Organization: University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Education
Date: 2023
Formats: Mini documentary, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels-style cutdowns, feature story, photography, social posts, earned media, live reveal support
Relevant skills: Social-first video, documentary storytelling, cultural care, campaign planning, live-event promotion, team leadership

During UW–Madison’s 175th anniversary, the university commissioned Honor the Air, Land, and Water, a Bucky on Parade public art statue created by Art Professor John Hitchcock with student artist Kaylee Herrmann. What could have been a single finished-product photo became a larger multimedia campaign documenting the statue’s creation and public reveal. I led the campaign strategy, interviews, production planning, social-first video approach, and distribution.

The original opportunity was small: document a finished public art installation. But the larger story was in the process, people, symbols, music, cultural context, and meaning behind the work. The challenge was to help audiences understand why this statue mattered beyond its visual presence as a mascot installation.

I approached the project as a layered story for multiple audiences: UW alumni, School of Education and Art Department audiences, campus communicators, local Madison community members, and viewers interested in public art, Indigenous perspectives, and place-based storytelling. The strategy centered on making the process visible: the blank statue, the studio, the painting, the interviews, the symbols, the music, and the relationships behind the finished work.

I secured the storytelling opportunity through campus relationship-building, pitched the project as a larger multimedia campaign, and led my team through multiple studio visits and interviews. We interviewed John Hitchcock and Kaylee Herrmann, captured b-roll, photographed the work in progress, and documented the statue from blank form to completed public artwork.
‍
In addition to the documentary-style video, I produced social-first cutdowns in the lead-up to the live reveal event. These short-form vertical videos were designed for YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and TikTok-style distribution, using platform-native hooks, pacing, captions, visual rhythm, and audience curiosity to build interest before the reveal.

The project elevated a campus art installation into a visible multimedia campaign connected to UW–Madison’s 175th anniversary. It created broader visibility for the School of Education, the Art Department, the artists, and the anniversary celebration; generated cross-campus collaboration and local news coverage; and helped audiences understand the cultural and artistic significance behind the statue.

This project demonstrates my ability to turn an event beat into an unfolding story across hero video, short-form social, photography, web, earned media, and live-event promotion. It also shows editorial judgment, trust-building, cultural care, and leadership.