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MIAD Galleries

The Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) is home to two nationally recognized museum galleries that are open to the public: the Brooks Stevens Gallery and the Frederick Layton Gallery. MIAD also hosts several auxiliary gallery spaces on campus which generally feature student work.

  • Admission: Free
  • Gallery hours: Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. 5 p.m. See current exhibition information below for details.
  • Location: 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, WI 53202. Get directions and parking information.
  • For gallery inquiries: Contact MIAD’s Director of Galleries at 414‑847‑3350 or marklawson@miad.edu.

MIAD’s galleries are supported in part by the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin, and the Mary L. Nohl Fund of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, among other sponsors. Learn more about sponsoring gallery exhibitions.

MIAD Gallery at The Ave

MIAD Gallery at The Ave is MIAD’s first off-campus gallery. Located at The Avenue in downtown Milwaukee, the Gallery at The Ave is a supportive space for MIAD students, alumni, faculty and staff to show and sell their work. Learn more at galleryattheave.miad.edu.

REQUEST FOR EXHIBITION PROPOSALS

MIAD’s call for exhibition proposals for the 2025 calendar year and beyond is now closed. Please check back for future open calls. For questions, please contact Mark Lawson, Director of Galleries, marklawson@miad.edu.

Current Exhibitions

Growing Resistance: Untold Stories of Milwaukee’s Community Guardians

01/08/24 – 03/02/24

Dates: January 8 – March 2, 2024
Location: Brooks Stevens Gallery, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, W​I

Opening Reception
Thursday, January 18 | 6 – 8 p.m.
Brooks Stevens Gallery, 273 E Erie St., Milwaukee, WI

Growing Resistance: Untold Stories of Milwaukee’s Community Guardians showcases everyday voices of resistance and resilience around environmental injustice from some of Milwaukee’s most historically underrepresented neighborhoods. The community guardians are residents/citizens, block leaders, elders, organizations, grassroots groups and sometimes youth. This work is drawn from over 10 years of partnership between university and community experts to co-create more representative histories of these neighborhoods. These stories include accounts of urban growing, food, housing and green space from the North and Northwest Side of Milwaukee. How might sharing these stories through a variety of artistic forms expand what is heard? Growing Resistance foregrounds local community voices through dance, photography, sculpture, environmental sound, painting, interviews, poetry, video, architectural models and much more, while asking how we might better disseminate these stories and grassroots actions of resilience – voices that are often erased in the archives or ignored in the media.

Growing Resistance is co-curated by MSOE and UWM. Growing Resistance is made possible in part by grants from the Wisconsin Arts Board and Wisconsin Humanities. Public pop-up programming is funded in part by a grant from Wisconsin Humanities, with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Wisconsin Humanities strengthens our democracy through educational and cultural programs that build connections and understanding among people of all backgrounds and beliefs throughout the state.

Events – Growing Resistance

Reception
Thursday, January 18, 2024 | 6 – 8 p.m.
Brooks Stevens Gallery, 273 E Erie St., Milwaukee, WI

MIAD Student-Guided Tours
Fridays, January 12 – March 8, 11:15 a.m.
Brooks Stevens Gallery, 273 E Erie St., Milwaukee, WI

Book Club
Thursday, January 25, 2024 | 6 p.m.
Online via Zoom | Register Here
America’s Black Holocaust Museum Book Club, MIAD & Milwaukee County Historical Society present “All That She Carried” by Tiya Miles 

Growing Resistance Gallery Tour & Zine-Making
Saturday, February 17, 2024 | 10 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. | Register Here
Bus departs at 10 a.m. from America’s Black Holocaust Museum (ABHM), 401 W North Ave, Milwaukee, for Growing Resistance Gallery Tour at MIAD; Bus departs from MIAD at 12 p.m. for zine-making workshop at ABHM.
Space is limited. Learn more and register: bit.ly/GRTZine

Peace Post Unveiling & Growing Resistance Gallery Tour
Thursday, February 22, 2024 | 5 – 7 p.m.
Brooks Stevens Gallery, 273 E Erie St, Milwaukee, WI
Peace Post unveiling and Growing Resistance Gallery Tour with Milwaukee Through Embodied Research dance interventions. No registration required.

What’s Next? A Community Story Circle
Saturday, March 2, 2024 | 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. | Register Here
Milwaukee Public Library, Washington Park Branch (Finney Community Room), 2121 N. Sherman Blvd, Milwaukee, WI
Light refreshments provided. Learn more and register: bit.ly/CSCircle

Thank you to the sponsors of “Growing Resistance”

Three people dance in a garden in front of a mural

Meredith Watts, “Embodied Research.”

MSOE University Logo
UWM Logo
50 years! Wisconsin Arts Board Logo.
Wisconsin Humanities logo

Old Type, New Ways: Work from the Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum

01/16/24 – 03/09/24

Dates: January 16 – March 9, 2024
Location: Frederick Layton Gallery, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, W​I

Opening Reception
Thursday, January 25, 2024 | 5 – 8 p.m.
Frederick Layton Gallery, 273 E Erie St., Milwaukee, WI
Make and Take Printing begins at 6 p.m. MIAD students will assist you in setting wood type and creating a unique letterpress print that you can take home with you. No cost to participate.

The Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum in Two Rivers, Wisconsin houses an enormous collection of vintage prints, wood type, and machinery going back to the founding of the Hamilton Manufacturing Company in 1880. It is a working museum that prints with its collections and continues to create new wood type using the original tools and machines from the factory. The museum holds the world’s largest collection of wood type, with over 1.5 million pieces. This exhibition showcases original prints, type, printing blocks, and new works created from the collections at the museum. This display is a unique and rare view of American advertising art and the contemporary state of letterpress printing.

Events – Old Type, News Ways

Opening Reception
Thursday, January 25, 2024 | 5 – 8 p.m.
Frederick Layton Gallery, 273 E Erie St., Milwaukee, WI
Make and Take Printing begins at 6 p.m. MIAD students will assist you in setting wood type and creating a unique letterpress print that you can take home with you. No cost to participate.

Rick Griffith Talk
Friday, February 16, 2024 | 6 p.m.
Community Hub, Room 160, 273 E Erie St., Milwaukee, WI

Rick Griffith is a British West Indian collagist, writer, letterpress printer, designer and optimist futurist based in Denver, Colorado. As a designer, he works at the intersections of programming, policy and production. Griffith will share two experimental projects he has produced using 19th- and early 20th-century tools, the importance and relevance of labor in printmaking, his letterpress printing practice and some examples of how a contemporary practice might participate in printing history in the United States. Join us as Griffith presents “Changing Histories: Printing as Artist/Designer/Activist in a Mode of Constant Experimentation and Discovery.”

Old-fashioned type poster for Man Without a Stomach

Rick Griffith.

Freedom Dreaming

02/09/24 – 02/29/24

Dates: February 9 – February 29, 2024
Location: Community Hub, Room 160, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, W​I
Opening Reception: February 9, 2024, 5 – 7 p.m., Community Hub, Room 160

Lead Curator: Noah Teague, Communication Design ’25

Inspired by the abolitionist concept of “freedom dreaming,” in which Black people and others who experience racism are freed from its deadly and world-altering impacts, MIAD’s Black Leaders and Artists Coalition (BLAC) student group presents a conceptual exhibition of works created directly in response to its title. The included works are in conversation with each other, encircling a central space for performance and exploring abolitionist texts. Recordings of Black students’ voices can be heard throughout the space, nudging visitors to a new future.

A painting of a Black person sitting cross-legged with two cartoonish figures on their shoulders.

Ellery Pascual, “Wisedom,” Freedom Dreaming exhibition, 2024.

Upcoming Exhibitions

MIAD Senior Exhibition

04/19/24 – 05/11/24

Dates: April 19 – May 11, 2024
Location: MIAD Galleries, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, W​I
Gallery Night Public Opening: April 19, 2024, 5 – 9 p.m.

MIAD’s annual Senior Exhibition returns April 19 – May 11, 2024! Visit miad.edu/seniorexhibition for more information. 

About MIAD Galleries

MIAD Galleries Mission & Impact Statement

Mission: The mission of MIAD Galleries is to support learning, cultivate conversation with the community, and demonstrate the cultural value of art and design. Through excellence and diversity in our changing exhibitions and educational programming,  MIAD Galleries reflect contemporary and historical trends in fine art and design. With a focus on diverse, innovative and interdisciplinary practices across art and design, we present a dynamic exhibition program featuring work by regional, national and international professional practitioners. Our exhibits are complemented by public and educational events.

Impact Statement: We make an impact through:

  • The support of learning and pedagogy through programming reflecting contemporary and historical trends in fine art and design.
  • Emphasizing diversity and engaging the college and community in issues of cultural construction and meaning.
  • Expanding school curriculum and teaching by supporting new work and the curation of subjects and creative endeavors less commonly found in school or the larger community.
  • Fostering connections with creative professionals and institutions in the region for mutual support of programming and audience cultivation.

MIAD’s Director of Galleries prepares professional shows in both the fine arts and design galleries, and also assists groups of students in organizing shows throughout the campus.

Call for Proposals Information: Gallery Spaces & Floor Plans

MIAD welcomes proposals for exhibitions on an ongoing basis. Please contact  MIAD’s Director of Galleries Mark Lawson at 414‑847‑3350 or marklawson@miad.edu.

MIAD operates two main galleries: the Brooks Stevens Gallery and the Frederick Layton Gallery. MIAD’s galleries are open to the public Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission to the galleries is free. Both galleries are located on the college’s lower level, the River Level.

FREDERICK LAYTON GALLERY

This gallery is named after Frederick Layton, the founder of the first art gallery in the city of Milwaukee. This early art venue was also the site where MIAD’s predecessor institution, the Layton School of Art was founded. Four to five exhibits are on view in this space each year, based on the college’s academic calendar. It has no exterior windows, about 320 linear feet of wall space and has about 3,600 square feet of open space. It is accessible to by a freight elevator, and can exhibit very large or heavy artifacts. Download Frederick Layton Gallery floor plan PDF.

BROOKS STEVENS GALLERY

This gallery is named after Brooks Stevens, the famed Milwaukee-based industrial designer who was instrumental in developing the college’s Industrial Design program. During his long career, his design firm worked for hundreds of clients creating many influential, well-known products. This gallery focuses primarily on design exhibits, presenting two to three exhibits per year. The gallery features exterior windows to view Milwaukee’s River Walk. This space has about 4,000 square feet of open space with 220 feet of linear wall space, depending on the temporary wall partitions being used. Download Brooks Stevens Gallery floor plan PDF.

Past Exhibitions

Predecessor: Work from the Layton School of Art - 10/02/23 - 12/08/23
A watercolor illustration of a group of houses and trees.

Helen Hoppin, title unknown, c. 1920.

Dates: October 2 – December 8, 2023
Location: Frederick Layton Gallery, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, W​I

In 1921, Charlotte Partridge and Miriam Frink opened an innovative art college in the basement of Milwaukee’s Frederick Layton Art Gallery. Despite facing challenges like the Great Depression and World War II, the school was able to adapt to wartime America and it played a vital role in nurturing Wisconsin’s creative workforce as well as shaping Milwaukee’s art scene as we know it today.

The Layton School of Art closed in 1974. However, its legacy lives on through the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD), which continues to preserve and showcase the Layton School of Art Collection—an invaluable resource comprising archival materials, drawings, paintings, various forms of design work, and more.

Predecessor is made possible with support from Anne H. and Frederick Vogel III, Michael Huibregtse ’74, Bruce ’63 and Judy Renquist and Eric Vogel.


Opening Reception
Thursday, October 5, 2023 | 6 – 9 p.m.
Frederick Layton Gallery, 273 E Erie St., Milwaukee, WI

Gallery Night & Day
Friday – Saturday, October 20 – 21, 2023
MIAD Galleries, 273 E Erie St., Milwaukee, WI

“Life Partners” Charlotte Partridge and Miriam Frink: Wisconsin Pride Screening and Panel Discussion
Thursday, October 26, 2023 | 7 – 9 p.m.
Community Hub Auditorium, Room 160, 273 E Erie St., Milwaukee, WI

Participants:
Josie Osborne: Childhood connection to Partridge and Frink.
Seth Ter Haar: Exhibit’s curator; will present Partridge and Frink’s Legacy beyond the Layton School.
Robyn Bayland: A researcher of Partridge and Frink for Wisconsin Pride.
Andy Soth: Reporter and producer for PBS Wisconsin.

Wisconsin’s Memory Keepers: A Local Archive and Collections Panel
Tuesday, November 7, 2023 | 6 p.m.
Community Hub Auditorium, Room 160, 273 E Erie St., Milwaukee, WI

Participants:
Mark Lawson: Moderator; MIAD Director of Galleries
Richard Hartman: Director of the Gallery of Wisconsin Art
Max Yela: Head, Special Collections UWM Library
Graeme Reid: Director of Collections and Exhibitions, MOWA
Derek S. Webb: Head of Archives, UWM Library

Layton Lived On: Interviews with Alumni and Faculty of the Layton School of Art
Thursday, November 16, 2023 | 6 – 8 p.m.
MIAD Union Auditorium, 273 E Erie St., Milwaukee, WI

Interviewees:
Joseph Mendla: Layton instructor, founder of MIAD
JoAnna Poehlmann: Layton alum (1954 graduate), respected Wisconsin artist
John Gruenwald: Layton Alum (1974 last graduating class), respected printmaker
Bruce Renquist: Layton alum and instructor (1964 graduate), respected Industrial designer. On the founding board of MIAD.

Here & Now: Work from MIAD Faculty - 10/16/23 - 11/18/23

Dates: October 16 – November 18, 2023
Location: Brooks Stevens Gallery, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, W​I

This biennial exhibition is an opportunity to experience the depth and diversity of talent possessed by MIAD’s art and design faculty. With over one hundred members, MIAD’s dynamic faculty pursue careers as artists, illustrators, graphic designers, product designers and architects, with clients and exhibition venues across the globe.


Reception
Thursday, October 19, 2023 | 6 – 8 p.m.
Brooks Stevens Gallery, 273 E Erie St., Milwaukee, WI

Gallery Night
Friday, October 20, 2023 | 5 – 9 p.m.
MIAD Galleries, 273 E Erie St., Milwaukee, WI

Faculty Reading Event
Wednesday, October 25, 2023 | 6 p.m.
Brooks Stevens Gallery, 273 E Erie St., Milwaukee, WI

Make Me Feel - 08/21/23 - 10/06/23
An ice crusher machine made of metal with a turning handle

“Swing-A-Way Ice Crusher”

Dates: August 21 – October 6, 2023
Location: Brooks Stevens Gallery, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, W​I
Curated + Supported by maker llc, Ryan Ramos ‘02 and Heidi Ramos ‘05

Being a maker is in the fabric of our DNA. As human beings we are driven to make, not just what once was but what could be. Our need to make is not dependent on race, religion, gender, or politics. The act of making is driven by our need to evolve, survive, and prosper. To make is an opportunity to create with both positive and negative ends, and many shades of grey in between.

The presented artifacts and art, sculpture and products, paintings and prints, narratives and text were made and contribute to the act of making themselves. To remove them from their original context allows us the opportunity to explore the complexity of how they can shape our lives, inspiring us to think and to feel. These artifacts will be placed in a capsule of a sort, which will provide a space to explore and ask yourself, “How does this make me feel and why?”

Experience objects industrially designed and curated that will challenge preconceived ideas and notions; hopefully inspiring reflection on each experience, pondering “How does it make me feel?”


Events

Reception
Thursday, September 21, 2023 | 6 – 8 p.m.
Brooks Stevens Gallery, 273 E Erie St., Milwaukee, WI

Friends, Neighbors, & Distant Comrades - 08/08/23 - 09/16/23
A series of lines and circles around a human figure painted on a piece of fabric.

Judy Rifka, “Square Dress,” 1983.

Dates: August 8 – September 16, 2023
Location: Frederick Layton Gallery, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, W​I

Friends, Neighbors & Distant Comrades: Selections from the Moore Collection of ’80s NYC Art

Curated by Alan Moore and Michael Flanagan, this ambitious show centers on relics from the raucous art movements of the late 20th century in New York City. The collection of artwork reflects the counterculture attitudes and creative approaches of a disparate group of bohemian makers living and working in New York City, especially those who united in a variety of co-ops, collectives and art groups. The exhibition includes paintings, prints, sculptures, multiples and video collected by the Moore family of Milwaukee over several decades.

Alan Moore himself was a participant in the art movements as a critic, artist and historian. He has written and published numerous essays and books about that time, as well as writing about the ‘squatting’ movements in NYC and Europe. His book, “Art Gangs: Protest & Counterculture in New York City” (2011), and recent memoir “Art Worker” (2022) are well-researched looks at the times. He is also an archivist by default, in the process of cataloging, preserving and disseminating this extensive collection.


Events

A print of a person stretching and howling at the sky.

Seth Tobocman, “Howl!,” 2005.

Artist Talk – Seth Tobocman and Susan Bietila
Thursday, August 24, 2023 | 6 p.m.
MIAD Community Hub, Room 160, 273 E Erie St., Milwaukee, WI

Film Screening of Make Me Famous and talkback with James Cornwell
Thursday, August 31, 2023 | 6 p.m.
MIAD Community Hub, Room 160, 273 E Erie St., Milwaukee, WI

Artist Talk – Robert Goldman (Bobby G) and Andrea Callard
Thursday, September 7, 2023 | 6 p.m.
MIAD Community Hub, Room 160, 273 E Erie St., Milwaukee, WI

Performance by Jack Waters and Peter Cramer
Thursday, September 14, 2023 | 11 a.m.
MIAD Union Auditorium, 273 E Erie St., Milwaukee, WI

Closing Reception and Lecture
Friday, September 15, 2023
5 – 6:30 p.m. | Alan Moore and Dr. Mysoon Rizk lecture
6:30 – 8:30 p.m. | Closing Reception
Frederick Layton Gallery, 273 E Erie St., Milwaukee, WI

At 5pm Mysoon Rizk, Professor of Art History, Modern and Contemporary Art at the University of Toledo, will speak about the art environment of the period, NYC in the 1970s and ’80s. Her talk is entitled “Politics of Refusal: Occupying ’Slothism,’ Lying ‘Down’”. She will touch on the ideology of Joseph Beuys, and the curatorial activism of artists, especially artist David Wojnarowicz. Alan W. Moore will respond. Jack Waters and Peter Cramer will also be in attendance, and will share their perspectives as central participants in events of the era. We expect a lively discussion.

Don't Call Me Junior! - 06/05/23 - 07/22/23

Dates: June 5 – July 22, 2023
Gallery Night: Friday, July 21
Location: Frederick Layton Gallery, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, W​I

Animated gif that says

Showcasing works across all majors from the junior year at MIAD, Don’t Call Me Junior! focuses on the talent and vision of a new generation of emerging artists and designers. The exhibition reflects how MIAD’s 3rd year curriculum, through a broad range of experiences, prepares students for careers in their respective fields. The featured work covers 2D, 3D, and 4D projects from core and elective courses from Communication Design, Illustration, Interior Architecture and Design, Fine Arts/New Studio Practice and Product Design in the 3rd year, including collaborations with community partners on sponsored client projects.

The junior year is transformative. In the 3rd year, students hone their unique individual voices and set a direction for their professional focus in their senior year and beyond.

Boyfriend Material - 05/22/23 - 07/15/23
Watercolor painting of a scene of human figures next to a river with red trees

Anwar Mahdi, “Persephone Escaping the Underworld,” 2023. Watercolor and colored pencil on paper, 18″x24″

Dates: May 22 – July 15, 2023
Location: Brooks Stevens Gallery, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, W​I

Curated by Milwaukee based artist LaNia Sproles ’17, the exhibition Boyfriend Material is a group show featuring queer identifying contemporary artists exploring diverse concepts of intimacy. Boyfriend Material focuses on the importance of queering our narrative of all types of connections and what that looks like. Artist are prompted with the quest of defining true love and what does it look and feel like to them while existing in a queer body. When we allow for our power to return back into the hands of our heart compass we can discover that even non-queer people can experience the freedom of genuine kinship. Queering our understanding of care, intimacy, sex and community can be exceptionally liberating and also restorative. Holding each other’s softness is a form of art we can find the blueprint to in our fellow LGBTQ+ beloveds.


Events

Opening Reception
June 2, 2023 | 6 – 9 p.m.
Brooks Stevens Gallery, 273 E Erie St., Milwaukee, WI

QKE Event
June 9, 2023 | 5 – 9 p.m.
Brooks Stevens Gallery, 273 E Erie St., Milwaukee, WI

MIAD 2023 Senior Exhibition - 04/21/23 - 05/06/23

Dates: April 21 – May 6, 2023
Location: MIAD, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, W​I

MIAD’s annual Senior Exhibition returns in 2023 featuring the innovative work of emerging creative professionals who passionately contribute to the world and meet universal challenges in new ways. The exhibit features student artists and designers representing all of MIAD’s Bachelor of Fine Arts majors and minors. Learn more at www.miad.edu/seniorexhibition.

New Studio Practice: Fine Art Group Shows

Group Show 01: March 27 – 31, 2023
Closing reception Friday, March 31, 2023 6 – 8 p.m. in MIAD’s Community Hub & Gallery (room 160).

Group Show 02: April 3 – 7, 2023
Closing reception Friday, April 7, 2023 6 – 8 p.m. in MIAD’s Community Hub & Gallery (room 160).

Group Show 03: April 10 – 14, 2023
Closing reception Friday, April 14, 2023 6 – 8 p.m. in MIAD’s Community Hub & Gallery (room 160).

MIAD 2023 Senior Exhibition - 04/21/23 - 05/06/23

Dates: April 21 – May 6, 2023
Location: MIAD, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, W​I

MIAD’s annual Senior Exhibition returns in 2023 featuring the innovative work of emerging creative professionals who passionately contribute to the world and meet universal challenges in new ways. The exhibit features student artists and designers representing all of MIAD’s Bachelor of Fine Arts majors and minors. Learn more at www.miad.edu/seniorexhibition.

New Studio Practice: Fine Art Group Shows

Group Show 01: March 27 – 31, 2023
Closing reception Friday, March 31, 2023 6 – 8 p.m. in MIAD’s Community Hub & Gallery (room 160).

Group Show 02: April 3 – 7, 2023
Closing reception Friday, April 7, 2023 6 – 8 p.m. in MIAD’s Community Hub & Gallery (room 160).

Group Show 03: April 10 – 14, 2023
Closing reception Friday, April 14, 2023 6 – 8 p.m. in MIAD’s Community Hub & Gallery (room 160).

Art Against the Odds (Art of Incarcerated Individuals) - 01/16/23 - 03/11/23

Dates: January 16 – March 11, 2023
Location: Frederick Layton Gallery, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, WI
Reception: MIAD Layton Gallery, January 19, 6-8 p.m.

Art Against The Odds: Wisconsin Prison Art features more than 60 artists who turned to creative production to mitigate the dehumanizing conditions of incarceration. The exhibition was initiated two years ago by Portrait Society Gallery of Contemporary Art (PSG) in Milwaukee to give voice and visibility to individuals currently held in the state’s carceral system as well as to illustrate the potentially profound healing properties of an art practice. With limited instructional art programs offered in the prison system, these individuals teach themselves through various means, often working with a minimal range of materials.


Events

Film Screening
Master of Light
Tuesday, January 31 | 6 p.m.
Oriental Theater, 2230 N. Farwell Avenue, Milwaukee WI | Free Admission
Presented in conjunction with The Community, Represent Justice, and Milwaukee Film. Master of Light (2022) is a new documentary about George Anthony Morton, who spent 10 years in prison, and since his release, “is doing everything he can to defy society’s unlevel playing field and tackle the white-dominant art world.”

Panel Discussion
Correcting the Narrative: Realities and Reform In Our Prison System
Thursday, February 2 | 7 p.m.
MIAD Community Hub – Room 160, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, WI
Introductions: Peter Goldberg
Moderator: Shannon Ross, The Community
Participants:
Bill Lipscomb, assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin
Claude Motley, attorney, victim, and the focus of the documentary “When Claude Got Shot”
Cecelia Klingele, University of Wisconsin Law School
MIllie Lee, an aspiring public speaker connected to Jobs Work MKE, who was released recently from prison in Illinois after a lengthy sentence.

Panel Discussion
Narratives of Privilege: Dialogue about the Multi-Faceted Concept of Privilege
Wednesday, February 8 | 6 – 7:30 p.m.
MIAD Community Hub – Room 160, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, WI
Professor Zoe Darling with Research, Process & Connection FYE students
A thought-provoking dialogue about the multi-faceted concept of privilege in conjunction with Art Against the Odds.
Participants:
Kristin Belkofer, MS/LPC, Founder & Clinical Director, CLARA Healing Institute
Debra Brehmer, Director, Portrait Society Gallery of Contemporary Art
Takahiro Suzuki, Interdisciplinary Artist, Co-Founder of aCinema, Photography + Digital Media Lab Technician

Panel Discussion
Carceral Aesthetics: Making Art in Prison

Thursday, February 9 | 7 p.m.
MIAD Community Hub – Room 160, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, WI
Moderator: Sarah Demerath in discussion with John Tyson, Joshua Gresl, Joshua Rowe, Curtis Wilks and Scott Evans.

John Tyson, 2022.

M. Winston, Untitled (Landscape House), 2022.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photography ©Daniel McCullough

 


Closing Summary

  • Attendance: 7,100 people visited over the seven-week run
  • Audience response: 900 response cards written by attendees 
  • Tours: 27 groups toured the exhibition
  • Media: 12 media outlets covered the exhibition 
Art Against the Odds (Art of Incarcerated Individuals) - 01/16/23 - 03/04/23

Dates: January 16 – March 4, 2023
Location: Frederick Layton Gallery, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, WI
Reception: January 19, 6-8 p.m.

Art Against The Odds: Wisconsin Prison Art features more than 60 artists who turned to creative production to mitigate the dehumanizing conditions of incarceration. The exhibition was initiated two years ago by Portrait Society Gallery of Contemporary Art (PSG) in Milwaukee to give voice and visibility to individuals currently held in the state’s carceral system as well as to illustrate the potentially profound healing properties of an art practice. With limited instructional art programs offered in the prison system, these individuals teach themselves through various means, often working with a minimal range of materials.


Events

Film Screening
Master of Light
Tuesday, January 31 | 6 p.m.
Oriental Theater, 2230 N. Farwell Avenue, Milwaukee WI | Free Admission
Presented in conjunction with The Community, Represent Justice, and Milwaukee Film. Master of Light (2022) is a new documentary about George Anthony Morton, who spent 10 years in prison, and since his release, “is doing everything he can to defy society’s unlevel playing field and tackle the white-dominant art world.”

Panel Discussion
Correcting the Narrative: Realities and Reform In Our Prison System
Thursday, February 2 | 7 p.m.
MIAD Room 160, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, WI
Introductions: Peter Goldberg/Moderator: Shannon Ross, The Community
Bill Lipscomb, assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin
Claude Motley, attorney, victim, and the focus of the documentary “When Claude Got Shot”
Cecelia Klingele, University of Wisconsin Law School
MIllie Lee, an aspiring public speaker connected to Jobs Work MKE, who was released recently from prison in Illinois after a lengthy sentence.

Panel Discussion
Narratives of Privilege: Dialogue about the Multi-Faceted Concept of Privilege
Wednesday, February 8 | 6 – 7:30 p.m.
MIAD Community Hub – Room 160, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, WI
Professor Zoe Darling with Research, Process & Connection FYE students
A thought-provoking dialogue about the multi-faceted concept of privilege in conjunction with Art Against the Odds.
Participants:
Kristin Belkofer, MS/LPC, Founder & Clinical Director, CLARA Healing Institute
Debra Brehmer, Director, Portrait Society Gallery of Contemporary Art
Takahiro Suzuki, Interdisciplinary Artist, Co-Founder of aCinema, Photography + Digital Media Lab Technician

Panel Discussion
Carceral Aesthetics: Making Art in Prison

Thursday, February 9 | 7 p.m.
MIAD Community Hub – Room 160, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, WI
Moderator: Sarah Demerath in discussion with John Tyson, Joshua Gresl, Joshua Rowe, Curtis Wilks and Scott Evans.

John Tyson, 2022.

M. Winston, Untitled (Landscape House), 2022.

Photography ©Daniel McCullough

Wig Heavier than a Boot: Work by David Johnson and Philip Matthews - 01/16/23 - 03/11/23

Dates: January 16 – March 11, 2023
Location: Brooks Stevens Gallery, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, WI
Reception: January 26, 6-8 p.m. with public Artist Talk at 5 p.m.

Wig Heavier than a Boot: Work by David Johnson and Philip Matthews brings together photography and video by David Johnson – an internationally exhibited lens-based artist, educator and curator – and poetry by Philip Matthews. Revealing Petal – a persona as whom Philip manifests to write, whom David photographs – the project crosses art-making rituals with isolated performances in domestic spaces and pastoral landscapes.


Events

Wig Heavier Than A Boot: A Poetry Reading and Talk Back with Philip Matthews
Thursday, March 2, 2023 | 6 – 7 p.m.
Hybrid; In-Person: 160 Community Hub Auditorium (encouraged for local audiences) | Google Meets (link)

Please join us for a poetry reading and discussion with poet Philip Matthews in conjunction with Wig Heavier Than A Boot, an exhibition of photographs by David Johnson and poetry from Matthews on view in Brooks Stevens Gallery from January 16th – March 11th. Matthews will read poems from Wig Heavier Than A Boot integrated with questions and conversation from the audience throughout the event. Matthews will attend virtually while the reading is broadcasted in-person on campus in the 160 Community Hub Auditorium. Questions from the audience will be moderated both through the online and in-person venues. Local audiences are encouraged to attend in person and view the exhibition of Wig Heavier Than A Boot while we extend our virtual space to remote audiences.

6:00-6:20 – Intro and first reading
6:20-6:30 – Questions + conversation
6:30-6:45 – Second reading
6:45-6:55 – Questions + conversation
6:55-7:00 – A last word

Philip Matthews is a poet from eastern North Carolina currently residing in rural Wisconsin where he directs programs at a nonprofit art and ecology center. Anchored by site-specific meditation and performance, his practice of the past decade has investigated spiritual queer power, questions of home and ecological shift.

Works featured in Philip’s reading can be purchased at the following links:

Wig Heavier Than a Boot: Work by David Johnson and Philip Matthews

Wig Heavier Than a Boot: Work by David Johnson and Philip Matthews


This engagement is supported by the Arts Midwest GIG Fund, a program of Arts Midwest that is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Wig Heavier than a Boot: Work by David Johnson and Philip Matthews - 01/16/23 - 03/11/23

Dates: January 16 – March 11, 2023
Location: Brooks Stevens Gallery, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, WI
Reception: January 26, 6-8 p.m. with public Artist Talk at 5 p.m.

Wig Heavier than a Boot: Work by David Johnson and Philip Matthews brings together photography and video by David Johnson – an internationally exhibited lens-based artist, educator and curator – and poetry by Philip Matthews. Revealing Petal – a persona as whom Philip manifests to write, whom David photographs – the project crosses art-making rituals with isolated performances in domestic spaces and pastoral landscapes.


Events

Wig Heavier Than A Boot: A Poetry Reading and Talk Back with Philip Matthews
Thursday, March 2, 2023 | 6 – 7 p.m.
Hybrid; In-Person: 160 Community Hub Auditorium (encouraged for local audiences) | Google Meets (link)

Please join us for a poetry reading and discussion with poet Philip Matthews in conjunction with Wig Heavier Than A Boot, an exhibition of photographs by David Johnson and poetry from Matthews on view in Brooks Stevens Gallery from January 16th – March 11th. Matthews will read poems from Wig Heavier Than A Boot integrated with questions and conversation from the audience throughout the event. Matthews will attend virtually while the reading is broadcasted in-person on campus in the 160 Community Hub Auditorium. Questions from the audience will be moderated both through the online and in-person venues. Local audiences are encouraged to attend in person and view the exhibition of Wig Heavier Than A Boot while we extend our virtual space to remote audiences.

6:00-6:20 – Intro and first reading
6:20-6:30 – Questions + conversation
6:30-6:45 – Second reading
6:45-6:55 – Questions + conversation
6:55-7:00 – A last word

Philip Matthews is a poet from eastern North Carolina currently residing in rural Wisconsin where he directs programs at a nonprofit art and ecology center. Anchored by site-specific meditation and performance, his practice of the past decade has investigated spiritual queer power, questions of home and ecological shift.

Works featured in Philip’s reading can be purchased at the following links:

Wig Heavier Than a Boot: Work by David Johnson and Philip Matthews

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wig Heavier Than a Boot: Work by David Johnson and Philip Matthews


This engagement is supported by the Arts Midwest GIG Fund, a program of Arts Midwest that is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Then as Now: Woodland Pattern 1980-2022 - 10/10/22 - 12/3/22

Dates: October 10 – December 3, 2022
Location: Frederick Layton Gallery, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, WI
Reception: October 14, 5-8 p.m.

A visual history of Milwaukee’s Woodland Pattern Book Center featuring more than 100 artists who have exhibited there, Then as Now traces four decades of gallery curation that has consistently emphasized interdisciplinary practices, the permeable and ubiquitous nature of language, and the fluidity between poetry and other forms of art. Thematically diverse, the exhibition pursues intergenerational and interregional lineages and affinities, with domestic, ecological, and social justice issues often predominating.


Upcoming Events at MIAD

Thurs., Oct. 27, 8:30 – 11 a.m.: In Over One’s Head, a hybrid-genre workshop with Diane Glancy

Thurs., Oct. 27, 6 p.m.: Reading and Q&A with Diane Glancy

Thurs., Nov. 3, 6 p.m., MIAD Community Hub & Gallery, Room 160:
Performance and artist talk with Douglas Ewart

Thurs., Nov. 10, 6 p.m., MIAD Community Hub & Gallery, Room 160:
MIAD Creativity Series presents vanessa german, citizen artist. Free admission. Tickets are required due to limited seating. Register at miad.edu/creativityseries.

Sat., Nov. 12, 1 – 3 p.m., MIAD Frederick Layton Gallery:
The Unthinking Mind – Writing from Art, a workshop with Marjorie Robertson

Tues., Nov. 15, 7 p.m., MIAD Community Hub & Gallery, Room 160:
aCinema presents Kim Kielhofner, film screening and artist talk

Thurs., Nov. 17, 6 p.m., MIAD Community Hub & Gallery, Room 160:
Tour of The New Art of Making Books with Max Yela


Related Events at Woodland Pattern Book Center
720 E. Locust St. Milwaukee, WI 53212

Sun., Oct. 23, 2 p.m.: 
Alternating Currents Live presents Jaap Blonk and Damon Smith in concert

Sun., Nov. 6, 7 p.m.:
Alternating Currents Live presents Temple of Enthusiasm: The Bridge #2.3, featuring Marvin Tate, Erwan Keravec, Gerrit Hatcher, Lia Kohl and Gaspar Claus in concert

Relative Perception, a Veteran Print Project - 10/03/22 - 11/19/22

Dates: October 3 – November 19, 2022
Location: Brooks Stevens Gallery, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, WI
Reception: October 6, 6-8 p.m.
Steamroller printing: October 14-15, 12-4 p.m.

Since 2010 the Veteran Print Project has fostered dialogue between artists and veterans that inspired the creation of fine art prints. The project continues to evolve from conversation catalyst to seeking new ways to commemorate and memorialize shared human experiences. This exhibit, Relative Perception, displays the latest approaches to this vision and includes three years of collaborative efforts with MIAD students, local veterans, and veteran organizations.


Relative Perception, a Veteran Print Project is supported in part by a grant from the Milwaukee Arts Board and the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin.


For previous exhibitions, please see MIAD Galleries Archive.