Growing up in Edgerton, University of Wisconsin–Madison graduate student Olivia Bratzke made many fond memories in the neighboring city of Stoughton.
Bratzke recalled sharing breakfast at the Koffee Kup with her grandfather and celebrating her family’s Norwegian heritage at the annual Syttende Mai festival.
“Stoughton has a special place in my heart,” Bratzke said.

Now, Bratzke and a team of her student colleagues from the Bolz Center for Arts Administration are in the middle of a two-semester long consulting project that is focused on creating a vision for the Innovation Center Stoughton–a regional center for creativity and innovation in southeastern Dane County.
Bratzke’s familiarity not only with Stoughton but with the region has been an added bonus for her team’s work. She said she has enjoyed sharing Stoughton’s “curiosities” and fun local establishments with teammates Drew Alvarez, Ellie McShane, and Allison Secord.
“I have loved watching what Edgerton has done as a community, and I really have enjoyed learning even more about Stoughton,” Bratzke said. “They’re booming with artists, and it’s really cool to see how much they’re growing.”
Stoughton is partnering with UniverCity Year – the hallmark program of UniverCity Alliance – from 2021-24 to leverage university resources that will assist local partners in establishing a community-based innovation center in an effort to resolve workforce shortages and build resilience.
The center would expand Wisconsin’s first FabLab – an MIT-developed program that engages middle and high-school students in experiential learning – in the Stoughton Area School District. It would provide services like space for coworking, training, experiential learning events, and shared-use equipment.
“We love how this is pretty unique to this region,” Alvarez said. “It can incubate all sorts of ideas between arts and industry. There’s access to equipment through the FabLab and other businesses in town. We’re excited about the potential for Innovation Center Stoughton.”
In addition to the Bolz Center students, Stoughton is working with a landscape architecture student and four engineering courses.
Two groups of students enrolled in Interdisciplinary Engineering 303 Applied Leadership in Engineering are researching the intersecting interests for Stoughton employers and the Innovation Center and common threads for employees and sustainable workforce development in Stoughton.
One Civil & Environmental Engineering 578 Senior Capstone Design course is creating a renovation plan for the city’s 1892 School Building. Finally, an Industrial & Systems Engineering 450 Industrial Engineering Design II course is creating a system design for the Innovation Center.

Lydia DeBauche, the landscape architecture student completing a senior capstone project, along with the Bolz Center students presented updates on Dec. 9 in Stoughton to community groups, including the Redevelopment Authority (RDA) and Sustainability Committee.
“Since these projects are a year long, it’s really great to see their presentations now at this midway point to see where they’re headed,” said Katrina Becker, the Innovation Center’s first executive director. “Their perspectives are really helpful because they’re bringing in an outside view. They can see things that those of us who are more embedded directly into the projects have a hard time seeing.”
Becker said the student groups are also providing a forum to make connections across the community, which spurred the meeting with students and community groups with the goal of identifying areas of collaboration in Stoughton.
UCA and the Sustainability Committee are already connected on another community sustainability initiative. Together with the University of Wisconsin-Extension Dane County and the UW Office of Sustainability, these groups are supporting a community sustainability intern to assist with public input activities related to the city’s future sustainability plan.
“This is what’s possible when many different disciplines apply their work to one project. It’s incredible to see what can happen when different parts of the university make a commitment to work together on a common goal. What would the world look like if this was the norm?” said UniverCity Alliance Managing Director Gavin Luter.
The commitment from the community has also enhanced the students’ learning experiences.
“It’s been great working with the city of Stoughton because there are so many groups here who are interested in improving the city,” DeBauche said. “It’s a perfect place to have a senior capstone project.”
‘Immeasurably helpful’
Bratzke, Alvarez, McShane, and Secord were paired with Stoughton in their Impact Consulting for Arts and Cultural Organizations course that’s a part of the one-year MA in Arts and Creative Enterprise Leadership.
During their first semester, the team assessed the needs of the Innovation Center. Moving forward, the students will implement their research and synthesize data collected through interviews, case studies, and a “deep dive of Stoughton,” said Bratzke.
“It’s perfect timing,” Becker said. “We really need that market research and community insight.”
In addition to bringing new ideas, Becker sees another advantage to working with the Bolz Center students.
“Having the students be the ones to do the interviews as a third party can result in more honest and genuine responses from community members about their perspectives,” Becker said.
Meanwhile, DeBauche is analyzing and redesigning an area of Stoughton known as Depot Hill for her capstone project. The goal is to consider elements like green space, murals, and signage to improve the space for residents and make it pedestrian friendly.
DeBauche said working with the community has been rewarding and provided a different learning experience.
“I’ve been going to meetings with the RDA and going to real city meetings,” DeBauche said. “These are things I’ll be doing as a landscape architect, so it’s cool to have that experience as a student.”
Alvarez agreed that working with Stoughton on a “very real” project makes the experience more rewarding.
“It has been immeasurably helpful to have this in-person experience,” added McShane.