News
MIAD Design Internship welcomes new partners
From its inception in 2020, the Design Internship at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) has impacted Milwaukee’s creative landscape and exposed future artists and designers to careers in the field. This year, the successful program expanded to 12 area partners and will serve 56 Milwaukee-area high school students in 2024.
Engineering with personality: MIAD alum on Industrial Design
Chris Terpstra ’12 (Industrial Design) built his first motorcycle at age 14 using an old rototiller engine, an exercise bike and steel fence posts, among other things. Today, the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) alum is still repurposing old parts to build new machines.
Community support: MIAD alum on France residency
Although Paula DeStefanis ’96 (Sculpture) works full-time as the director of the Arts Mill, she does not always get the time to focus on her own artistic practice. Recently, DeStefanis welcomed the opportunity to dive into her own work at a residency at Château d’Orquevaux in Champagne-Ardenne, France.
MIAD Values Recognition Award: Mary Eggert
Mary Eggert, Executive Assistant, received the November 2023 MIAD Values Recognition Award at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD). Mary’s nominations highlighted her embodiment of MIAD’s Core Values, especially Integrity, Kindness and Community.
Delectable mural by MIAD alum spotlights Filipino food
One alum from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) has found her niche: illustrating mouthwatering depictions of Filipino cuisine. Amira Humes ’21 (Illustration) was recently selected to design a mural, located in Brooklyn, New York, featuring a favorite Filipino dish.
First-Year students celebrate juried works at FYE Media Arts Festival ’23
Current and former First-Year Experience (FYE) students celebrated their video, animation and sound design works at the FYE Media Arts Festival 23 – an in-house film and media screening in MIAD’s Community Hub on November 16.
GDUSA selects MIAD Students to Watch 2024
Brady VanderHart ’24 and Emma Jenkins ’25, Communication Design majors at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD), were named Students to Watch 2024 by Graphic Design USA magazine (GDUSA).
House of Rad and MIAD alum Brandon Minga host Feed Your Soul
MIAD alum Brandon Minga ‘04 (llustration), principal artist and founder of the House of Rad (hrad), was excited to host the 20th anniversary of the Feed Your Soul benefit for Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin on November 3, 2023. This was the second consecutive time hrad has hosted the event.
MIAD students receive 2023 Graphic Design Awards from GDUSA
Three MIAD Communication Design students received 60th anniversary American Graphic Design Awards from Graphic Design USA (GDUSA) magazine. The students were selected from over 8,000 entries, and judged alongside professional design work. Fewer than 10% of entrants received an award.
IAD seniors tour construction site of The Couture
Interior Architecture and Design (IAD) seniors from MIAD were taken to new heights on November 13 when they toured the construction site of The Couture, a 44-story skyscraper under construction that will be Milwaukee’s tallest residential and mixed-use building. The tour was part of a series of tours their senior thesis “Building Systems” class is taking with instructor Dan Kalkman, AIA.
MIAD alum Sajnani selected as MAM 2023 annual ornament designer
The Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM) selected the design of MIAD alum Debbie Sajnani ’16 (Communication Design) for its 2023 annual ornament. The ornaments are recreated each year by artisans using a reserve painting technique, according to MAM.
Ornament Trail features MIAD alumni, faculty, students
For decades, Milwaukee has hosted an annual Holiday Lights Festival. To commemorate the festival’s 25th anniversary, Milwaukee Downtown will also host the new Ornament Trail this year. Five Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) alumni and one instructor, who teamed up with both students and alumni, produced giant ornaments for the event.
MIAD Values Recognition Award: Sarah Eichhorn
Sarah Eichhorn, Visiting Instructor of Fashion and Apparel Design, received the October 2023 MIAD Values Recognition Award at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD). Eichhorn’s nominations speak to her Kindness, Inclusiveness, Innovation and support of MIAD’s Community.
Collaborative community: Fine Art faculty live MIAD values
Building community and collaboration through art: this is how two faculty members at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) spent their summer. Kim Miller, Professor and Chair of Fine Arts + New Studio Practice, and Peter Barrickman, Associate Professor in Fine Arts, completed a residency in Concepción, Chile in July.
Art for conservation: MIAD junior illustrates children’s book
As a high school student in Alabama, Ella Parris ’25 (Illustration – Animation Track) got involved with the National Association of Resource Conservation & Development Councils (NARCDC). Now, the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) junior is illustrating a series of children’s books for the organization to help promote conservation to kids.
MIAD Values Recognition Award: Marie Larson
Marie Larson, Director of Academic Affairs, received the September 2023 MIAD Values Recognition Award at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD). Larson’s nominations detail her embodiment of MIAD’s Core Values of Courage, Integrity, Kindness and Inclusion.
MIAD alums named 2023 gener8tor Art x Sherman Phoenix artists
Three MIAD alums – Andrea Cabrera Manuel ’23, Seth Ter Haar ’23 and Brandom Terres-Sanchez ’23 – are among the nine artists selected from 117 applicants for the Fall 2023 gener8tor Art x Sherman Phoenix accelerator. All three were MIAD Fine Art / New Studio Practice majors.
MIAD president interviewed on higher education podcast
Plexuss, a student opportunity network company in the higher education community, interviewed Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) President Jeffrey Morin for their Plexuss Presidential Podcast series.
MIAD president Jeffrey Morin selected for Governor’s Task Force on AI
Jeffrey Morin, president of the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD), was selected to serve on the Governor’s Task Force on Workforce and Artificial Intelligence. Consisting of 30 industry experts, the committee aims to identify policies and investments that will advance Wisconsin workers, employers and job seekers.
First-Year class takes field trip to visit local textile artist
Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) students in Visiting Instructor of Fashion and Apparel Design Sarah Eichhorn’s First-Year Experience class ventured outside of the classroom to hear from local textile artist and community educator Vanessa Devaki Andrew.
MIAD alumni contribute to Deep Lake Future experience
What do you get when you combine eight Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) alumni with a visionary team of other artists and designers and an imaginative, fantastical premise? An immersive art experience in the form of Deep Lake Future, headed up by Milwaukee-based multimedia studio FuzzPop Workshop and located inside Var Gallery 5th St. until December, 2023.
Nike selects Product Design student for summer internship
Hot pink cleats, intramural sports and apparel design at Nike: this was summer 2023 for Emma May Travitz ’24, a Product Design senior at Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD). Travitz spent the summer interning at Nike’s headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon on their Global Apparel and Materials team.
Illustration faculty member publishes “Eclipse” children’s book
When Andy Rash, associate professor of illustration at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD), viewed the 2017 total solar eclipse with his son, he did not set out to write a book about the experience. But for years afterward, his family could not stop talking about the eclipse. Rash channeled that excitement into his newest picture book, “Eclipse.”
Product Design senior lands Under Armour internship
For Benjamin Cole ’24 (Product Design), sports are an integral part of life. The Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) senior started his fall semester fresh from an internship with Under Armour as part of their innovation team focusing on footwear design.
Service learning class visits Jones Island Water Reclamation Facility
Students in Professor Leslie Fedorchuk’s service learning class “We Are Water” visited one of Milwaukee’s most famous public infrastructure sites at the end of September. The Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) juniors took a rainy field trip to Jones Island Water Reclamation Facility to learn about wastewater treatment and the environmental impact of water reclamation.