MIAD Viewbook 2023-24

Our Campus

It’s different here. There’s a gritty energy to the place. There’s a sense of home from the moment you walk in the doors. You can feel it in the hallways as people work, create, tear down, start over, fail, succeed, fail again, triumph and transition from being purely passionate to being passionate professionals.

This is the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, but we call it MIAD.

Milwaukee Wisconsin

MIAD's campus is located in Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward; some twenty blocks of renovated warehouses, artist lofts, theaters, businesses, shops and restaurants. A destination for both tourists and residents, the Third Ward possesses a distinct and unique urban flavor.

Safe, public transportation stops near MIAD’s campus, and within walking distance are the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Milwaukee Public Museum and Public Library. There are also various lakefront activities, and assorted festivals at the Summerfest grounds featuring music and entertainment from around the world. Within a few blocks you’ll find the Broadway Theater Center, Milwaukee Public Market and Milwaukee-based Colectivo Coffee Roasters. The Historic Third Ward was named in the Top 5 Best Arts Districts in the country in the 2022 USA Today Readers’ Choice Awards.

→ Images courtesy of VisitMilwaukee

VIRTUAL CAMPUS TOUR

Student Housing

• Fully furnished two-bedroom suites with living room, kitchen and two bathrooms.

• Each suite includes twin beds, nightstands, dressers, desks and chairs; LED TV, couch, chair and tables in the living room; and limited kitchen amenities.

• Student lounges, common study areas and laundry rooms on all living floors.

• On-site Blick Art Materials store.

WHERE PASSION FINDS PURPOSE

We teach, but more than that we present the opportunity to learn, to experiment and explore. From Day One, we ensure that “what you do” always has a “why you do it” attached, a purpose, an intention, a recognition that art and design do not reflect the world, they change it.

It’s an approach that gives meaning to making, that enables you to do work that matters, and keeps the flame of creativity burning for a lifetime.

It’s an approach fiercely defended at MIAD, where passion finds purpose.

First-Year Experience (FYE)

Try everything, fail, try again, have fun.

FYE Course Examples:

FABRICATION

Fabrication is focused on form, light and content. You’ll learn to imbue three-dimensional form with meaning and investigate how light can affect perceptions of form and space. Research, fabrication, and digital and material techniques are advanced through hands-on experiments, projects and discussion. You’ll receive an orientation to MIAD’s 3-D Lab and Lubar Emerging Technology Center.

DIGITAL 4D

Digital 4D considers how image, text and sound unfold over time and across various distribution models. You will receive an introduction to video editing, basic animation and audio tools, and gain experience using a variety of software and hardware. Digital 4D will encourage you to consider their roles as cultural producers. Motion graphics and the onscreen image-as-experience are also introduced.

Majors & Programs

Animation Track

Communication Design

Fashion and Apparel Design

Fine Art + New Studio Practice

Illustration

Interior Architecture and Design

Product Design

Animation Track

Bring your illustrated images to life.

Communication Design

So much more than just cool graphics.

Fashion and Apparel Design

In the spirit of inclusion, you’ll make clothing for everyone.

Illustration

Doodlers and comic fans, this one is for you.

Interior Architecture and Design

Designing spaces and places with impact.

Product Design

Empathy and engineering state of mind.

Fine Art + New Studio Practice

Any media, any form - it’s your practice.

Minors

A MIAD minor consists of a minimum of 15 credits. All studio majors may be declared as minors as well as liberal studies and minors offered through crossregistration with Marquette University.

Art History

Arts Management

Book Arts

Digital Media Production

Soft Goods

Furniture Design

Humanities

Natural Sciences

Studio Majors

Sustainability

Writing

Marquette University via cross registration

Advertising Business

Copywriting Psychology

Study Abroad

MIAD offers short-term summer study abroad programs and semester long exchange programs. Financial aid is available for both options.

Short-Term Opportunities

• Italy

• Ireland

• Thailand

• Montana, USA

MIAD Semester-Long International Partners

• The Warsaw Academy of Art in Warsaw, Poland

• The Bauhaus University in Weimar, Germany

• Institute of European Design in Milan, Rome, Turin, Madrid, Barcelona, and San Paulo, Brazil

• The Ecole de Design Nantes Atlantique, France

Liberal Studies

From the studio to the library, MIAD students practice more than their major, with required courses in: Writing, Humanities, Natural Sciences, and Art History.

Course Examples:

HUMT380: SERVICE LEARNING

Service Learning is an interdisciplinary course with a service-learning component and is designed as the synthesis of your four-year humanities and social science experience. You will study a topic in-depth (i.e., cities, families, borders, aging, food) and be presented with many opportunities for interdisciplinary investigation.

ARTH318: ART HISTORY ELECTIVE

Through Art History electives, you’ll have the opportunity to give in-depth focus to a wide range of topics. Among the topics you may choose to study are courses such as: 19th Century American Masters; Early Chinese Art; Women, Art, and Society; The Bauhaus; The History of Industrial Design; and many others.

Career Services

At MIAD, we’ll give you the tools you need to follow your creative path. There’s a vibrant array of internships, co-ops, sponsored projects and client partnerships to enhance your learning and prepare you for a professional creative career. MIAD’s Career Services can help you find the opportunity you’re seeking.

Service Learning

MIAD distinguishes itself as a leader in art and design colleges by being one of the first to engage our students in a Service Learning Program. The program combines intensive coursework and service, bringing students into their immediate community in unique and powerful ways.

Alumni

From motorcycles to murals, MIAD grads are doing it all.

MIAD Alum

Ben McGinley, BFA

2010 Industrial Design

Designer, Harley-Davidson

Motorcycle Company

Ben McGinley was coined

Harley-Davidson’s “Boy Wonder” for his inventive motorcycle designs. McGinley leads a team of designers on Project LiveWire, Harley-Davidson’s first foray into electric motorcycles.

Image courtesy of Harley-Davidson.com

Milwaukee-based illustrator Sid Ylagan is a textile designer by day, freelance illustrator by night, and a fine artist by weekends. Ylagan works in a wide range of illustration styles, but primarily focuses on elevated portraiture in her personal work. In her brief time since graduating from the Milwaukee Institute of Design in 2019, she’s been busy creating patterns and t-shirt graphics for multiple kids’ private label brands at Kohl’s Corporate. Check out her work at: sidylagan.com

Image courtesy of sidylagan.com

MIAD Alum Sid Ylagan, BFA 2019 Illustration, Textile Designer, Kohls Corporate

Communication Design

Freelance Graphic Designer/ Illustrator

manujawaldia.com

Interior Architecture and Design Designer

Kadlec Architecture and Design

kadlecdesign.com

New Studio Practice: Fine Arts Special Projects Manager

Sculpture Milwaukee brianpfister.art

Manuja Waldia ’14

Image courtesy of Manuja Waldia/Penguin

Brian Pfister ’18

Paige Lemley ’17

Careers

A snapshot of what the future holds.

Senior Graphic Designer

Creative Director

Animator

3D Modeler

Product Designer

Artist

Curator

Illustrator

Story Board Artist

Concept Artist

Production Manager

Creative Lead

Interior Designer

Gallery Owner

Multimedia Designer

Commercial Photographer

Pattern Maker

Game Designer

Art Therapist

Admissions

How to Apply:

Admissions Checklist

→ Complete your free application at miad.edu/applynow

→ Submit official transcripts or GED report

→ Submit your portfolio at miad.edu/applynow

Application Details

• Schedule a portfolio review with a MIAD Admissions Counselor for instant feedback on your work

• Send transcripts or GED report to admissions@miad.edu

• Required: 12-20 piece portfolio

• Optional: Letters of Recommendation, Essay, ACT/SAT scores

Important Dates

December 1: Priority Application Date

February 15: Application & Scholarship Priority Deadline

May 1: Tuition Deposit Deadline

To schedule a portfolio review, or receive more information about building your portfolio, contact a MIAD Admissions Counselor through the Office of Admissions. You can also meet with our representatives at one of many National Portfolio Days around the country. To schedule an appointment, go to miad.edu/visit.

Pre-College

MIAD’s Summer Pre-College is an intense, immersive, and exciting exploration of visual art and design for high school age students. Taught by MIAD faculty, this is an opportunity to create art all day, every day, and experience a college-level curriculum. It is also a chance to connect with other art students from across the country. There are two programs offered as part of Summer Pre-College: Core Studio Concepts and Advanced Studio Concepts.

Learn more at ycp.miad.edu.

To truly experience what a MIAD education can offer, we encourage you to visit us. We’re happy to give tours of our campus and residence hall, and discuss our academic programs with you and your family.

Scan the QR code to book a tour of campus.