Explore how the Layton School of Art developed alongside the Bauhaus in the 1920s, driven by shared principles of integrating art, design, and industry to create a progressive educational model that shaped Milwaukee’s creative landscape. Examine the significance of Layton’s 1951 relocation from a neoclassical gallery to a modernist glass-block building on Milwaukee’s lakefront, marking the city’s transition from a river-focused to a lake-centered identity. Investigate how Charlotte Partridge and Miriam Frink’s queerness was integral to their leadership, shaping Layton as an inclusive, experimental space and extending their modern influence into projects like their Mequon home and Lillian Leenhouts’ Zonta Manor apartment complex. Highlight the enduring legacy of Partridge and Frink at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, a school still deeply shaped by queer and feminist voices and discuss the importance of reclaiming their place in Milwaukee’s artistic and architectural history.

The lecture will begin promptly at 5:00pm in the Archives & Special Collections Room

PRESENTER:

Seth Ter Haar (he/him) is an artist, curator, and Docomomo Wisconsin fellow researching queer histories in art and architecture. A 2023 graduate of the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, he curated Predecessor: Works from the Layton School of Art, an exhibition exploring Wisconsin’s art education legacy and its LGBTQ+ founders, Charlotte Partridge and Miriam Frink. His practice often draws from local archives and LGBTQ+ spaces, with a particular focus on the history and ideology of gay cruising culture. Committed to fostering intergenerational dialogue within the queer community, Ter Haar founded Frederick Avenue Gallery—affectionately known as F.A.G.—a collective dedicated to preserving, sharing, and enriching the cultural narratives that shape queer identity and place in Milwaukee. He is a recipient of a Gener8tor Art x Sherman Phoenix Accelerator grant (2023), an honorable mention from the International Sculpture Center (2024), and was named a finalist for the 2025 Mary Nohl Fellowship.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Understand the Early Modern Development of Art and Architectural Education in Wisconsin.
• Analyze the Architectural and Urban Impact of Layton’s Move to the Lakefront.
• Recognize the Role of Queerness in Cultural Innovation.
• Bridge the Gap Between Layton and MIAD’s Present Identity.

2 LUs

No refunds day of event.

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