A close-up of the Badger Pride Wall while it was being installed at Alumni Park.

The Red Gym, through the Pride Wall's Red Gym icon.

Sun shining through the Badger Pride Wall while it was aging at ACMF.

When We Say Wisconsin, We’ve Said It Wall

On the southeast end of Alumni Park, an 80-foot-long iron fence sets a firm border. Cut through with UW symbols and backlit for a dramatic nighttime view, this is the Badger Pride Wall, an installation that combines art and function.

The images that grace the Badger Pride Wall were designed by Nate Koehler, a Madison artist. Though he’s a graduate of UW-Stout, Koehler knows what makes UW–Madison special. Using whimsical line drawings, he’s incorporated many of the cultural touchstones of campus, from ice fishing to Union Terrace sunsets, arranged (loosely) by the four seasons.

Kohler’s work was then cut in COR-TEN steel using a waterjet. American Custom Metal Fabricating, Inc., of Green Bay turned the artist’s vision into the wall you see today.

But that’s just the art of the Badger Pride Wall — the function is just as important. The wall serves to protect Alumni Park visitors, as it’s a safety barrier above the driveway that gives delivery trucks access to the underground loading dock that serves Memorial Union and the Pyle Center.