Virtual Summer Events in Madison

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many art galleries, museums, music venues have online alternatives. This summary is based on the article Summer Season | Going Virtual in the Wisconsin State Journal on 6/7. If you hear of other happenings not on this list please add to the comments.

Virtual Art

Overture Galleries

• GALLERY I – Endgame – John Riggs & Hannah Sandvold – Record landscapes of the Pacific Northwest in transition. Riggs’ photographs are a call to action, linking the devastating results of clearcutting to our climate crisis. Sandvold uses traditional printmaking techniques to create layered visual journeys, mimicking the the experience of moving through natural spaces.
• GALLERY II – Altered Scapes – Ginnie Cappaert & Lynne Roark – Depict the beauty of natural landscapes, distilling them into their essential elements. Cappaert’s intimate works created with 30-40 layers of oil paint and cold wax speak to the small, but important fragments of life. Madison Photographer Lynne Roark has taken to the skies to capture Iceland’s landscapes from above. Roark’s Ghosts of Glaciers Past presents surreal combinations of ice, glacial rivers and shorelines. Shooting straight down from a single engine plane, her photography creates enticing and provocative imagery, bringing attention to the fragility of our world’s receding glaciers.
• GALLERY III – Unaccountable Abodes – Erin Liljegren & Robert Jaeger – Earth’s human and animal inhabitants in man-made environments. Liljegren addresses the deprivation of the environment caused by human over-population and massive consumption through mixed media and recycled materials. Jaeger photographically documents the juxtaposition of zoo visitors and the resident animals in captivity within the context of environmental degradation and extinctions.
• PLAYHOUSE GALLERY – Earthly Kin – The relationships between humans and our fellow living creatures are ancient and complex. In this exhibit, artists explore the mysteries, beauty and tragedy of our shared lives.

Madison Museum of Contemporary Arts

• Pitahayas – Frida Kahlo – Permanent Exhibit
• Chicago Imaginists – arts that emerged in Chicago in the mid 1960s.

Chazen Museum of Art

• Check the virtual catalog here.
• In the Studio – five-part series of behind the scenes with the museum’s prep staff.
• Docent Tours with Heidi Knapp or Ann Schaffer.
• Family Friday Online – learn about different pieces of art and then color one of your own.
• Our Kind of Happy Hour – Connect live with artists every other Wednesday.
• Facebook Friday Live – Museum staff discuss their role at the museum.
• Chazen videos – Behind-the-scene looks, special events and Randall Elementary Schools “Chazen Recreations”.

James Watrous Gallery

• Local Artist Video Showcase – videos of artists whose shows have been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Collections and Connections: 150 Years of the Wisconsin Academy – 12 minute video that honors the history of Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters with recreated “cabinet of Wisconsin curiousities”
• Wisconsin Academy website
• Facebook page
• Instagram

River Arts on Water Gallery – Prairie du Sac

View more than 100 never-before-seen works by 40 artists. Available through Sept 30 or until sold.

Virtual Music

• Bach Dancing and Dynamic Society – Sign up for the mailing list here to receive information about small virtual concerts, interviews and other interesting tidbits.
• Majestic Madison’s Live on King Street – Every Friday at 8pm through Jul 3rd. Go to Facebook to see the schedule for who is performing.
• Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra’s Concerts on the Square has been replaced with “Drive-in Concerts on the Square” which is at the Madison Mallards Duck Pond in Warner Park. Click here to find out the schedule and how to purchase tickets.
• Grace Episcopal Church – presents “Grace Presents” with all-star cellist Cole Randolph on 6/27.
• Madison Symphony Orchestra – Home is Where the Art Is features various musicians.
• Arts+Literature Laboratory’s – Streamin’ at the Haven – Local musicians performing live from their homes.

Virtual Theater

• American Players Theatre (APT) – play readings from “Out of the Woods” series. Streamed live on Friday’s at 7pm and available online through 7/19.
• Forward Theater – “Tuesdays With Forward” provides insight into the world of producing theater in Dane County. Guests include local arts leaders and other people who work behind the scenes.