Program areas at MMAA
Exhibitions and programs:in this fiscal year, july 2022 through june 2023 the m continued to collaborate with community partners to present exhibitions that foster understanding of American identities, experiences, and complex truths from wide ranging perspectives, in public spaces in downtown st. paul. The m established new partnerships, while maintaining longstanding ones. The partnerships were wide-ranging, but storytelling and bridge building across different lived experiences was a consistent element, including supporting emerging and underrepresented artists and curators. In addition to utilizing the m's street-facing windows, the m worked with collaborators to activate the skyways, and maintain virtual programming all to provide free, accessible opportunities to experience the power of Art, creativity, and community. 1. St. paul public schools honors visual Art exhibition, june 2022july 2022: the honors visual Art exhibition is a long-standing collaboration between saint paul public schools, the m, and ordway center for the performing arts celebrating the creative talent of high school students. Each year high school educators select student artworks to participate in the exhibition based on creativity, technique, and rigor. The works demonstrate a variety of paths to artistic self-discoveryfrom technically disciplined to playful, from highly personal to globally minded.2. In our minds, july 30, 2022january 8, 2023: this exhibition was organized in collaboration with interact center for the visual and performing arts, a progressive Art studio that supports the flourishing of artists with disabilities. In our minds featured the work of artists with and without disabilities as peer creators. Artists beatrix*jar, bill crane, kramer hegenbarth, hml, mary johnson, ashlea karkula, don porcella, mark schoening, andrew seymour, briana shelstad, dietrich sieling, and victor van, celebrated Art making as a form of research, improvisation, and play. The show extended visitors an invitation to engage in multisensory play from the sidewalks and skyways of downtown st. paul.3. In our minds, opening artist reception, august 23, 2022: this event prioritized access and care and included an audio playground by beatrix*jar and a sensory station featuring tactile objects from each of the exhibiting artists.4. In our minds, artist-led workshops at interact center for visual and performing arts (august, october, december): these workshops created opportunities for exhibiting artists with and without disabilities to build relationships and learn from one another. 5. Elevating native American and indigenous voices in arts institutions: a fireside chat, november 15, 2022: this conversation explored the ways in which native American and indigenous voices can and should be elevated and prioritized in American arts institutions. A convening of university of Minnesota alumni, these local and national leaders discussed the state of the arts from a variety of indigenous perspectives, and the ways in which institutions can support native American and indigenous arts and artists to remain relevant today.6. Found-fashion j-term course and fashion show, january 2023: the m partnered with saint paul conservatory for performing artists to support a unique fashion design class for the school's monthlong j-term intended to give students professional experience in an area of artistic practice. Students purchased materials for their projects secondhand, empowered by an artist talk from teaching artist mary johnson, who uses everyday textiles and objects in her artworks. Johnson also provided a sewing tutorial to the students with tips on garment construction, as well as mid-term reviews of their projects. The course culminated with a public fashion show presentation.7. Im/perfect slumbers, february 11 august 20, 2023: im/perfect slumbers was a multi-disciplinary series of Art installations that occurred in the m's window galleries and skyway entrance. Diverse voices of local artists, writers, and cultural activists captured the historical and contemporary state of sleeping and being in bed. This exhibition was the result of textile artist and researcher katya oicherman's long-term residency at the m. work by rachel breen, sayge carroll, amoke awele kubat, shanai matteson, katya oicherman, molly parker stuart, anat spiegel, rotem tamir, yuko taniguchi, gwen westerman, and peng wu was specially commissioned for the m's window spaces, including visual and sound installations based on the history of the building as the home of the first local newspaper, the Minnesota pioneer (which became the pioneer press). 8. Native arts convening, june 21-22: the m hosted its first native arts convening in this fiscal year. At this pivotal moment of expansion and growth, the m sought input and involvement from the diverse communities of this region about how to incorporate indigenous values into the foundation of the m's intersectional work. The m recognizes the power and necessity of building long-term relationships with native American and indigenous makers, creators, and leaders to fulfill its mission. 9. Let go, breathe deeply: an "im/perfect slumbers" virtual conversation, july 26, 2023: six artists featured in im/perfect slumbers gathered for a creative exchange about sleep and shared connections between their practices. Katya oicherman, amoke awele kubat, shanai matteson, rotem tamir, yuko taniguchi, and gwen westerman shared poetry and writing in the form of a call and response.skyway projects1. Off the deep end, may 2022present: students at saint paul conservatory for performing artists (spcpa) developed off the deep end, a skyway mural that confronts themes surrounding a metaphorical rising sea level. Guided by artists, curators, and teachers at spcpa and the m, nineteen students in grades 9-12 collaborated using digital drawing software to create original artwork for the skyway bridge. 2. Colonia traumas by luis fitch, october 2022 present: twin cities-based artist and designer luis fitch brings his signature stylized calaveras to the skyway bridge, featuring colorful, vinyl cut-out skulls that represent the complexity of identity, place, and belonging for people of mixed-race descent.3. Skytrain: cities in the clouds, may 18, 2023 present: juniors and seniors from saint paul conservatory for performing artists (spcpa) collaborated with the m and victory ramp to create this colorful artwork. For many students, this was their first time painting a mural and participating in the process of creating a large-scale collaborative Art piece.
Collections:in this fiscal year, the m added thirty works to the permanent collection it holds in public trust, a significant increase from recent years. This increase reflects preparations for a major permanent collection re-installation which will be on view in the m's completed facility opening in the fall of 2024. Purchases and donations reflect the m's ongoing commitments to supporting Minnesota artists, emerging artists, and artists from underrepresented backgrounds. In alignment with the m's multifaceted focus on native initiatives, the m acquired numerous artworks from native artists with tribal affiliations in this region. The m maintained an eleven-year tradition of purchasing artwork from the fine arts exhibition at the Minnesota state fair. Marcela rodriquez aguilar, pacha map, 2022, acrylic and oil on wood panel, acquisition fundvarious artists, the mpls sketchbook project, 2021, various media on paper, acquisition fundpaul briggs, scholar's form, 2020, pinched-form, glazed stoneware, gift of ruth hanold cranemaggie thompson (fond du lac, ojibwe), quantum entanglement, 2022, photo transfer on fabric, beads, and thread, acquisition fundavis charley (spirit lake dakota/din), smile now, cry later, 2022, oil on canvas, acquisition fundtia keobounpheng, threads no. 4, 2022, thread, colored pencil, and pencil on wood, acquisition fundpat kruse (red cliff band of ojibwe), thunderbird, 2021, birchbark, acquisition fundmoises salazar, jefe de jefes, 2022, glitter and acrylic on canvas, yarn, acquisition fundjovan c. speller, in lottie's living room, 2020, mixed media, acquisition fundpurchasecameron booth, young medical student, 1934, pencil on paper, gift of bethesda hospitaltim harding, sunrise reflections, n.d., silk applique, gift of bethesda hospitalalice hugy, lady with pearls, 1929, watercolor, gift of bethesda hospitalfaith lowell, pilgrim, 1979, oil on canvas, gift of bethesda hospitaljo lutz rollins, Minnesota paper mill, n.d., gouache, gift of bethesda hospitaljo lutz rollins, pea vinery (in lesever), n.d., watercolor, gift of bethesda hospitaldan bruggeman, hyperobjects 1, 2, and 3, 2017-18, gouache and ink on paper, gift of the artistdietrich sieling, sunny outside, 2020, color pencil and photo collage on acrylic, gift of the artist and bockley gallerydon porcella, natural selection, 2022, mixed media (pipe cleaners), gift of the artistjudith roode, approach-avoidance #22, 1986, black pastel on paper, gift of the friends of judith roodejulie buffalohead (ponca tribe of Oklahoma), the longing, 2008, water-based paints on paper, gift of tom arnesonandrea carlson (ojibwe, grand portage band), end of trail, 2007, oil, acrylic, ink, color pencil, and graphite on paper, gift of tom arnesonjim denomie (ojibwe, lac courte oreilles band), bayou portrait iv, 2017, acrylic on paper, gift of tom arnesondont k hayes, dreaming of afro city, 2014, etching with chin collie, gift of tom arnesonwanbli koyake (minneconjou, lakta), what i learned in boarding school #1, 2011), mixed media on found paper, gift of tom arnesonwanbli koyake (minneconjou, lakta),what i learned in boarding school #2, 2011, mixed media on found paper, gift of tom arnesonclara mairs, sick room, n.d., watercolor/gouache on illustration board, gift of tom arnesonlauren dela roche, untitled (two female figures reclining in room), 2019, ink and pigmented acrylic wash on paper, gift of tom arnesonjustin terlecki, 8 pm power blackout in varkala, 2010, lithograph and screenprint, gift of tom arnesonjulie zick, girl at rest, late 1960s/early 1970s, color lithograph, gift of tom arnesonnatia lemay, untitled, 2023, oil on unstretched canvas, promised gift of bob and mary merskythe m lent the following artworks in its collections to other Art and cultural institutions:perlman teaching Museum, carleton college, northfield, Minnesota julie buffalohead: september 29, 2022 november 16, 2022 the bad feminist, 2018, by julie buffalohead why i hate bras, 2018, by julie buffalohead stamford Museum & nature center, stamford, Connecticut sophy regensburg: a retrospective: december 9, 2022 march 19, 2023 landscape with telephone poles, ca 1960s, by sophy regensburg minneapolis institute of Art, minneapolis, Minnesota the lyrical work of jim denomie: july 8, 2023 march 24, 2024 oz, the emergence, 2017, by jim denomie