Textiles Lab
MIAD’s Textiles Lab is a textiles based workspace open to students in all disciplines. Located in the sunlit, room 250, the lab houses the following equipment and materials for textile exploration:
- 19 Janome sewing machines
- 4 industrial sewing machines
- 4 sergers
- Cover stitch machine
- Silver Reed knitting machine
- Dress forms
- Cutting tables
- Leather working tools
- Grommet machine
- Donated fabric, yarn and thread for students to use
The lab is monitored and maintained by the Textiles Lab Technician and knowledgeable student workers. Curriculum based sewing, such as the Sophomore Industrial Design Backpack project, Concept to Pattern course, Visual Language embroidery project and a variety of NSP projects including clothing design, felting, quilt making and fabric dyeing are accomplished in the Textiles Lab. This lab, open to all students, is designed for technical skill building, conceptual advancement and exploratory research.
News
Keith Negley: Award-winning illustrator and writer
When award-winning illustrator and author Keith Negley ’00 isn’t completing projects like his most recent book of “forgotten trailblazers,” he’s creating portraits of celebrities like Taylor Swift, Emma Stone and Chelsea Clinton, and doing editorial illustrations on topics like neurodivergence, organ transplants and the opioid crisis.
Two MIAD alumni named Mary L. Nohl Fellows for 2025
Two alumni from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) have received Emerging Artist fellowships from the 2025 Mary L. Nohl Fund for its 2025 cycle: Margaret Griffin ’23 (Fine Art + New Studio Practice) and Open Kitchen, co-founded by Rudy Medina ’12 (Integrated Studio Arts).
FYE Juried Media Arts Festival 2024 celebrates first-year student works
Seven students received awards at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design’s juried FYE Media Arts Festival – an in-house screening and celebration of video, animation and sound design works by current and former First-Year Experience (FYE) students held on November 26. The 56 entries were judged by multimedia and filmmaking professionals Emma B. Barany, Gabe Leistekow and Sara Sowell.
MIAD professor brings love of branding to projects and students
Brian Bowles ’01, professor of Communication Design at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD), finds freelance projects “deeply fulfilling” and beneficial to himself and to his students.
Independence First and MIAD students produce adaptive clothing
Students in a junior-level Fashion and Apparel Design class at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) collaborated with Independence First to design adaptive clothing. Two Independence First employees worked closely with MIAD students on customized outfits specific to their needs and preferences.