Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design

The Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design is a degree-granting college where individuals discover and realize their creative potential. Like many other art and design colleges granting the B.F.A., MIAD is accredited by the North Central Association, which accredits colleges and universities, and the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD), which accredits visual art colleges. From the moment students enter MIAD, they are immersed in the studio experience and invited to be part of an ongoing daily dialogue where their individual voice matters. In 2008-2009, the college's core values- Education and Lifelong Learning; Visual, Verbal, Written and Media Literacy; Critical Thinking and Creative Problem Solving; Innovation; Quality; Passion, Commitment and Dedication; Diversity- inspired transformational change that affirms even more powerfully each student's voice. MIAD has created a true Learning College, a community of learners in which students come to learn, and where faculty and staff learn from students every day and continuously improve the value and quality of each student's experience. The dynamic plans implemented throughout the college have reinvented the first-year experience, broadened majors and elective offerings for 21st century practices and professions, fostered cross-disciplinary dialogue, and created a new leadership structure that is student-focused and learning-based. Faculty have redefined the critique experience to foster dialogue and even greater intellectual rigor, and helped to deepen a dynamic process of feedback to further ensure student success. That success is multi-faceted. It is based on the provision of a complete education for today's creative economy that can be completed in four years through a focused sequential program coupled with Liberal Studies and the Humanities. The curriculum, and faculty, who work with students at a ratio of 1:10, prepare students for professional careers as artists and designers while fostering the problem solving and lifelong learning skills that all businesses seek. MIAD students are distinguished not only by their professional acumen, but also by their dedication to living an engaged life, contributing as fluidly to the societies and communities in which they live as they do to our economy. The college's Service Learning Program and course requirement deepen students' personal connection to the community and provide them with unique leadership skills for addressing society's challenges. Thirty-five hours of service to one of 50 area non-profit agencies forms the underpinning of a course devoted to shared observations in group discussions, experiential exercises, e-journaling, written assignments and classroom presentations. The program, now in its tenth year, has distinguished MIAD students in southeastern Wisconsin and beyond as dedicated to challenging and providing solutions to issues related to the marginalized and vulnerable in our society, to race, racism and privilege, among other topics. To further broaden students' experiences, MIAD has created new community partnerships, such as with Wisconsin's renowned Discovery World Museum, another leading creative incubator. Interdisciplinary experiences flourish through the resources offered by the museum, which also provides an audience of 500,000 and new venues for student work, including broadcast, live performance and interactive virtual spaces. To sum up the vibrant learning community that is MIAD: It's an all-day, sometimes all-night, can't get enough college where exceptional talent finds its future.