Designer, dancer, and dreamer, Sammy Dyrud (15th Cohort) is making First Wave history as she spearheads design development in the collaboration between the Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives (OMAI) and Wisconsin Design Team (WDT) for the 19th Annual Line Breaks Festival.
Sammy is a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art for Graphic Design and Drawing. As a proud member of First Wave’s 15th cohort, Sammy has worked as a peer mentor for The Studio, contributing through design work on their yearly magazine to highlight new and upcoming artists. Outside the classroom, she has represented First Wave as a dancer at World of Dance, a premier dance competition that took place in Los Angeles, and performed at Milwaukee’s Pride celebration. She also serves as an assistant designer at WDT, working with local restaurants, companies, and sports teams to amplify brands through clothing and design. Now, she is combining her two creative worlds as the lead designer of OMAI and WDT’s collaboration for this year’s Line Breaks festival.
When Sammy began brainstorming the Line Breaks limited edition collection, she focused on highlighting First Wave and the range of opportunities it creates for artists. She recalls her first conversation with OMAI’s Creative Manager, Nia Scott, just before graduation season last year. “I just want to make something cool,” she told Nia. “Let’s make something awesome.” From that point on, Sammy approached the project with both intention and excitement, using the collaboration as a chance to showcase First Wave’s energy into something tangible.
In designing this line, Sammy strived to produce something in her own style while representing the core values of the urban hip-hop community. Styles with color, brightness, and attitude stuck out – allowing her to give the merch a personality. She likes to draw figures, involve characters, and use humour to convey what’s in her head into art. When Eric D. Newble Jr., OMAI’s Arts Education Program Specialist, first introduced Sammy to this year’s theme – Activation – she saw it as the perfect opportunity to highlight the beginning and end of the creative process. She explained how “art is a very activated thing.” She wanted the limited edition clothing collection to show action, collaboration, and community while staying true to the foundations of hip-hop and scholarship. Sammy felt responsible for representing a niche community on campus and wanted to highlight the history and foundation of art rather than contemporary forms that typically get the spotlight. Developing this collection challenged her to experiment with diverse art forms that showcased a deep history beyond and outside of herself.
Working with OMAI and WDT was a blending of communities for Sammy. She explains how it was comforting to work with people she was already familiar with in both a professional and creative space. As the lead designer of this project, she took advantage of her creative freedom and took charge of the passion put into this project. Previously, Sammy was used to being told what to do, and she utilized this opportunity to take initiative and create something of her own. She found it exciting to be in charge and to be able to talk to people immediately when questions needed answers. Overall, she shares that it was a very smooth process, with lots of time to work out any kinks to deliver a product she is truly proud of.
Reflecting on this collaboration, Sammy shares that her favorite part of this project was working with people who are so well-versed in the arts. “Collaboration is a very difficult thing,” Sammy says, but united under the shared goal of representing Line Breaks as best they could, teamwork flowed naturally across all parties. Additionally, she appreciates her supervisor’s belief and trust in her, and shares how their support was very helpful.
Sammy describes her favorite piece as “flat-out activation”: a graphic of a comic-style cartoon breaking into a rock. Check it out yourself and find your own favorite style at the Line Breaks Pop Up Shop on April 7, 2026, at 717 State Street. Couldn’t make it? Save time and order your limited edition Line Breaks garment at go.wisc.edu/OMAIWDT. Orders are open until April 24th.
Article written by Polly Drebin