UWL’s Center for the Arts to be named after Truman Lowe
The UW-La Crosse Center for the Arts will be named after one of the most accomplished alumni in the university’s 113-year history.
Truman Lowe, who graduated from UWL in 1969 and went on to become a world-renowned artist and sculptor, will have his name added to the arts building after the UW System Board of Regents approved the dedication Feb. 10.
Chancellor Joe Gow proposed the idea in September, noting Lowe’s remarkable accomplishments as both an artist and educator, as well as the way he helped advance the perception of Native American art and culture. Lowe, honored twice as a distinguished alumnus at UWL, died in 2019 at age 75.
“During his life, Truman Lowe fully embodied the UWL spirit — striving for excellence, honoring one’s culture and heritage, and leaving the world a better place than we found it,” Gow says. “I’m proud to call Truman Lowe an alumnus of our university. I hope seeing his name on the Center for the Arts will inspire future generations to learn about his legacy and work to create their own.”
Lowe, who was born in Black River Falls and is of Ho-Chunk ancestry, is the first person of color with a UWL building named in their honor.
About Truman Lowe
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Earned an undergraduate degree in art education from UWL in 1969
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Known for his large art installations using natural materials, often focusing on the natural world and his Ho-Chunk heritage, shown nationally and internationally
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Taught as a professor of art at UW-Madison for over 30 years, including a stint as chair of the Art Department from 1992 to 1995
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Received the UWL Graff Distinguished Alumni Award in 1992 and the UWL Parker Distinguished Multicultural Alumni Award in 1999
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Curated contemporary art for the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., from 2000 to 2008.
Check out: https://www.uwlax.edu/go/trumanlowe for more info!