Sophomores and juniors throughout MIAD spent early February submitting their best art and design class projects for the juried exhibition It’s a Major Deal. Both MIAD faculty and an outside juror, Milwaukee Art Museum’s Curator of Photography Lisa J. Sutcliffe, selected the best works that were created in the fall 2014 semester.
Chair of 2D/4D Design Dale Shidler stated, “The chosen work comes from students with immense talent who have shown great discipline in their approaches to their coursework.”
Core Coordinator Nicholas Frank was excited to see the number of submissions received for the show approach 350. “I was pleased to see students enthusiastically applying to the show, especially since we make it a professional competitive experience for them.”
The exhibition embraces the range of media explored by MIAD students including the traditional painting, sculpture and drawing, and the less traditional digital media, installation art and even some performance art. A series of awards will be presented to the students with the strongest works in each major.
Juror Lisa Sutcliffe, Photography Curator at the Milwaukee Art Museum, chose awards in Fine Arts. Jodi Schomaker, Lead Exhibit and Graphics Designer at Discovery World, selected Illustration awards, and Christopher Klein, Creative Lead at Assurant Health and President of AIGA-Wisconsin, chose winners in the Communication Design and Time-Based Media categories.
Communication Design
1st Place: Benjamin Hapka
2nd Place: Brenna Finnegan
Honorable Mention: Grant Mahr
Illustration
1st Place: Kaley Hamilton
2nd Place: Lauren Parra
Honorable Mention: Gabriella Riveros
Time-Based Media
1st Place: Megan Wells
2nd Place: Alicia Krupsky
Honorable Mention: Laura Axelson
Fine Arts
1st Place: Kellymarie Stamper
2nd Place: Elizabeth Rath
Honorable Mention: Kirsten Schmid
Interior Architecture & Design
Junior Award for Best Body of Work: Kyle Parnau
Sophomore Award for Best Body of Work: Kristina Rasmussen
Honorable Mention: Linh Hoang
Industrial Design
1st Place: Casey Maul
2nd Place: Thuy Khuu
Honorable Mention: Justin Kornely
Student’s Choice Awards
Communication Design: Beck Mulkey
Illustration: Kaley Hamilton
Time-Based Media: Lara Mae Vitanzo
Fine Arts: Elizabeth Rath
Interior Architecture & Design: Kyle Parnau
Industrial Design: Michael Wolowski
“Best In Show”: Elizabeth Rath (Fine Arts)
It’s a Major Deal is on view in the Fourth Floor, February 13 – 26, with a Reception and Awards Ceremony Thursday, February 26, 5 – 7 p.m.
Click here to read about 2014 It’s a Major Deal.
Top image: Daisy Koss ’17 (Integrated Studio Arts), Mask & Make-up Series (2 of 3)
Second image: Alison Galarza ’17 (Communication Design), Avis Scriptum
