Wisconsin Union Theater

Wisconsin Union Theater is a performing arts center in Madison, Wisconsin, located in the University of Wisconsin–Madison's Memorial Union. Wisconsin Union Theater performances include world stage, concerts, dance, jazz and other special events.

History

The theater opened in the fall of 1939. Statewide radio broadcast the October 8th inaugural ceremonies, and the next three days saw four performances of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, starring the leading couple of the American theater, Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne.

Union Theater audiences have seen and heard some of the most famous public figures, actors, dancers and musicians in performances over the last 70 years. Eleanor Roosevelt, Fritz Kreisler, Ella Fitzgerald, Indian Prime Minister Nehru, Frank Lloyd Wright, Yo-Yo Ma, T. S. Eliot, Jesse Jackson, Arthur Rubinstein, Jascha Heifetz, Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert Frost, Itzhak Perlman, John F. Kennedy, Louis Armstrong, Martha Graham, Ted Turner, Kurt Vonnegut and Dave Brubeck have all appeared at the Wisconsin Union Theater.

Wisconsin Union

The Wisconsin Union is a membership organization at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. It operates the Memorial Union, Union South, the Morgridge Center for Public Service, the Hoofer Equestrian Center, Bernie's Place Child Care Center, and a number of food outlets on campus in order to "provide a common life and cultivated social program for its members." Anyone who is approved can join the Wisconsin Union by paying a membership fee. All UW students are members and recent graduates are offered a substantial discount on a life membership. Members receive certain benefits and privileges not accorded the general public. The services and activities provided fall roughly into the three categories of social education, facilities, and retail services.

Social education

As the UW–Madison's Division of Social Education, the Wisconsin Union serves as the "living room of the campus" where students, faculty, staff, and community members can meet, interact, and learn from each other outside of the classroom. The Craftshop offers tools, supplies, and space for crafts such as pottery, photography, and woodworking. The Wisconsin Hoofers outdoor recreation clubs offer instruction, equipment, and opportunities to participate in a wide variety of outdoor activities. The Union Theater hosts concerts, lectures, and movies. Mini-Courses offers a variety of general-interest enrichment classes. Students can learn leadership and governance by serving in one of the committees of the Union Directorate, the student programming board. The music committee brings a full schedule of live acts to the Union Terrace, der Rathskeller, and Union South. The art committee gives students a chance to curate exhibits for the Union galleries and around the buildings.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin (ⁱ/wɪsˈkɒ̃nsɪn/) is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States, in the Midwest and Great Lakes regions. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin is the 23rd largest state by total area and the 20th most populous. The state capital is Madison, and its largest city is Milwaukee, which is located on the western shore of Lake Michigan. The state is divided into 72 counties.

Wisconsin's geography is diverse, with the Northern Highland and Western Upland along with a part of the Central Plain occupying the western part of the state and lowlands stretching to the shore of Lake Michigan. Wisconsin is second to Michigan in the length of its Great Lakes coastline.

Wisconsin is known as "America's Dairyland" because it is one of the nation's leading dairy producers, particularly famous for cheese. Manufacturing, especially paper products, information technology (IT), and tourism are also major contributors to the state's economy.

Wisconsin wine

Wisconsin wine refers to wine made from grapes grown in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Wisconsin is part of the largest American Viticultural Area (AVA), the Upper Mississippi Valley AVA, which includes southwest Wisconsin, southeast Minnesota, northeast Iowa, and northwest Illinois. The state also has two smaller designated American Viticultural Areas, the Lake Wisconsin AVA and the Wisconsin Ledge AVA.

The Wisconsin Winery Association is a statewide organization that promotes wine making in the state.

History

The first wine grapes were planted in Wisconsin by Agoston Haraszthy in the mid-19th century. Before he migrated to California and helped to found the wine industry there, he established a vineyard, winery and wine cellars overlooking the Wisconsin River at what is today the Wollersheim Winery near Prairie du Sac. Although Haraszthy found the climate of Wisconsin difficult for wine grape production, later German settlers produced wine using both European and native American grape varieties.

Wisconsin (statue)

The Wisconsin is a statue on top of the Wisconsin Capitol Building created by Daniel Chester French.

History

The Wisconsin statue on the dome was sculpted during 1913-1914 by Daniel Chester French of New York.

The commission to create the statue of Wisconsin on the top of the dome was originally promised to Helen Farnsworth Mears, originally of Wisconsin. When Daniel Chester French agreed to produce the finial figure, the commission was switched to him.

Description

This work, often referred to as the "Golden Lady", consists of an allegorical figure reminiscent of Athena, dressed in Greek garb, her right arm outstretched to symbolize the state motto, "Forward", and wearing a helmet topped by a badger, the Wisconsin state totem.

The figure's left hand holds a globe with an eagle perched on top. Across the eagle's chest is a large W, for Wisconsin, a detail hard to discern.

Wisconsin is 15 ft 5 in (4.70 m) tall and weighs 3 short tons (2.7 t).

The lady is also in a mural in the House of Representatives.