VIEW. LEARN. GROW.
The Jane Bradley Pettit Building, MIAD's main campus, holds two in-house, nationally recognized museum galleries: the Brooks Stevens Gallery of Industrial Design and the Frederick Layton Gallery.
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.
The gallery program is supported in part by the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Mary L. Nohl Fund of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation.
- Schedule a gallery tour.
- View the full MIAD Gallery Exhibition Schedule.
- For gallery inquiries, contact MIAD’s Director of Galleries at 414-847-3350.
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.
MIAD Gallery Exhibitions 2017-2018
Inside Job
An Alumni Exhibition of Former MIAD Gallery Staff
July 20 – September 30, 2017
Brooks Stevens Gallery of Industrial Design
Reception: July 21 (Summer Gallery Night) 5-9 p.m.
MIAD's gallery employees gain valuable experience and knowledge in the exhibiting and presentation of art and design works. These alumni have gone on to make innovative artwork in their communities, using the skills and awareness learned on this job. Each participating artist will create an installation or presentation of work they have done since graduating from MIAD. These presentations will be accompanied by information about how their experiences at MIAD have translated into their current work.
The exhibit will offer real-world insight into how MIAD's opportunities connect to professional practice. Artists featured are Colin Dickson, Kathryn E. Martin, Keith Nelson, Miguel Ramirez, Kristina Rolander, Danielle Rosen and Claire Smith. The exhibit is co-curated by Kathryn E. Martin and Keith Nelson. Participating artists will be available for public talks or class visits.
Learn more about the Inside Job exhibit.
Mary L. Nohl Suitcase Exhibit
Frederick Layton Gallery
August 21 – October 8, 2017
Reception: September 7, 6-8 p.m.
MIAD stages this biannual exhibition showcasing award-winning local artists who have received the Mary L. Nohl Suitcase travel award in the preceding two years. The suitcase program gives Milwaukee-area artists financial support to travel and show their work at different locations around the world.
Learn more about this exhibition and related programming
FANTASTIC: Four Contemporary Illustration Artists
Frederick Layton Gallery
October 20 – December 2, 2017
RECEPTION: OCTOBER 20 (FALL GALLERY NIGHT), 5-9 P.M.
FANTASTIC is an exhibition of four of the United States’ finest contemporary illustration artists: Henrik Drescher, Frances Jetter, Katherine Streeter and Carl Dunn. They have labored for years creating art for major national newspapers and magazines, but additionally all have produced work, aside from their editorial assignments, worthy of exhibition in national museums and galleries abroad.
This exhibition will present recent drawings, paintings, collages and books by these four artists. FANTASTIC reveals their art well beyond the purview of the newspapers and magazines, informed by a personal vision of the world and a fearless commitment to the unbridled expression of that vision through their art. The exhibit is curated by Patrick JB Flynn.
CHAIR5: Perspectives on Form, Function and Innovation
Brooks Stevens Gallery of Industrial Design
October 20, 2017 – March 3, 2018
Reception: October 20 (Fall Gallery Night), 5-9 p.m.
This experimental furniture exhibit in MIAD's Brooks Stevens Gallery introduces visitors to myriad ways to think about chairs, "chairness", and the physical act of sitting. Spanning across time and place, the displays will include a selection of historic, reproduction, and contemporary seating furniture forms.
A matrix of interpretive themes will be explored in five distinctive exhibit spaces—posture, production, design, material and innovation—in which there will be ample opportunities for physical interaction in an effort to stimulate broader consideration of each chair's function, design and concept.
This multidimensional approach to thinking about chairs is integrally woven into MIAD’s new Furniture Program, including an innovative MIAD furniture class being taught by Brent Budsberg.
This exhibition is a MIAD/Chipstone Foundation collaboration co-curated by Jon Prown, Brent Budsberg and Eric Vogel. Primary exhibit design is by Brent Budsberg.
Humanly Possible: The Empathy Exhibition
Frederick Layton Gallery
January 12 – March 10, 2018
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. Additional programing featuring both local and national participants is also being developed to add to the discussion.
