Need a little kick in the pants to stimulate your senses? Don’t we all after that long winter (that might not be over yet)? One of my personal favorite spring rejuvenation exercises is seeing the MIAD Senior Exhibition. Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, the state’s only independent, nonprofit and dually accredited 4-year art and design college, is graduating another flock of forward-thinkers. Every year, the Senior Exhibition is a treasure trove of some of the most innovative ideas in both the academic and professional realm.
On display now through May 17, the exhibition celebrates the works of 130 students representing the college’s 11 majors and 15 minors. See different projects from Interior Architecture and Design, Printmaking, Sculpture, Animation and much more. Here’s just a sampling:
Industrial Design
Body Style. A line of women’s underwear that “approaches the female form with honesty,” finding design solutions for the four main female body types: apple, pear, hourglass and ruler.
Elevate. A mobile, height-adjustable workstation to help elementary teachers enhance their performance and integrate student/teacher interaction.
Communications Design
 |
| Unique2 |
Unique2. A customizable iPad application to help children with autism lead their daily lives and become more independent and successful as adults.
Fine Arts
 |
| “Thousand Hand Guanyin,” digital illustration, from the series “Monarch Mudras, Sunflower Sutras: An Exploration of East Meets Midwest,” by Lillian Duermeier. |
“Monarch Mudras, Sunflower Sutras: An Exploration of East Meets Midwest.” Six illustrations that portray the aesthetics of Buddhist art with the artist’s observations of growing up as a Midwestern Buddhist.
“Passage.” Photographic prints that explore the ideas of the beauty and pain inherent within the natural and “human” world. This project will also encompass a comprehensive website and soon to be a publication of Photography majors’ year-long work called “We Were Here All at Once.”
“The Institute for Species Systemization.” A mixed-media installation/performance that includes a psychological testing site to allow participants to engage in linguistic inquiry and social phenomena.
In an email, MIAD Director of Communications Vivian Rothschild explains, “With creative talent in general, and design talent specifically fueling our regional economy, MIAD helps fuel the change and growth our economy. The exhibition provides a unique view into the creative processes that fuels this growth.”
Although each project is a distinctive representation of each student’s creativity, the current theme of sustainability runs throughout the exhibition, as evident in projects like ReLeaf, a freshwater filtration device, or a redesign of the Milwaukee Public Museum. Also, altruism runs deep in the many projects that serve others such as the Elevate workstation or in many of the Communication Design projects that convey a socially conscious message.
This exhibition celebrates heaps of sparkling young talent, but MIAD also makes a commitment to ensure it is used to make our region thrive. Wisconsin might have a bad rep for brain drain, but just more than half of MIAD students come from Wisconsin and 80 percent choose to stay here after graduation. In addition, about one third of MIAD grads own their own businesses.
The free exhibition is Wisconsin’s largest annual show. See it at 273 E. Erie St., open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Check out MIAD’s website for a more in-depth profile of the various works. Many of the works at the MIAD 2011 Senior Exhibition are for sale and graduating seniors will receive their B.F.A. degrees at commencement May 14.
One More Not to Miss: The Truth is Not in the Mirror: Photography and a Constructed Identity. This bold exhibit of contemporary photography explores the highly constructed nature of portraiture the identities that they create. On display at Marquette University’s Haggerty Museum of Art (13th and Clybourn) through May 22.
