(from left): Designer Aki Cooren, Annie Carlano, and design historians Alexa Armstrong and Cassandra Hernandez from Carpenters Workshop Gallery.
Noteworthy: Awards, accolades, and notable mentions – Fall 2025 Inspired Magazine
Mint staff leading in the North Carolina Museum Council.
Alex Olivares, the Mint’s audience research and evaluation specialist, has been elected board president of the North Carolina Museum Council — an important leadership role that reflects her expertise and ongoing commitment to foster innovation and engagement within cultural institutions.
Also serving in a key leadership position is Margaret Mauldin, assistant head of school and gallery programs. Mauldin is the council’s vice chair for professional development. Her role highlights her passion for museum education and advancing professional growth in the field.
The North Carolina Museum Council is a nonprofit organization devoted to supporting and elevating museums and museum professionals throughout the state.
100 Internship applications
The number of summer internship applications received, underscoring the interest of university and college students to museum professions. Five interns were selected from the impressive pool of applicants and placed in five departments throughout the museum.
Exceptional guest service
Kudos to guest services employees Mila Simmons and Bridget Sullivan for going above and beyond in providing exceptional service as sighted guides to a visitor during the NC 12th District Congressional Art Competition Reception on May 18. The visitor expressed heartfelt appreciation, sharing that Simmons and Sullivan made her feel truly welcome in the museum. They took the time to explain the layout, read signage aloud, and personally escorted her to a seat for the reception. During the event, Sullivan continued to support the visitor by kindly asking student artists to elaborate on their works and describe them in more visual detail, helping the guest better understand and appreciate the art on display.
Our curators inspire at the biannual Design Summit
Senior Curator of Craft, Design, and Fashion Annie Carlano served on the planning committee for the biannual Design Summit held in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and hosted by the Advisory Board of Human Dignity Projects. The Summit 2025 theme was Dignify by Design. Participants included architects, designers, philosophers, social entrepreneurs, and economists who promote justice, dignity, and community, into their practice. Carlano moderated the panel “Culture Can Influence Change: Moving Cultural Traditions Forward Responsibly” and selected artists/designers Virgil Ortiz, Fernando Laposse, and Japanese/French designers Aki and Arnaud Cooren for the program.
Diego Romero (1964–). Guzano Rojo Tequila Series Bowl, 1998,
earthenware, paint over red slip. 3.5” x 8”. Museum purchase: Funds provided by Sheri Brown. 1999.84.
Curator’s Pick: Guzano Rojo Tequila Series Bowl
Diego Romero explores the complexities of contemporary Native American life through a bold graphic style that bridges ancient tradition and modern storytelling. Working in both print and ceramic, he channels the visual languages of the ancient world — Greek, Anasazi, Mimbres — alongside pop culture, crafting powerful narratives that comingle the past and present.
Romero was raised in Berkeley, California, by his Cochiti Pueblo father and non-Native mother. Summers spent at Cochiti introduced him to his ancestral artistic roots. A recurring theme in Romero’s work is the destructive legacy of colonialism, particularly the impact of alcoholism on native communities. His Guzano Rojo Tequila Series Bowl is a striking example. Inside the bowl, a comic book style illustration features a bright red maguey worm among agave plants, referencing the creatures sometimes found in bottles of mezcal. It’s a cautionary tale, told with Romero’s signature wit and gravity. Framed in a European gilding technique, embedded with Mimbres symbols, a simple coiled bowl becomes a container of potent commentary.
Romero studied at the Institute of American Indian Arts, earned a bachelor’s degree in fine art from Otis College of Art and Design, and completed his master’s degree in fine art at UCLA in 1993. Since then, his work has been widely exhibited and is included in the permanent collections of major institutions such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The British Museum, the National Museum of Scotland, and Fondation Cartier in Paris. In 2015, he was awarded a United States Artists fellowship.
–Annie Carlano is senior curator of Craft, Design, and Fashion at The Mint Museum.
Henri-Michel-Antoine Chapu (French, 1833–91). A Bust of Alexandre Dumas, pere, after 1876, terracotta. The Smith-Naifeh Collection.
Take a European sojourn with Renaissance, Romanticism, and Rebellion
Renaissance, Romanticism, and Rebellion: European Art from the Smith-Naifeh Collection brings together more than 70 paintings, sculptures, and works on paper, offering a sweeping look at the vibrant and transformative world of 19th-century European art. Drawn entirely from the renowned Smith-Naifeh Collection, carefully assembled over decades by South Carolina-based collectors and scholars Gregory Smith and Stephen Naifeh, the exhibition captures a century defined by dramatic cultural, social, and artistic shifts. Many of the works on view were created by pioneers of their time, influencing or working alongside legendary figures such as Vincent van Gogh (about whom Smith and Naifeh wrote a critically acclaimed biography). The exhibition also marks a rare chance to experience a major portion of this outstanding private collection. It is the most comprehensive public presentation of the Smith-Naifeh Collection to date. Organized into three thematic sections, the show invites visitors on a journey through the evolving styles and ideas that defined a century.
• Renaissance features artists whose work reflected classical ideals, embracing harmony, nature, and rigorous academic training, that met the high standards of Europe’s elite salons.
• Romanticism delves into the emotional heart of the era, showcasing dramatic stories and powerful landscapes that invite awe, empathy, and deep reflection.
• Rebellion highlights the rule-breakers — artists who defied tradition with daring subjects and bold techniques, setting the stage for the rise of modernism.
–Jonathan Stuhlman, PhD, is senior curator of American Art at The Mint Museum
Image courtesy of The Mint Museum
Skateboarding has always been more than a sport. Each deck tells a story of creativity, rebellion, and connection.
With over 9 million skateboarders in the United States, the sport is now ranked as the sixth fastest growing in the country by the Sports and Fitness Industry Association, and skateboarding continues to shape and reflect American culture in dynamic ways.
Central Impact: Skateboarding’s Art and Influence, on view September 19, 2025 through January 4, 2026 at Mint Museum Randolph takes a closer look at one of skateboarding’s most powerful forms of expression: the board itself. The exhibition brings together rare and iconic decks, original artwork, and archival media spanning from the 1970s to today. It highlights how skate graphics have evolved alongside cultural shifts and technological advancements, offering a visual timeline of the movement’s growth.
Featured in the show are works by influential artists, including Sean Cliver, Marc McKee, and Andy Jenkins. Their graphics helped define the look and attitude of skateboarding through decades of change. These pieces are displayed alongside selections from private collections, including contributions from Tim Anderson, Josh Frazier, Andrew Thomas, Patrick Lowery, and others who have dedicated themselves to preserving this rich visual history.
While the exhibition spans global and national narratives, it places special focus on the Southeast and North Carolina’s skateboarding community. From pro skaters to local pioneers, these individuals shaped the region’s skate culture through passion, grit, and imagination. Charlotte has built a scene known for its independent spirit. With spots like Central Avenue, Eastland, and Kilborne Park serving as cultural landmarks, the city’s skaters have long organized their own events, supported local artists, and built places to ride when none existed. Central Impact recognizes the moments and people that helped put Charlotte on the skateboarding map. It documents the local scene’s role in a much broader story, showing how a homemade ramp or a spray-painted deck can carry meaning far beyond the street it was built on.
The exhibition pairs seamlessly with Future Now: Virtual Sneakers to Cutting-Edge Kicks, also on view this fall at Mint Museum Randolph. Together, the two exhibitions explore how design, identity, and street culture continue to push boundaries—whether through footwear or four wheels. The exhibition is presented in partnership with Deckaid, a volunteer-led nonprofit that collaborates with artists, collectors, and skateboarders to showcase and create awareness of skateboard art history with an emphasis on supporting marginalized youth. Central Impact also serves a greater purpose. Proceeds from the exhibition will support the Charlotte Skate Foundation, which works to expand access and resources for young skaters across the region. This is more than a celebration of skateboarding graphics. It is a look into the culture, people, and places that continue to shape one of the most creative and inclusive communities in the world. Central Impact invites visitors to see skateboarding not just as a sport, but as a powerful form of self-expression with stories worth telling.
–Clayton Sealey is senior director of marketing and communications at The Mint Museum.
Jeff Staple x RTFKT
Meta-Pigeon K-Minus, 2021
Collection of the Bata Shoe Museum, gift of RTFKT
Image courtesy of RTFKT
The oldest works of art at Mint Museum Randolph may stretch back thousands of years — but this fall, the spotlight is on what’s next.
Future Now: Virtual Sneakers to Cutting-Edge Kicks explores the evolution of shoes — from 19th-century industrial breakthroughs to today’s boundary-pushing designs built for both the real world and the metaverse. Curated by Elizabeth Semmelhack, director and senior curator of the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, Future Now features approximately 60 revolutionary pairs of footwear, drawing from the Bata collection and private loans. Expect creations from icons like Salehe Bembury, RTFKT, Zaha Hadid, Mr. Bailey, Nike ISPA, SCRY, and more.
From factory floor to fashion frontier
During the 19th century, the traditional craft of shoemaking in the West was transformed by industrialization and the development of new synthetic materials. Early innovations gave rise to affordable, durable footwear — but they also limited consumer options for sizes and styles and led to the exploitation of workers and environmental waste. The designers represented in Future Now grapple with this complex history, prioritizing sustainability and style in equal measure. Although Future Now includes many kinds of footwear, the emphasis is on sneakers, highlighting the ways designers have met the performance and aesthetic needs of athletes and sneakerheads alike. The exhibition, organized into five sections, begins with an overview of new technologies and materials from the 19th and 20th centuries and includes some of the earliest sneakers, made in the 1890s, and evening shoes with celluloid heels from the 1920s.
Innovation unleashed
The “Innovation” section features 21st-century avant-garde styles like the NOVA platform shoe by the late Iraqi British architect Zaha Hadid. The cantilevered fiberglass platforms share the curvaceous lines and futuristic look of her building designs. The shoe is the first to use rotational molding to create its vinyl uppers and also includes vacuum-cast fiberglass platforms and heel wedges. It is made by United Nude, a company founded by Rem D. Koolhaas, who also studied architecture and believes that “shoes that don’t look like shoes can be the most exciting shoes.”
Projecting into the future
The shoe industry churns out over 20 billion pairs of shoes each year, contributing an estimated 2% of global carbon emissions. But visionary designers are combatting these problems through waste-free production methods and materials. In the “Sustainable” section of the exhibition, Designer Zixiong Wei and his company SCRY (the verb “scry” means to look into the future) created his otherworldly Undercurrent shoe in a fully digital process, from design to 3D printing, avoiding the material waste of offcuts in manufacturing. Footwear design today is more diverse — and more digital — than ever. In the “Transformative” section, view designs by creative disruptors like Daniel Bailey, aka Mr. Bailey. Bailey, founder of Conceptkicks, is a champion for the next generation, sharing the design process with emerging creators around the world through digital platforms. Mr. Bailey’s Octopus Shoe reinterprets the high-top sneaker through the lens of Japanese pop artist Takashi Murakami. Inspired by Murakami’s Dobtopus sculptures, a variation of his recurring animated character Mr. Dob, Mr. Bailey’s design thoroughly reimagines the form of a high-top sneaker with sucker-laden tentacles reaching up from around the sole and tongues featuring Mr. Dob’s Mickey Mouse-like, round ears and toothy open mouth.
Into the virtual realm
In a world where our identities live both online and off, the final section — “Virtual” — dives into the fascinating realm of digital fashion. Enter RTFKT (pronounced “artifact”). The trailblazing company founded by Benoit Pagotto, who previously worked in e-sports marketing; Chris Le, a game designer; and Steven Vasilev, a customizer of sneakers, fuses gaming, crypto, and culture, producing NFT sneakers with a real-world counterpart. Much like works of art or custom-made products, NFTs are unique digital assets. RTFKT created a new model where consumers who purchase sneaker NFTs are also entitled to a matching pair of physical sneakers made on demand. The consumer can then wear them as an avatar, a physical version in real life, or sell them for profit. New York streetwear legend Jeff Staple joined forces with RTFKT. Staple rose to fame in 2005 when he was commissioned by Nike to design a shoe that represented his home city. Staple took inspiration from the pigeon, a creature he sees as a “hustler” and a “warrior” that follows its own rules. He created the limited-edition Nike Dunk Low Pro SB Pigeon—aka the cult-classic Pigeon Dunk. With only 30 pairs made to sell, the drop caused a frenzy in lower Manhattan on release day February 22, 2005. When Staple saw RTFKT’s NFT sneakers, he sensed a similar cultural inflection point and approached them about collaborating. The result: a futuristic digital-physical hybrid known as the MetaPigeon and another instant sneaker icon.
–Rebecca Elliot is associate curator of craft, design, and fashion at The Mint Museum.
Thanks to a collaboration with UNC Charlotte College of Arts + Architecture, a special collection of archival drawings are protected for generations to come.
Mostly through books, magazines, online subscriptions, and oral histories, The Mint Museum Library and Archives provides context for the museum’s various collections. In addition, there are special collections in the library that offer unique glimpses into the Mint’s art and artifacts, as well as the cultures and people behind the creations.
One strong example is the library’s collection of El Tajín Drawings and Photography by art historian Michael Edwin Kampen-O’Riley, PhD. The collection is comprised of 264 line drawings of low-relief carvings found on the structures of El Tajín, an ancient Mesoamerican site in Veracruz, Mexico. A small selection of these drawings was displayed in the installation El Tajín: Photography and Drawings by Michael Kampen in 2018 at Mint Museum Randolph.
About the El Tajín drawings
In 1992, El Tajín was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its unique architecture and for what it illustrates about Mesoamerican life, beliefs, and customs from 800- 1200 CE.
The drawings depict the carvings of four sculpture groups of El Tajín: the Pyramid of Niches, the South Ball Court, the North Ball Court, and the Mound of Building Columns. UNESCO considers the Pyramid of Niches at El Tajín to be “a masterpiece of ancient Mexican and American architecture.”
The library’s collection of El Tajín drawings were traced on vellum from scaled photographs of the site taken in the late 1960’s by Kampen-O’Riley, a retired professor emeritus of art history who taught for many years at UNC Charlotte College of Arts + Architecture and who is well known for his scholarship on non-Western art history.
Kampen-O’Riley gifted the drawings and photographs to The Mint Museum Library in 2004. The erosion at the site made the carvings hard to view in the photos he had originally taken of the site. The traced line drawings allowed for easier viewing and interpretation and have been increasingly more useful as El Tajín’s architecture suffers further erosion. Small reproductions of the drawings were first shared in Kampen-O’Riley’s 1972 book “The Sculptures of El Tajín, Veracruz, Mexico.”
Several noted books about El Tajín reference the importance of the drawings, photographs, and writings included in this text. Scholar Rex Koontz writes that “Michael Kampen (-O’Riley…) was the first person to publish a systematic study of the site’s iconography as a whole. His book “The Sculptures of El Tajín, Veracruz, Mexico” was by far the most important publication on the imagery up to that time. In it he illustrated the entire known corpus of sculpture with careful line drawings that have proved invaluable to all later researchers.” (Koontz, 2009).
The book is now out of print, so access to all of the drawings is again limited — until now.
Kampen-O’Riley, Michael Edwin (American, 1939–). South Ball Court Panel 5, circa 1967, ink
on vellum. Collection of The Mint Museum Library. SC2008.3.92. I
The digitization project
Over two decades, The Mint Museum Library searched for the right digitization opportunity for the El Tajín drawings. One of the original challenges was getting quality scans for the largest drawings that are up to 4-feet wide. Another challenge was capturing enough contrast on the transparent vellum material.
Thanks to technological advances and a partnership with UNC Charlotte College of Arts + Architecture, the digitization project took flight in 2023. The college was excited to digitize the drawings and make them available to its faculty and students, particularly because of Kampen-O’Riley’s contributions as a faculty member at UNC Charlotte.
Today, all 264 drawings are digitized and available to scholars worldwide via the digital library JSTOR that provides free access to millions of images, articles, and books. The project is possible thanks to the incredible work of Jenna Duncan, visual resources lecturer at the UNC Charlotte College of Arts + Architecture, who masterfully scanned and photographed even the largest drawings. “I thoroughly enjoyed having the chance to digitize the drawings and to make them available to a wider audience,” Duncan says. “Since much of the College of Arts + Architecture’s faculty work has been lost over the years, I am especially grateful to be able to add these drawings to our collections and allow future students to study and learn from these important works.”
One of Kampen-O’Riley’s El Tajín drawings will be included in the exhibition Generations: 60 Years/21 Conversations on view at the UNC Charlotte College of Arts + Architecture this October. The exhibition is a celebration of the College of Arts + Architecture’s 60th anniversary and highlights the work of the college’s faculty and students throughout its history.
–Jennifer Winford, librarian at The Mint Museum.
Jeffrey Gibson (American, 1972–). I’M TAKING TIME AWAY TO DREAM, 2023, acrylic on canvas, vintage beaded elements, glass beads, acrylic felt and nylon thread in a custom painted frame. Copyright Jeffrey Gibson. Courtesy the artist and Stephen Friedman Gallery. Photo by Max Yawney.
Stars align for purchase of work by Jeffrey Gibson
For over two decades, Jeffrey Gibson has created works that bridge his Choctaw-Cherokee heritage and mainstream popular culture. His early works stretched elk skin over a traditional drum or an unexpected ironing board painted with high-keyed colors in geometric patterns that were as much Indigenous design as Op Art and rave club decoration. In the 2010s, Gibson’s punching bags decorated in beads, jingles, and ribbons, emblazoned with empowering slogans — KNOW YOUR MAGIC, TRAPPED IN THE DREAM OF THE OTHER, NOTHING IS ETERNAL — caught the attention of the art world. While the sculpture echoed fashion, the embellished paintings Gibson made simultaneously continued the pushpull with Indigenous and Western art’s visual languages. As if they were in a call and response, the two-dimensional works mashed up gay clubbing, hip-hop, and art history. Native American objects immediately cue a narrative deviating from a straightforwardly Western art history.
On a CBS Sunday Morning episode in May 2024, Gibson observed that when people see beads, “they know immediately that this is coming from a different history than a Rembrandt painting.” And while the zig-zag design may evoke Indigenous weaving patterns, the color palette is a reference to both Indigenous and queer culture aesthetics. They could be found as easily in a disco as in fancy dance regalia. Gibson clarifies his use of color, with the “we” referring to queer culture as well as Indigenous.
In a New York Times article about his work, Gibson recalls while working to earn his bachelor’s degree at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, professors criticized his intense colors as “gaudy, trashy, kitschy and campy.” Gibson combatted this dismissal by making those very design elements the representation of strength and confidence. The work flows easily between Indigenous aesthetics, Chelsea-gallery conceptualism, and commercial design. His powerful pattern and decoration works have steadily moved to larger platforms. In 2018, his large tunics loomed over the champagne-sipping crowd at the New York Armory; major museum retrospectives at Seattle Art Museum (2019) and Portland Art Museum (2023) follows.
This year, Gibson is the first Native American to represent the United States at the Venice Biennale in an installation poignantly titled the space in which to place me. For the Venice exhibition, Gibson covered the building’s walls, inside and out, with his vibrant vectors of high-keyed hues. The exterior courtyard hosted an opening Jingle Dance performance by the Oklahoma Fancy Dancers and Colorado Inter-tribal Dancers in traditional dress (the footage is incredible and good clips can be found on YouTube, Venissage.TV, and the Portland Art Museum’s website). Inside, paintings with the same vibrating palette as the walls double the effect. Phrases and beaded objects add another layer to the paintings, each element a talisman — the brilliant triangles pushing our bodies and eyes, the collected objects as a keepsake from someone not present, and the words a guiding mantra from Gibson, which like the objects, are acquired second-hand from another source. (Gibson’s titles often quote poems or song lyrics; the pavilion title references the poem “He Sápa” by Oglala Lakota poet Layli Long Soldier.) These are gifts collected by the artist and passed onto us in the same way tradition and heritage makes its way through bloodlines and brethren. In Gibson’s words, “We are all living ends of very long threads.”
Jeffrey Gibson (American, 1972–). I’M TAKING TIME AWAY TO DREAM (detail), 2023, acrylic on canvas, vintage beaded elements, glass beads, acrylic felt and nylon thread in a custom painted frame. Copyright Jeffrey Gibson. Courtesy the artist and Stephen Friedman Gallery. Photo by Max Yawney.
The acquisition story
Thanks to the generosity of the Mint Museum Auxiliary, The Mint Museum was able to purchase Jeffrey Gibson’s I’m Taking Time Away to Dream (2023). Annemarie Coyle, the Mint Museum Auxiliary’s 2023-2025 art chair, wanted this year’s Auxiliary donation to be as significant as the magnificent Maria Grazia Chiuri Dior dress purchased last year for the Craft, Design, and Fashion Collection. A work by Jeffrey Gibson has long been on the Mint’s Craft, Design, and Fashion wish list and the Contemporary Art Collection development plan. His intersection of craft traditions and techniques and traditional art methods allow him to cross multiple collection areas for the Mint. That broad relevance to the Mint’s collecting practices and Gibson’s representation at the Biennale made his work ideal.
Stephen Friedman Gallery’s preview of Gibson’s first London solo show hit curators’ inboxes January 11, 2024. Coyle and the Mint’s CEO and President Todd Herman, PhD, and I fell in love with two of the works, but it was essential to see the paintings. The Mint Museum Auxiliary board fortunately had a trip planned to London the week the Friedman show opened. The gallery agreed to hold the two pieces until the group, which included Herman; Senior Curator of Craft, Design, and Fashion Annie Carlano; and president of the Mint Museum Auxiliary Anna Glass, arrived. I’m Taking Time Away to Dream was selected.
The work will be installed in the Contemporary Art galleries at Mint Museum Uptown in fall 2024. The full rainbow spectrum consumes the surface, from canvas to the artist-painted frame. Vintage beaded patches — flowers reminiscent of a 1960s peacenik era and an American buffalo standing stoically beneath a rainbow — quote Indigenous decoration and the appropriation of those aesthetics into mainstream fashion. But the colors and beads also evoke queer culture, as Gibson has created a memorial for those lost at a young age to the AIDS epidemic. “I’m taking time away to dream” is the opening line of “Time Away,” a song by the multifaceted experimental musician Arthur Russell, who was only 40 years old when he died of AIDS-related causes. Gibson’s work evolves directly from his life: a gay, Indigenous man, born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and a military kid, who grew up on Army bases in Korea and Germany, as well as numerous states, including North Carolina. Because of this, his work straddles many forms of American culture — indigenous and colonial, domestic and international.
In a June 2024 Bomb magazine interview with Anthony Hudson, Gibson states: “I’ve also tried to make work over the last 20 years that speaks to the many facets of my experience, which isn’t only rooted in Native cultures but also in the many places I’ve lived and the family I have. Dare I say, many intersections make up Jeffrey Gibson, and I feel responsible to them all.” As well as many more — Gibson layers multiple lost stories and marginalized voices into an image so vibrant and resonate, it cannot be overlooked easily or forgotten quickly. Gibson says of his viewers: “I want them to see survival, I want them to see innovation, I want them to see empowered people because so often, at least in my lifetime, we’ve been represented through our trauma. I want to present us as being very present and aware and powerful.”
–Jen Sudul Edwards, PhD, chief curator and curator of Contemporary Art at The Mint Museum.
Media Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Mint Museum will donate all admission proceeds from Oct. 3–10 to the Craft Emergency Relief Fund to help artists affected by Hurricane Helene
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA (October 1, 2024) — In an effort to support artists living in Western North Carolina affected by Hurricane Helene, and as part of our steadfast commitment to supporting arts throughout North Carolina, The Mint Museum will be donating 100% of admission proceeds from October 3–10 to Craft Emergency Relief Fund (CERF+).
For over 40 years, the Craft Emergency Relief Fund (CERF+) has been a vital resource for craft artists, offering emergency relief and building educational tools to help artists navigate crises and rebuild. CERF+ remains a passionate advocate for the craft community, ensuring that artists have the support they need in the wake of disasters.
Additionally, the Mint is actively coordinating with local arts organizations and artists to identify opportunities for displaced artists to continue their work in Charlotte’s studios and creative spaces, offering them a place to practice their craft until they can safely return to Asheville.
“Our hearts go out to the residents of Western North Carolina who have been deeply affected by the ongoing crisis this past week caused by Hurricane Helene. Western North Carolina is a cornerstone of North Carolina’s artistic community, and home to some of the state’s most talented artists, craftspeople, and makers,” says Todd A. Herman, PhD, president and CEO of The Mint Museum.
People from Florida to the Ohio River Valley have been profoundly impacted by this storm, and every little bit counts, so we encourage you to visit the museum during this period and donate to organizations like CERF+, American Red Cross, World Central Kitchen, United Way, MANNA FoodBank and others.
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ABOUT THE MINT MUSEUM
Established in 1936 as North Carolina’s first art museum, The Mint Museum is a leading, innovative cultural institution and museum of international art and design. With two locations — Mint Museum Randolph in the heart of Eastover and Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts on South Tryon Street — the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community.
CONTACTS
Mindfulness at the Mint offers a welcoming space for self-care and gaining knowledge about art
By Diane Lowry and Joel Smeltzer
Mindfulness at the Mint programming contributes to the emerging field of mindfulness in museums. Mindfulness programs in museums have become increasingly popular in recent years.
Join one of the following mindfulness programs offered at the Mint:
Mindful Looking: Mindful Looking provides space for connections to happen between participants, the artwork and the facilitators. Experience increased mind-body awareness
with works on view as the focus of contemplation and discovery, enhanced by guided slow looking and mindful breathing, followed by a group discussion to open
dialogue and discover personal connections
and interpretations. Free with registration.
Mindful Sketching: In these sessions, mindfulness techniques, such as mindful breathing and guided slow looking are integrated and prompts are provided. Participants can sketch a work of their choice and then return for a conversation with the group. Free with registration.
Meditation at the Mint: Immerse yourself in a calm and contemplative atmosphere as you experience mindful breathing and guided slow-looking meditation surrounded by art. Sessions include a 20-minute guided, slow-looking meditation and 10-minute closing discussion. Free with admission.
Find upcoming programs at mintmuseum.org/events.
Mindfulness at the Mint offers a welcoming space for self-care and gaining knowledge about art.
By Diane Lowry and Joel Smeltzer
Practicing mindfulness techniques while slow looking at art can have a positive impact on health and well-being. According to Jon Kabat-Zinn, the founder of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, “Mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally.”
Researchers have found that the average time that adults spend looking at one work of art in a museum is less than 30 seconds. What do we miss when we look so quickly? Slow looking is a foundation of art engagement. It encourages us to be present, patient, and willing to immerse ourselves in the act of observation.
Mindfulness, the practice of focusing on the present moment while observing one’s thoughts and feelings, can reduce stress, increase self-awareness and encourage empathy towards others. Integrating guided slow looking and breathwork into gallery programs at the Mint offer a concentrated focus on works of art. Colors, and subject matter. It becomes an immersive and sensory experience. One notices more nuances and details, makes discoveries, and during facilitated dialogue with Mint staff and others in the group, gain knowledge about the works of art.
Mindfulness and slow-looking programs provide a plethora of mind and body benefits, including:
– Stress relief through being present, slowing down, breathing, which in turn can help to lower blood pressure and heart rate, and increase feelings of calm and well-being.
– Relationship building by feeling heard and sharing perceptual experiences that are relatable through the works of art.
– Discovery and connectedness through conversations about the meaning of the works and feelings sparked by the works of art.
Tips for slow looking:
Take some time to pause, relax and look mindfully while visiting the museum and galleries.
– Pick a work of art from the collection either online or in person in the gallery. Spend several minutes looking closely at the art.
– Rest your eyes on the art with a soft gaze, breathe deeply, and be aware of your inhale and exhale.
– Allow your emotions, curiosity, and personal connections to the work of art come into your awareness.
– Be mindful of the small details. What do you notice?
– You may want to make a mental note of what you are seeing or write your thoughts in a notebook. You can also do some sketching as you look.
– If you are with a friend, talk about it. Did you notice different things?
Joel Smeltzer is head of school and gallery programs at The Mint Museum. Diane Lowry is a docent and guest services associate at The Mint Museum. She also is a certified mindfulness meditation guide with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts and 20 years of experience as a healing arts practitioner.
This year’s staff art exhibition, titled Origin, centers on staff origins — ancestry, race, and the beginning of existence. It symbolizes a rise, a commencement, and the source from which something derives its being or nature.
In addition to physical works of art created by Mint staff, Origin hosts an innovative digital component that complements the works on view. The dynamic display features items relevant to the origins and ancestry of Mint staff, including photos, family records, and various memorabilia. Each item will have an accompanying description of what it is and why it is important to the individual’s roots. The Mint Museum collaborated with Charlotte-based digital artist Alexander Newman Hall to create the interactive experience.
Origin will be on view through September 29 in the STAR Gallery, Level M, at Mint Museum Uptown.
—Hailey Black, multimedia strategy manager
By Leslie Strauss, head of family and studio programs
For the fourth consecutive summer, visitors had the chance to meet animals up close and try out creative art activities at Wild Wednesdays. Artists of all ages enjoyed making homemade bubble wands, drawing North Carolina’s state mammal the Eastern Gray Squirrel, and crafting snakes out of clay. Families especially loved the free-choice activities in the Art Room at Mint Museum Randolph.
The highlight of the events continues to be the Stevens Creek Nature Center booth where one can choose to touch a corn snake, learn about the habits of the yellow-bellied slider, or hear the story of a box turtle recovering from a forest fire. Nature center educators, and their animal counterparts, did an amazing job of helping museum visitors develop a deeper appreciation of the natural world. In addition to making art and learning about species native to the Piedmont region of North Carolina, families used scavenger hunts to explore museum galleries, played on the lawn, and observed insects in the pollinator-friendly flower garden in front of the museum.
Wild Wednesdays launched during the summer of 2021 when circumstances required the museum to program outdoors for the safety of visitors. Four years later, the initiative has grown to include both indoor and outdoor experiences and continues to resonate with visitors who love celebrating the natural world.
Hats off to two of the Mint’s senior leaders who were named in Charlotte Business Journal’s top executive honoree lists.
Todd Herman, PhD, president and CEO of the Mint, was selected as an honoree in CBJ’s Most Admired CEO awards under Arts and Culture. CBJ’s Most-Admired CEO Awards program recognizes established leaders in the Charlotte region who have demonstrated a strong vision for their companies and a commitment to the community.
Gary Blankemeyer, the Mint’s chief operating/chief financial officer, leads the 2024 class of CFO of the Year honorees and will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from CBJ. CBJ seeks to put a spotlight on the Charlotte area’s brightest financial executives through the CFO of the Year Awards program.
The medium is a metaphor
By Page Leggett
Kenny Nguyen is both creator and destroyer. The native of Vietnam, who now lives in Concord, explains, “If you want to do something new, you have to destroy something and rebuild it.”
His elegant, ethereal art made from paint-soaked silk looks serene. There’s no trace of the demolition involved in making it. The reason he tears down only to build back up goes deeper than aesthetics. The deconstruction (and reconstruction) mimics his own seismic cultural shift.
Nguyen and his family left Vietnam for Charlotte when he was 19. His use of silk is an homage to his homeland; Vietnam produces some of the world’s finest. Once he arrived in the United States, he felt as though he had to start everything all over again. “It was like I was being deconstructed,” he says. “I had to reconstruct my identity. If you move somewhere and don’t know anybody and don’t speak the language, it’s very isolating. I didn’t know who I was anymore.”
Portrait of the artist as a young child
Nguyen grew up in a small village in the Mekong Delta. Its size and remoteness forced him to make his own fun.
“We were very isolated,” he says. “There was no road connecting us to anything, so we traveled by boat. I didn’t have access to a playground or toys. If I wanted to play with something, I had to make it myself. My mom and dad introduced me to watercolors when I was 4 or 5, and I spent much of my childhood painting and drawing. It never left me.”
At 17, he moved to Ho Chi Minh City to study fashion design. But that wasn’t the biggest culture shock he’d experience. That happened three years later in 2010 when the family moved to Charlotte. Nguyen switched course and studied fine art, earning a bachelor’s degree in painting from UNC Charlotte in 2016. After graduation, he pursued art while also working part-time at a nail salon. The pandemic, while devastating for many, brought Nguyen good fortune. Thanks to social media, that is when he made the leap to full-time artist. Social media has no geographic boundaries, so when he shared his work online, collectors all over the world took notice. Prestigious galleries found him and he sold more in 2020 than ever before.
Nguyen is now among Sundaram Tagore Gallery’s artists, all of whom, according to the gallery’s website, “produce museum-caliber work.” The contemporary gallery, with locations in Singapore and London, specializes in “work that is aesthetically and intellectually rigorous, infused with humanism and art historically significant.” He’s exhibited in France, Iceland, and South Korea and recently returned from Büdelsdorf, Germany, where he was part of an international group show.
A melting pot of materials
There’s a lot of physicality to Nguyen’s art-making process. He creates his large-scale work on the floor of his studio. He cuts the silk and soaks the strips — often, hundreds of them — in acrylic paint. While those strips are still damp, they’re affixed to a canvas. The wet, thick paint acts as an adhesive.
The finished work has three layers: silk, paint, and canvas. Although they are tightly integrated, it is hard to tell where one piece ends and another begins. The fabric maintains its character while also becoming something new once he assembles the strips with pushpins, a holdover from his fashion design days. Once he finishes a work on the floor, he hangs it on a wall in his studio for more tinkering. The painted silk strips can be placed in different configurations on canvas. Pushpins allow him to gently sculpt the pieces into undulating folds. “One piece can take many different forms, just like our identities, which are always changing.”
Performance art
Nguyen’s collectors often tell him they have never seen anything like his art. His installation process is as labor-intensive as his creative process. It is not uncommon for a collector to film him working. One New York collector, born and raised in Vietnam, tells him it reminds her of home. “It’s always meaningful when collectors connect with my work,” he says. “These aren’t typical ready-to-hang paintings,” he explains. “My work is much more complicated. It needs to be installed. When I do an installation, it’s sort of like a performance. My collectors witness the art come alive as I rebuild it on their wall. I think it adds to the joy of collecting.”
When Nguyen invented the process he uses to make his “deconstructed paintings,” he wasn’t sure others would get it, but Sozo Gallery founder and owner Hannah Blanton did. Shortly after Nguyen’s graduation, Blanton’s now-closed uptown gallery began representing him and did so until Blanton closed Sozo and opened her art consultancy business seven years later. Today, she serves as studio director for Nguyen. Nguyen credits Blanton with promoting his work and helping explain its complexities to potential patrons.
Indeed, his work is mysterious. “People always want to take a closer look, because it’s almost an illusion tricking you,” he says.
The artist who once felt like a stranger here now considers Charlotte his second home. (Vietnam is still first.) “I’m grateful for the large art community here that encouraged and supported me,” he says. “When I talk to young people who want to start an art career here, I’m happy to tell them they don’t have to move to New York to make it.”
Page Leggett is a Charlotte-based freelance writer. Her stories have appeared in The Charlotte Observer, The Biscuit, Charlotte magazine and many other regional publications.
Image: Photo from QC Metro by Photographer Lillyanna Sum
Qcity Metro recently named Rubie R. Britt-Height, Mint Director of Community Relations, as one of “The Great 28”, “honoring 28 Black Charlotteans shaping our city”.
Tenured at the Mint for nearly 16 years, Britt-Height is also the Co-leader of DEIAB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Belonging). She is among those considered instrumental in making the City a better place to live, work, and play; for her, it’s through community servant leadership and the arts. Britt-Height also is a member of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Arts Commission, the Mecklenburg County History Latta Place Reimagining Committee, and mentor, advocate, and collaborator/partner with over 100 diverse and emerging artists, church, civic, and community organizations.
She has been recognized with numerous awards this past year: The Latino Excelente’ Award for the Most Supportive Non-Latino of the Latin American Community (La Noticia Media); the CBJ Power 100 Award (DEI), the Arts Empowerment Project Award and Charlotte NAACP for Outstanding Community Leader, and the Who’s Who in Black Charlotte for one of its Most Influential Leaders.
Passionate and humble about her role arts role in the community, Britt-Height’s mantra is “Greatness is measured by service and selflessness. In that with humility, anyone can be great,” says Britt-Height. “I was raised in a family of public servants (over 150 years in my immediate family along) and compassionate community leaders. Some things just come naturally for me. My great-great grandmother was enslaved, and all sides of my family are connected to a solid foundation of wisdom, education, outreach, and selflessness. That makes me an heir of that.” Britt Height says she invests in the region by using art as a springboard for conversation, dialogue, and transformation by using art education via numerous art forms: music and dance, poetry, quilting, painting, basketry, jewelry and clothing design, photography, decorative art, wood, and glass.
This year’s winners include entrepreneurs, volunteers, business executives, community leaders, and more. Among them honored is Community Leader Jeanette Price, the Grier Heights Youth Arts Program community liaison, and Artist-Educator Naomi Rankin, who accepted the Great 28 Award posthumously for her late husband Nelson Rankin.
Read more here https://qcitymetro.com/2024/02/01/the-great-28-black-charlotteans-who-are-shaping-our-city-2/
A reason to love the Mint? We see the worth in conservation.
The Mint Museum was awarded a grant by Bank of America to help restore artist Sheila Hicks’ work Mega Footprint Not Far from the Hutch (May I Have This Dance?).
The grant is part of the Bank of America Art Conservation Project, a global program that awards grants to nonprofit cultural institutions to conserve historically or culturally significant works of art, not least of which include works by Monet, Degas, and Cezanne; and museums like The National Gallery in London, the Guggenheim in New York and the Louvre.
This year’s recipients included 24 projects representing 11 countries — 13 United States-based projects and 11 outside the United States representing a diverse range of artistic styles, media, and cultural traditions. In July, textile conservator Howard Sutcliffe (pictured above) handled the conservation, which included cleaning and stabilizing the large textile sculpture.
To design the site-specific installation, Hicks, a United States State Department Medal of Arts award recipient, was inspired by the natural light-soaked space of the Haywood-Morrison Atrium, plus the energetic vertical sweep of the soaring ceilings, and the modernity of the building at Mint Museum Uptown. The work is comprised of 42 bas-relief sculptural components of varying lengths and thicknesses, made form flexible synthetic and cork tubes wrapped in dyed and twisted linen thread.
—Michele Huggins, Associate Director of Marketing and Communications
A native of Charlotte, human resources coordinator Justin Williams is a creative and musician who enjoys being involved in the arts and finds himself consistently pushing the envelope to try new things. Justin’s favorite piece currently on display at The Mint is ‘Hyper Ellipsoid’ By Gisela Colon.
“I really enjoy how the piece dominates a space and interacts with light. It evolves based on where you stand in front of it. I also like the concept of organic Minimalism.”
