MIAD Matters – Testimonials
“The level of engagement amongst the community, faculty and students was impressive – and quite frankly – very refreshing. I can tell you this, MIAD is a place that consistently possesses a spirit of sincere investigation. Students will definitely look back on their time at MIAD as special, nurturing and inspiring.”
James Ludwig
VP, Global Design + Engineering, Steelcase Inc.
Visiting creative in the MIAD Creativity Series
“I’ve visited many art and design schools around the world and found an atmosphere and confidence at MIAD that are unique… Students have a clear and well-deserved sense of themselves and their work, and that is a rare thing.”
Mark Rios, FAIA, FASLA
Founding Principal, Rios Clementi Hale Studios, Los Angeles
First visiting creative in the MIAD Creativity Series
“For several years, working with MIAD students has been Fiskars secret weapon.”
Paul Tonnesen
President, Fiskars Americas
MIAD Board of Trustees
“I personally learned long ago as chief marketing officer at MillerCoors the value of hiring MIAD students and graduates. Their incredible talents have continually fueled the growth and leadership of southeastern Wisconsin’s design community.”
Robert Mikulay
Vice Chair, MIAD Board of Trustees
“Delta brings blue-sky projects to the table, and we’re always impressed by the creativity of the MIAD students’ solutions.”
Judd Lord
Director of Industrial Design
Delta Faucet Company
“Working with MIAD students is a phenomenal way to bring creativity into the business environment.”
Chris Cox
Product and Marketing Director
Vision Fitness
“The included artists [MIAD Alumni] demonstrate strengths in a variety of media, a testament to the college’s multimedia approach and trends of the current art world.”
John McKinnon
Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art
Milwaukee Art Museum
“Harley-Davidson is energized by our growing partnership with MIAD and ability to assist in the development of the college’s campus and its students. Harley Stylists play an integral role in the college’s ground-breaking Industrial Design PowerSports course, which they helped to found in 2008, and, last fall, students from across five majors participated in The Helmet Project, Harley-Davidson Museum’s first feature exhibition. It is especially gratifying now to see how the Interior Architecture and Design students are using the donated materials to transform MIAD’s campus for all students.”
Matt Levatich
Harley-Davidson
President and COO
“Our relationship with MIAD, the epicenter of our creative community, recognizes that in the 21st century, the creative spirit is not marginal, but vital.”
Paul Krajniak
Director
Discovery World
“You don’t measure MIAD’s impact just by the wonderful artists it educates. Its grads work in companies throughout the region… MIAD is a vital part of our creative capital.”
Julia Taylor
President
Greater Milwaukee Committee
“As this [Helmet Project] exhibition demonstrates, MIAD produces gifted students who positively impact Milwaukee’s culture and business environment.”
Peggy Sue Dunigan
“The talent of the MIAD students is inspiring, and the faculty really does a great job of leading the students toward a real-world experience. That is a goal where all truly benefit.”
Ray Drea
Redirector of Styling
Harley-Davidson Motor Corporation
News
MIAD Task Award: Alum pays it forward with generous mentoring
Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) alum Amy Cannestra ’06 (Communication Design) believes in giving back, in mentoring and in the supportive nature of the Milwaukee art and design community. By founding Task Creative and the MIAD Task Graduate Award, the incredibly busy creative exemplifies all three beliefs. The Task awardee, Ashley Osorio ’26 (Fine Art + New Studio Practice), will receive five consecutive days to use the Task Creative space for a project of their choosing this summer.
Meet Michaela Prischman and 2026 Senior Exhibition Project Cloth
Michaela Prischman ’26 (Communication Design) is a President’s (Honor) List student from Tinley Park, Ill. She created “Cloth,” a tool to help guide young professional women to find and organize alternative work attire through a personalized style subscription box.
Flagship Madison museum features exhibition by FYE faculty
The First-Year Experience (FYE) at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) blends contemporary and traditional techniques, an approach embraced by FYE faculty David R. Harper in Good Morning Sweetheart, a solo exhibition on view at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMoCA) through August 30, 2026.
Illustration seniors land NASA and Disney internships
Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design seniors Grace Weisner ’26 and Allison Stras ’26 have landed the internship of their dreams: Weisner at NASA and Stras at Disney. Both are Illustration majors with minors in Communication Design.
Meet Kas Cook and 2026 Senior Exhibition Project Mcallaster’s Special
Cas Kook ’26 (Animation Track in Illustration) is a Dean’s List student from the Greater Chicago area and a recipient of a 2026 Alumni Thesis Award. “Project Calvin Sazerac” is about Calvin Sazerac, a seasoned barkeep, who creates new cocktails for his favorite regulars. When he is challenged to meet the demands of a picky saloon patron, he creates something life changing.