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.”

“Having my work shown alongside Robert Rauschenberg, an iconic figure in the contemporary art world, and other fantastic, internationally recognized artists like Kite and Trevor Paglin is an honor and has propelled me to be more ambitious with the work in the exhibition,” says Yi, who teaches in MIAD’s Fine Art + New Studio Practice program.

Jason S. Yi, “Accidental Paradise,” 2025, installation view.

Yi worked with a studio assistant team of current and former MIAD students “who were tremendously committed to this exhibition,” he says. Madison Boeder ’25, Emily Dahm ’26 and Marta Tereziya ’26 worked on everything from sketching, to creating plaster casts, to molding and refining the cranes.

“The seed of an idea for the work in the exhibition took root 18 months ago, and over many months of experimentation and failure, the work has evolved in unexpected ways,” continues Yi. “Because the techniques of elaborate paper casting and large-scale extra-fine ink pen drawings were relatively new to me, they were incredibly time-consuming and technically challenging to master. However, my studio practice is not a lone endeavor; I had a dedicated studio team (former and current MIAD students) who provided visual and conceptual input and contributed their time to complete the project. Through studio teamwork and with the curators’ support, the work grew in scale and fully exploited the museum’s interior space.”

“My experience working with Jason has been extremely rewarding,” says Tereziya ’26. “This experience has heightened my confidence as an artist and taught me that I am capable of producing great work … Jason is extremely knowledgeable about being a professional practicing artist, and he is always generous to pass down that knowledge. Not only did I learn how to work with mediums I have never worked with before, but also I have observed how [he] functions with his process. I learned that one should be patient with their creations, to always look at the bigger picture and not get hung up on complications.”

“My experience working with Jason has felt transformational,” says Dahm ’26. “The honesty, care, and humanity that went into this work feels so real and is something I strive to bring to my own art practice … Learning came in the form of successes and plenty of failures (particularly in figuring out the plaster molds!), which has made me a more resilient artist. It has truly been a wonderful, challenging and fun time working with Jason and the other assistants.”

“Working with a team on a long term project such as this has taught me so much about communication, collaboration, and skill sharing,” Dahm continues. “This project also helped me strengthen my strategy, time management, and problem solving skills, as well as bolster my confidence in my abilities to make profound work. Jason has been a very generous mentor to me. He continues to remind me and my peers how capable we are to turn our vision into reality, to achieve great ambition, and to build the community we need.”

Tereziya finishes, “I would not be the same artist and human without everything that Jason has taught me. I will forever hold him in a bright light.”

“This Side of the Stars” is on view January 23 – May 16, 2026 at the Haggerty Museum of Art.

Learn more about Jason S. Yi on his website, read about “This Side of the Stars” from Marquette Wire, and explore MIAD’s Fine Art + New Studio Practice major!