Three new MIAD gallery exhibitions showcase the work of area youth, recent grads and female artists
MILWAUKEE… May 22, 2019 – The Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD), 273 E. Erie St., highlights three specific artist populations in its next three exhibitions – “High School Invitational: Teachers’ Selections,” the “2019 MIAD Juried Senior Exhibition” and “Body of Work.” The latter two will be on view for Summer Gallery Night and Day in the Historic Third Ward, July 19 – 20.
Adventurer by Shalen Tully, Ronald Reagan High School
ABOUT “HIGH SCHOOL INVITATIONAL: TEACHERS’ SELECTIONS”
This group exhibition on view May 25 – June 8 celebrates local high school art students and their Visual Arts programs. An Opening Reception is Saturday, June 1, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. Participating schools include Germantown, Cristo Rey, St. Joan Antida, Brookfield East, Greenfield, Cedarburg, Homestead, South Division, Ronald Reagan and Oconomowoc High Schools and Milwaukee High School of the Arts.
ABOUT “2019 MIAD JURIED SENIOR EXHIBITION”
On view June 1 – August 3, this exhibition showcases the best of the “MIAD 2019 Senior Exhibition,” with art and design works selected by MIAD faculty. Examples include animated videos as part of a suicide prevention campaign for transgender and gender nonconforming youth, large-scale, immersive fine art installations and various illustrated books.
ABOUT “BODY OF WORK”
Through large-scale works by women artists, “Body of Work” engages the community in a conversation about the relationship between the body and artmaking. The exhibition, on view June 19 – September 7 with an Opening Reception Wednesday, June 19, 5 – 8 p.m., is a witness to women artists laboring to unchain themselves from patriarchal stereotypes. The artworks focus on the physicality of making large-scale works. The body is representational, conceptual or inherent in some work, but not apparent in other work. The exhibit is curated by Kate Schaffer and MIAD alumna Melissa Dorn.
“The exhibition creates spaces for community dialogue around issues of women’s work, their limits within a patriarchal society, and making the impossible possible,” said Schaffer.
MIAD’s galleries are free and open to the public, Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. More information at miad.edu/galleries.
News
MIAD faculty, alumni shine at WI Visual Art Achievement Awards
Professor Leslie Fedorchuk and alumni of the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) received four of the eight individual 2026 Wisconsin Visual Art Achievement Awards for “their significant contributions to the state’s creative culture.”
National Society of Illustrators honors 13 MIAD students
First-place winner Sophia Simonson ’28 created Refractions as part of her MIAD studies in Interior Architecture and Design. She is one of 20 students studying at MIAD through a cross-registration program with Concordia University. MIAD students Kaitlyn Powers ’26 (Illustration) and Natalie Spetell ’27 (Product Design), both of whom have minors in Communication Design, received Honorable Mentions.
Pallas Textiles competition provides real-world experience
First-place winner Sophia Simonson ’28 created Refractions as part of her MIAD studies in Interior Architecture and Design. She is one of 20 students studying at MIAD through a cross-registration program with Concordia University. MIAD students Kaitlyn Powers ’26 (Illustration) and Natalie Spetell ’27 (Product Design), both of whom have minors in Communication Design, received Honorable Mentions.
2026 First-Year Exhibition showcases professional growth
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.
Meet Carmen Briones and 2026 Senior Exhibition Project Echo
Carmen Briones ‘26 (Product Design) is a President’s (Honor) List student from Cambria, Wis., president of the MIAD IDSA student chapter and an intern at SI Jacobson Manufacturing. Briones designed a device called “Echo” that removes ovarian cysts without surgery.