ABOVE PHOTO: Ethan Romo planing oak boards in the Process Lab. Photo by Jennifer Astwood.
Four students at University of Wisconsin-Stout helped breathe new life into 108-year-old architectural fixtures.
Over the course of a year, they handcrafted new furniture pieces, incorporating brass register grates – components from the university’s historic Harvey Hall – into two side tables.
The Harvey Hall grate project was a cross-campus collaboration, as industrial and product design Program Director Jennifer Astwood guided the students, with support of Dean of College of Arts and Human Sciences Maria Alm and University Archivist Heather Stecklein.
“When trying to figure out ways to honor the legacy of the building, we wanted to offer students a special project, something outside of the scope of what could be accomplished in classroom time,” Alm said. “With the polytechnic nature of the project, we could also be true to that legacy of Stout and our mission of hands-on learning. Making furniture aligns with that. This was a major learning experience that echoes the history of design at the university.”
Industrial and product design students involved in the project were:
- Annamarie Burch, ideation team, a senior from Plover
- Jordan Jentsch, ideation team, a spring 2024 graduate from West Bend
- Amelia Dobbratz, fabrication team, a senior from Waupun
- Ethan Romo, fabrication team, a senior from Minneapolis
Through research, several ideation designs, hours in the fabrication process and collaboration with local businesses, they delivered professional-level, quality products.
Astwood appreciates Alm’s and Stecklein’s support. “We couldn’t have done this without Maria and Heather. It takes good mentors like them who trust in the possibility of what could happen, especially since we hadn’t done a project like this before,” she said.
Stecklein believes the students’ applied research and hands-on fabrication process is a direct continuity of history at UW-Stout.
“It echoes the designs and experiences of their academic ancestors. Our students today are engaged in their education, just as they have been since the founding of the university,” she said.
The grates were in the university’s original library, which was on the first floor of Harvey Hall from its opening in 1916, to 1954 when a separate library building opened.
The finished tables are now fixtures in the CAHS dean’s conference room—a space rich in history, as it once served as President Lorenzo Dow Harvey’s office.
An unveiling event, open to the public, will be from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 30, in Harvey Hall 355. Astwood and Stecklein will introduce the project and student teams. The dean’s conference room, Harvey Hall 170, will be open before the event from 3 to 3:30 p.m. and after from 4:15 to 4:30 p.m. for viewing of the project. Alm will be available to answer questions. Those unable to attend in person may join virtually via Microsoft Teams.
The pieces will also be on display at the Polytechnic Summit, when the global event returns to UW-Stout May 18-21, 2025, kicking off the university’s Year of Design celebration.
The project was funded by donations to the CAHS, including gifts made at the time of the building renovation to highlight historic projects related to Harvey Hall. Contact the dean’s office to schedule a viewing: cahs@uwstout.edu.
