Summerfest collaborates with MIAD Lubar Innovation Center
This year, Milwaukee Summerfest partnered with the Lubar Innovation Center at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) to design the 2025 lineup poster.
Kai Kilgore ’25 (Illustration) and Xander Maxwell ’26 (Illustration – Animation Track) were hired by the Innovation Center to iterate and produce Summerfest’s poster. After considering both designs, Summerfest moved forward with Maxwell’s space-themed poster.
Kai Kilgore, “Summerfest lineup poster,” 2025.
Xander Maxwell, “Summerfest lineup poster,” 2025.
Maxwell says, “Working with the Innovation Center is always great. The opportunity to get work experience as a student is one of the most valuable things I have experienced at MIAD. I feel like all of the projects I have done have really benefited me as an artist while also pushing me to make great work. Being able to put actual work in my portfolio is a great thing that would benefit anybody.”
“Working with the MIAD Lubar Innovation Center on this project was an exceptional experience from ideation to completion,” says Jerrod Woods, Senior Director of Marketing at Milwaukee World Festival, Inc. “Their professionalism, creativity, and passion made this collaboration an unforgettable experience. We look forward to finding more ways to work with the Innovation Center in the future.”
Learn more about MIAD’s Lubar Innovation Center!
News
La Mère Brazier: Phoebe Nelson Senior Exhibition 2025
Phoebe Nelson ’25 (Illustration) came to the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) to study children’s book illustration. Now at the end of her senior year, she is writing and illustrating a children’s book about Eugénie Brazier, the first person to get six Michelin stars, for her Senior Exhibition project.
MIAD Independent Inquiry Program launches with three student grants
Galilea Cerdea ’26, Tina Voith ’26 and Madi Weglarz ’25 are the first three Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design students selected to receive Independent Inquiry Program stipends to investigate new technologies and their applicability to art and design education. As first-time applicants, each receives a stipend of $1,200 for a six-week Mini Inquiry this summer.
Grilled Cheese grants propel MIAD seniors
Funds from the annual Grilled Cheese Grant helped Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) awardees Siren Harris, Yo Yo collective and Madi Weglarz complete their 2025 Senior Exhibition projects and future work. All the MIAD awardees are Fine Art + New Studio Practice seniors.
Sebastian Penn: Senior Exhibition 2025
Sebastian Penn ’25 (Animation Track in Illustration), “From Home to Legacy: Black and Queer Bars in Milwaukee.” Sebastian is a President’s (Honor) List student from Holman, Wis.
McKenna Martin: Senior Exhibition 2025
McKenna Martin ’25 (Product Design), “Hyacinth.” McKenna received first place for her design for the 2023 Delta design project/competition at MIAD, is on the Dean’s List and is from Fond du Lac, Wis.