Last year’s sold-out event returns to benefit MIAD scholarships

Four executives from R.W. Baird & Co. and their wives will host this year’s Creative Fusion benefit Saturday evening, May 3, at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, Wisconsin’s only independent four-year college of art and design. The event begins at 6 p.m. at the college’s Third Ward campus, 273 E. Erie Street.

• Download the news release (PDF)
• Download the auction catalog (full color PDF, 26 pages)

Speaking for the host group – Steve and Melanie Booth, Peter and Sarah Kies, Tom and Jane Lacy, Ross and Angela Williams – Tom Lacy said, “The impact of fine art and design on our lives is tremendous. Whether it’s the industrial design of a kitchen appliance or the inspiring beauty of a sculpture, art and design enrich our lives every day. Those who pursue this field make our world, our community and our homes more functional and aesthetically pleasing.”

“Creative Fusion is about supporting MIAD and its talented students,” said Jane Lacy. “It’s also about celebrating the unique talent and passion that the college inspires. We need a broad base of our community – businesses, families and other organizations – to encourage MIAD in its tradition of excellence in art education.

Creative Fusion chairs (from left): Angela and Ross Williams, Sarah and Peter Kies, Jane and Tom Lacy, Melanie and Steve Booth. '08.
"Sound Sculpture" (left) by Jordan Waraksa '07; "Fast Track" bike by William Donnelly '07, Photo: Ryan Hainey

Guests at Creative Fusion, which was sold-out last year, will revel in MIAD’s energetic atmosphere while bidding on one-of-a-kind art and design offerings through a silent and a live auction conducted by a Sotheby’s auctioneer. All proceeds benefit the Creative Fusion Scholarship Fund, which helps support the 96% of MIAD students who receive financial aid. Among the auction items :

• “Homage to Brooks Stevens,” by renowned regional watercolorist Anne Miotke, showing products designed by Industrial Design pioneer Stevens (e.g., the Excalibur automobile, Hiawatha train and Oscar Meyer Wienermobile). It was commissioned in 1993 for the inaugural exhibition in MIAD’s Brooks Stevens Gallery of Industrial Design.
• “Mural Sketch – Building,” mixed media on paper by Schomer Lichtner, one of the best-known Wisconsin artists of his generation. Lichtner produced this study for a mural reminiscent of the style of the WPA murals. The rare sketch became a part of the diverse collection MIAD inherited from its predecessor college, the Layton School of Art.
• “Balancing Act,” serigraph by Clarence Carter, an American modernist who began producing this “mandala” series in the mid-1960s. This print was donated to MIAD by Carter’s estate with three others from the series.
• Untitled, mixed media by Michel Scarpa – perhaps the most monumental work in the U.S. by the Paris-born artist. Scarpa created the work using popular imagery applied to wooden blocks resembling vintage toys.
• A wall sculpture, digital archival lightjet print and collagraph by internationally exhibited MIAD faculty Jill Sebastian, Jason Yi and Rina Yoon, respectively.
• Non-art items such as a guided, educational trip for two to Italy with MIAD students and faculty in May 2009 that will steep art lovers in the culture, history and art of Florence, and a Harley-Davidson 105th Anniversary package for two.

Tickets are $250 per person and available, with sponsorship information, through April 18 by calling Arlene Remsik at Exceptional Events, 414.270.3000, ext. 230.