Art in the Assembly
Union Art Goes Beyond the Gallery
In 1926, Porter Butts was reviewing the plan for the Memorial Union and noticed something missing. Taking up a pencil, he crossed out a room marked "assembly" and replaced it with "art gallery." This would become the first art gallery at the Union and the second gallery in all of Madison. Butts believed in the value of art and did not want it "tucked-away."
"The Union, of its very nature, is a center of artistic as well as social experience." –Porter Butts, 1941
Since that first change, art has played a key role at the Union. Students on the Wisconsin Union Directorate (WUD) Art Committee manage every aspect of exhibitions in Wisconsin Union's three galleries, from artist selection and installation to art education and marketing. Each year, select works are purchased to add to the Wisconsin Union Art Collection, which has roughly 1,800 pieces, displayed throughout the two buildings in meeting rooms, hallways and offices.
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Student Art Gallery
1960 — Students look at an art exhibition in the Main Gallery.
Image courtesy of the UW-Madison Archives, #dn03082528.
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Doris Feldman Porter
1957 — Union president (1957-58) Doris Feldman Porter stands in front of a poster displayed at Memorial Union entitled "Union Milestones" to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the founding of the Wisconsin Union.
Image courtesy of the UW-Madison Archives, #S05742.
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Student Art Show
1948 – Student Jack Jerred, hangs a piece for the exhibit "Abstraction in Art" at the Memorial Union.
Image courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society.