MIAD elects new board chair and three new trustees
Amanda Singh, an artist, educator and longtime supporter of creative education, was elected chair of the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design’s Board of Trustees for 2025-2026 at the college’s Annual Meeting in June. She succeeds immediate past MIAD Board Chair Deanna Tillisch, who rejoined the board as a member.
The board also welcomed three new members: Lauren Hurley, senior corporate counsel at YETI Coolers; Abim Kolawole, VP, chief audit executive at Northwestern Mutual; and Bob Schwartz, independent executive leader and former MIAD board chair and member. It re-elected Board Secretary Geoffrey Mackey, chief marketing & communications officer at Robert W. Baird & Co., and Board Treasurer Jason W. Allen, partner at Foley & Lardner LLP.
Amanda Singh
Abim Kolawole
Bob Schwartz
Lauren Hurley
“My involvement with MIAD began 18 years ago when I volunteered at the very first Creative Fusion [scholarship gala],” Singh says. “My mother served on the board and cared deeply about the college and the people here. Over time, I’ve built my own relationships within the MIAD community and come to appreciate just how special this place is.
“I joined the board in 2018 and have served on the Academic Affairs Committee ever since, most recently as its chair. I’m grateful for the trust this role represents and honored to continue my family’s relationship with a place that means so much to us.”
“What excites me most,” continues Singh, “is that there is work to do. I’m grateful for the meaningful momentum already in place, and for the thoughtful, dedicated board working together to navigate what lies ahead. Higher education is in a moment of transition, and MIAD offers something rare – an education that nurtures creativity both as expression and as a way of thinking, making and responding to a changing world.”
A former teacher in the Chicago Public Schools who holds a Master’s in Education, Singh’s studio practice currently focuses on abstract landscape painting. While her practice is not full-time, Singh says that “it remains a regular and meaningful part of her life, exploring themes of memory, emotion and place.”
See MIAD’s full 2025-2026 Board of Trustees.
News
MKE Prints exhibition installed at MKE airport
MKE Prints is a collection of hand-pulled screen prints was created by Communication Design students at MIAD on view at the MKE airport.
Recollection Wisconsin digitizes Guido Brink collection
Thanks to the Recollection Wisconsin Digitization Initiative, the Guido Brink collection at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) will soon be digitized and available for public access. Current UW-Milwaukee graduate student Ceceilia Loeschmann is digitizing and cataloging the collection during summer 2025.
Student commission celebrates previous MIAD board chair
Deanna Tillisch, outgoing chair of the board at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD), received a student-commissioned monotype print in recognition of her service. “Deanna Dancing” was made by Anna Louise Barr ’26 (Fine Art + New Studio Practice).
Meet AJ Schramek and Senior Exhibition project Life is a Drag!
AJ Schramek ’25 (Animation Track in Illustration) is a President’s (Honor) List student from Villa Park, Ill., who received a 2025 MIAD Alumni Senior Thesis Award.
Bronzeville initiatives by MIAD alums garner state and local awards
Community advocate, business owner, writer and editor Lexi S. Brunson ’14, an alum and assistant professor of Writing and Humanities at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD), recently accepted two awards: Best Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Initiative (Business) at the 34th annual Wisconsin Main Street Awards and Historic King Drive Business of the Year.