education, but I value being at the intersection of research and practice. An academic museum is the right place to explore that,” she says.

Connolly is especially excited to test new strategies for playful, hands-on engagement. “I’m looking forward to prototyping ideas with visitors and developing ways to spark curiosity in the niches, hallways, and mezzanines of the museum.”

Her position is co-supported by UW–Madison’s Center for the Humanities.

Richard Ellis

Richard Ellis

As an academic engagement project assistant, Richard Ellis will collaborate with Ness and Academic Coordinator Mieke Miller to support university class visits to the museum’s galleries and study rooms. Using methods in object-centered learning, he will focus on collaborating with instructors to develop class visits tailored to the goals of an individual class.

Ellis is a second-year PhD candidate in art history whose research interests include Islamic art and architecture, Persian manuscripts, and contemporary and modern art from the Middle East. This position is a direct bridge to his long-term aspirations. “This role provides me with hands-on experience leading educational programming that is integral to the mission of the Chazen, and it directly relates to my career goals of becoming both a museum professional and an educator,” he says.

Ellis is eager to work across disciplines: “I’m really looking forward to collaborating with students and instructors from other fields to discover new ways of engaging with objects in the museum’s collection.”

Xiaoyan Jiang

Xiaoyan Jiang

Now entering her third year of a PhD program in art history, Xiaoyan Jiang’s research interests include twentieth-century European visual culture, with a focus on German modernism and its circulation through migration and diaspora.

At the Chazen, Jiang will work with Chief Curator Katherine Alcauskas, Van Vleck Curator of Works on Paper James Wehn, and Permanent Collection Reinstallation Project Associate Janine Yorimoto Boldt to support the reinstallation of the Chazen’s permanent collection galleries. She will research artworks and collaborate with curators to shape gallery projects and assist Chazen curatorial staff in organizing scholarly bibliographies for each gallery, which will later be made available to faculty and instructors.

“We’re thrilled to have Xiaoyan return for a second year as a project assistant,” said Alcauskas. “With her knowledge of German, Chinese, and Russian, Xiaoyan has made invaluable contributions to our understanding of the artworks in our collection and their interpretation.”

Jiang said her role at the Chazen strengthens her ability to bridge scholarship with exhibition development—skills that are increasingly valuable for careers integrating teaching, research, and curatorial practice.

For Jiang, the year ahead holds dual promise: advancing dissertation research while contributing to the reimagining of the Chazen’s permanent collection. “This work allows me to engage with a wide range of objects and narratives, expanding both my scholarly perspective and the scope of my research.”

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MADISON, Wis. — Embark on an immersive creative journey that engages the senses and sparks the imagination with “Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within,” on view Sept. 8-Dec. 23 at the Chazen Museum of Art at the University of Wisconsin–Madison (UW–Madison). The first retrospective of Takaezu’s work in 20 years, “Worlds Within” illuminates her hybrid practice with over 100 objects, encouraging visitors to immerse themselves in the beauty of her vibrantly glazed ceramic sculptures and her transportive weavings and paintings. Visitors will also be invited to listen and imagine what fills the space inside her signature closed ceramic vessels — a hidden world that held great importance for the artist.

“This chronological exhibition will acquaint visitors with the innovation and multisensory experience that marked Toshiko Takaezu’s groundbreaking practice,” said Amy Gilman, director of the Chazen Museum of Art and senior director for the arts and media at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. “Historically, UW–Madison has been a hub for renowned artists who shared their expertise with aspiring artists. Takaezu Toshiko was among those instructors, teaching courses early in her career in the mid-1950s. Presenting the exhibition at the Chazen is especially significant given the artist’s connection to UW–Madison and the University’s continued commitment to the arts, and we look forward to celebrating her enduring legacy as both an artist and mentor.”

Toshiko Takaezu (1922-2011) is best known for creating expressively glazed “closed form” ceramic sculptures that ranged in scale from palm-sized works to immersive sculptural environments. Seeking to harness the expressive potential of both abstract painting and sculpture, Takaezu radically reimagined the vessel form as a pliable three-dimensional canvas and as site for limitless experimentation. Of Okinawan heritage and born in Hawai‘i, Takaezu’s phenomenal hybrid practice was informed both by her cross-cultural heritage and deep appreciation for the living environment.

The exhibition will include a vast collection of ceramic sculptures including her signature “closed forms,” Moons, Garden Seats, Trees and monumental pieces from her acclaimed “Star” series. Visitors will also see Takaezu’s rarely exhibited acrylic paintings and fiber works. Installations inspired by those Takaezu created during her lifetime — including a set table of functional wares from the early 1950s and an inviting constellation of enormous ceramic forms from the late 1990s to early 2000s — will transport visitors to the artist’s immersive worlds and offer a comprehensive look at Takaezu’s evolution. Sound will also play an important role in this exhibition as many of Takaezu’s closed ceramic forms contain unseen “rattles.” “Worlds Within” will give visitors a chance to explore these hidden soundscapes with videos developed by composer, sound artist and exhibition co-curator Leilehua Lanzilotti.

Takaezu’s journey into ceramics began in 1940 at a commercial studio in Honolulu. She honed her skills at the Honolulu Academy of Arts and the University of Hawai‘i before furthering her studies at the prestigious Cranbrook Academy of Art. An eight-month trip to Japan in 1955 profoundly influenced her practice. In addition to working as an artist, Takaezu was a prolific instructor, teaching ceramics at several institutions including the University of Wisconsin–Madison.  In 1975, she established a live-in apprenticeship program in her Quakertown, New Jersey studio where she mentored students through lessons of technique and self-discovery. Today, her home still serves as a creative workspace for artists and students.

“Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within” is organized by The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, with assistance from the Toshiko Takaezu Foundation and the Takaezu family. The exhibition and its national tour have been made possible through lead support from the Henry Luce Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art.

At the Chazen Museum of Art, the exhibition is supported by the Anonymous Fund.

The exhibition is co-curated by Noguchi Museum Curator Kate Wiener, independent curator Glenn Adamson, and sound artist and composer Leilehua Lanzilotti. The exhibition was conceived and developed with former Noguchi Museum Senior Curator Dakin Hart.

Following the exhibition’s presentation at the Chazen Museum of Art at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, “Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within” will travel to the Honolulu Museum of Art (Feb. 13-July 26, 2026). The exhibition tour also included The Noguchi Museum (March 20-July 28, 2024), Cranbrook Art Museum (Oct. 9, 2024-Jan. 12, 2025) and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (March 2-May 18, 2025).

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MADISON, Wis. — Grapple with the Caribbean’s complex contradictions and engage its diverse cultural matrix in “cuestiones caribeñas/caribbean matters: assemblage and sculpture by pablo delano.” The exhibition, on view Aug. 11-Nov. 30 at the Chazen Museum of Art at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, considers contemporary Caribbean reality through the juxtaposition of appropriated photographic images, archival documents and found objects. With irony and wry humor, visual artist and photographer Pablo Delano (b. 1954 San Juan, Puerto Rico) subverts longstanding stereotypes and questions historical narratives while also affirming and celebrating the region’s global impact and resistance.

Colonialism and conquest shaped the Caribbean, creating ethnic diversity and social hierarchies. This historical impact is reflected in the archipelago’s distinct cultural and national identities but also in a common Caribbean ethos shared across the former and current Spanish, British, French, Dutch, Danish and U.S. territories. In his first solo exhibition since his participation in the 60th International Art Exhibition at the 2024 Venice Biennale, Delano ponders these Caribbean commonalities, critiquing past and current systems of oppression but also building solidarity rooted in shared histories.

Exhibition co-curators and UW–Madison faculty Jorell Meléndez-Badillo, assistant professor of history, and Aurora Santiago Ortiz, assistant professor of gender and women’s studies and Chicane/Latine studies, are confident “cuestiones caribeñas/caribbean matters” will spark dialogue across disciplines at UW–Madison, from art history and photography to anthropology and gender and women’s studies.

Pablo Delano, “la fuente – the source,” part of “cuestiones
caribeñas / caribbean matters”, 2025, proposed site-specific installation.
Courtesy of the artist.

“During this time, it is especially important to center and bring forth the narratives and experiences of migrants and underscore the significance of understanding history and knowing why we are where we are today. It is more important now than ever to recognize our past to critically think about our present and our future,” said Santiago Ortiz.

Delano, the Charles A. Dana professor of fine arts at Trinity College (Hartford, Connecticut) and a co-founder of Trinity College’s Center for Caribbean Studies, conceptualizes “cuestiones caribeñas/caribbean matters” as a meditation on the Caribbean condition. The exhibition is informed by Delano’s childhood memories growing up in a tumultuous Cold War-era Puerto Rico; extensive travel and research in Trinidad and throughout the extended Caribbean; and his love of Caribbean literature, film and music. The exhibited works reference a range of themes including migration, tourism, labor, gender, race and debt.

“Caribbean history is global history. It is the place where the different empires merged, and it helped develop the global north. Having an exhibition that critically examines this without pushing a narrative allows people to create and develop their own interpretations of this fractured, complicated and complex past,” said Meléndez-Badillo.

Pablo Delano, “porto rican laundries” part of “cuestiones
caribeñas / caribbean matters”, 2025, proposed site-specific installation, dimensions variable.
Courtesy of the artist.

Meléndez-Badillo and Santiago Ortiz have been following Delano’s work for several years, notably “The Museum of the Old Colony.” The art installation examines the United States’ enduring influence and oppression in Puerto Rico through the creation of a performative, fictional “Museum” that includes reproductions of archival photos, original video pieces made from historic film footage as well as sculptural tableaus. Delano named the exhibition after Old Colony, a U.S.-brand soft drink popular in Puerto Rico since the 1950s. The sarcastic reference emphasizes Puerto Rico’s long and ongoing history of colonial rule — first under Spain and then under the United States. Adriano Pedrosa, artistic director of the 2024 Venice Biennale, saw an earlier version of “The Museum of the Old Colony” at the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Juan, resulting in the work’s inclusion in the Biennale, themed “Foreigners Everywhere.”

Delano learned photography from his father, renowned photographer Jack Delano. After attending Tyler School of Art at Temple University and Yale University, earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in painting, Delano returned to photography. He photographed New York’s Caribbean communities of the Lower East Side and Washington Heights. Starting in the late 1990s, he spent a decade photographing in Trinidad and Tobago. There, his fascination with that nation’s process of post-colonial nation-building led to the production of his acclaimed black and white photo book “In Trinidad” (2008). He has been working conceptually, constructing installations and assemblages with appropriated imagery and objects for the last 10 years.

“‘cuestiones caribeñas/caribbean matters’ emphasizes the complexity of the Caribbean’s history,” said Meléndez-Badillo. “It is joyous, but it is also painful and personal.”

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Through installation, sculpture, photography and film, Singh presents both familial narratives from her native India and shared histories that transcend geopolitical boundaries. Her solo exhibition examines the instrumentalization of archaeology in nationalism and control, highlighting the link between urban destruction and architectural construction. The works pose questions about loss amid development—change that Singh has witnessed in India and the United States.

 Singh’s film, Sheetla, informs the exhibition. The film follows the Hindi language daily journal Jan Morcha and its role in reporting the highly contested desecration of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, Faizabad in 1992. Singh titled the film in honor of her grand uncle, Sheetla Singh, a prominent editor, journalist and union leader in north India. He served as the editor of Jan Morcha for fifty years.

Anamika Singh, photo by Agya Salas

“Being born and raised in the Indian subcontinent and the US deeply influenced my questions around power, violence and history. In both places, I witnessed the desire to capture and own history and to have authority over it. My work doesn’t think about history as a vestige of the past but very much as something that is reanimated over within the present and to mark the future. My work invites people to re-approach and reopen complex histories that are often relegated to the domain of experts to challenge the notion of singular histories that are petrified in time,” said Singh.

Corpus is the culmination of three years of research-based artistic practice in the United States and India, where Singh conducted interviews, visited significant sites and explored the Jan Morcha archives. She presents both personal and shared histories that raise questions about the longstanding impacts of rapid change and the value assigned to sites, objects and knowledge.

 The exhibition brings together two very different methods of creating work—one that compiles historical information through a technical, research-driven and disciplined process and another that considers experimentation in the studio and the volatility of the material, which includes concrete and stainless steel. As visitors examine work made from elements commonly found at construction sites, Singh encourages them to wonder if they are looking at something that is being built or something that has been destroyed.

“My work explores ideas of construction and destruction and the tension between them. Debris is a big aspect of the material used in this exhibition. I hope visitors have the chance to sift through the debris. I want them to think about what it means to parse through uneasy histories,” said Singh.

Anamika Singh, Corpus, 2025

Singh’s most recent body of work cements her belief that art embodies freedom and has the power to both address and challenge dominant systems while also generating new language to confront complex issues such as colonial and nationalist violence.

“Art has the freedom of material, form and process that other disciplines are constrained by. This gives artists the tools to move beyond totalizing narratives and make space for uneasy conversations and inherent contradictions that we live with. Art can really mark untapped spaces of solidarity, collaboration and reckoning, especially when dealing with histories of violence,” said Singh.

For Singh, the Chazen’s Panczenko MFA Prize represents an invaluable opportunity for UW–Madison students. She appreciates collaborating with Chazen staff to bring her exhibition to the galleries, an experience young artists would not otherwise have until later in their careers.   “The arts have been eroded. The space and resources have been challenged so this kind of opportunity is monumental and keeps the work of aspiring artists alive and visible,” said Singh.

The Russell and Paula Panczenko MFA Prize is offered annually by the Museum in collaboration with the UW–Madison art department and provides a unique professional development opportunity for award winners. The selected artist is featured in an exhibition at the Chazen and gains experience throughout the entire process of the project, from collaborating on layout and design to marketing and program development. The winning artist is selected by an outside juror and receives an honorarium. This year’s juror was Lumi Tan, a curator and writer based in New York City.

“The Russell and Paula Panczenko MFA Prize allows students to bridge the gap between academic study and the broader art world. It fosters confidence, provides critical exposure, and empowers them to launch successful and impactful careers. The Chazen is deeply committed to supporting these emerging artists,” said Amy Gilman, senior director for the arts and media at UW–Madison and director of the Chazen Museum of Art.

The Russell and Paula Panczenko MFA Prize is supported by funds from the Russell and Paula Panczenko Fund for Excellence in the Visual Arts.

About the Artist

Anamika Singh (b. India 1995, active in New York and Madison, Wisconsin) is a transdisciplinary artist and researcher whose work contends with the contested histories produced by transfers and flows of power and violence. Singh received her BFA from the Cooper Union School of Art and is currently an MFA candidate at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Singh has taught at Rutgers University-Newark and given guest lectures and talks at institutions such as Architectural Association, The New School and The Cooper Union. Singh has been the recipient of numerous fellowships, and her work has been exhibited internationally. She will begin her doctoral research in the Department of Art and Archaeology at Princeton University in the fall of 2025.

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Amy Gilman, director of the Chazen Museum of Art, will assume new administrative duties as the senior director for the arts and media, providing supervision to the staff in the Division of the Arts, as well as working more closely on behalf of the provost with the UW Press and Wisconsin Public Media. Gilman will also continue as director of the Chazen Museum.

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Lee Nam Lee, “Cartoon Folding Screen II”, 2010, five-channel digital video with sound on 5 LED monitors in custom frames with custom electronics

Exhibition imagines a digital future through art

The Chazen Museum of Art at the University of Wisconsin–Madison will highlight the work of 19 international artists at the forefront of digital and media art in Message from Our Planet: Digital Art from the Thoma Foundation, on view Feb. 19-June 2, 2024. The exhibition comprises a wide-ranging investigation on the artifacts of contemporary life and showcases software, video, and light-technology artworks from the Carl and Marilynn Thoma Foundation collection.

Based on the idea of the time capsule, Message From Our Planet imagines a digital future where art communicates beyond our common era through computer code and invites contemplation on how future generations will comprehend the past. Like the interstellar time capsule found on NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft, the exhibition proposes that artworks may be reconstituted from their digital code by future worlds, containing a multi-vocal message by Earth’s artists.

“Message from Our Planet centers around a basic human desire to be understood,” said Amy Gilman, director of the Chazen. “The exhibition challenges the viewer to question their individual legacy and consider how art can be a conduit to communicating through time.”

Message from Our Planet utilizes media technologies from vintage devices such as Eduardo Kac’s Tesão, a digital poem on a vintage Minitel; to cutting-edge digital algorithms as demonstrated by interactive video using artificial intelligence to attract flies to viewers in Laurent Mignonneau and Christa Sommerer’s People on the Fly. Additional artists in the exhibition include Brian Bress, Jim Campbell, Lia Chaia, Sabrina Gschwandtner, Hong Hao, Matthew Angelo Harrison, Claudia Hart, Jenny Holzer, Lee Nam Lee, Christian Marclay, Elias Sime, Michal Rovner, Jason Salavon, Peter Sarkisian, Penelope Umbrico, United Visual Artists, and Robert Wilson.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a free take-away publication for visitors. Designed in the style of a newspaper, the keepsake features headlines about the art and exhibition themes with color images of all artworks.

Message from Our Planet: Digital Art from the Thoma Foundation is curated by Jason Foumberg, curator of digital art at the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation.

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About the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation

The Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation recognizes that education and the arts enhance individuals’ lives and communities. Education is centered in the rural Southwest, primarily focusing on scholarships. In the Arts, the Foundation makes grants, lends and exhibits their art collection. The Foundation believes strongly in leadership, innovation and equality of opportunity.

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Oct. 11, 2023, Bentonville, AR — Art Bridges Foundation, the national arts nonprofit founded by philanthropist Alice Walton, announced today the launch of “Access for All,” providing $40 million in funding to 64 museums nationwide. The initiative aims to increase access to museums across the country and foster engagement with local communities by covering the costs of free admission days and expanded free hours as well as programming, outreach, and community partnerships that together, will eliminate many common barriers to access.

Museums participating in the Access for All initiative span 36 states and Puerto Rico. Among the 64 partners representing a broad range of locations are the Chazen Museum of Art (Madison, WI); Howard University Gallery of Arts (Washington, D.C.); Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico (San Juan, PR); Plains Art Museum (Fargo, ND); Portland Museum of Art (Portland, ME); San Diego Museum of Art (San Diego, CA); Whitney Museum of American Art (New York, NY); Wichita Art Museum (Wichita, KS); and Yellowstone Art Museum (Billings, MT). The full list of participating museums can be found on the Art Bridges website.

“Everyone, no matter where they live, deserves access to art. That’s why we started Art Bridges: to support museums in deepening their connections with local communities, and to pave the way for new audiences to experience the creativity and joy that comes with seeing art,” said Alice Walton, founder and board chair of Art Bridges. “Access for All is our biggest and most ambitious effort to date, dedicating $40 million toward bridging gaps between museums of all sizes and their communities in order to foster meaningful connections and expand arts access in every region, from Peoria to Puerto Rico.”

Access for All represents a sweeping effort to get people back to museums after COVID-19 brought declines in revenue, staffing and attendance. With many museums seeing just 71 percent of their pre-pandemic attendance, the new initiative will aim to restore pre-pandemic levels – and open opportunities for all people to enjoy American art by reducing barriers to access and strengthening community relationships.

Of the participating 64 museums, all current partners of Art Bridges, 80 percent have annual operating expenses under $10 million. The majority charge admission fees and will be able to provide new free admission opportunities through Access for All. Others will use the Access for All funds to sustain or extend current free admission policies.

Each museum will have the opportunity to use the funds to develop tailored programming specifically for their communities, including but not limited to:

• Underwriting free admission on a designated “Access for All Day,” expanded hours, or full-time;
• Partnering with local transit agencies and community centers to facilitate free and accessible transportation;
• Designing interdisciplinary and culturally responsive programs relevant to community interest;
• Providing fully bilingual interpretation, assistive listening systems, marketing and programming, including Spanish, American Sign Language, and indigenous languages;
• Expanding outreach to local schools;
• Working with local organizations to help organize free community meals;
• Hiring new staff responsible for the creation of community engagement programming and more.

“We are thrilled to launch Access for All, a historic partnership with cultural institutions across the country to make it easier for people in every U.S. region to see and experience art. At Art Bridges, we can’t wait to see our trusted partners get creative and deliver impact to their communities,” Alice Walton said. “In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are confident Access for All will not only help to rebuild museum attendance but also bring more people than ever into museum galleries and reshape the arts world as one that is open to all.”

“The Chazen Museum of Art is thrilled to be part of the pilot for the Art Bridges’ Access for All initiative,” said Kristine Zickuhr, chief operating officer. “Accessibility is one of our guiding values, and we look forward to developing additional opportunities to welcome students and other visitors into the museum. While we already offer free admission, the funding will allow us to experiment with some fun programming ideas. We’re working on events like trivia and game nights, book clubs, and informal conversations at the Chazen Café. Students will be involved in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the events. We want every student on campus to feel welcome at the Chazen.” 

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About Art Bridges Foundation

Art Bridges Foundation is the vision of philanthropist and arts patron Alice Walton. The mission of Art Bridges is to expand access to American art in all regions across the United States. Since 2017, Art Bridges has been creating and supporting programs that bring outstanding works of American art out of storage and into communities. Art Bridges partners with a growing network of over 220 museums of all sizes and locations on nearly 700 projects across the nation, impacting over 4.1 million people, to provide financial and strategic support for exhibition development, loans from the Art Bridges Collection, and programs designed to educate, inspire, and deepen engagement with local audiences. The Art Bridges Collection represents an expanding vision of American art from the 19th century to present day and encompasses multiple media and voices. For more information, visit artbridgesfoundation.org.

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