The Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) is a private art school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1974, MIAD is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and the National Association of Schools of Art and Design.[3] The Jane Bradley Pettit Building is the college's main academic building, located on the Milwaukee River in the Historic Third Ward.
MIAD’s predecessor was the Layton School of Art. Layton was founded in 1920 by business and romantic partners Charlotte R. Partridge and Miriam Frink.[4] The two women worked together from 1920 until their retirement in 1954 to establish Layton as an accredited institution of higher education.
Upon closure of Layton, in 1974, seven faculty members co-founded the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design. These included CW Peckenpaugh, Roland Poska and Jack H. White.[5][6]
MIAD's campus is located in Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward, one of the city's arts districts, bordered by the Milwaukee River and Lake Michigan. In 1992, after a complete renovation, the college moved into the Jane Bradley Pettit Building. This is MIAD's main academic building, with 245,000 square feet (22,800 m2) of space on five floors.
The institution is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and National Association of Schools of Art and Design. It offers an undergraduate Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in six programs and more than one dozen minors.[7]
As of fall 2023, MIAD had an enrollment of 885 students, which were 79% women and 21% men.[2] MIAD's faculty consists of about 100 working artists, designers and scholars. The ratio of student to faculty is 15 to 1.[8]
The Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) is home to two nationally recognized museum galleries that are open to the public and also hosts several auxiliary gallery spaces on campus which generally feature student work.[9]
Jane Bradley Pettit Building
3rd Street Market Hall