A MIAD First-Year Experience Like No Other

Professor Leslie Fedorchuk and alumni of the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) received four of the eight individual 2026 Wisconsin Visual Art Achievement Awards for “their significant contributions to the state’s creative culture.”

First-place winner Sophia Simonson ’28 created Refractions as part of her MIAD studies in Interior Architecture and Design. She is one of 20 students studying at MIAD through a cross-registration program with Concordia University. MIAD students Kaitlyn Powers ’26 (Illustration) and Natalie Spetell ’27 (Product Design), both of whom have minors in Communication Design, received Honorable Mentions.

First-place winner Sophia Simonson ’28 created Refractions as part of her MIAD studies in Interior Architecture and Design. She is one of 20 students studying at MIAD through a cross-registration program with Concordia University. MIAD students Kaitlyn Powers ’26 (Illustration) and Natalie Spetell ’27 (Product Design), both of whom have minors in Communication Design, received Honorable Mentions.

An annual tradition at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design from late March through September, the juried First-Year Experience Exhibition celebrates students’ yearlong personal and professional growth.

Carmen Briones ‘26 (Product Design) is a President’s (Honor) List student from Cambria, Wis., president of the MIAD IDSA student chapter and an intern at SI Jacobson Manufacturing. Briones designed a device called “Echo” that removes ovarian cysts without surgery.