Minneapolis Institute of Art

Thanks to the work of members of our Visitor Experience staff and our Accessibility cross-functional team, Mia now offers sensory totes! These support visitors, students, and families with sensory processing differences by creating a quiet atmosphere and improving focus while touring the galleries. Sensory totes are available to check out for free at our Visitor Experience desk.

Happy Halloween! Members of Team Mia, the museum's staff engagement team, reverse trick-or-treated today. What does that mean? It's when you go around delivering candy to coworkers, but still say "trick or treat" when you see them.

Katie Luber, Mia’s Nivin and Duncan MacMillan Director & President, was recently interviewed by Peter Greenberg for his national radio show Eye On Travel. Katie had an engaging conversation highlighting what makes Mia unique—from our free access to all visitors, to the stories behind incredible works like Rembrandt’s Lucretia, which you can find right here in our galleries. Give it a listen: https://lnkd.in/gd4pDpaE

Congratulations Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board on the well-deserved national gold medal for excellence in park and recreation management! We’re so proud of our partnership. Learn more about the award: https://lnkd.in/gXgtdwV4

Did you know that Mia's collection includes a house? The Purcell-Cutts house, designed and built in 1913 by William Gray Purcell and George Grant Elmslie, is considered a masterpiece of Prairie School architecture. Mia's Jennifer Olivarez recently gave a tour to Shayne Wells Stroud of FOX 9 | KMSP-TV. Watch it here: https://lnkd.in/gR_2Zzvf The home is located at 2328 Lake Place in Minneapolis, and guided tours are offered the second weekend of each month.

Members of Mia’s employee resource groups recently went on a group outing to watch the Minnesota Lynx. At the game, Mia’s Chief Diversity & Inclusion officer, Virajita Singh accepted a signed ball on behalf of the group from Lynx President of Business Operations Carley Knox. Thanks, Minnesota Lynx!

For the past three years Kprecia Ambers has worked with students as a guest teaching artist on the Racism as a Public Health Crisis program at Mia, in partnership with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. We’re delighted to see her fantastic work continuing to be recognized. From Star Tribune: “Minneapolis illustrator brings diversity to design to ‘celebrate Afro beauty and resilience’” https://lnkd.in/gwjAyCfv

We’ve revamped our guide program and are seeking volunteers! Are you interested? There are now two options: leading school groups or hosting Discovery Days, a new program involving discussions in the galleries and art activities. While school guides might lead up to two tours a week, Discovery Days can be a one day a month commitment. Applications are open though August 26. Learn more: https://bit.ly/3M7LSCe

As the dog days of summer come to a close, take in a brief, fur-filled history of canines in Mia’s collection from the blog. Almost as long as people have been making art, it seems, they have made art of dogs. A few years ago, researchers exploring a cliff in the Arabian desert came across some highly detailed engravings on the cliff face, made more than 8,000 years ago—the oldest depictions ever found of dogs. Thirteen of them, wearing leashes. You can see this ubiquity at Mia, as nearly every corner of the collection—from across the world and thousands of years of history—features canines. They are, in a sense, our shadows across time: whatever we’re up to, whatever values we hold, eventually it all shows up in our dogs. Check out the highlights: https://lnkd.in/gWXvvsTV

Since the inception of the modern Olympic Games, in 1896, over 130 sports have been contested. Everyone knows the standards (gymnastics, track and field, swimming) and perhaps some of the oddities that have come and gone (tug-o-war, live pigeon shooting!). But did you know that between 1912 and 1952, several different types of art competitions were included as part of the Games? During those forty years, over 150 medals were awarded across fine arts disciplines—the only requirement was that entries had to be inspired by athletic endeavors. How was it that the early modern Games included art events in its programming? Take a deep dive into the history and events of the Olympic arts: https://lnkd.in/etfzag9J