Sabbatical journey: Revelations and a new course for students
A sabbatical year immersed in Japanese culture, language and the study of Ukiyo-e – images of Japan’s “floating world” – led Professor Chelsea Holton to two main “aha” moments and development of a new course for students at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD).
Holton, associate professor of Art & Design History, says, “My research focused primarily on Japanese prints from the Edo Period (1615-1868). Research involved travel to Japan in 2024 with an itinerary paralleling the Tokaido Road – the most traveled route from Kyoto to Edo (Tokyo) during the Edo Period.”
Utagawa Hiroshige I, “Hakone, from the series Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō,” c. 1840-42.
The Tōkaidō Road at the Hakone checkpoint.
Chelsea Holton presents her sabbatical work.
Hikone Castle
Describing it as “otherworldly,” Holton says her first “aha” experience “was hiking in the mountains of Hakone and finding parts of the old Tokaido Road that weave through the mountainsides. This was historically the most treacherous part of the route and is now really the only extant part of the old road.”
“The second standout experience was having access to the Zen tearoom, ‘Teigyoku-ken,’ in a sub-temple of the Daitokuji Zen complex in Kyoto,” continues Holton. “This building is rarely open to the public…. Being in this space that I had taught about for years was revelatory.”
In addition to spending months in an intense Japanese language class and continuing studies on her own, Holton achieved a main goal of her sabbatical. This spring she will offer MIAD students the elective: “Imaging the Floating World: Japanese Prints from 1600 through the 20th century.” Holton says, “I will also bring in my additional experiences in Zen spaces to my other classes on Japanese art.”
Holton hopes her sabbatical will help “students see that it is important to support one’s curiosity – that learning is a lifelong process. I want to encourage students to travel and experience material cultures in person. [T]hey have access to so much incredible information and learning about other cultures and even a new language has never been more accessible.”
Learn more about MIAD’s Critical Studies program!
News
Haggerty Museum of Art features work by MIAD Fine Art professor
A towering column of life-size red-crowned cranes molded out of mulberry pulp has visitors to the Haggerty Museum of Art craning their necks to take in the sculpture. Work by Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) Professor Jason S. Yi is featured as part of the Haggerty Museum’s exhibition “This Side of the Stars: Rauschenberg’s “Stoned Moon” in the Company of Kite, Paglen, and Yi.”
MIAD Future Creatives supports high school students and educators
Digital design students at Franklin High School say their class project through the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design’s Future Creatives program provided new skills in teamwork while increasing their awareness of career pathways in design.
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.
MIAD Independent Inquiry Program: Building knowledge, confidence
From a Fine Art major to Illustration, Communication Design and Product Design – first-year student to senior – participants in the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design’s Independent Inquiry Program say they are building both knowledge and self-confidence.
Pallas Textiles winner reflects as 2026 competition to launch
MIAD senior Julianna Frixione ’26 (Product Design) says winning the 2025 Pallas Textiles Student Design Competition will mainly affect her remaining studies at MIAD by “pushing me to continue working hard at the path I’m on.”