MIAD Board of Trustees Chair talks MIAD’s impact

Rising senior at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) Adam Wold ’27 received two awards in May from the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID). The Interior Architecture and Design (IAD) major won the Silver Award in the Commercial category and the Bronze Award in the Residential category.

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.”

Works by 13 students and recent graduates of the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) were selected from among 4,550 nationwide submissions to receive 2026 honors from the national Society of Illustrators.

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.