Photo of a tree trunk in the foreground on the right and a gallery and large window in the background on the left

On View

2025-2026 Exhibition Season: Quilting Connections

In Care Of: Postcard-Sized Portrayals of Caregiving in Wisconsin

White text reads "IN CARE OF: Postcard Sized Portrayals of Caregiving in Wisconsin" against an abstract blue and green landscape.Nancy Nicholas Hall main lobby
April 30 – November 9, 2025

Caring for loved ones can be hard and beautiful at the same time. In this exhibit, we elevate caregiver voices to shed light on their care experiences. We invited caregivers to anonymously share postcard-sized depictions of the joys and challenges that come with family caregiving. The exhibit documents the themes revealed in their words, educating viewers about caregiving and catalyzing awareness and conversation about this often invisible population.

Bring your class/group to In Care Of

Parallel Lines: Quilts and the American Landscape

Graphic of a old plot map of Wisconsin with squares filled in with pieces of quiltsParallel Lines: Quilts and the American Landscape explores the parallel processes of quilt-making within the American home and place-making on the American landscape. Featuring nineteenth- and twentieth-century American quilts drawn from the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection, the exhibit examines some of the most familiar quilt forms – such as nine-patch squares, eight-pointed stars, and “log cabin” blocks with cloth strips radiating outward from a central square “hearth”– as the basis for individual creativity and innovative design. Visitors will be encouraged to view American quilts through a new lens, by comparing these geometric motifs and strong linear compositions to the boundaries, pathways, and structures of the built environment.

Find Your Quilt

Photo of a purple, green, blue, and pink geometric quiltRuth Davis Design Gallery
October 8, 2025 – March 1, 2026

Find Your Quilt invites visitors to make their own personal connections to the quilts on display by offering a range of ideas and perspectives about the meanings of quilts. This bright and bold exhibition presents quilts and quilted objects that span the globe, materials, and time periods, showcasing the breadth and variety of this form. Intended for the quilt-enthusiast, the quilt-curious, and the quilt-skeptic alike, this exhibition explores how we define and then redefine what quilts are, have been, and could be in the future.

Design Studies MFA Exhibitions

Ruth Davis Design Gallery
March 18 – 29, 2026

Information forthcoming.

Bring your class/group to the MFA exhibitions

Textiles and Fashion Design Student Exhibition

Ruth Davis Design Gallery
April 22 – May 10, 2026

Information forthcoming.

Bring your class/group to the textiles and fashion exhibition