In Our Minds extends viewers an invitation to engage in multisensory play from the sidewalks and skyways of downtown St. Paul at 4th and Robert streets.

On view through October 16, 2022

August 1, 2022—St. Paul, MN—The M and Interact Center for the Visual and Performing Arts are excited to present In Our Minds, an exhibition celebrating art making as a form of research, improvisation, and play. In Our Minds features recent works by Beatrix*Jar, Bill Crane, Kramer Hagenbarth, HML, Mary Johnson, Ashlea Karkula, Don Porcella, Mark Schoening, Andrew Seymour, Briana Shelstad, Dietrich Sieling, and Victor Van—artists who revel in the process of creation as an opportunity to test ideas and see how they will play out in material form.   

Trusting their intuition to make material and aesthetic decisions as they go, these artists transform and enliven everyday materials and themes into prompts for curiosity, enjoyment, and an occasional bit of humor. In Kramer Hagenbarth’s hands, functional ceramics solidify into monster mouths. HML sews together humble scraps of fabric to create a one-of-a-kind muscle suit. In Mary Johnson’s Nightingale Rug, an assemblage of squeaky dog toys forms a vibrant, playful abstraction. Don Porcella uses humble pipe cleaners to create whimsical, immersive landscapes. Andrew Seymour’s brightly colored parades of circular forms exude the warm, sunny, invincible spirit of summer.   

Balms for anxious and uncertain times, the artworks represent the self-trust and resourcefulness of their makers, along with their openness to different artistic outcomes and to having fun along the way. In Our Minds extends viewers an invitation to engage in multisensory play from the sidewalks and skyways of downtown St. Paul. These are serious reflections on the human condition, to be sure, but they also ask if art needs to be “serious” to be important.

In Our Minds features artists with and without disabilities, from inside and outside the Interact studio community. Taking cues from Interact, In Our Minds seeks to advance frameworks for understanding creativity that move away from myths of independence towards recognition and celebration of interdependence.  

FEATURED ARTISTS

Beatrix*Jar, Bill Crane, Kramer Hagenbarth, HML, Mary Johnson, Ashlea Karkula, Don Porcella, Mark Schoening, Andrew Seymour, Briana Shelstad, Dietrich Sieling, and Victor Van

IMAGE CREDIT (Pictured above)

Ashlea Karkula, Shark Bite, 2018, acrylic on canvas, image courtesy of the artist
Image description: Ashlea Karkula, Sharkbite, 2018, acrylic on stretched canvas, 36 x 36 inches. An exciting crowd of animals covers the canvas in vibrant colors. A tangerine shark with blue eyes, grey shark with tongue sticking out, and green alligator-like creature are featured more prominently in the chaotic array. Smaller creatures fill spaces throughout the scene, their eyes large and circular. Some animals play basketball, intermingle, and smile. The whole composition is covered with bright hues. Aquatic blue fills the background.

ACCESS INFORMATION  

The M’s gallery spaces are currently closed to the public. In Our Minds is installed in the windows on Robert Street and 4th Street, as well as the M’s Ecolab Skyway entrance. Visitors can access the skyway via automated doors that lead to elevators at 350 Robert Street and at the Pioneer building lobby entrance on Robert Street. Some of the sidewalk surfaces around the viewing windows are uneven. The window installations are on view to the public 24/7. Admission is free, everyone is welcome, and a map is available adjacent to the windows north of the 350 Robert Street entrance.?Because the M’s gallery spaces are closed, there are no publicly accessible bathrooms.  

To make arrangements or for further help please call the M at (651) 797-2571 or email [email protected].?  

TRANSIT INFORMATION:  

The Metro Green Line stops just a block from the M’s front door (Central Station). Several bus lines also stop close by; visit metrotransit.org to plan your trip.?  

Parking is available in the following locations:?  

-Paid meter parking on the streets surrounding the museum, most reliably on Kellogg Blvd. one block away from the M?  
-Jackson Street Ramp – enter off Jackson Street north of 4th Street?  
-Lowertown Parking Ramp – enter off Jackson Street, between 4th Street and Kellogg Blvd?  
-First National Bank Ramp – enter on 5th Street near Minnesota Street?  
-Union Depot – enter off Kellogg Boulevard near Wacouta Street?  
-Kellogg Square – enter off Kellogg Blvd near Robert Street?  
-Cray Plaza – enter off 5th Street past Jackson Street?  

For more guidance about how to get to the M, check out this video.?  

Interact Center for the Visual and Performing Arts • interactcenter.org

1860 Minnehaha Ave W • Saint Paul, MN 55104

In Our Minds is organized in collaboration with Interact Center for the Visual and Performing Arts, a progressive visual arts studio and theater company committed to artistic excellence and radical inclusion. At Interact, artists with and without disabilities work side by side every day as peer creators to challenge perceptions of disability as an experience of profound fullness rather than lack.  

Minnesota Museum of American Art • mmaa.org

350 Robert Street North • St. Paul, MN 55101

Minnesota Museum of American Art (the M), based in St. Paul, has evolved and adapted over the course of its history dating back to the 19th century. Recognizing that art is a tool for facilitating understanding across difference, the M is dedicated to amplifying the power of art and artists who represent diverse perspectives, identities, and lived experiences.  

First introduced as an innovative way to present engaging exhibitions while remaining closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the M continues to exhibit work in its window galleries as well as in the skyway, virtually, and at partner facilities, in anticipation of commencing construction work on the final phase of the M’s facility.