MIAD Defines 2023: Day of play
For the 2023 iteration of MIAD Defines, the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design dedicated Tuesday, March 21 to playing. With the aim to connect, converse and learn across majors, years and disciplines, this year’s MIAD Defines was a resounding success.
2023_MIAD_Defines-cat-mural
Students work on a collaborative cat mural
2023_MIAD_Defines-draw-off
Students and faculty participate in a draw-off
2023_MIAD_Defines-MIAD-planet
MIAD Planet dance and karaoke party
2023_MIAD_Defines-spoon-carving
Spoon carving in the 3D Lab
2023_MIAD_Defines-textiles-lab
MIAD Textiles Lab hosted potholder weaving
WorldRatDay04
Prize for the MIAD Defines scavenger hunt
“Play is curious, gives permission to fail, can be done collaboratively or solo, releases stress and anxiety, makes us more resilient, strengthens community…” reads communication from the planning committee, which goes on to list a multitude of other benefits of playing. Classes were canceled for the day so that students, faculty and staff could enjoy a pancake breakfast and a full day of activities all over the building.
Among over 40 activities were spoon carving in the 3D Lab, an all-day dance party with student DJs, a cosplay and drag runway, LEGO robot battles in the Lubar Innovation Center and several community murals around the building. All of the events encouraged collaboration across departments and majors. One activity, an informal drawing contest in the style of the Great British Bake Off, saw students, staff and faculty partnering to sketch. Another popular day-long event, Edible Type, encouraged participants to cook up delicious pancake art.
The day culminated with testing of an egg drop design challenge and final paper airplane throw, then pizza, burgers and film screenings of Everything Everywhere All At Once, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse, and House.
Learn more about MIAD, or request information!
News
MIAD Values Recognition Award: Leslie Fedorchuk
Leslie Fedorchuk, Professor of Writing & Humanities and Director of Service Learning, received the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) MIAD Values Recognition Award for February 2026. Leslie received nominations that highlighted her embodiment of MIAD’s Core Values, especially Integrity, Kindness and Community.
MIAD Innovation Center and MAM provide career experience
Through a partnership with the MIAD Lubar Innovation Center, stunning campaign artwork by a student at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) once again is helping to launch Art in Bloom – the Milwaukee Art Museum’s annual celebration of art and spring. Illustrations by senior Emily Porven ’26 are both vibrant and subtle, colorful and evocative, capturing the essence of the event.
Nohl Alumni Award propels lasting impact for MIAD professor
Receiving a Ruth Arts Mary L. Nohl Alumni Award has both immediate and longer-term impacts for Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design Professor Jon Horvath; for himself as an artist, for the arts community and for MIAD students. Horvath, who teaches in MIAD’s Fine Art + New Studio Practice major, was one of three artists and one collective recently given the award, which provides $25,000 in unrestricted funds to each.
Arts education lays groundwork for MIAD alum curatorial role
Nikki Ranney ’22 (Illustration), the new curator of the Cedarburg Art Museum, says she “is so grateful that I went through my Bachelor of Fine Arts and got to experience a traditional art education at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design because it laid the groundwork for the more academic side of the curatorial field.”
Museum Studies class: Hands-on exhibition and career experience
Last fall’s Museum Studies class at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) has solidified a career choice for at least one of the 16 students who took it. The class was on the go all semester, visiting museums throughout Milwaukee, meeting with professionals and thinking critically about the role of museums in our society.