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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

• Witch
• Wig Heavier Than a Boot
• Return to the Field

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.

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:

• Witch
• Wig Heavier Than a Boot
• Return to the Field

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.

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

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.

Dates: August 20 – October 1, 2022
Location: River Level Gallery, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, WI
Reception: August 25, 6-8 p.m.

MIAD’s Summer 2022 study abroad program in Florence, Italy allowed students to study the contemporary Italian aesthetic in-depth by tracing its development over history through art and design from both the art history and studio perspective. Students across all of MIAD’s majors participated in the program, and their work in response to this experience is on view in MIAD’s River Level Gallery.

Dates: August 8 – September 24, 2022
Location: Frederick Layton Gallery, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, WI
Public Reception: August 25, 6-8 p.m.

Public Lecture: September 14, 7 p.m.
Join us for a public lecture by Dr. Hilary Snow, UWM Faculty: “Soaring Mountains, Flowing Streams: A Brief History of Korean Painting.”
MIAD Community Hub, Room 160

This exhibition brings together recent landscape paintings of a specific connected line of contemporary
South Korean brush painters, visually illustrating the transmission of ideas and methods of the ancient,
East Asian tradition of ink painting through the lifelong master/pupil model.

At the head of this selected lineage is the work of Bang, Ui-Geol, an internationally recognized
contemporary painter. Known by his artist name, Mokjung, he himself inherited the tradition of
landscape ink painting from a long line of artists. He is represented in this exhibition by a large-scale,
multi-paneled vast landscape painting. Lim, Sub Soo, known by her artist name Mokwon, studied under
Mokjung and is well-represented in this exhibition with numerous landscape paintings. Some of her
paintings were created specifically for this show and reflect her interpretation of the midwestern
landscape; her new home since moving to Milwaukee from South Korea several years ago. Mokwon has
also become an internationally recognized master painter and teacher.

The exhibition concludes with work created by a select group of Mokwon’s students in South
Korea, Chicago, and Milwaukee, many of whom have also become celebrated professional painters and teachers in
their own right. Each artist continuing and interpreting the ancient traditions in unique, contemporary
works.

Exhibiting these paintings at MIAD, a Western learning and teaching institution, gives the viewer
an opportunity to contemplate other systems of learning and a rare opportunity to view work by Korean
master painters.

Dates: August 8 – September 17, 2022
Location: Brooks Stevens Gallery, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, WI
Reception: September 8, 6-8 p.m. with Artist Talk at 5 p.m.

Thresholds is a two-person exhibition that addresses memory, identity, labor,
and death. Elizabeth M. Claffey and Tomiko Jones aim to hold public space
for experiences and emotions that are often expected to remain private. Both
artists emphasize their own labor and ritual as an activism that shapes identity
and strengthens their bond to place and family.

Dates: August 12 – September 15, 2022
Location: Community Hub & Gallery, Room 160, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, WI

Poster design by Adam Fehring

In Spring 2022 MIAD’s junior-level illustration students collaborated with Trek, the Wisconsin-based bicycle and cycling product manufacturer, on a series of posters celebrating the achievements of women cyclists who have been breaking new ground in this legacy sport. Bicycle racing began as early as 1868 and posters to commemorate the races followed soon after that. The history of bicycle posters reflects all that was happening in current art and design movements of the eras and has employed many famous poster artists such as Mucha, Chéret, and Toulouse-Lautrec. These posters have now become highly collectable works of art.

The illustration students worked with their faculty and Trek’s branding and design team to develop new and unique solutions that addressed both the long tradition of vintage bicycle poster design as well as the contemporary successes of women cyclists. Trek selected 12 winning designs which were honored with a prize stipend. The four 1st prize winners will be on display at Trek offices and retailers throughout the world. The exhibition features a selection of the 79 student submissions.

Dates: May 31 – July 16, 2022
Location: Brooks Stevens Gallery, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, WI

MIAD presents Steadfast, Unbound, an exhibition of work by MIAD New Studio Practice: Fine Art junior students.

Dates: May 31 – July 16, 2022
Location: MIAD, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, WI

The MIAD 2022 Juried Senior Exhibition is an annual exhibition showcasing the best work of MIAD seniors, as selected by faculty in their major area of study. This exhibition features the art and design work of students in the Class of 2022.

The MIAD Senior Exhibition is generously sponsored by BMO Harris Bank.

Dates: April 22 – May 7, 2022
Location: In-person at MIAD, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, WI​
Events:

• April 20, Preview Night, 4 – 8 p.m.
  Preview Night is open to family and friends, business representatives and community members, friends of MIAD, gallery owners, and design agency and creative incubator professionals.
• April 22, Gallery Night public opening, 5 – 9 p.m.
  Meet the seniors! Join us to celebrate Milwaukee’s emerging creative professionals!
• April 23, Gallery Day, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

MIAD’s annual Senior Exhibition returns to campus in-person 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. The MIAD 2022 Senior Exhibition is generously sponsored by BMO Harris Bank.

Learn more at miad.edu/seniorexhibition.

“Promissory Note” by Jerry Jordan

Dates: January 17, 2022 – March 12, 2022
Location: Frederick Layton Gallery at MIAD, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, WI
In-person programming events:

• Jan. 27, 4:30 – 6 p.m. Black Art on My Mind: Panel Discussion. Moderated by Jody Alexander, Milwaukee Art Museum’s African American Art Alliance. The panel discussion features three of the exhibition’s artists – Sandra Bridges, Chrystal Denise Gillon and Jerry Jordan – and MIAD faculty member Brad Bernard. In-person event at MIAD. A reception will follow the discussion.
• Feb. 4, 3:15 – 5:30 p.m. Assemblage Workshop with Chrystal Denise Gillon. Capacity is limited. In-person event at MIAD.
• Feb. 10, 7 – 8:30 p.m. Black Art: In the Absence of Light Film Screening. Inspired by the late David Driskell’s landmark 1976 exhibition, “Two Centuries of Black American Art,” this documentary offers an illuminating introduction to the work of some of today’s foremost Black visual artists. Learn more about the film here. In-person event at MIAD.

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

Sandra Bridges, David Anderson, Chrystal Denise Gillon ’98 and Jerry Jordan each depict Black life in America from their own perspectives, with work ranging from black-and-white renderings to paintings and assemblage collage work. The essential humanity and spirit embodied in these artworks celebrate the trials, triumphs, and history of Black people in the United States and speaks out in opposition to the continued marginalization and racism that continues to plague our country in the 21st century.

“Old Joe” by Sandra Bridges

The collective exhibit showcases views of the Black American diaspora as a result of the Great Migration from the rural south to urban cities across America. The influences of those experiences remain relevant, indicating that the past is still very present and critical to this work. One might ask, “What does it mean to be Black in today’s America?” These artists provide insights through the lenses of their own lives and the artwork they have created.

Embracing the truth about history in the era of critical race theory is articulated in the intentions of the featured artist Sandra Bridges. Bridges says, “I’m not trying to shock you, scare you, or entertain you. I’m not trying to recreate a caricature or trying to rewrite history. I just want you to look at what you see and accept it. Delve deeply into it and connect in order to face who we are, in order to move on to a better tomorrow.”

Special thanks to our community partner: the Milwaukee Art Museum’s African American Art Alliance

Note: Event locations and dates are subject to change. Check here for the most up-to-date details or sign up to receive email updates at miad.edu/joinourlist.

From 1950-1975, Chicago-based Container Corporation of America ran a campaign heralded as one of the best in advertising history, Great Ideas of Western Man. The world has changed since 1975, but great ideas are timeless. The Design Museum of Chicago has brought the series into the 21st century and commissioned contemporary artists and designers to create visual responses to Great Ideas of Humanity. Like the original series, the contemporary work does not advertise a product, but an ethos to make the world a better place via thoughtful design. The exhibit features posters and art objects by 60+ artists and designers, alongside reproductions of the original advertising campaign.

​Dates: January 21, 2022 – March 5, 2022
Location: Brooks Stevens Gallery at MIAD, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, WI
Programming events:

• Feb. 3, 6 – 8 p.m. Reception. In-person at MIAD.
• Feb. 17, 7 p.m. Great Ideas of Humanity: Posters for Thought Virtual Artist Panel Discussion. Join us for a virtual panel discussion organized by the staff of the Design Museum of Chicago, moderated by Liesl Olson, Director of Chicago Studies, Newberry Library. This event is free and open to the public. Panelists include: Renata Graw, Founder and Creative Director, Normal; Nick Adam, Design Principal, Span; James Goggin, Partner, Practise; and Pouya Ahmadi, Assistant Professor of Graphic Design, UIC School of Design.
  Register Now!

Dates: October 11 – December 04, 2021
Location: Frederick Layton Gallery at MIAD, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, WI
Artist’s reception: October 14, 6 – 8 p.m. (In-person event)
Gallery Night MKE: October 15, 5 – 9 p.m. and October 16 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. (In-person event)
Virtual events: Click here to learn more about events and how to pre-register.

• October 28, 6:30 p.m. Climate Change & Sustainability: Transnational Perspectives in Art.
• November 11, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Working with Communities Transnationally.
• December 2, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Landays: Poetery of Afghan Women

Throughout the pandemic, the ability to connect and work with someone beyond our immediate reach has brought us closer to creating a global community while acknowledging our varied situations. Artists have always found ways to subvert barriers and distill the importance of human connection through their work and words – reimagining the world as an interdependent network. Technologies enable artists and collectives to circumvent political boundaries and network in unprecedented ways. The objects they create together translate key issues that go unnoticed in everyday channels of information.

“Reimagining the Global Village” features work by more than 30 artists and collectives, created collaboratively between artists and between artists and communities in more than 18 different countries. Their work reveals the importance of human connection and showcases strategies artists have adopted to create a more connected and caring world. The work addresses issues currently weighing down on our planet and the global community: refugees at borders, ruptures in cross-cultural communication and climate change. These issues are of great magnitude, often too intimidating for any one person, community or country to address. Internationalism might just be the key to finding a solution to the world’s problems. This exhibition provides tools to break away from isolationist thinking, acknowledging artists as points of connection and the work they produce through collaboration as bridges.

Curated by Nirmal Raja ‘08 (Painting). This exhibition is generously sponsored by Fiserv.

“The Pillars of the Earth,” by Virginia Zanetti, performance, mine, Paradsinga MP, India, 2016

Dates: October 5 – December 04, 2021
Location: Brooks Stevens Gallery at MIAD, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, WI
Artist’s reception: October 7, 6 – 8 p.m. (In-person event)
Gallery Night MKE: October 15, 5 – 9 p.m. and October 16 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. (In-person event)
Faculty Off the Wall: Readings & Presentations: November 3, 6 – 8 p.m. (In-person event)

Faculty at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) are accomplished, practicing artists and designers in communication design, fine arts, illustration, interior architecture and design and product design. In this biennial exhibition, MIAD faculty showcase their ongoing explorations in their fields. 

“Earthenware No. 1,” 2020, ceramic, wood and brass, by Alyx Christiensen, Rudy Medina and Alan Medina

Dates: August 9 – September 25, 2021
Location: Frederick Layton Gallery at MIAD, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, WI
Reception: September 9, 2021, 6 – 8 p.m.

This biennial exhibition at MIAD showcases Milwaukee area emerging and established visual artists who have received the Mary L. Nohl Suitcase Travel Award in the preceding two years. The exhibition features the diversity and depth of local talent who are creating new work.

The Bradley Family Foundation, in collaboration with the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, administers the Mary L. Nohl Fund Suitcase Export Fund for Individual Artists. To date, the Mary L. Nohl Suitcase Travel Award has supported 341 artists and 20 artist collectives exhibiting throughout North America, Europe, the former Soviet Union, Africa and Asia. The latest awardees represent the first wave of travellers since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Curated by Bruce Knackert and Mark Lawson.

Dates: August 9 – September 18, 2021
Location: Brooks Stevens Gallery at MIAD, 273 E. Erie St., Milwaukee, WI

From 2011 to 2017 Joshua Dudley Greer traveled over 100,000 miles by car, focusing his camera on the massive network of superhighways in the United States. Rather than moving quickly through these spaces, he slowly and deliberately dwelled within them, looking at the road as a stage where narratives play out and opposing forces intersect. He examines the boundaries that line these roadways, whether real or imagined, by looking at the separations between public and private space, privilege and need, the individual and the collective, and the countervailing ideas of home and escape. The resulting compilation of photographs depicts the state of America’s infrastructure as a physical manifestation of its economic, social and environmental circumstances in unforeseen moments of humor, pathos and humanity.  

Joshua Dudley Greer is a photographer based in Atlanta. His work has been highlighted by the Washington Post, Wired magazine and The Atlantic, among other publications. Greer’s work is in the permanent collections of the Harvard Art Museums, the Museum of Contemporary Photography, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, the New York Public Library, the Do Good Fund and the High Museum of Art.

“Lewiston, Idaho” by Joshua Dudley Greer

Dates: June 1 – July 24, 2021
Location: Frederick Layton Gallery
Hours: Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Free admission. Open to the public. Please note: For the health and safety of our community, all visitors to MIAD are required to wear face masks.

The MIAD Juried Senior Exhibition is an annual exhibition showcasing the best work of MIAD seniors, as selected by faculty in their major area of study. The posters in this exhibition feature the art and design work of students in the Class of 2021.

The MIAD Senior Exhibition is generously sponsored by BMO Harris Bank.

MIAD’s annual Senior Exhibition features innovative work of emerging creative professionals who passionately contribute to the world and meet universal challenges in new ways. This year’s exhibit features nearly 160 artists and designers representing all of MIAD’s Bachelor of Fine Arts majors and minors.

The virtual MIAD Senior Exhibition is on view now. Visit seniorexhibition.miad.edu to view the exhibition.

Vision & Voice: MIAD Alumni Exploring the Current and the Imminent – An Invitational Exhibit
Dates: January 23 – March 13, 2021
Location: Frederick Layton Gallery (View in person by appointment only. Contact Mark Lawson at marklawson@miad.edu or 414-847-3350 to schedule an appointment.) View the virtual exhibition.

Dates: January 15 – March 5
Location: Brooks Stevens Gallery (View in person by appointment only. Contact Mark Lawson at marklawson@miad.edu or 414-847-3350 to schedule an appointment.) View the virtual exhibition.
Programming Events: To be determined

Work by Yeohyun Ahn

TYPE Portrait – Tangible TYPE, featuring the work of Yeohyun Ahn and Teokyeom Lee, explores the symbiotic relationship of technology, design and typography. Typography, often an invisible art form behind human language, dates back to the birth of written language. Today, digital cameras, 3D printing and other emerging technologies provide new opportunities for innovation and exploration.

Yeohyun Ahn presents a series of generative typography as self-portraits, which convey her response to her sense of invisibility as a woman of color. Ahn started this project in 2015 to raise awareness of Asian female faculty being isolated and marginalized in a predominantly white institution of America. Ahn’s work uses diverse typefaces to convey feelings and thoughts, and shows possibilities for using  the personality of each typeface for expressive and visually appealing generative selfies.

Teokyeom Lee explores groundbreaking developments of 3D printing in many fields, including typography. Lee’s work aims to orchestrate innovative and unique typographic experiences with 3D printing technology.

White Out 71 by Mark Lawson

View the virtual exhibition

Dates: Opens October 16, 2020
Location: Brooks Stevens Gallery (View in person by appointment only. Contact Mark Lawson at marklawson@miad.edu or 414-847-3350 to schedule an appointment.)
Programming Events: To be determined

2020 MIAD Senior Exhibition, poster exhibition

View the virtual exhibition.

The innovative work of emerging creative professionals who passionately contribute to the world and meet universal challenges in new ways at MIAD’s annual Senior Exhibition is on view in a virtual MIAD Senior Exhibition. The exhibit features 130+ artists and designers representing all of MIAD’s Bachelor of Fine Arts majors and minors. The exhibition is generously sponsored by BMO Harris Bank.

Dates: January 27 – March 14, 2020
Location: Brooks Stevens Gallery
Community/Public Programming:

• Opening Reception: January 31, 6 – 8 p.m.
• Panel Discussion: March 6, 6 – 7:30 p.m.

Curator Danny Volk uses a collection of antique typewriters, eyewitness videos, archival documents, recorded interviews, photographs and other artifacts to share one man’s tragic experience of a natural disaster and invite viewers to reflect on how truth is documented and represented.

“Parade” by Jason Reblando

Dates: January 27 – March 14, 2020
Location: Brooks Stevens Gallery
Community/Public Programming:

• Opening Reception: January 31, 6 – 8 p.m.
• Panel Discussion: February 21, 6 – 7:30 p.m.

“New Deal Utopias” features photographs by Jason Reblando that explore the three “Greenbelt Towns” of Greendale, Wis., Greenbelt, Md., and Greenhills, Ohio. Greenbelt Towns were planned communities built by the US government during the Great Depression, designed to be model cities to address the social and economic discrepancies brought on and accentuated by the Depression. The photographs depict the towns’ built environments and landscapes, evoking utopia both as an idea and a place in the American mind. These photographs emphasize that Greenbelt Towns are an overlooked, but crucial part of the American landscape, as we continue to grapple with shifting roles of housing, nature and government in American life.

“Exoskeleton 6” by Jill Sebastian

Dates: January 13, 2020 – March 7, 2020
Location: Frederick Layton Gallery
Community/Public Programming:

• Jan. 17, 5 – 9 p.m. Opening Reception (Artists’ reception begins at 7 p.m.)
• Feb. 26, 7 – 8 p.m. Curator Talk: “OSSUARY: A Repository of Bones”

This exhibition brings together a cohesive installation work comprised of individual works made from or themed around bones, inspired by artist Laurie Beth Clark’s research at the repository of bones that have accrued in countries like Cambodia and Rwanda where mass violence has occurred. The exhibition showcases the work of 34 Wisconsin artists and more than 340 total works.

Artworks explore bones visually, thematically and metaphorically. While the exhibition inspiration stems from traumas, the exhibit celebrates resilience and the ways artists create counter images that are hopeful or poignant rejoinders. Artworks are political statements and personal elegies, memorials to individuals or statements about mortality. Some are serious, and some use bones in a completely playful manner.

“Guardian of the Eastern Door” by Winona Nelson

Dates: November 11, 2019 – January 11, 2020
Location: Brooks Stevens Gallery
Community/Public Programming:

• Nov. 14, 7 p.m.: Artist Talk: “Making a Career of Diversity in Fantasy Art” presented by Winona Nelson. Nelson’s fine art often focuses on the stories and history of her tribe, the Ojibwe of Minnesota, and on the experiences of women and minorities.
• Nov. 15, 6 – 8 p.m. Opening Reception
• Nov. 16, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.: Magic: The Gathering Game Day

If you like science fiction, fantasy art, Dungeons & Dragons or TV shows like Game of Thrones, then you may want to check out Story & Craft – A Magic: The Gathering Exhibition.

Since its debut in 1993, artists have designed more than 20,000 game cards and its fan base has grown to more than 20 million players worldwide. The exhibition at MIAD is the first of its kind in the Midwest, and only the second in the game’s history in North America.

The exhibition examines the game card design process and gaming culture. It features rare original Magic: The Gathering artwork and cards, plus concept drawing and models from different periods of the game’s history – taking visitors on a journey through the design process from sketches to design to final art creation. The fans and players of Magic literally invent the rules and methods of play, and this exhibition also highlights the evolution of the many differing ways of playing.

View the complete schedule of exhibition events for MIAD students.

Dates: October 18 – December 7, 2019
Location: Frederick Layton Gallery
Reception: Fall Gallery Night, Friday, October 18, 5 – 9 p.m.

This group exhibition (formerly titled “Reclaiming Our Time”) by the Strange Fire Collective features primarily photography and focuses on social justice themes that critically question the dominant social hierarchy and engages the community in meaningful dialogue about art, gender, race and equity, politics, history and more. Works are presented in traditional and digital formats. This exhibition is generously supported in part by the Mary L. Nohl Fund of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation.

The Strange Fire Collective, which comprises more than 120 artists, is dedicated to highlighting work made by diverse people, including women, persons of color, and queer and transgender artists. Participating artists include:

• Nydia Blas
• Andre Bradley
• Ria Brodell
• Widline Cadet
• Kei Ito
• Rachel Jessen
• Tarrah Krajnak
• Natalie Krick
• Birthe Piontek
• Kalen Na’il Roach
• Gabriel García Roman
• Leonard Suryajaya
• Paula Wilson
• American snapshots from the collection of Robert E. Jackson

Dates: September 20 – October 27, 2019
Location: Brooks Stevens Gallery
Reception: Friday, October 25, 4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

The SPE Midwest Juried Exhibition brings together professional and student members of this photographic organization. The exhibited works are loosely tied by the photographic medium itself and highlight the various approaches and concerns of artists working with photography today. Works by professional members are selected by Jennifer Murray, executive director of Filter Photo and student works are selected by Alejandro Cartagena, a photographer and educator based in Monterrey, Mexico.

Dates: August 19 – October 5, 2019
Location: Frederick Layton Gallery
Reception: Thursday, September 5, 6 – 8 p.m.

This biannual exhibition at MIAD showcases award-winning local artists who have received the Mary L. Nohl Suitcase Travel Award in the preceding two years. The award program gives Milwaukee-area artists financial support to travel around the world and exhibit their artwork. Participating artists include:

James Barany
Kelly Bronikowski
Cecelia Condit
Santiago Cucullu
Paul Druecke
Sally Duback
Hannah Hamalian
Thad Kellstadt
Katie Martin
Colin Matthes
Kevin Miyazaki
Shannon Molter
Allen Morris
Joseph Mougel
Nirmal Raja
John Riepenhoff
Sara Risley
Pacia Sallomi
Kyle Seis
Anja Notanja Seiger
Roy Staab
Takahiro Suzuki
Gabrielle Tesfaye
Janelle VanderKelen
Jason Vaughn
Melissa Wagner-Lawler
Shane Walsh
Jordan Waraksa
Della Wells
Rina Yoon

Dates: June 19 – September 7, 2019
Location: Brooks Stevens Gallery
Reception: Wednesday, June 19, 5 – 8 p.m.

Through large-scale works by women artists, Body of Work engages the community in a conversation about the relationship between the body and artmaking. The exhibition is a witness to women artists laboring to unchain themselves from patriarchal stereotypes. The artworks focus on the physicality of making large-scale works. The body is representational, conceptual or inherent in some work, but not apparent in other work. The exhibit is curated by Kate Schaffer and MIAD alumna Melissa Dorn.

Dates: June 1 – August 3, 2019
Location: Frederick Layton Gallery

View the best of the 2019 Senior Exhibition in the annual juried exhibition, showcasing MIAD art and design works selected by MIAD faculty.

Dates: May 25 – June 8, 2019
Location: Brooks Stevens Gallery
Reception: Saturday, June 1, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Adventurer by Shalen Tully, Ronald Reagan High School

High School Invitational: Teachers’ Selections is a group exhibition celebrating local high school art students and their Visual Arts programs. Each school is asked to contribute five pieces from a variety of class levels and media. Participating schools include Germantown, Cristo Rey, St. Joan Antida, Brookfield East, Greenfield, Cedarburg, Homestead, South Division, Ronald Reagan and Oconomowoc High School and Milwaukee High School of the Arts.

Dates: April 19 – May 11, 2019
Location: All MIAD galleries
Preview Night: Wednesday, April 17, 2019, 4 – 8 p.m.
Opening Reception: Friday, April 26, 5 – 9 p.m.

Technology meets creativity at MIAD. See the innovative work of emerging creative professionals who passionately contribute to the world and meet universal challenges in new ways at MIAD’s annual Senior Exhibition. MIAD’s Senior Exhibition, Wisconsin’s largest exhibition of its kind, features 130+ artists and designers representing all of MIAD’s Bachelor of Fine Arts majors and minors. See more information about the MIAD 2019 Senior Exhibition.

Generously sponsored by:

From I Contain Multitudes

Dates: January 18 – March 9, 2019
Location: Frederick Layton Gallery
Opening Night – Winter Gallery Night Friday, January 18, 5 – 9 p.m.
Opening Reception & Artists’ Discussion Saturday, January 19, 2 p.m. Meet the 10 artists participating in the exhibit and view a documentary created about the making of this exhibition.
Navigating Cultures: Artists’ Talk and Panel Discussion Thursday, February 7, 7 p.m. Fawzia Khan and Hend Al-Mansour lead a discussion on challenges of simultaneously being part of two cultures.
Talking Suitcases Wednesday, February 27, 7 p.m. Susan Armington discusses her project and workshops to fill a suitcase with a handmade objects that tell stories and help participants gain insights about themselves, touching on topics such as immigration, racism, grief, personal loss and life transition.

The paintings, drawings, mixed media objects and installations from 10 artists from diverse heritage and artistic backgrounds invite viewers to examine how multiculturalism and navigating between different social norms affects the artists, as well as how it relates to the issues of immigration and diversity in our contemporary society. The work of the artists explores living a multicultural life and examines concepts of cultural negotiation, memory and nostalgia. The artists’ work showcases juxtapositions of visual languages, cultural icons or symbolism and gender inequalities.

The exhibition is curated by Nina Ghanbarzadeh. In addition to Ghanbarzadeh, artists featured include:

• Hend Al-Mansour, a former cardiologist from Saudi Arabia, she now makes prints in Minneapolis.
• Painter and mapmaker Susan Armington lives in Minneapolis and spent time teaching in Japan.
• Visual artist Nida Bangash, born in Iran and raised in Pakistan, creates miniatures in McKinney, Texas.
• Roya Farassat, an Iranian painter/sculptor, lives and creates in New York City.
• Farida Hughes, an American abstract artist of Asian-Indian/American descent, explores community engagement and movement in her mixed media work.
• Fawzia Khan, a Pakistani-American abstract artist born in Nigeria and living in Minneapolis, works in the visual arts after a career in obstetrics/gynecology.
• Ifrah Mansour was born in Saudi Arabia and raised in Somalia, Kenya and the United States. The Muslim Somali refugee is now a multimedia artist and educator in Minnesota.
• Kimberlee Joy Roth, a former physics and science teacher who has spent time in several European countries and Israel, is a ceramic artist living in Minneapolis.
• Helen Zughaib, a native of Beirut, Lebanon, currently lives and works in Washington, D.C.

The exhibition is generously supported in part by the Mary L. Nohl Fund of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation.

• Download the educational materials for I Contain Multitudes.
• Watch a video about the exhibition.

Dates: November 3, 2018 – March 2, 2019
Location: Brooks Stevens Gallery
Reception: Thursday, November 8, 6 – 8 p.m.
Special programming: Curators Panel Discussion moderated by Monica Obniski of the Milwaukee Art Museum, Tuesday, November 27, 7 p.m.

Besides being useful, and perhaps even beautiful, what else should designed objects do? Spectacular Vernacular takes you on a journey through observation, experimentation and speculation to reveal how the creators mix their craft and industrial design backgrounds with influences from fiction, science and the arts. Explore the rhetorical and practical opportunities of designed objects, encouraging a broadening of the conventional definition of the designer’s role.

The exhibition features work by the design studio Parsons & Charlesworth, founded by British husband and wife Tim Parsons and Jessica Charlesworth.

• Download the educational materials for Spectacular Vernacular.

Sandra Gould Ford, photographed by LaToya Ruby Frazier

Dates: October 19 – December 8, 2018
Location: Frederick Layton Gallery
Reception: October 19, 2018, 5 – 9 p.m. (Fall Gallery Night)

Special programming: “The Mill as Metaphor: Art, Storytelling and Change,” a panel discussion featuring Sandra Gould Ford and guests including Ariel Pate, associate curator of photography at the Milwaukee Art Museum, and Bill Breihan form the United Steelworkers, Monday, November 26, 6 p.m. in the Frederick Layton Gallery.

Through the photographs, writings and documents of artist and writer Sandra Gould Ford, this exhibition explores the history, memory and experiences of the industrial working class as well as the economic and social loss suffered when an area’s defining industry declines. Ford’s photographic work, which she produced during and after her employment at one of the Pittsburgh area’s oldest and largest steel mills, creates a vibrant conversation with her subject, capturing the nuanced links between place, time, memory, work and creativity. The exhibition also features several works by LaToya Ruby Frazier, produced during a recent collaborative exhibition project between the two photographers.

• Download the educational materials for Steel Genesis: Sandra Gould Ford.

Dates: August 8 – October 20, 2018
Location: Brooks Stevens Gallery
Reception: August 23, 2018, 6 – 8 p.m.

Special gallery hours: Harley-Davidson Motor Company’s 115th Anniversary Celebration in Milwaukee is during Labor Day weekend. During this celebration, MIAD’s Galleries are open to the public Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 1, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 2, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. The exhibit will be closed on Labor Day (Monday, Sept. 3).

Mathew Hintz ’98 (Painting) is a MIAD alum who died unexpectedly in December 2017. His passion for motorcycles and transportation design was sparked in 1998 during an internship in Styling & Graphic Design at the Harley-Davidson Motor Company. Hintz was one of only a few licensed Harley-Davidson Artists worldwide, producing works sold through Harley-Davidson dealerships and original cover art featured on Harley-Davidson Owner Manuals. Throughout his career, Hintz also was licensed to produce artwork for Ford Images and created original work for Steiner Sports. His works in the exhibition are for sale. Proceeds will help support his family. Harley-Davidson Motor Company celebrates its 115th Anniversary Aug. 29 – Sept. 3, 2018.

Dates: August 20 – October 6, 2018
Location: Frederick Layton Gallery
Reception: September 6, 2018, 6 – 8 p.m.

This biannual exhibition showcases the accomplished and highly respected art and design faculty from all disciplines – Communication Design, Illustration, Fine Arts, Industrial Design and Interior Architecture and Design – at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design.

MacKenzie Pankey ’18

Dates: June 2 – August 4, 2018
Location: Frederick Layton Gallery

View the best of the 2018 Senior Exhibition in the annual juried exhibition, showcasing MIAD art and design works selected by MIAD faculty.

Dates: April 20 – May 12, 2018
Location: All MIAD galleries
Receptions: April 18 (Preview) & April 20 (Spring Gallery Night)

See the innovative work of emerging creative professionals who passionately contribute to the world and meet universal challenges in new ways at MIAD’s annual Senior Exhibition. MIAD’s Senior Exhibition, Wisconsin’s largest exhibition of its kind, features more than 100 artists and designers representing all of MIAD’s Bachelor of Fine Arts majors and minors, including:

• Communication Design (Graphic + Web)
• Illustration
• Industrial (Product) Design
• Interior Architecture and Design 
• New Studio Practice: Fine Arts (Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Sculpture, Photography, Animation + Digital Video)

Cultural heritage and identity, acceptance and inclusion, innovation, women’s empowerment and improving wellness are themes featured in this year’s exhibition.

Generously sponsored by:

Opening reception 2017 Senior Exhibition

A Palpable Shiver of the Brain by Anna Foran

Dates: June 30 – July 28, 2018
Location: Brooks Stevens Gallery

Special programming:

• June 30, 1 – 4 p.m. – Chicago & Milwaukee Art Scenes: A Dialogue with Emerging Artists & Curators (Opening)
• July 20, 2018, 6:30 – 8:25 p.m. – Not Your Mama’s Sunset Walk (Summer Gallery Night)

Through a mixture of media, emerging artists Malika Bukhari, Anna Foran, Zoe Greenham, Natasha Mijares and Rebecca Nakaba investigate similarities and differences between humans and animals in processing information, material and memory, as well as explore the relationships to space for humans and animals. The exhibition is curated by Natasha Mijares and Rebecca Nakaba.

Dates: May 29 – June 16, 2018
Location: Brooks Stevens Gallery
Reception: June 2, 2 – 4 p.m.

And Smell Me Flowers by Olivia Vazquez

High School Invitational: Teachers’ Selections is a celebration of local high school art students and their Visual Art programs. The exhibition features teachers’ selections of student work from 10 area high schools including Brookfield Central, Golda Meir, Grafton, Milwaukee High School of the Arts, Pius XI, Port Washington, Ronald Reagan, Rufus King, St. Thomas More, and Wauwatosa East. This work serves as a sampling of diverse projects created over the past school year and the 28 students employ a variety of media including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, illustration, fibers, metalworking, and mixed media.

Dates: April 20 – May 12, 2018
Location: All MIAD galleries
Receptions: April 18 (Preview) & April 20 (Spring Gallery Night)

See the innovative work of emerging creative professionals who passionately contribute to the world and meet universal challenges in new ways at MIAD’s annual Senior Exhibition. MIAD’s Senior Exhibition, Wisconsin’s largest exhibition of its kind, features more than 100 artists and designers representing all of MIAD’s Bachelor of Fine Arts majors and minors, including:

• Communication Design (Graphic + Web)
• Illustration
• Industrial (Product) Design
• Interior Architecture and Design 
• New Studio Practice: Fine Arts (Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Sculpture, Photography, Animation + Digital Video)

Cultural heritage and identity, acceptance and inclusion, innovation, women’s empowerment and improving wellness are themes featured in this year’s exhibition.

Generously sponsored by:

Opening reception 2017 Senior Exhibition

Dates: January 12, 2018 – March 10, 2018
Location: Frederick Layton Gallery
Reception: January 19 (Winter Gallery Night), 5 – 9 p.m.

Empathy is possible because we are human. Because we are human we can choose whether to exercise it or not. It is this human potential that we hope to encourage by bringing together the artists and their work in this exhibition. The current polarized political and cultural landscape we live in has created an urgency and relevance for the consideration and understanding of this human trait that represents the best of what we can aspire to. This exhibition brings together over a dozen artists of diverse perspectives from around the country to create a dialogue on this general topic. “Humanly Possible: The Empathy Exhibition” is sponsored in part by the Mary L. Nohl Fund of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation.

Special programming:

• February 1, 6 p.m.: Empathy Through the Visual Arts: An Artist’s Discussion
• February 15, 7 p.m.: Empathy, Connections and Borders: An Evening of Poetry and Storytelling
• March 1, 7 p.m.: 100 Lullabies (Lullaby Songs for Refugees)

Learn more about the exhibition programming.

• Download the Educational Material for Humanly Possible: The Empathy Exhibition

> READ MORE …

“Chair⁵: Perspectives on Form, Function and Innovation,” a highly interactive and experimental furniture exhibition co-produced by the Chipstone Foundation and the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD). This exhibition introduces myriad ways to think about chairs, “chairness” and the physical act of sitting. Five distinctive exhibit spaces showcase historic, reproduction and contemporary seating furniture forms.

• Download the Educational Material for Chair⁵

> READ MORE …

Dates: October 20 – December 2, 2017

Location: Frederick Layton Gallery

Opening reception: October 20, 2017, 5 – 9 p.m.

Special programming: Public talk <by Henrik Drescher and Frances Jetter, November 9, 7 p.m. Extra-terrestrial. Political. Animalistic. Festive. While the illustrations in the newest exhibition on view at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) cover divergent themes across a range of platforms, their exploration of media connects them and enriches their messages. “FANTASTIC: Four Contemporary Illustration Artists” features the work of renowned artists Henrik Drescher, Frances Jetter, Katherine Streeter and Carl Dunn. While their work has been commissioned for newspapers and magazines for years, these artists have proven themselves equally adept at responding to assignments from clients and initiating their own projects to express their unique visions through painting, book arts, printmaking, collage, sculpture and digital animations.

Henrick Drescher | Big Rock Candy Mountain Series Tempera, oil enamel, collage on linen canvas

• • Download the Educational Material for FANTASTIC

> READ MORE …

Dates: August 22 – September 17, 2016 Location: Frederick Layton Gallery The old adage “those who can’t do, teach” doesn’t have much traction at MIAD, where faculty members are exhibiting and working artists and designers. The biennial Faculty Exhibition offers a chance to experience faculty work in one incredible exhibit. Participating faculty include: Jared Patton Plock; Rina Yoon; Chris Beetow; Bruce Humphries; Zoë Darling; Nicholas Frank; Rosalie Beck; John Matson; Peter Barrikman; Christiane Grauers; Michael Presutti; Jeremy McDonnell; Cole Norton; Steve Horvath; Joe Boblick; Susan Estelle Kwas; Corbett Toomsen; Waldek Dynerman; Jon Horvath; Kim Miller; Matthew Lee; Leslie Fedorchuk; Naomi Shersty; Will Pergl; Jan Feldhausen; Shana McCaw and Brent Budsberg; Bruce Grudzinski; Tom Noffsinger; and James Barany Image: Tom Noffsinger