News

Stephanie Brown of TMJ4 News featured recent graduates Mengdian Xing ’23 (Product Design) and her sister Lynn Xing ’23 (Interior Architecture and Design) during a month-long celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage.

Ever since he was a student at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD), Associate Professor of Illustration John Matson has incorporated fantasy illustration into his work. This lifelong fascination has led to a fruitful career as a fantasy illustrator and educator, most recently manifesting in an invitation to attend a Magic: The Gathering tournament in Italy as a guest illustrator.

Raising more than $10 million is no small feat. The Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) announced it had exceeded its comprehensive campaign goal of $10 million after its annual fundraising gala Creative Fusion: Fashion Forward, where donors generously raised more than $485,000 in scholarship support on May 6, 2023.

The Sherman Phoenix Foundation in Milwaukee, in partnership with startup accelerator gener8tor, has announced the members of the 2023 Spring Cohort of artists. Selected from a pool of 300 applicants, five of the 15 Milwaukee creatives awarded the grant are affiliated with MIAD.

In its 2023 rankings, Animation Career Review named MIAD’s Animation program as the top in the state, and the college’s Illustration Program in the top ten in the Midwest. MIAD is the only college in Wisconsin included in that list.

In its 2023 rankings, Animation Career Review named MIAD the #1 Graphic Design School in Wisconsin and in the top 7% of design schools in the Midwest. The college’s Animation and Illustration programs also received top rankings.

When Calla Rivera-Matos ’23 (Illustration) started planning her senior thesis project, she envisioned something unique and interactive. That planning process resulted in an intricately engineered pop-up book called “Mi Casita Criolla” featuring the architecture, tiles and culture of Puerto Rico.

For Miah Brown ’26, Darwin Childers ’26 and Hayden Wendel ’26, declaring a major in Fashion and Apparel Design was easy. All three First-Year students at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design have a deep personal interest in fashion and will be among the first graduates of MIAD’s new Fashion and Apparel Design major.

Reimagining the possibilities of tabletop gaming, Dominick Streff ’23 (Product Design) is working to revolutionize gaming possibilities in his senior thesis, a game called “Heroes and Hydras.” A tactile and auditory experience designed for people with vision impairment, Streff conducted extensive research and synthesized his findings into a sensory tabletop game.

As part of a documentary on Milwaukee’s Soldiers Home, Scottie Meyers of Milwaukee’s PBS interviewed printmaking students at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD). Grace Ranz ’24 (New Studio Practice: Fine Arts and Illustration) and Grey Higginbotham ’24 (NSP: Fine Arts) created a print currently housed in Milwaukee’s Soldiers Home.

The nationally recognized Ruth Foundation for the Arts (Ruth Arts) has awarded the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) an inaugural grant through its new Wisconsin Grants to Artists program to support research and development of work by individual artists. The MIAD grant is part of the Ruth Arts’ regranting program to three Milwaukee-centric organizations. Lynden Sculpture Garden and The Open Fund also received grants.

Jon Demirel ’23 (Communication Design) knew he wanted to be a graphic designer ever since he was a kid creating flyers for meme pages on Facebook. Since moving from Istanbul, Turkey to the United States at 15, Demirel has honed his craft far beyond his early start.

The Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) has announced the March recipient of the MIAD Values Recognition Award. Matthew Stricker, Associate Director of Student Services, received nominations for his phenomenal support of the MIAD community and its values, particularly his commitment to Kindness and Inclusiveness.

Sculpture Milwaukee’s newest collaboration, “Dear Nature,” features work by students from four Milwaukee colleges. Students in Jason S. Yi’s New Studio Practice: Fine Arts course at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) installed work at The Avenue ahead of the exhibition’s opening on April 21, 2023.

The Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) was honored to participate in this year’s 414 Day video through Imagine MKE. The video celebrates Milwaukee artists and creatives and the vibrance they bring to the community.

When Margaret Griffin ’23 (New Studio Practice: Fine Arts) transferred to the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD), she hoped to dig deeper into her artistic practice. Now in her final semester, Griffin’s work is catching the attention of the Milwaukee creative community.

The Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) has announced the February recipient of the MIAD Values Recognition Award. Rithi Punyamurthula, Coordinator of Equity + Inclusion, received nominations for many of MIAD’s Core Values, particularly Kindness, Inclusion and Community.

Milwaukee boasts a vibrant community of artists and creatives. The Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) is proud to bolster this community through the Design Internship, a program for Milwaukee-area high school students intended to prepare them for careers in art and design.

The Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) celebrates its iconic River Rat mascot on World Rat Day, April 4, 2023. Situated along the Milwaukee River, the institution proudly spotlights its favorite scrappy and resourceful rodent.

The Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) celebrates its first offsite gallery during its grand opening on April 6, 2023 from 6 – 8 p.m. MIAD invites the public to attend the event and to explore the new Gallery at The Ave, located at 301 W. Wisconsin Ave in The Avenue near the 3rd Street Market Hall.