MIAD receives inaugural grant from Ruth Foundation for the Arts

The nationally recognized Ruth Foundation for the Arts (Ruth Arts) has awarded the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) an inaugural grant through its new Wisconsin Grants to Artists program to support research and development of work by individual artists. The MIAD grant is part of the Ruth Arts’ regranting program to three Milwaukee-centric organizations. Lynden Sculpture Garden and The Open Fund also received grants.

Through an award of $75,000 for the 2023-24 academic year, MIAD has launched the Faculty and Staff Fine Arts Grant, which will support up to 15 full-time faculty and staff with amounts between $5,000 and $10,000 per individual. Faculty and staff will use the funds to develop their own independent fine art practices, while the program will support the artists with promotion and celebration of work. The artists will be selected through a juried process at the college.

“We are honored by the continued support of the Ruth Foundation for the Arts through this new program,” says MIAD President Jeff Morin. “The Wisconsin Grants to Artist program will amplify our faculty and staff’s work to embrace our values of community, inclusion and innovation by fostering discourse and visibility on issues relevant to our communal and personal lives. In doing so, our college community will also continue to honor Ruth DeYoung Kohler’s life and legacy, and her devotion to the arts and individual artists.”

“To inaugurate this re-granting program, we selected three organizations with the infrastructure and expertise to connect with artists in the city,” said Ruth Arts Executive Director Karen Patterson in the foundation’s release. “We are grateful to these organizations for piloting this program with us and are so pleased that they can now augment their already existing support for artists in the city.”

Announced in 2022, MIAD is also a recipient of Ruth Art RDK Legacy Fund, a unique program dedicated to honoring and continuing Ruth DeYoung Kohler’s steadfast support of regional and craft-based organizations and artist-built environments.

Learn more about Ruth Arts, read the foundation’s press release and learn more about MIAD!