Flagship Madison museum features exhibition by FYE faculty
The First-Year Experience (FYE) at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) blends contemporary and traditional techniques, an approach embraced by FYE faculty David R. Harper in Good Morning Sweetheart, a solo exhibition on view at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMoCA) through August 30, 2026.
“This exhibition is a mix of older work and new works that mainly deal with themes of stillness, sleep, dreaming and ideation, and longing,” says Harper. “Paul Baker, the director at MMoCA and curator of this exhibition, wanted a sort of survey exhibition, so we focused on those themes, which are pretty prominent in my work, and also on works that tie together through certain material strategies. The oldest work in the show is from 2018, and the most recent works are from this year.”
As described by MMoCA, “Good Morning Sweetheart brings together sculpture, textiles, ceramics, stained glass and found imagery to explore how memory takes shape in objects. Couches, perfume bottles, motel soaps, detergents, birds, flowers, fragments of figurative sculpture and everyday household items appear throughout the exhibition. Familiar at first glance, these things are carefully handmade, altered and recombined – becoming intimate, uncanny and quietly charged.”
David R. Harper, “She Drank the Water That Was Meant for the Orchids,” 2019.
David R. Harper, “Holders, Crutches,” 2016.
“I always try to encourage material and conceptual exploration with my students,” Harper says. “It’s important to think expansively – even if they have favorite materials and ways of working. I work with a lot of students that have material and multidisciplinary interests similar to my own, but I also encourage engagement with students of all disciplines.”
Yet Harper continues, “I like to focus on students’ work when we are working together. I try to use my experiences from my work outside of the school to help them gain understanding on what it’s like to have a rigorous studio practice and build exhibitions.”
This summer, says Harper, “I am a 2025/ 2026 Fellow at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. May through June I will be working on my research at SAAM and the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center.”
As part of Good Morning Sweetheart, Harper presented the 2026 Stephen Fleischman Lecture in April. The exhibit is also part of MMoCA’s 125th Anniversary Party and Spring Exhibition Celebration on June 4, 2026, 5 – 9 p.m.
Learn more about David R. Harper on his website; read about Good Morning Sweetheart in The Cap Times; and explore MIAD’s First-Year Experience.
News
MIAD faculty, alumni shine at WI Visual Art Achievement Awards
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.”
National Society of Illustrators honors 13 MIAD students
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.
Pallas Textiles competition provides real-world experience
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.
2026 First-Year Exhibition showcases professional growth
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.
Meet Carmen Briones and 2026 Senior Exhibition Project Echo
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.