Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE-Earning a degree at a distance is often the only viable alternative for busy adults who wish to return to school. While these students appreciate avoiding the hassle of rushing between work, family and campus, they do miss out on some of the cultural benefits available to University of Wisconsin-Platteville's more traditional students. To counter this, UWP's Distance Learning Center has developed a unique virtual gallery to give distance students throughout the country the opportunity to share in campus art exhibits.

The online exhibit displays artwork from the Harry and Laura Nohr Gallery, located in the Ullsvik Center on the Platteville campus. The virtual gallery was created by Susan Fager, Distance Learning Center web designer. "My goal was to make an attractive web interface that might lure the local audience to view the complete exhibit on campus, while also allowing our distance students a sense of community and a place to visit during their study breaks," Fager explains. "Either way, we all benefit from the artistic expressions that are displayed in the exhibits."

Like displays in the Nohr Gallery, the online artwork will revolve as new pieces are added. The current exhibit highlights the work of Cindy Schave, a Wisconsin artist whose landscape paintings celebrate the natural world she loves. Samples of two previous Nohr exhibits have been included in the archive section of the virtual gallery. One of these highlights selected artwork from the Southwest Wisconsin Area High School Art Exhibit. The other showcases the artistic creations of UWP's art faculty. The exhibits include oil paintings, watercolors, figurines, textiles and metalwork.

Selections from UWP's Fine Arts Majors' Senior Exhibit will soon be added to the virtual gallery, located at http://www.uwplatt.edu/disted/studentCent/gallery/.

The gallery is part of the online student lounge, which also includes links to magazines, puzzles, and music that distance students can access during study breaks.

UWP currently offers four degrees at a distance: a bachelor of science in business administration, a master of science in criminal justice, a master of engineering, and a master of science in project management. For more information, visit online at http://www.uwplatt.edu/disted, call 800-362-5460 or e-mail disted@uwplatt.edu. For updates on the Nohr Gallery, contact John Hassig at hassigj@uwplatt.edu.