The arts are an important part of life. You see it everywhere, in theatrical shows, concerts and even random pieces of art hanging up in your school hallway or graffitied on the wall of a building. The University of Wisconsin–Whitewater has their fair share of arts. From the Department of Theatre and Dance performing upwards of three shows a semester to the music department having shows throughout the year, UW-Whitewater does not stray from the arts. One big part of it is the Crossman Gallery, the Center of the Arts art gallery run by director Ashley Dimmig.
Dimmig, the current director of the Crossman Gallery, first came to UW-Whitewater in 2022 after her predecessor, Michael Flannagan, retired in 2019. The gallery was mostly run by professors and temporary directors but did not have an official one until Dimmig arrived.
“That first year was a steep learning curve,” said Dimmig. “I didn’t even know where to print stuff when I first started. Everything was a challenge and having to ask, ‘how do I do this?’ and ‘how do the budgets happen?’ Now that I got that all under my belt, I feel like I have the bandwidth to get creative again and build a big vision for where I want to go with this.”
Throughout her time here, Dimmig has directed many exhibitions in the Crossman Gallery. These exhibitions included an exhibit centered around water, the Ho-Chunk tribe and even exhibits that give current UW-Whitewater art students the opportunity to showcase their work.
Some big exhibitions that happen every year are the student showcases, where art students show their work in Crossman Gallery as a requirement for their major. There are three “milestone” exhibitions: the first combines the artwork of students who want to enter the BFA track and the juniors who are in it. The second includes work from seniors in the BA and BSE track. The final includes work from all seniors who are BFA students.
“It is part of their degree requirements that they have to do this,” Dimmig said. “The faculty uses the opportunity to adjudicate their work so that they continue to grow. It is also a moment to celebrate the students and their accomplishments, especially the graduating seniors.”
Along with having exhibits where students showcase their art, Dimmig also likes to work closely with students behind the scenes, something that Michael Flannagan did when he was the director of the art gallery.
“One of the major things that I want to model from [him] is how closely he worked with students,” said Dimmig. “He had a whole cadre of students not only working at the front desk here at the gallery, but also behind the scenes: installing exhibitions and preparing artwork. He was a great model for how to engage with students and get them involved, active and invested in the gallery.”
Dimmig is also a professor at UW-Whitewater, teaching art history. She can work closely with students, especially those interested in curating an art exhibit. Recently, she paired up with senior BFA student Jessica Lacki to bring artwork together for the “Bizarre and Grotesque” exhibit at the Community Engagement Center.
As for the future of the Crossman Gallery, “I would love to get our permanent art collection digitized so that it can be accessible virtually as well as physically,” said Dimmig. “I would like to bring our permanent art collection back to campus so that it is much more accessible. If any classes want to pull out artwork, it is more feasible if the artwork is on campus.”