Feature image: Meghan Allyn Johnson, Madison Death Studio’s owner, death worker and artist, shows off some of her favorite books in Madison Death Studio’s inventory. Photo: Emilie Heidemann.
By Emilie Heidemann
A conceptual art project rooted in helping people find community after loss, better understand death work and evolve how the concept of death is perceived and conversed about has found a physical home in Madison, Wisconsin.
Founder Meghan Allyn Johnson, who is also an artist and death worker, opened the Madison Death Studio space in early July. Johnson said a death work is “more or less someone who sits bedside with the dying person for a predicted death.” Sometimes there’s coordination with a hospice care provider, and other times there’s support offered in terms of considering logistics for a funeral. Some death workers even incorporate spiritual rituals into their support practice for clients. Johnson said there’s no certification for being a death worker, and that it’s “ancient community-based work.”
The Madison Death Studio as an art concept initially launched as the Madison Death Collective, Johnson said, and with her friend who is a grief therapist. Her parents died two years apart. Johnson’s father died in 2018, and mother in 2020, so she understands firsthand how debilitating grief can be, as well as how lonely it is to grapple with grief without others to relate to.
To be open from 4-7 p.m. on Wednesdays, the Madison Death Studio is nestled inside 2716 Atwood Avenue along with a few other art-related organizations. It is where Johnson plans to not only host experimental workshops and offer support and resources regarding loss and death work, but also sell literature, artwork and other gift items related to spirituality, grief, green burials and more.
Some upcoming workshops include a forgotten funeral workshop, Johnson said, where participants plan to create altars and do rituals for dead wildlife and animals.
Other workshops are to focus on using collage art to process grief, how death caregivers can establish better boundaries for themselves in their practice and financial planning for members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
The Madison Death Studio is overall helping to drive a cultural shift, she said, and that is having more honest and “compassionate” conversations about death and end-of-life care. The current cultural paradigm is not only an individualistic one, where people are expected to deal with their grief in isolation while still having to lead a productive life, but also one that looks at the concept of death as something to fear rather than understand and incorporate as part of the cycle of life. People who are grieving or curious about death work deserve a space where they can explore the topic without judgement, she said.
“I don’t know of anyone else who has done this yet,” she said.
Of Madison Death Studios future, “I would love if this became something grounded in its own sustainability. I don’t need it to grow massively.”
The Madison Death Studio is located at 2716 Atwood Ave. in Madison, Wisconsin.
Visit madisondeathcollective.org to learn more and connect on Instagram at @madison.death.studio.
Madison Death Studio was previously featured in Issue 40. Purchase a copy here.
Emilie Heidemann is a professional storyteller and freelance journalist from Madison, Wisconsin. She enjoys covering the local arts scene and writing poetry.