“Our opportunity is to take all the stories and build a museum that doesn't just tell one story, that doesn't just center one experience, but that really lifts up the St. Paul story that lifts up the Minnesota story—the good, the bad, the ugly—and tells the truth and shows us who we've been so that we can know who we are so that we can build who we're becoming.”

DR. KATE BEANE
“I come from a community that doesn’t always feel comfortable walking into a museum, and that’s something I love about the M’s window and skyway exhibitions—we’re creating other ways for people to interact with us in ways that aren’t so traditional....

THE TIME IS NOW!

Guests gathered inside the M on Tuesday, May 24 to celebrate and offer support in closing out the capital campaign. Shuttered for more than two years, this was the first opportunity to get an inside look at the museum, meet new Executive Director Dr. Kate Beane, and step forward to be a part of the new M.

After an inspired lineup of special guest speakers including Syd Beane, Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, Mayor Melvin Carter, and Eric Jolly, Executive Director Dr. Kate Beane asked M supporters to consider making an important gift that will allow the museum to begin construction on the final phase of the museum expansion project.

The fundraiser garnered $100,000 toward a very important $550,000 goal needed to close the gap and begin the final phase of construction on the expanded museum in the new fiscal year, beginning July 1. As Executive Director Dr. Kate Beane stated, "The time is now!"

Once completed, this final construction phase will add 17,000 square feet and triple the museum's size. The larger museum will provide additional opportunities to partner with community organizations to further explore American identities through art. The M's building will remain closed during construction, but programming will continue in the window galleries and skyways, in the community, and virtually.

Through it all, the M has and will continue to offer innovative programs that showcase our essential value as a major cultural anchor for St. Paul and the region.

MAYOR MELVIN CARTER

"I'm excited to be here today. I’m excited to be a part of this story, I’m excited about the way the M is helping us shape, craft, and build our stories together as a community. Because our story is the most powerful thing that we have. Our story is what helps us survive this moment, no matter what this moment brings." 

Closing The Gap
Opening a New Chapter at the M

It's not too late to make a gift and move the M even closer to closing the gap and getting construction underway. You can make a gift, at any time, by texting #anewchapter to 44321, or giving online.

Checks can be mailed to: Minnesota Museum of American Art, 350 Robert St N, St. Paul, MN, 55101.

If you have questions or need assistance with facilitating a gift, please reach out to Kate Tucker, Director of Advancement, at (312) 206-7230 or email [email protected].

Your ongoing support is greatly appreciated.

The time is now to support the M!

The Honors Visual Art Exhibition is a long-standing collaboration between Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS), the Minnesota Museum of American Art (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-discovery—from technically disciplined to playful, from highly personal to globally minded. This year's exhibition will feature large vinyl reproductions of student work in the M’s 4th Street exterior windows from June 25 through July 24.

Above left: Anxiety, LeAsia Johnson-Brown, acrylic on canvas, Harding Senior High School
Above right: Silly Joyce, Joyce Wu, charcoal, Johnson Senior High School

In Our Minds And On Display This Summer

New Exhibition Opens August 1

The M and Interact Center for the Visual and Performing Arts present In Our Minds, an exhibition celebrating artmaking 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.

Mestizaje: Intermix-Remix

Exhibition Closes June 12

Don't miss Mestizaje: Intermix-Remix on view in the M’s windows and skyway entrance through June 12, 2022. In this exhibition, eight Latinx artists (identifying as Chicano, Chilean, Colombian, Mixteco, Mexican, and Mexican-American) explore what it means to claim a mixed-race identity consisting of both Indigenous and European descent. This exhibition is the first iteration of a long-term collaboration between the M and the art collective Grupo Soap del Corazón (art that cleanses the heart). 

Read a profile about Mestizaje artist Bobby Marines whose energetic voice uses his art and personal background to explore healing, identity, and vulnerability, especially for those whose experiences mirror his own. Enjoy the profile of the Mestizaje: Intermix-Remix artist here!

Support the M today!