UWM’s Community Design Solutions partnered with North Division High School to make improvements to the school’s interior and exterior spaces. North Division is one of six Milwaukee Public Schools to receive major capital investments this year, with $2.4 million dedicated to expanding career and technical education at the high school.
Urban Planning graduate student Marybeth McGinnis was named Summer 2026 Student of the Quarter by Study Urban Planning, an organization that helps up-and-coming urban planners build their careers.
Dean of the College of the Arts and Architecture Dr. Winifred Elysse Newman is among 25 architecture education leaders sharing perspectives on how schools can prepare students for the evolving demands of the profession.
Urban planning associate professor and Co-Chair Carolyn Esswein joined the conversation on how community ties can push growth after residents gathered outside of Metcalfe Park’s recently closed Pick ‘n Save to rally support for their neighborhood.
Alum Claire Hitchcock Tilton is working alongside her father, Steven Tilton, to restore the Milwaukee Boathouse, a well-known landmark in Milwaukee’s Cambridge Woods neighborhood. Steven Tilton purchased the home in 2018, and the father-daughter team helped breathe new life into its distinctive architectural fantasy.
Students in a studio led by architecture professor Whitney Moon collaborated with FuzzPop Workshop to design larger-than-life inflatable sculptures for ArtBlaze, a free community art event hosted by Joy Engine. ArtBlaze 2026 marks the second year of the partnership among the School of Architecture & Urban Planning and FuzzPop Workshop for this creative collaboration.
Architecture professor Adam Thibodeaux leads Ghost Lab, a research initiative that has architecture students engage with the forgotten histories behind buildings often used by marginalized groups. Their most recent work focuses on the Catherine Foley/Miller Tavern in the Third Ward.
Historic Preservation Institute Director Matthew Jarosz was featured in Milwaukee Magazine for his work using laser scanning to preserve digital records of historic buildings before demolition. The article explores how the technology creates detailed “virtual twins” that can support future research, restoration and documentation while helping balance preservation with redevelopment.
The city of Wauwatosa announced Urban Planning alum Nate Piotrowski (MUP 2005, Urban Planning) as its new Development Director. Previously, Piotrowski served as the Community Development Director for Brown Deer and holds more than twenty years of experience in urban planning.
Students from the School of Architecture & Urban Planning’s Community Design Solutions worked with Milwaukee City Parks to create park infrastructure using reclaimed wood. Spectrum News anchor Jason Fechner spoke with Community Design Solutions director Krisann Rehbein about how the project got started and how students used abstract thinking and creative methods to design effective and affordable benches for Milwaukee parks.
