What Were You Wearing?

In the spring of 2025, I was honored with the opportunity to bring the international What Were You Wearing exhibition to the UW-Madison campus. In collaboration with University Health Services (UHS) and expert Dr. Kate Walsh, I led a team of four in the ideation, planning, research, partnerships, and execution of the exhibit. The exhibit featured more than 30 individual stories shared anonymously by UW-Madison students with clothing recreations generously donated by Plato’s Closet in Madison and St. Vincent De Paul’s thrift store. The first iteration was hosted by UHS in the Student Activity Center during the first two weeks of April, as a part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. My partners and I presented our work to a number of survivors, advocates, and allies across the community.

The second half of April, we created a large-scale version of the exhibition at UW-Madison’s Red Gym, home of the Multicultural Student Center. The gallery reached 3,000 visitors over the two week opening. In addition, the exhibition was covered in both the Daily Cardinal and UW Madison communications.