Haggerty Museum of Art features MIAD alum for lecture
“My Daughters + the Strands of Hair – Their Heads” by David Najib Kasir, 2022.
David Najib Kasir, ’01 Painting, will present his lecture “David Najib Kasir: A Conversation in Cultural Shapes & Landscapes” at Marquette University’s Haggerty Museum of Art on Tuesday, November 15th at 5 p.m. Kasir, a Milwaukee oil painter whose deeply personal work “surrounds the act of coming to terms with the challenges of family, life, love, and loss,” will speak to the topic of culture and the importance of representation. This lecture is presented in collaboration with Marquette University’s Center for Race, Ethnic and Indigenous Studies.
“The Average Number of Broken Hearts in Occupied Diameter” by David Najib Kasir. Oil & acyrilic on panel, 2022.
In his recent artistic practice, Kasir draws on his parents’ experiences migrating to the United States from Syria and Iraq. His latest paintings spotlight the wars in Syria and engage viewers by asking them to understand and empathize with the millions of Arabs “now living in chaos and disarray.” Accomplished as both muralist and activist, Kasir combines imagery of Arab refugees and Syria with traditional colorful zellige tile patterns.
Building community, networking and supporting fellow artists are all vital to Kasir’s artistic practice. “Your career is a marathon and not a sprint… your practice must be a focus,” he counsels. In the years since he graduated from MIAD, Kasir notes how much the school has changed, “especially how it engages with art and public works.” Keep an eye out for Kasir’s work coming up in the Chicago Expo as well as various mural projects and two solo exhibitions scheduled for next year.
Kasir is represented by Var Galleries, which recently loaned MIAD one of his works for the “Then As Now: Woodland Pattern” exhibition in the Frederick Layton Gallery at MIAD. Keep up with Kasir’s work on Instagram (@davidnajibkasir) or his website and learn more about his upcoming lecture at Marquette.
News
Nohl Alumni Award propels lasting impact for MIAD professor
Receiving a Ruth Arts Mary L. Nohl Alumni Award has both immediate and longer-term impacts for Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design Professor Jon Horvath; for himself as an artist, for the arts community and for MIAD students. Horvath, who teaches in MIAD’s Fine Art + New Studio Practice major, was one of three artists and one collective recently given the award, which provides $25,000 in unrestricted funds to each.
Arts education lays groundwork for MIAD alum curatorial role
Nikki Ranney ’22 (Illustration), the new curator of the Cedarburg Art Museum, says she “is so grateful that I went through my Bachelor of Fine Arts and got to experience a traditional art education at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design because it laid the groundwork for the more academic side of the curatorial field.”
Museum Studies class: Hands-on exhibition and career experience
Last fall’s Museum Studies class at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) has solidified a career choice for at least one of the 16 students who took it. The class was on the go all semester, visiting museums throughout Milwaukee, meeting with professionals and thinking critically about the role of museums in our society.
Jodi Eastberg: MIAD Vice President for Academic Affairs
Meet Jodi Eastberg, Ph.D., Vice President for Academic Affairs at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD)! Dr. Eastberg discusses her vision for MIAD, her experience at the college so far, and some welcome surprises about working in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward neighborhood.
Haggerty Museum of Art features work by MIAD Fine Art professor
A towering column of life-size red-crowned cranes molded out of mulberry pulp has visitors to the Haggerty Museum of Art craning their necks to take in the sculpture. Work by Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) Professor Jason S. Yi is featured as part of the Haggerty Museum’s exhibition “This Side of the Stars: Rauschenberg’s “Stoned Moon” in the Company of Kite, Paglen, and Yi.”