Two days of free public activities—arts and crafts, lectures and tours, talks and performances—are designed to welcome visitors back to the Chazen Museum of Art and experience the collection as never before. Sign up to reserve a spot, or just stop by to see what’s happening!
Talk and Tour Series
Nov. 13, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
Take a deep dive into the reinstallation process through a series of conversations and gallery talks.
Conversations and gallery talks will culminate in a conversation between director Amy Gilman and UW–Madison Division of the Arts writer-in-residence Seph Rodney. Join Chazen staff throughout the day to discover familiar and unexpected works of art through a new lens.
For tours, a set of earphones will be provided to enhance listening. Registration is highly encouraged but not required. Walk-ins are welcome as capacity allows.
10–11 a.m. | In Dialogue: Behind the Scenes in the Collection Galleries
Go behind the scenes with Chazen curatorial and collections staff members to learn how the museum reinvented its collection galleries, from early designs and initial checklists to the reopening of the historic Elvehjem building and 50,000+ square feet of renovated gallery space across both buildings. Chazen Auditorium. This conversation will feature:
- Kate Wanberg, exhibition and collection project manager
- James R. Wehn, Van Vleck Curator of Works on Paper
- Janine Yorimoto Boldt, former associate curator of American art and collection reinstallation project associate (now curator of American art, Palmer Museum of Art, Penn State)
11:15 a.m–12 p.m. | Curator Tour: Renaissance, Gothic Revival, and Beyond
James R. Wehn, Van Vleck Curator of Works on Paper, leads an in-depth tour of two new galleries featuring examples from the museum’s European art collection. The tour will center on a gallery inspired by Giorgio Vasari’s biblical painting Adoration of the Shepherds, and a gallery that focuses on a factory-made ceramic jug full of nostalgia for Britain’s medieval Christian past. The tour will start in the Chazen building’s Mead Witter Lobby near the visitor services desk.
11:15 a.m.–12 p.m. | Curator Tour: Reimagined Lane Collection Galleries
Chief curator Katherine Alcauskas leads a special tour of three new galleries, featuring the museum’s Terese and Alvin S. Lane Collection of Twentieth-Century American and European Sculpture and Drawings. The tour will center on galleries inspired by Louise Nevelson’s Cathedral Garden #4, René Magritte’s Bottle and Lady, David Smith’s Untitled and Alexander Calder’s Vertical Beyond the Horizontal. The tour will start in the Elvehjem building’s Paige Court near the visitor services desk.
12–12:45 p.m. | Curator Tour: American Art in Focus
Join Janine Yorimoto Boldt, PhD, former associate curator of American art and collection reinstallation project associate (now the curator of American art at the Palmer Museum of Art, Penn State), for a special tour of two new galleries highlighting artworks from across the Chazen’s American art collection. The tour will focus on galleries inspired by John Steuart Curry’s regional painting Wisconsin Farm Scene, Elevator Enclosure Grille designed for the Chicago Stock Exchange building, and William Keith’s romanticized painting of the American West, Devil’s Slide, Weber Canyon, Utah. The tour will start in the Chazen building’s Mead Witter Lobby near the visitor services desk.
1–2 p.m. | In Dialogue: Reimagining Learning, Research, and Engagement across New Galleries
What considerations go into a museum label, and how can broader interpretation strategies create new opportunities for engagement? Join chief curator Katherine Alcauskas and chief engagement officer Berit Ness for a behind-the-scenes conversation about how the Chazen expansively re-conceived structures for learning as part of its collection reinstallation initiative. Chazen Auditorium
2:15–3 p.m. | Curator Tour: The Stories Objects Tell
Janine Yorimoto Boldt, PhD, former associate curator of American art and collection reinstallation project associate at the Chazen (now the Curator of American Art at the Palmer Museum of Art, Penn State), leads a special tour of two new galleries, which each span time and cultures. One gallery bridges art’s relationship to literature, music, and theater, featuring George Hayter’s fantastical portrait, Lady Caroline Montagu as a Brigand’s Wife, and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot’s mythological painting, Orpheus Greeting the Dawn. The other focuses on a Renaissance cabinet, which was seized by the Nazis during World War II and subsequently returned to descendants of the rightful owner following the war. The tour will start in the Chazen building’s Mead Witter Lobby near the visitor services desk.
3–3:45 p.m. | Curator Tour: Centering East Asian, South Asian, and Southeast Asian Art
James R. Wehn, Van Vleck Curator of Works on Paper, leads a tour of two new galleries featuring examples from the museum’s East Asian, South Asian, and Southeast Asian collections. The tour will focus on galleries inspired by the Japanese woodcut print series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, a bronze sculpture depicting the Hindu god Śiva as Naṭarāja, the Lord of Dance, and the Buddhist sculpture Lotus Maṇḍala with Arapacana Mañjuśrī. The tour will start in the Chazen building’s Mead Witter Lobby near the visitor services desk.
3:45–4:30 p.m. | Curator Tour: African Art and Afro-Atlantic Histories
Chazen curator Erica DiBenedetto leads an in-depth tour of a reimagined gallery inspired by El Anatsui’s glittering tapestry of aluminum bottle caps and liquor-bottle wrappers, Danu, and Frans Post’s colonial painting Village of Olinda, Brazil. One area of the gallery celebrates the Chazen’s collection of African art; the other considers histories of global extraction. The tour starts in the Chazen building’s Mead Witter Lobby near the visitor services desk.
5–6 p.m. | In Dialogue: Amy Gilman and Seph Rodney
What does it mean to re-envision, reinterpret, and reinstall museum collections? Join Amy Gilman, senior director for the arts and media at UW–Madison and director of the Chazen Museum of Art, and Seph Rodney, 2026-27 interdisciplinary artist in residence with UW–Madison’s Division of the Arts, for a discussion on museum reinstallations as ethical, imaginative work. Chazen Auditorium
About the panelists:
Amy Gilman, PhD, is a progressive leader and advocate for the role of the university art museum on campus, in the community, and in the field. She joined the Chazen Museum of Art in 2017 as director. In 2024, the University of Wisconsin–Madison named her senior director for the arts and media. In this role, she assumes additional oversight of the Division of the Arts, Wisconsin Public Media, and UW Press. She works closely with the provost to strategically align arts units and raise the profile of the arts on campus.
Seph Rodney, PhD, is an arts writer and editor who also curates visual art exhibitions. After several years at Hyperallergic, first as a staff writer and then as an senior art critic and opinions editor, he went freelance and has written on art and culture for The New York Times, CNN, NBC, The Guardian, Art Forum, and Art in America. He wrote The Personalization of the Museum Visit, (Routledge, 2019). In 2025 he co-edited Artists as Writers: Living and Sustaining a Creative Life (Intellect Press). In 2024 he co-curated Get in the Game: Sports, Art, Culture—the largest show to date at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art—which subsequently traveled to Crystal Bridges Museum in Arkansas, and the Pérez Museum in Miami. He is now at work on a book about learning how to look at art, tentatively titled A Certain Minor Light.
Open House
November 14 • 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
It’s a day-long celebration of the Chazen’s reimagined collection.
Explore. Make. Connect. Enjoy! From ice cream and dance to storytelling and poetry, discover that there is no single way to experience art or the museum. Programs and activities will take place throughout the day for all ages and audiences.
Come early and get a free customized Miggy’s Bakes cookie (while supplies last). At 2 p.m., join us for an ice cream social (while supplies last).
To request an access accommodation, email reception@chazen.wisc.edu or call Visitor Services at (608) 263-2246. Please note that we need two weeks’ notice for American Sign Language interpretation and real-time captioning. For more information on accessibility at the Chazen, please visit chazen.wisc.edu.
11 a.m.–5 p.m. | Artmaking and Self-Guided Activities
Be creative and curious with blind contour drawing, origami, button making, coloring sheets and scavenger hunts. Meet Chazen staff in Chazen lobby, bridge and mezzanine.
11:30 a.m.–12 p.m. | Storytime
Look, listen and discover artists and the museum world through picture books. All ages are welcome. Meet Chazen staff in gallery 13 on the third floor, Chazen building.
12 and 1 p.m. | Art into Words
Join student-led organization, Party of Poets, to create your own poem inspired by works of art. Meet Party of Poets in gallery 3 on the third floor, Elvehjem building. Walk-ins will be welcome as capacity permits.
2–4 p.m. | What is a Print?
Meet artist and printmaker Andrew Rubin for a hands-on exploration of printmaking processes in a newly designed interactive space dedicated to printmaking. Meet Andrew at Niche 10 on the third floor, Chazen lobby. Walk-ins will be welcome as capacity allows.
12–4 p.m. | Origami Butterflies with Mariah Moneda
Join artist Mariah Moneda in creating folded butterflies, a symbol of Filipino folklore of transformation and rebirth, using upcycled newsprint. Meet Mariah in Paige Court, Elvehjem building.
12 and 2 p.m. | Dance-Vertical beyond horizontal
Discover Alexander Calder’s work through dance with movement artist Katelyn Altman. Katelyn holds you in suspension, where potential is an endless negotiation between what is and what could be. Between balance and falling, weight and weightlessness, symmetry and asymmetry, the body moves through a landscape of constant possibility. Meet Katelyn in Gallery 6, third floor, Elvehjem building. RSVP starts 30 minutes before each performance. Walk-ins welcome as capacity permits.
12–12:30 p.m. | Large Dish with Qilin Gallery Deep Dive
Meet a Chazen Museum guide for a participatory guided tour featuring selected galleries of the Chazen’s reimagined permanent collection. Tours last up to 30 minutes and invite conversation, curiosity, and close looking. Meet Chazen Museum guide in Gallery 12, Chazen building. RSVP starts onsite 30 minutes before the tour. Walk-ins will be welcome as capacity allows.
12 p.m. | Dance-Pink Flutter
Discover Sam Gilliam’s Pink Flutter through dance with movement artist NadiaTallroth. Nadia explores the intersection of color, texture, and weightlessness, allowing movement to unfold between structure and spontaneity. Like the painting’s shifting layers, the body finds freedom in unexpected patterns, suspended between stillness and a gentle flutter. Meet Nadia in Gallery 17, third floor, Chazen building. RSVP starts onsite 30 minutes before each performance. Walk-ins will be welcome as capacity.
12, 1, 2 and 3 p.m. | Architectural tour of the Elvehjem building
Meet Travis Olson, PhD candidate and architectural historian to learn about the architectural evolution of the Elvehjem building, originally the Elvehjem Art Center. RSVP starts onsite 30 minutes before each tour. Walk-ins will be welcome as capacity. Tour meets in the Chazen Lobby. The group will travel outside for a short period of time and will end in Paige Court. Bring a coat. Stools are available. Listening devices with headsets and neck loops will be provided.
1–1:30 p.m. | Spirit Wall Gallery Deep Dive
Meet a Chazen museum guide for a participatory guided tour featuring selected galleries of the Chazen’s reimagined permanent collection. Tours last up to 30 minutes and invite conversation, curiosity, and close looking. Meet Chazen museum guide in Gallery 4, Elvehjem building. RSVP starts onsite 30 minutes before the tour. Walk-ins will be welcome as capacity allows.
1 p.m. | Dance-Harvey Littleton
Explore the art of glass through dance with movement artist Nadia. Nadia explores the tension between fragility and strength, where fluidity meets form and each choice becomes an act of transformation. Like molten glass taking shape, the body moves between resistance and release, revealing beauty in the process of becoming. Meet Nadia Gallery 15, third floor, Chazen building. RSVP starts onsite 30 minutes before each performance. Walk-ins will be welcome as capacity allows.
1–1:30 p.m. | Lady Caroline Gallery Deep Dive
Meet a Chazen museum guide for a participatory guided tour featuring selected galleries of the Chazen’s reimagined permanent collection. Tours last up to 30 minutes and invite conversation, curiosity, and close looking. RSVP starts onsite 30 minutes before the tour. Walk-ins will be welcome as capacity allows.
1 and 2 p.m. | Dance-Louise Nevelson’s Avant-Garde Psycho-Geographies
In this performance, Lily Selthofner takes the visitor on a psycho-geographical journey that brings the poetic ethos of Nevelson’s works into embodied form. Dancing through the landscape of Nevelson’s Cathedral #4 and her other sculptures in the Chazen’s collection with ritualistic depth and time-transcendent presence, the dance explores Nevelson’s monochromatic logic, the ontology of found wood, and the mythical ideas she physicalized. Meet lily in Gallery 8, third floor. RSVP starts onsite 30 minutes before each performance. Walk-ins will be welcome as capacity allows.
2 p.m. | The Wisconsin Idea through Dance
Discover the Wisconsin Idea through dance with artist and dancer Maeve Breslin. Through movement, Maeve explores the complexities of community, history, and belonging in Wisconsin. Meet Maeve in Gallery 11. RSVP starts onsite 30 minutes before each performance. Walk-ins will be welcome as capacity allows.
2–2:30 p.m. | Renaissance Cabinet Gallery Deep Dive
Meet a Chazen museum guide for a participatory guided tour featuring selected galleries of the Chazen’s reimagined permanent collection. Tours last up to 30 minutes and invite conversation, curiosity, and close looking. RSVP starts onsite 30 minutes before the tour. Walk-ins will be welcome as capacity allows.
3 p.m. | Storytime
Look, listen and discover artists and the museum world through picture books. All ages are welcome. Meet Chazen staff in gallery 13 on the third floor. RSVP onsite 30 minutes before Storytime. Walk-ins will be welcome as capacity allows.
3 p.m. | Dance – Pink Flutter
Join us as artist and dancer Maeve Breslin responds to Sam Gilliam’s Pink Flutter. Through movement, Maeve translates the work’s saturated color and open-ended energy into gesture, letting the painting’s rhythm, fluidity, and sense of possibility unfold in the space around it. Meet Maeve in Gallery 17.
3–3:30 p.m. | Wisconsin Farm Scene Gallery Deep Dive
Meet a Chazen museum guide for a participatory guided tour featuring selected galleries of the Chazen’s reimagined permanent collection. Tours last up to 30 minutes and invite conversation, curiosity, and close looking. RSVP starts onsite 30 minutes before the tour. Walk-ins will be welcome as capacity allows.
3–3:30 p.m. | Mosaic Fragment Gallery Deep Dive
Meet a Chazen museum guide for a participatory guided tour featuring selected galleries of the Chazen’s reimagined permanent collection. Tours last up to 30 minutes and invite conversation, curiosity, and close looking. RSVP starts onsite 30 minutes before the tour. Walk-ins will be welcome as capacity allows.
4 p.m. | Final Performance with Badger Brass Quintet in Paige Court, Elvehjem building
Meet in Paige Court for a final performance by Badger Brass Quintet. The Badger Brass Quintet, also known as the BBQ, was founded in 2024 and is made up of undergraduate music students at the Mead Witter School of Music at UW–Madison. We are an eclectic group that performs a wide range of music, from standard brass literature to contemporary compositions and arrangements for the quintet setting. The performers are Sage Kirkpatrick (trombone), Luke Wilson (french horn), Carter Ollmann (tuba), Milo Ascher and Anthony Lopez (trumpets).