Fall gallery exhibitions bring social justice, gaming culture and award winners to the forefront

MILWAUKEE… July 9, 2019 – The fall season of exhibitions at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) explores feminism through large-scale artwork, highlights the best works of Milwaukee’s Mary L. Nohl Suitcase Travel Award winners and members of the Midwest’s Society for Photographic Education, and delves deep into the gaming and creative culture surrounding Magic: The Gathering.

Dye Party by Ariana Vaeth ’17

FALL EXHIBITION SCHEDULE

Body of Work, June 19 – Sept. 7: Large-scale works by women artists engage the community in a conversation about the relationship between the body and artmaking, and physicality of making large works. The exhibition is a witness to women artists laboring to unchain themselves from patriarchal stereotypes. The body is representational, conceptual or inherent in some work, but not apparent in other work. The exhibit is curated by Kate Schaffer and MIAD alumna Melissa Dorn.

Mary L. Nohl Suitcase Exhibition, Aug. 19 – Oct. 5: This biannual exhibition at MIAD showcases award-winning local artists who have received the Mary L. Nohl Suitcase Travel Award in the preceding two years. The award program gives Milwaukee-area artists financial support to travel around the world and exhibit their artwork. The Opening Reception is Thursday, September 5, 6 – 8 p.m.

Society for Photographic Education Midwest Juried Exhibition, Sept. 20 – Oct. 27: The SPE Midwest Juried Exhibition brings together professional and student members of this photographic organization. The exhibited works are loosely tied by the photographic medium itself and highlight the various approaches and concerns of artists working with photography today. Works are selected by Jennifer Murray, executive director of Filter Photo, and Alejandro Cartagena, a photographer and educator based in Monterrey, Mexico.

by Hannah Price

Reclaiming Our Time, Oct. 18 – Dec. 7: This group exhibition by the Strange Fire Collective features focuses on social justice themes that critically question the dominant social hierarchy and engages the community in meaningful dialogue about art, gender, race and equity, politics, history and more. Works are presented in traditional and digital formats. The Strange Fire Collective, which comprises more than 120 artists, is dedicated to highlighting work made by diverse people, including women, persons of color, and queer and transgender artists. The Opening Reception is Fall Gallery Night, Friday, October 18, 5 – 9 p.m.

Story & Craft – A Magic: The Gathering Exhibition, Nov. 11, 2019 – Jan. 11, 2020: Examine gaming culture through the lens of one of the genre’s most popular card games, Magic: The Gathering. This exhibition traces the game’s evolution since its beginning in 1993, and features rare original artwork and cards, plus concept drawings and models from the game’s history. Fans and players of Magic literally invent the rules and methods of play, and this exhibition highlights the evolution of the ways to play. More than 20,000 different cards have been designed to date in a monumental effort of orchestrated creativity, involving hundreds of artists, art directors, marketing and exhibit staff and thousands of fans.

MIAD’s Brooks Stevens Gallery and Frederick Layton Gallery are free and open to the public, Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. More information at miad.edu/galleries.

About MIAD: As an accredited, nonprofit college, MIAD provides a transformative Bachelor of Fine Arts education that prepares students of diverse backgrounds for fulfilling and financially rewarding careers. MIAD fosters innovative, entrepreneurial and disruptive thinking that benefits our students and our corporate and nonprofit partners. MIAD also brings robust career pathways and college-readiness experiences to high school youth and provides cultural experiences and programming to the Greater Milwaukee community.