MIAD’s MAKE! program helps artist Maysen realize new exhibit
For multidisciplinary artist Claudia Maysen, MIAD’s MAKE! For Educators program in June helped her “to explore and materialize ideas” for “Playthings” – a new solo exhibition on gun violence on view at Milwaukee’s 5 Points Art Gallery + Studios through October 27.
“During my time at MAKE,” says Maysen, “I was able to create the first pieces of a new body of work that was born as a response to my previous ‘Ammo Series,’ which investigates gun violence through a multidisciplinary practice.”
MaysenClaudia_I Make My Own Game_Gallery view
Claudia Maysen, “I Make My Own Game,” installation view 2024.
MaysenClaudia_Stacking Game (Who Will Lose Next)
Claudia Maysen, “Stacking Game (Who Will Lose Next).” Photo by Christopher Sonny Martinez.
MaysenClaudia_Playthings-Solo show
Claudia Maysen, “Playthings” installation view, 2024.
ClaudiaMaysen_MAKE_Home-News
Artist Claudia Maysen standing in her exhibit “Playthings”
According to the gallery’s press release, “Claudia Maysen is a North Texas-based artist whose work uniquely blends abstraction with representation, exploring social issues within our communities from a vantage point of, both, a Latina who immigrated from Mexico as an adult and an American citizen.
“Maysen investigates the … systems that enable gun violence in America through a captivating display of installations, paintings, videos and sculptures, a body of work that she began two years ago after the mass-shooting at Robb Elementary School, in Texas.”
“Working in a setting different than my studio at home, surrounded by fellow creatives, getting great critique sessions from MIAD’s professor and artist Kate Schaffer, and experiencing the gorgeous weather and views of this location really helped me explore and materialize some of the ideas I had for the new series,” says Maysen.
“Production-wise, it was great counting with MIAD’s tools and facilities, such as the laser-cutting equipment I used for some parts of my ‘I Make My Own Game’ sculpture and the spray-painting booth where I worked on my ‘A Handful of Flowers Moving Forward’ painting.”
Participants in MIAD’s summer MAKE! program select either MAKE! Fine Art or MAKE! Design as the focus of their experience. Fine Art participants enjoy a week of independent making in the studio and engaging discussions, or observe demonstrations and learn processes that provide access to work in the labs equipped with state-of-the-art equipment. They have access to nearly 70 types of equipment, software and tools in MIAD’s Printmaking Lab, Textiles Lab and Lubar Emerging Technology Center. Learn more about MAKE! For Educators.
Maysen’s exhibit at 5 Points Art Gallery + Studios, 3514 N. Port Washington Ave., is free and open to the public Monday – Thursday by appointment; Friday – Saturday from 12 to 5 p.m.; and Sunday from 12 to 4 p.m. Learn more about the gallery, which is owned by mixed-media artist and development project manager Fatima Laster.
More information about Maysen is at www.claudiamaysen.com or on Instagram.
News
MIAD Task Award: Alum pays it forward with generous mentoring
Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) alum Amy Cannestra ’06 (Communication Design) believes in giving back, in mentoring and in the supportive nature of the Milwaukee art and design community. By founding Task Creative and the MIAD Task Graduate Award, the incredibly busy creative exemplifies all three beliefs. The Task awardee, Ashley Osorio ’26 (Fine Art + New Studio Practice), will receive five consecutive days to use the Task Creative space for a project of their choosing this summer.
Meet Michaela Prischman and 2026 Senior Exhibition Project Cloth
Michaela Prischman ’26 (Communication Design) is a President’s (Honor) List student from Tinley Park, Ill. She created “Cloth,” a tool to help guide young professional women to find and organize alternative work attire through a personalized style subscription box.
Flagship Madison museum features exhibition by FYE faculty
The First-Year Experience (FYE) at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) blends contemporary and traditional techniques, an approach embraced by FYE faculty David R. Harper in Good Morning Sweetheart, a solo exhibition on view at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMoCA) through August 30, 2026.
Illustration seniors land NASA and Disney internships
Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design seniors Grace Weisner ’26 and Allison Stras ’26 have landed the internship of their dreams: Weisner at NASA and Stras at Disney. Both are Illustration majors with minors in Communication Design.
Meet Kas Cook and 2026 Senior Exhibition Project Mcallaster’s Special
Cas Kook ’26 (Animation Track in Illustration) is a Dean’s List student from the Greater Chicago area and a recipient of a 2026 Alumni Thesis Award. “Project Calvin Sazerac” is about Calvin Sazerac, a seasoned barkeep, who creates new cocktails for his favorite regulars. When he is challenged to meet the demands of a picky saloon patron, he creates something life changing.