Students celebrate professional growth at 2025 First-Year Exhibition

An annual tradition at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design from late March through September, the juried First-Year Experience Exhibition celebrates students’ yearlong personal and professional growth.

At a reception and award ceremony on March 27, FYE Chair Kate Schaeffer and jurors Basha Harris, Zachary Ochoa ’20 (New Studio Practice: Fine Art) and Abbie Wilson announced the following awardees (descriptions from FYE Associate Professor Naomi Shersty):

• First Place: Vee Sepersky, for “Dreamcast, a luminous and character-rich illustration.”
• Second Place: Andrew Capristant, for “Birds and Cicadas, a detailed and lovely zine, plus process pages.”
• Third Place: Nati Rodriguez, for “BRAID, a magical and mesmerizing cyanotype animation.”

Jurors’ Choice Awards went to Ava Burrus-Dessert, Hawke Mitchell and Alixandra Walter.

“The piece is about dreaming,” says Sepersky, who has chosen to major in MIAD’s Animation Track in Illustration. “I wanted to showcase a lucid dream, deciding to present it in the way of showing someone seeing themself sleeping, and entering their own head to continue their dream.”

Capistrant, who will major in Fine Art + New Studio Practice, says his travelogue zine “combines both my love for nature as well as symbolizing my transgender journey. Through my transition, I had many concerns about how my life would change, when in reality, I couldn’t imagine my life any other way. In fact, I’m relieved at how things turned out.”

“While the first year can be extremely overwhelming in workload, I had many opportunities to experiment with several mediums I’ve never used before, [and] it has allowed me to grow to be a better artist. Even looking at my piece, Birds and Cicadas, which I did in my first semester, I can see that my art has improved since then.”

“BRAID was created using the cyanotype process,” explains Rodriguez, “combining textured paper and light exposure to evoke a sense of a living, moving image. The interplay of layered textures and luminous impressions brings depth and motion to the static medium, transforming it into something dynamic and alive.” Rodriguez is also majoring in Fine Art + New Studio Practice.

“For many students, it marks their very first public exhibition,” says Shersty, who organized the exhibit. “For all, it’s a rewarding opportunity to see their work professionally installed across the second floor, connect with local jurors for awards and engage in dialogue with a range of communities about their practice and process. The exhibition showcases the strength, talent and dedication of this new generation of emerging artists and designers. It is … a significant milestone at the close of their first year.”

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