MIAD professor, alum named 2026 Mary L. Nohl Fellows

Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) Communication Design professor Laura Farahzad Mayer and alum Nomka Enkhee ’25 (Fine Art + New Studio Practice) each received one of five Mary L. Nohl Fellowships for 2026. The recipients of emerging artist awards, Farahzad Mayer and Enkhee were selected from among 168 applicants.

They each receive $10,000 to create new work or complete work in progress, and a $5,000 budget for professional development and production.

Nomka Enkhee, “Listen, there is a horse in my backyard.”

“I am incredibly humbled to have been selected for the Nohl Fellowship, says Farahzad Mayer. “It means so much to receive this recognition…. I am still becoming familiar with the Milwaukee creative community since moving here in 2023. This opportunity will help me make connections and allow me to be a better participant in this vibrant community while growing in my creative practice.”

As described on her website, Farahzad Mayer is an artist, designer and hand letterer whose work explores themes of grief, memory, culture and generational storytelling, informed by her upbringing in a small town as the daughter of an immigrant.

Alum Nomka Enkhee ’25 is a visual artist, poet and performer who incorporates elements of traditional oral storytelling in her work. She is co-director of e.s.r., an artist-run exhibition space and publishing practice. Among her many activities as a MIAD student, Enkhee was selected for the 2025 Plum Blossom Initiative 11th cohort, Yale Norfolk School of Art Summer 2024 program and Gener8tor Art x Sherman Phoenix 2024 cohort.

For her Nohl Fellowship, Farahzad Mayer says she’s “not setting out with specific projects in mind…. I always work very intuitively and follow my interests and where the work takes me. I hope to use this opportunity to explore new materials and process I’m interested in. I am excited to see what more dedicated and disciplined studio time will lead me to.”

And says Farahzad Mayer, “I hope to model for [MIAD] students an interdisciplinary approach to making. I hope to share a spark of inspiration to always continue evolving as a creative practitioner and to demonstrate that the desire to learn and grow continues on far beyond the classroom.”

Outside of her creative practice, Farahzad Mayer shares that she is a skilled pickleball player, a mom to two and has two pugs.

Mary L. Nohl Fellowship finalists in the established artist category include MIAD alum David Najib Kasir ’01 (Painting) and instructor Brit Krohmer. Finalists in the emerging artist category include alum Brandom Terres-Sanchez ’23 (Fine Art + New Studio Practice) and Kayle Karbowski ’15 (Integrated Studio Arts).

Learn more about this year’s Nohl Fellows and explore MIAD’s Communication Design and Fine Art + New Studio Practice majors!