Tickets to watch Badger football or hear the University of Wisconsin Madhatters a capella group sell very quickly. Meanwhile, talent among women on the UW campus often goes unrecognized.
However, this Saturday, the Campus Women’s Center is offering students, faculty and members of the Madison community a chance to appreciate the artistic stylings of campus women in their showcase, “Women in Art.”
The idea was created by interns at the Campus Women’s Center. Interns at the organization are responsible for creating an event overseen by program coordinator, Julia Gutierrez.
“They wanted to do a fun event that was not so academically heavy, because we believe that art is an important aspect of our learning. So we thought the idea of having the show case can provide a space for women to show their talent,” Gutierrez said.
The Campus Women’s Center is a student-run organization that works to provide a series of services to women, educate the community about women-related issues and serve as a resource to all students. The center has not held an entertainment-based event like this since the women’s music festival a few years back.
“We had a lot of artists that were interested in showing their work,” Gutierrez said. “This event has shown that women are artists and more than willing to show their work.”
The event’s set-up is similar to other shows, consisting of two acts with an intermission. However, instead of an intermission during which audiences can take a break, Gutierrez said the staff is calling the break a “gallery viewing” at which point female artists can showcase their still work.
“It is important for women to have a space to voice their voice. Whatever voice that comes from, either through art or science, through writing, through dancing, but just having a space for women to do it is very important. That’s how we know and are aware of each other’s struggles and each other’s achievements,” she said.
Many women entertainment groups and solo artists will be present at the show case, including female a capella group Pitches and Notes, and dance group Bellydancing UW. Both groups were excited when approached with the opportunity and the chance to collaborate with the Campus Women’s Center.
Alex Ross, a member of Pitches and Notes, said the singers have prepared great melodies for the show case including songs from Nicki Minaj, the Jackson 5 and Adele. The event has been important to the group because women are all coming together to put on a show.
“It’s a lot of great talent that I don’t think gets necessarily recognized on campus. It is a really wide range of talent too, and it just shows you, we are all really hardworking students, and this shows all our passions, and how we spend our time. I think it’s really going to show how much time we put into our art forms,” Ross said.
According to dance member Jan Chitphakdithai, the Bellydancing UW team plans to incorporate a mix of tradition and modern dances for their performance. In regards to the performance, the team is excited about the variety of performance that will be showcased.
“I think it’s a great opportunity to see what’s out there, and what people do outside of class. You get to see what people are good at outside of their major,” Chitphakdithai said. “I think it’s a great way to really see what talents exist beyond our education.”
Chitphakdithai anticipates a good crowd for the free event.
“I think it’s really exciting to see so many women come together and actually be willing to share their talent. A lot of times I feel like girls get really self-conscious, so it’s really exciting to see a lot of organizations step up to show what talent they have,” Chitphakdithai said.
The “Women in Art” showcase will be held in 3650 Humanities on Saturday, Nov. 19 from 6-9 p.m.
