2025 Wisconsin Arts Celebration Project: Connections Through the Arts

The arts have always had unique power to infuse our lives with purpose and meaning. YOU now have a unique opportunity to tap into the connective power of the arts for use in your classroom, library, or school.

The Wisconsin Arts Celebration Project (WACP) is back for its third year in 2025! Themed around the CONNECTION and many ways we are connected through the arts, the WACP intentionally integrates poetry, spoken word, music, dance, theater, visual art, and motion media, lifting up the arts to provide free music, lesson plans, materials, and more to inspire your students.

 

Start your exploration of the 2025 WACP materials with the poem Yellow Birds of Morning, written by Wisconsin Poet Laureate Nicholas Gulig. Gulig’s poem probes common human connections and serves as a touchpoint for the rich teaching materials offered by WACP. The poem also inspired AJ Juarez, the founder and director of Madison’s Barrio Dance, to choreograph a beautifully contemplative dance performance. Composer Marie A. Douglas used it as a springboard for a musical piece premiered by the UW-Madison Concert Choir, Symphony Orchestra, and Wind Ensemble.

 

Wisconsin-based visual artist Scott Terry interpreted Yellow Birds in a sensitively layered acrylic painting, while the Tosa East Players and director Colleen Jaskulski reimagined it in a theatre production. Educator and motion designer Matthew Wigdahl shared his connection to the poem through an electronic motion graphic. Together, these pieces demonstrate the interconnectedness of the arts and their capacity to teach essential human capacities. Please use them to inspire your students!

 

Visit the Wisconsin Arts Celebration Project to access the free poem, music, recordings, lesson plans, and many additional materials to help your students experience and appreciate their human Connections. You can also learn more about the artists and educators contributing to this year's project on the DPI's website.