UW-Stout invites alumni, students, and community and industry supporters to join the School of Art & Design as it celebrates six decades of imagination, innovation and inspiration.
The School of Art & Design 60th Anniversary – “Honoring the Past, Forging the Future” – will be held Friday, Oct. 10, and Saturday, Oct. 11. Registration is required for the free event.
The anniversary celebration is part of the university’s Year of Design, with events that highlight the innovation, leadership and impact central to Wisconsin’s Polytechnic University – from industry experts on artificial intelligence to student engineering capstones, applied research in science and human sciences, to fashion shows and game design expos.
The evolution of a creative, scholarly and collaborative community
School of Art & Design Director Aaron Durst is looking forward to a gathering that brings alumni and students together to celebrate their shared experience of being at UW-Stout and being Blue Devils.
“The School of Art & Design 60th Anniversary is an opportunity to look back and look forward; to see where our accomplishments and hard work have brought us and the possibilities that lie ahead,” he said. “I hope alumni can see how the spaces have changed, the work our students are currently doing, and feel a continued connection. At the same time, it is an opportunity for our current students to be inspired and to lead them in new creative directions.”
A snippet from UW-Stout’s 1965 Tower Yearbook recognized the university’s then-new art major as a means to not only greatly strengthen the university’s academic offerings, but also to “add new breadth and depth to the traditional majors of industrial arts and home economics, especially in the general area of design.”
Art offerings at UW-Stout grew from that single degree into one of the largest public art and design schools in the Midwest.
Accredited by the National Association for Schools of Art and Design, SOAD offers bachelor’s degrees in animation and digital media; game design and development-art; graphic design and interactive media; illustration; industrial and product design; interior design; studio art; arts administration and entrepreneurship; fashion design and development; and video production; and an M.F.A. in design.
As the longest-serving faculty member currently in the School of Art & Design, Professor Bryan Ritchie, chair of the visual and performing arts department, has been privileged to spend 26 years bearing witness to the evolution of the institution, he said.
“Starting in 1999, I taught along with the core founders of the art and design department, who were coined the ‘Artists of the Menomonie Phenomenon’ by the Minneapolis Tribune in 1972. During those early years, I was struck by their passion for teaching, fostering a vibrant creative community, and commitment to promoting the value of art and design. Fast forward a few years, and there have been many changes,” Ritchie said.
“We evolved. We have grown. Yet, amidst all this change, one thing has remained constant: the School of Art & Design continues to attract students and faculty who are deeply committed to fostering a creative, scholarly and collaborative community,” Ritchie added.
As an alum herself, Professor Shelley Pecha, chair of the design department, is looking forward to seeing graduates from her era.
“This is a great opportunity for people to see all the positive changes the buildings and programs have gone through over the years. Our student work displays will be incredible, as always. It will be exciting to see work from the fashion students and the new illustration students. It will be a really fun event,” said Pecha, an interior design alum.
SOAD 60th Anniversary events
The two-day celebration will include several events throughout the Applied Arts building, starting with a presentation by 2018 M.F.A. design alum Andrew Murphy, the 2025 Cabot Executive-in-Residence, at 5 p.m. on Oct. 10.
A reception will follow until 8 p.m. with activities throughout the building, including:
- Applied Arts and Micheels Hall buildings and studio tours
- Furlong Gallery Exhibition
- Gallery 209 Alumni Art Exhibition
- Record SOAD memories at a StoryCorps-style booth
- Help paint the 60th anniversary mural
Oct. 10-12 is also Stout Proud Family and Supporter Weekend, with a full lineup of events for families and supporters of first-year students.
Year of Design featured fall events
- CAM-AI Speaker Series: Professor Aaron Nelson: Monday, Sept. 29, 5 p.m. Nelson, professor of digital design at State University of New York at New Paltz, will lead a lecture.
- CAM-AI Speaker Series: Innovative Polymer 3D-Printed Fixtures & Tooling: Wednesday, Oct. 1, 9:30 a.m. Allen Kreemer, manager of Performance Partnerships, Auto Segment at Stratasys, will present as part of the West Central Wisconsin Manufacturing and Workforce Summit.
- Cabot Executive-in-Residence keynote address: Thursday, Oct. 9, 1 p.m. Andrew Murphy, head of Corporate Engagement Strategy at Apple Retail, will present “Designed to Influence.”
- Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering Capstone Presentations: Monday, Dec. 8, 10:10 a.m. Students will present the results of their capstone projects to industry partners, faculty and peers.
- Stout Game Expo Fall 2025: Wednesday, Dec. 10, 6 p.m. Game design and development programs present western Wisconsin’s largest game developer exhibition.
- CSTEMM Expo: Thursday, Dec. 11, 1 p.m. A showcase of class projects and research from the College of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Management.
- SOAD Senior Show Fall 2025: Friday, Dec. 12, 6 p.m. Celebrate graduating seniors’ art and design in exhibits throughout Micheels Hall and the Applied Arts building.
Year of Design featured spring events
- Fashion Without Fabric 2026: Saturday, April 11, 7 p.m. An annual sellout, this is the Midwest’s premier unconventional fashion runway show.
- WEAR Fashion Show 2026: Saturday, May 2, 4 p.m. View the future of fashion as innovative, senior capstone collections light up the runway.
- Research Day 2026: Tuesday, May 5. Celebrate the works of students, faculty, and staff from all fields through posters, exhibits, and visual art and design displays.
- Stout Game Expo Spring 2026: Thursday, May 7, 6 p.m. Game design and development programs present western Wisconsin’s largest game developer exhibition.
- SOAD Senior Show Spring 2026: Friday, May 8, 6 p.m. Celebrate graduating seniors’ art and design in exhibits throughout Micheels Hall and the Applied Arts building.
- 4th Annual Unspooled Film & Animation Festival: Saturday, May 9, 10 a.m. The inspiring festival is dedicated to showcasing the very best in independent filmmaking.
- Murals in Menomonie featuring the Walldogs: Wednesday, June 24, to Sunday, June 28. A collaborative group of community organizations will host this one-of-a-kind event, featuring some of the world’s best mural artists.
