FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | IMAGES

Shinichi Sawada (Japanese, 1982−). Untitled (178), 2010, wood fired ceramic, 15 3/4 x 7 7/8 x 7 7/8 inches. Private Collection. Photo by Matthew Herrmann. © Shinichi Sawada

Charlotte, North Carolina (April 11, 2024) — The Mint Museum, in collaboration with the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, is proud to present the first solo exhibition in the United States for Japanese contemporary artist Shinichi Sawada (born 1982). Opening April 27 at The Mint Museum, Shinichi Sawada: Agents of Clay features a captivating collection of Sawada’s mesmerizing clay figures that blur the boundaries between reality and imagination.

The exhibition, co-curated by Jen Sudul Edwards, PhD, chief curator and curator of Contemporary Art at The Mint Museum, and Lisa Melandri, executive director at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, features 30 of Sawada’s sculptures created over the past decade.

The ceramic works are a fusion of features from mammals, fish, birds, insects, and the artist’s own imaginative creations. The intricate works of art often boast multiple faces, an abundance of eyes, and intricate patterns of incised lines, bumps, horns, and scales.

“From their enchanting faces and mesmerizing surfaces to the alluring tactile nature, Shinichi Sawada’s sculptures inspire you to start drawing the things that live in your mind and make you ache to pound and twist some clay, which is such a cathartic medium for internal release,” says Sudul Edwards.

Drawing inspiration from the millennia-old tradition of wood-burning Shigaraki kilns and Japanese imagery, Sawada’s creations embody his environment — from the history of Japanese figuration to the mountainous region where he resides. Each sculpture is fired consistently for three days and three nights, and the oven takes a week to cool before the pieces are removed. Depending on where the pieces were placed in the kiln determines the gray, black, or red color of each piece, making each genuinely unique.

Shinichi Sawada: Agents of Clay is on view April 27–August 11, 2024 at The Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina. Following the exhibition at the Mint, the exhibition will be on view at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis September 6, 2024-February 9, 2025.

About Shinichi Sawada

Shinichi Sawada’s artistic training began in 2000 through the Nakayoshi Fukushikai Welfare Association through a program aimed at assisting neurodivergent individuals in finding employment and fostering independence. Sawada, who is autistic, divides his time between the ceramic studio and the organization’s bakery, working in the ceramic studio twice a week.

Ticket Information  

The Mint Museum exhibition is free for members and children ages 4 and younger; $15 for adults; $10 for seniors ages 65 and older; $10 for college students with ID; and $6 for youth ages 5–17. Admission is free 5-9 PM on Wednesdays. 

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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.  

Media contacts:   

Michele Huggins, associate director of marketing and communications at The Mint Museum  
michele.huggins@mintmuseum.org | 704-564-0826 (c) 

Clayton Sealey, senior director of marketing and communications at The Mint Museum Clayton.sealey@mintmuseum.org | 704.534.0186 (c)  

For Immediate Release | IMAGES

Guests enjoy a spring day at the 2023 Party in the Park series.

WHAT: Party in the Park series kick-off 

WHEN: Sunday, March 24, 1–5 PM

WHERE: Mint Museum Randolph front lawn and terrace, 2730 Randolph Road, Charlotte.

COST: FREE, including museum admission

HIGHLIGHTS:

Come as you art to this casual, all-ages, family friendly event that combines art and nature with live music, outdoor activitations on the expansive greenspace, and free museum admission at Mint Museum Randolph. Parking is plentiful and free. Lawn chairs are welcome, as are strollers, wagons, bubbles, and picnic blankets for a afternoon of fun on the lawn.

Each FREE event includes food trucks, live music, and a cash bar on the front terrace (weather permitting). The first event in the 2024 series features local artist demonstrations in response to themes of identity and culture found in the Interventions installation Buscando la sirena by artist Jackie Milad, on view at Mint Museum Randolph. Live muisic will be provided by the Mike Strauss Band, and a variety of local food trucks will be on site, including Burger Box, Carolina Smash Truck, No Forks Given, and Wrap ‘n Roll.

NEW THIS YEAR:

Party in the Park will take place 1–5 PM six select Sundays spring, summer and fall, including:

• March 24
• April 17
• May 19
• June 30
• September 29
• October 20

Details about upcoming Party in the Park events can be found at mintmuseum.org/events.

Party in the Park is generously presented by Principal Foundation.

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 — the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community.

CONTACTS
Clayton Sealey | Senior Director of Marketing at The Mint Museum | 704.534.0186
clayton.sealey@mintmuseum.org  

Michele Huggins | Associate Director of Marketing at The Mint Museum | 704.564.0826
michele.huggins@mintmuseum.org 

 

Robert W. Ebendorf (American, 1938–), various artists. ECU Charm Necklace (detail), 2017, silver, copper, brass, enamel, mixed media, found objects, 19 x 12 1/2 x 1 3/4 in. Collection of The Mint Museum. Gift of Porter • Price Collection. 2022.49.7

For Immediate Release | IMAGES

An exhibition of works by artist Robert Ebendorf, one of the most influential artists in the studio jewelry movement

Charlotte, North Carolina (March 1, 2024) — Objects of Affection: Jewelry by Robert Ebendorf from the Porter • Price Collection opens April 27 at Mint Museum Randolph. With over 180 stunning pieces on display, visitors will have the opportunity to explore the evolution of Robert Ebendorf’s designs and witness his decades of influence on the studio jewelry movement.

Ebendorf’s playful and innovative use of everyday objects to create one-of-kind wearable art has stamped his place as one of the most influential artists in the studio jewelry movement. His work is a juxtaposition to cultural preconceptions of fine jewelry. Intricate and striking, he creates dynamic works with found objects, including crab claws, sea glass, plastic, paper, as well as recycled industrial objects like keys, buttons, beer bottle caps, washers, and wire mesh.

The exhibition features works of jewelry, metalwork, drawings, and archival materials created by Ebendorf, as well as faculty and graduates of the metal design program at East Carolina University, and drawn the Porter • Price Collection. His playful and innovative use of everyday objects in jewelry has inspired countless artists across generations. As a teacher and mentor, Ebendorf’s influence extends far beyond his own creations, making him a beloved figure in the industry.

“Bob Ebendorf has inspired countless artists across several generations through his distinctively playful use of everyday objects on jewelry,” says Rebecca Elliot, assistant curator of Craft, Design, and Fashion at the Mint. “As a teacher, mentor, and friend, he is not only respected but beloved.”

Ebendorf had an extensive career as a professor beginning in 1964 and culminating at East Carolina University (1997–2016). The exhibition includes work by 31 graduates and faculty of the metal design program at ECU, many who were colleagues and students of Ebendorf’s.

While at ECU, Ebendorf became friends with Ron Porter and Joe Price, who built a wide-ranging collection of work by him and other ECU-affiliated artists and an equally extensive archive of their drawings, correspondence, and ephemera.

Objects of Affection: Jewelry by Robert Ebendorf from the Porter • Price Collection is generously presented by Bank of America. Individual sponsorship is kindly provided by Posey and Mark Mealy, Staci and Jeff Mills, Emily and Bill Oliver, Beth and Drew Quartapella, Chrys and Ches Riley, and Ann and Michael Tarwater.

OPENING WEEKEND: APRIL 27-28

Museum admission will be free 11 AM–4 PM Saturday, April 27 and 1–5 PM Sunday, April 28.

The Mint’s 11th annual Coveted Couture Gala celebrates the opening of the exhibition on the evening of April 27.

EXHIBITION PROGRAMMING

Artist Talk with Robert Ebendorf
May 18 | 2–3:30 PM
Mint Museum Randolph

Artist Robert “Bob” Ebendorf will be joined by collectors and friends Ron Porter and Joe Price for a discussion about his journey from a midcentury-modernist metalsmith to an artist who creates collages and jewelry using found objects. Porter and Price will share how they built a collection of hundreds of works by Ebendorf and other contemporary jewelry artists. The discussion is moderated by the exhibition curator, Rebecca Elliot.

Future gallery talks with ECU faculty and graduates will be announced throughout the run of the exhibition. Find all upcoming events at mintmuseum.org/events.

EXHIBITION CATALOGUE
Objects of Affection is accompanied by a full-color, 112-page catalogue with an introduction by jewelry scholar Toni Greenbaum and other texts by Rebecca Elliot, assistant curator of Craft, Design, and Fashion at The Mint Museum, including an essay about Ebendorf and several ECU faculty and graduates; interviews with Ebendorf and with Porter and Price; a description of the Ebendorf Archive; and a checklist of Ebendorf’s work in the Porter • Price Collection at The Mint Museum.

ABOUT ROBERT EBENDORF
Robert Ebendorf was born and raised in Kansas and earned Bachelor of Fine Arts (1961) and Master of Fine Arts (1963) degrees from the University of Kansas. He received further training in metalsmithing in Norway through a Fulbright Fellowship (1963–64) and a Tiffany Foundation Grant (1966–67). Ebendorf was a professor of metalsmithing at Stetson University (DeLand, Florida, 1964–67), the University of Georgia-Athens (1967–71), the State University of New York at New Paltz (1971–89), and finally East Carolina University (1997–2016). He has also taught hundreds of jewelry and found-object assemblage workshops across the United States and abroad. Ebendorf has received numerous awards, including induction into the National Metalsmiths Hall of Fame (2004), a Master of the Medium award from the James Renwick Alliance (2005), and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of North American Goldsmiths (2014).

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 — the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Beverly Smith (1957–). “Giles: Take Me to the River”, 2023, mixed media quilt, vintage bow tie, crazy quilt, spray paint, graphite portrait, transfers. Courtesy of the artist. T0341.1

Charlotte, North Carolina (December 13, 2023) — The Mint Museum recently unveiled a special exhibition titled Echoes: Artists Respond to Carolina Shout. The exhibition showcases  individual interpretations by eight Charlotte artists who were invited to create new artworks in response to Bearden’s iconic collage Of the Blues: Carolina Shout.

Since acquiring Carolina Shout in 1975, The Mint Museum has built the largest public collection of Bearden’s works in the country. The museum has a dedicated permanent collection gallery at Mint Museum Uptown to explore different aspects of Bearden’s art, legacy, and impact. Bearden’s collage has become a signature piece in the museum’s collection and has been prominently featured in major exhibitions about the artist.

While Carolina Shout depicts a Southern baptism, the title itself references a popular song by James P. Johnson from an earlier era. Bearden skillfully weaves together different musical traditions and connects the sacred and profane in his artwork, evoking the atmosphere of dance halls, juke joints, honky tonks, and barrelhouses, as well as the ecstatic moments of a church service.

The participating artists were given the freedom to respond to Bearden’s themes of baptism, music, memory, the South, and community in their own unique ways. The resulting artworks include paintings, collages, a quilted piece, a video, and a sculptural installation. These diverse creations are now on display as part of the Echoes exhibition, alongside Carolina Shout, in the Bearden gallery at Mint Museum Uptown through November 2024.

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About The Mint Museum

The Mint Museum, established in 1936, is North Carolina’s first art museum and a leading cultural institution dedicated to international art and design. With two locations, Mint Museum Randolph and Mint Museum Uptown, the museum houses one of the Southeast’s largest art collections and aims to engage and inspire the global community.

For more information about the exhibition and The Mint Museum, please contact:

Michele Huggins
Associate Director of Marketing at The Mint Museum
704.564.0826
michele.huggins@mintmuseum.org.

Clayton Sealey
Senior Director of Marketing at The Mint Museum
704.534.0186
clayton.sealey@mintmuseum.org

 

From left: Romare Bearden (American, 1911-88). The Open Door, 1979, lithograph. Collection of the Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC. Gift of Jerald Melberg. 2009.88.1 © 2022 Romare Bearden Foundation / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY. Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973). Nature Morte devant une Fenêtre Ouverte sur l’Eau, stencil after a work by Pablo Picasso 1923, gouache on silkscreen on paper. Musée Picasso, donation Pablo Picasso, 1979, MP3505 © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée national Picasso-Paris) / Adrien Didierjean © 2022 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

 

 

For Immediate Release | Images available here

Charlotte, North Carolina (January 25, 2023) — Bearden/Picasso: Rhythms and Reverberations, opening February 11 at Mint Museum Uptown, explores the shared interests of Romare Bearden and Pablo Picasso in one exhibition. The exhibiition is an exciting additional narrative to Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds, also on view February 11–May 21, 2023 at Mint Museum Uptown.

Curated by Jonathan Stuhlman, PhD, senior curator of American art at The Mint Museum, Bearden/Picasso: Rhythms and Reverberations includes three loaned works by Picasso and 17 by Bearden, many drawn from the Mint’s rich holding, as well as special loans from other museums and private collections. While Bearden’s later collages and prints comprise a majority of the exhibition, nearly half of the works are of his the artist’s rarely seen early paintings from the 1940s — a period when he was immersed in the New York art world and a time when Picasso was frequently exhibiting there.

The exhibition is divided into four thematic sections. The first theme considers the two artists’ shared interest in imagery of bulls and bullfighting. The second explores the importance of music and rhythm as both subject matter and a way of creating a dynamic composition. The third theme considers their shared interest in interior scenes and their use of doorways and windows as compositional devices, and the fourth looks at each artist’s use of black outlines defining simplified, brightly colored forms, called the “stained glass” aesthetic.

“On the surface, it might seem odd to organize an exhibition that brings together the work of American artist Romare Bearden and Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, as it might seem the two have little in common, however there has rightly been some notice of the relationship between the two artists’ works,” Stuhlman says. “Discussions have primarily centered upon the comparison of their shared subject matter of folk musicians and the impact of Cubism on Bearden’s approach to collage, a relationship that he himself acknowledged, and each artist’s use of African masks in their art. While these are important and valid connections, this exhibition seeks to add additional points of aesthetic and intellectual overlap and shared interest to the story.”

On March 18 from 2 to 4 PM, the Mint will host “An Afternoon Salon: Romare Bearden and Modernism” at Mint Museum Uptown featuring Richard Powell, PhD, Duke University professor and Romare Bearden Foundation advisor; Denise Murrell, PhD, curator-at-large at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; and moderator Diedra Harris-Kelley, co-director of the Romare Bearden Foundation, who will discuss the life and works of Romare Bearden. Admission is $10 for the salon and to see Bearden/Picasso and Picasso Landscapes; or $5 for the salon and general admission to the museum.

Bearden/Picasso: Rhythms and Reverberations is generously presented in Charlotte by Bank of America, the City of Charlotte, Duke Energy, Mecklenburg County, M.A. Rogers, Ann and Michael Tarwater, North Carolina Arts Council, and Moore & Van Allen. Additional generous support is provided by: Leigh-Ann and Martin Sprock; Robin and Bill Branstrom, Sally Cooper, Laura and Mike Grace, Marshelette and Milton Prime; Posey and Mark Mealy; Chandra and Jimmie Johnson; Marty and Weston Andress, Mary and Walt Beaver, Betsy and Alfred Brand; Tim and Sarah Belk, toni and Alfred Kendrick, Beth and Drew Quartapella, Rocky and Curtis Trenkelbach, Charlotte and John Wickham; Mary Lou and Jim Babb, and Jo Ann and Joddy Peer. The Mint Museum is supported, in part, by the Infusion Fund and its generous donors. Bearden/Picasso: Rhythms and Reverberations is organized by The Mint Museum. Special thanks to media partner Charlotte magazine.

“At Bank of America, we believe in the power of the arts to help economies thrive, enrich societies, and create greater cultural understanding,” says Milton Prime, CFO for Global Technology and Global Operations for Bank of America and Board of Trustees Chair for The Mint Museum. “We are very pleased to support The Mint Museum and to have the Charlotte region become the first-ever to host the Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds exhibition, as well as support their efforts to showcase another world-renowned artist, Romare Bearden, who is also one of Charlotte’s own in the Bearden/Picasso: Rhythms and Reverberations exhibition.”

Exhibition Ticket Information 

Price of admission is $25 for adults; $20 for seniors 65 and older; $10 members and college students with ID, and includes general museum admission and admission to Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds.

Children ages 17 and younger and art teachers are admitted free of charge. Tickets are available for advance purchase at mintmuseum.org/ticketing.

For exhibition hours, visit mintmuseum.org.

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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 — the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community.

Bank of America 

At Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), we’re guided by a common purpose to help make financial lives better, through the power of every connection. We’re delivering on this through responsible growth with a focus on our environmental, social and governance (ESG) leadership. ESG is embedded across our eight lines of business and reflects how we help fuel the global economy, build trust and credibility, and represent a company that people want to work for, invest in and do business with. It’s demonstrated in the inclusive and supportive workplace we create for our employees, the responsible products and services we offer our clients, and the impact we make around the world in helping local economies thrive. An important part of this work is forming strong partnerships with nonprofits and advocacy groups, such as community, consumer and environmental organizations, to bring together our collective networks and expertise to achieve greater impact. Connect with us on Twitter (@BofA_News).

For more Bank of America news, including dividend announcements and other important information, visit the Bank of America newsroom and register for news email alerts.

Duke Energy

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of America’s largest energy holding companies. Its electric utilities serve 8.2 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and collectively own 50,000 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas unit serves 1.6 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. The company employs 28,000 people.

Duke Energy is executing an aggressive clean energy transition to achieve its goals of net-zero methane emissions from its natural gas business by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions from electricity generation by 2050. The company has interim carbon emission targets of at least 50% reduction from electric generation by 2030, 50% for Scope 2 and certain Scope 3 upstream and downstream emissions by 2035, and 80% from electric generation by 2040. In addition, the company is investing in major electric grid enhancements and energy storage, and exploring zero-emission power generation technologies such as hydrogen and advanced nuclear.

Duke Energy was named to Fortune’s 2022 “World’s Most Admired Companies” list and Forbes’ “World’s Best Employers” list. More information is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke Energy News Center contains news releases, fact sheets, photos and videos. Duke Energy’s illumination features stories about people, innovations, community topics and environmental issues. Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

Contact: 

Clayton Sealey, senior director of marketing and communications
clayton.sealey@mintmuseum.org | 704.534.0186 (c)

Michele Huggins, associate director of marketing and communications
michele.huggins@mintmuseum.org | 704.564.0826 (c)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Art of Seating: 200 Years of American Design extended through April 14 at The Mint Museum

Isamu Noguchi (American, 1904-88), Knoll Associates, Inc. (United States, 1938-).
Rocking Stool (Model 86T), designed 1953, executed circa 1955, walnut, chromium-
plated steel wire. Collection of the Thomas H. and Diane DeMell Jacobsen PhD
Foundation. L2022.48.35

Charlotte, North Carolina (January 16, 2023) — The Art of Seating: 200 Years of American Design at Mint Museum Uptown has been extended through April 14 at Mint Museum Uptown. Curated by the Mint’s Senior Curator of American Art Jonathan Stuhlman, PhD, the exhibition includes 52 remarkable examples of seating design.

Visitors can admire the works of esteemed makers and designers, including North Carolinian and master craftsman Thomas Day (1801-1861). Day was a Black man, master craftsman, and successful businessman who worked in Milton, North Carolina before the Civil War.

Other renowned American designers featured in the exhibition include Frank Lloyd Wright, Charles and Ray Eames, and Roy Lichtenstein.

“The Art of Seating offers a unique opportunity to explore history and the evolution of design by some of the greatest American designers whose commitment to innovation and quality has shaped the landscape of American seating furniture,” Stuhlman says.

Though designed for function, each chair in the exhibition has a story to tell about the history and evolution of American design, including changing tastes in style and aesthetics, new innovations in technology and materials, and contributions by immigrants throughout two centuries.

The Art of Seating: 200 Years of American Design is made possible through the generous support of PNC. Additional individual support is provided by Mary and Walt Beaver, Sarah G. Cooper, Lucy and Hooper Hardison, and Kati and Chris Small. The exhibition is accompanied by a richly illustrated 248-page scholarly catalogue that is available in The Mint Museum Store.

For more information or interview requests, contact:

Clayton Sealey
Senior Director of Marketing at The Mint Museum
704.534.0186
clayton.sealey@mintmuseum.org

Michele Huggins
Associate Director of Marketing at The Mint Museum
704.564.0826
michele.huggins@mintmuseum.org

Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973). “Boisgeloup in the Rain, with Rainbow,” May 5, 1932, oil on canvas. Fundación Almine y Bernard Ruiz-Picasso para el Arte, Madrid. Image © FABA, Photo: Hugard & Vanoverschelde Photography. © 2023 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

For Immediate Release | Images here

Charlotte, North Carolina (January 3, 2022) — The Mint Museum, a leading, innovative cultural institution and museum of international art and design, announces its plans for a breakthrough year in 2023, while closing out a record-setting 2022. Major 2023 exhibitions, include Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds, Bearden/ Picasso: Rhythms and Reverberations, Fashion Reimagined, as well as dozens of community-based featured activities, that are expected to attract record-breaking crowds.

“2023 is anticipated to be a year of powerful art and opportunities for transformation at The Mint Museum,” says Todd Herman, PhD, president and CEO at The Mint Museum. “We will be offering the first-ever museum exhibition in Charlotte dedicated to works by Pablo Picasso and the first chance for anyone in the world to see this particular exhibition. Beyond bringing this experience to the Queen City, we have multiple other exciting activities and exhibitions planned. There’s never been a better time and place to engage with art in the Southeast than at The Mint Museum and in Charlotte this coming year.”

Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds
Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds opens February 11, 2023 and runs through May 21, 2023. The exhibition is part of The Picasso Celebration 1973-2023, structured around some 50 exhibitions and events that are being held in renowned cultural institutions in Europe and North America to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the artist’s death. The Mint’s ticketed exhibition is the only museum exhibition that is part of The Picasso Celebration 1973-2023 that will be on view in the United States April 8, the date of Picasso’s death.

In addition, The Mint Museum will serve as the opening venue and the only museum on the East Coast to host the traveling exhibition. Organized by the American Federation of Arts with exceptional support of Musée national Picasso-Paris, and curated by Laurence Madeline, chief curator for French National Heritage, the exhibition is comprised of approximately 40 paintings spanning Picasso’s full career and is the first traveling exhibition to explore the breadth of the artist’s lifelong innovations in the landscape tradition. The dynamic grouping of works in the exhibition offers visitors an unparalleled window into the artist’s creative process, from his earliest days in art school (1896 when then artist was just 15 years old) to months before his passing in 1973.

Partnering cultural organizations working with The Mint Museum to create a multilayered experience of innovative programming for Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds include the Charlotte Symphony, Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, Theater Charlotte, JazzArts Charlotte, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, and Opera Carolina. The Mint Museum will also welcome school students for free tours and students in grades K-12 and art teachers to experience the exhibition free of charge.

Tickets can be purchased in advance online at mintmuseum.org/ticketing.

Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds at The Mint Museum is generously presented by Bank of America, City of Charlotte, Duke Energy, Mecklenburg County, M.A. Rogers, Ann and Michael Tarwater, North Carolina Arts Council, and Moore & Van Allen, and other generous individual contributors. The exhibition also is generously supported by Monique Schoen Warshaw. Additional support has been provided by Lee White Galvis, Clare E. McKeon, and Stephanie R. La Nasa. Support for the accompanying catalogue has been provided by Furthermore: a program of the J.M. Kaplan Fund.

Bearden / Picasso: Rhythms and Reverberations
Bearden/Picasso: Rhythms and Reverberations runs concurrently with Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds at The Mint Museum in uptown Charlotte and presents a rare opportunity to see the work of Romare Bearden displayed alongside one of his most important sources of inspiration.

The exhibition, curated by Jonathan Stuhlman, senior curator of American art at The Mint Museum, examines the impact of Picasso and his artistic influences on Charlotte-born artist Romare Bearden’s work. The works of art in Bearden/Picasso: Rhythms and Reverberations are primarily drawn from the Mint’s deep holdings of Bearden’s work, as well as from private collections and other selected museum collections. While Bearden’s later collages and prints will comprise a significant portion of the exhibition, nearly half of the works by the artist will include his rarely seen early paintings from the 1940s when he was immersed in the New York art world, also a time that Picasso was frequently exhibiting there.

Bearden/Picasso: Rhythms and Reverberations is generously presented by Bank of America, City of Charlotte, Duke Energy, Mecklenburg County, M.A. Rogers, Ann and Michael Tarwater, North Carolina Arts Council, and Moore & Van Allen.

Fashion Reimagined: Themes and Variations 1760-NOW
Fashion Reimagined: Themes and Variations 1760-NOW, curated by Annie Carlano, senior curator of Craft, Design and Fashion at The Mint Museum, is on view through July 2 at The Mint Museum in uptown Charlotte. The exhibition celebrates 50 years of the Mint’s fashion collection and the museum’s dedication to the art of fashion and design. The stunning ensembles span four centuries and are drawn from The Mint Museum’s own renowned collection of historic and contemporary fashion.

Through the lens of three distinct themes: minimalism, pattern and decoration, along with the body reimagined, 50 ensembles include bustled dresses and historic menswear along with contemporary fashion and haute couture. In recognition of the 50th anniversary, the museum hired renowned architecture firm DLR Group to build out the exhibition space. Following the likes of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the exhibition design was reimagined to create spaces that pay homage to the exhibition themes with swooping arches and translucent tapestries that elevate the fashions to a new level.

Fashion Reimagined also includes an interactive component. Titled “Shape Shifters,” a dressing room with magnetic forms on mirrors allows visitors to envision themselves in garments worn in the 18th and 19th centuries. Examples of undergarments – think hoops and bustles – will also be on display. Fashion Reimagined is generously presented by Wells Fargo Wealth & Investment Management and Mint Museum Auxiliary, with additional support form Bank OZK.

Ticket Information
The Mint Museum exhibition is free for members and children ages 4 and younger; $15 for adults; $10 for seniors ages 65 and older; $10 for college students with ID; and $6 for youth ages 5–17.
Tickets to Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds are $10 in addition to museum addition. Students in grades K-12 and art teachers are admitted free of charge.
For museum hours, visit mintmuseum.org.

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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 — the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community.<

THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF ARTS
The American Federation of Arts is the leader in traveling exhibitions internationally. A nonprofit organization founded in 1909, the AFA is dedicated to enriching the public’s experience and understanding of the visual arts through organizing and touring art exhibitions for presentation in museums around the world, publishing exhibition catalogues featuring important scholarly research, and developing educational programs.

ABOUT THE PICASSO CELEBRATION 1973-2023
April 8, 2023 will mark the 50th anniversary of the death of the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso and thus the year will represent the celebration of his work and his artistic legacy in France, Spain and internationally. The commemoration, accompanied by official celebrations in France and Spain, will make it possible to take stock of the research and interpretations of the artist’s work, especially during an important international symposium in autumn 2023, which also coincides with the opening of the Center for Picasso Studies in Paris. The Musée national Picasso-Paris and the Spanish National Commission for the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the death of Pablo Picasso are pleased to support this exceptional program.

Clayton Sealey, senior director of marketing and communications at The Mint Museum
 clayton.sealey@mintmuseum.org | 704.534.0186 (c)

Michele Huggins, associate director of marketing and communications at The Mint Museum
michele.huggins@mintmuseum.org | 704-564-0826 (c)

Anamika Khanna (Indian, 1971- ). Coat, Pants, Necklace, Fall 2019, silk, cotton, metallic thread, beads.
Museum Purchase: Funds provided by Deidre Grubb. 2021.19a-c

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | IMAGES

Charlotte, North Carolina (November 10, 2022) — Fashion Reimagined: Themes and Variations 1760-NOW opens December 10 at The Mint Museum at Levine Center for the Arts in uptown Charlotte. Comprised of 50 exquisite examples of fashion ensembles from the museum’s collection, the exhibition presents an in-depth look at the persistence of historic and cultural attitudes towards silhouettes, surface design, body shape, and beauty.

Fashion Reimagined celebrates 50 years since the founding of the museum’s fashion collection by the Mint Museum Auxiliary in 1972. The collection has grown to include more than 10,000 objects.

The mood of Fashion Reimagined ranges from quiet and contemplative to upbeat and groovy through three pervasive themes: minimalism, pattern and decoration, and the body reimagined. Exhibition highlights include two rare 18th-century English men’s suits and 19th-century wedding gowns, as well as a rare 1928 wedding ensemble by Italian fashion artist Maria Monaci Gallenga.

Glamorous gowns by Madame Gres and Oscar de la Renta, and men and women’s fashions by 20th-century innovators Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, Giorgio Armani, and Yohji Yamamoto round out the representation of fashion evolution throughout the centuries.

Several iconic examples of 1960s and ’70s mod and hippie chic style by designers like Zandra Rhodes also are included. Recent acquisitions include contemporary trenchant designs by Walé Oyéjidé for Ikiré Jones, Anamika Khanna, and Iris van Herpen.

“The presentation of the fashions in the galleries is quite dramatic and adds an emotional layer to the experience,” says Annie Carlano, senior curator of craft, design, and fashion at The Mint Museum. “More than any other type of functional design, fashion is so much more than aesthetics and craft. Without too many prompts from gallery texts, a dress or suit can cause a visceral reaction that leads you to think about who made the garment, who wore it, how did it made the person feel, and what message it sends.”

With installation design by DLR architects, interactive components include the “shape shifters” room that offers the public a look beneath the fashions, as well as an opportunity to reimagine themselves in fashions from the 18th and 19th centuries. In addition, the resource room features two videos demonstrating step-by-step directions of the dressing process for men and women in the 1770s.

The exhibition is generously presented by Wells Fargo Wealth and Investment, and the Mint Museum Auxiliary with additional support from Bank of OZK.

“Fashion, like art, is a form of cultural expression and the ultimate form of self-expression. Wells Fargo is pleased to underwrite this exhibition at the intersection of art, design, craft and history,” says Jay Everette, senior vice president, sustainability and social impact at Wells Fargo.

As an extension of the exhibition, The Mint Museum has partnered with local fashion boutiques throughout the city to launch TailoredCLT: a celebration of the chic and elegant style of Charlotte’s fashion boutiques. Participating retailers will create and display a look influenced by the exhibition themes from mid-November through December 31.

Fashion Reimagined is accompanied by an illustrated catalogue with contributions by Annie Carlano, senior curator of craft, design, and fashion at The Mint Museum and curator of the exhibition; Lauren D. Whitley, independent scholar and curator; Ellen C. Walker Show, director of library and archives at The Mint Museum; and fashion designer Anna Sui. It is published by D Giles Limited.

Fashion Reimagined: Themes and Variations 1760-NOW is on view December 10, 2022-July 2, 2023 at Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts, 500 S. Tryon Street, Charlotte.

Special thanks to our media partners Awedience Media, Peachy The Magazine, QC Exclusive, and PBS Charlotte.

Ticket Information  

The Mint Museum exhibition is free for members and children ages 4 and younger; $15 for adults; $10 for seniors ages 65 and older; $10 for college students with ID; and $6 for youth ages 5–17.

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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. 

About Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a leading financial services company that has approximately $1.9 trillion in assets, proudly serves one in three U.S. households and more than 10% of small businesses in the U.S., and is a leading middle market banking provider in the U.S. We provide a diversified set of banking, investment and mortgage products and services, as well as consumer and commercial finance, through our four reportable operating segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth & Investment Management. Wells Fargo ranked No. 41 on Fortune’s 2022 rankings of America’s largest corporations. In the communities we serve, the company focuses its social impact on building a sustainable, inclusive future for all by supporting housing affordability, small business growth, financial health, and a low‑carbon economy.

Contact:   

Clayton Sealey, senior director of marketing and communications at The Mint Museum Clayton.sealey@mintmuseum.org | 704.534.0186 (c) 

Michele Huggins, associate director of marketing and communications at The Mint Museum  
michele.huggins@mintmuseum.org | 704-564-0826 (c)

Franklin Fifth Helena is an architectural installation within the Contemporary Gallery at Mint Museum Uptown comprised of sand-painted wall panels that create a fantastical imaging of the real-life intertwined lives of the movie icon Marilyn Monroe and her psychoanalyst Dr. Ralph Greenson.

Charlotte, North Carolina (November 2, 2022) — The Mint Museum is pleased to announce the recent acquisition of Franklin Fifth Helena, an immersive architectural installation of sand paintings by New York-based artist Cynthia Talmadge.

Through meticulous process, Talmadge turns sand into strikingly realistic images. She is known to explore the mysteries of tabloid culture and identity through a variety of media. Her works of art investigate what happens when private, personal trauma meets with institutions of celebrity, money, and wrongdoing.

For Franklin Fifth Helena, Talmadge borrows the format of the Studiolo from the Ducal Palace in Gubbio, a 15^th-century room relocated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the 1930s, that was intended for contemplation and the display of objects representative of the owner’s worldliness and intellect. Instead of a sole owner, however, Franklin Fifth Helena is a fictional representation of two people — Hollywood legend Marilyn Monroe and Dr. Ralph Greeson, the psychoanalyst who treated her at the end of her life. The title — Franklin Fifth Helena — signals the mash-up as it references the pair’s respective addresses at the end of Monroe’s life: 12305 Fifth Helena Drive, Brentwood, Los Angeles for Monroe and Greeson’s at 902 Franklin Street in Santa Monica, a short mile down the hill.

Franklin Fifth Helena imagines a pool house where Monroe and Greeson’s belongings — some intimate, some impersonal — intermingle, reflecting Greeson’s ethically complicated treatment plan for Monroe, which required her to live with his family and recreate aspects of his home within her own. A follower of Freud who specialized in trauma and hysteria, Greenson advocated a practice he called “adoption therapy,” in which the patient attempted to remedy childhood trauma by replacing those memories with new experiences. Greenson took a particular interest in Monroe’s case, moving her into his home to live with his family. Greenson’s relationship with Monroe is unclear — they may have been lovers — but she died of a drug overdose while under his care.

“This is a major addition to the Mint’s collection, not only because of the technical intricacies of the work, but also, because the themes of celebrity, identity, biography, and history will speak broadly to our audiences,” says Jen Sudul Edwards, PhD, chief curator and curator of contemporary art at The Mint Museum. “The two aspects of subject and material can hold you rapt for hours. We are so appreciative to Talmadge’s gallery, 56 Henry, for making this donation possible, and to the donors Alexander Fenkell, William Leung, and Rahul Sabhnani who underwrote the purchase,” Sudul Edwards says.

Franklin Fifth Helena is on view in the Level 4 Contemporary Gallery at Mint Museum Uptown.

Ticket Information  
The Mint Museum exhibition is free for members and children ages 4 and younger; $15 for adults; $10 for seniors ages 65 and older; $10 for college students with ID; and $6 for youth ages 5–17. 

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About Cynthia Talmadge

Cynthia Talmadge is a New York-based artist whose work in painting, installation, drawing, and photography has been shown, collected, and reviewed internationally. Talmadge’s projects exhibit her fascination with heightened emotional states, mediated portrayals of those states, and particularly the places where both converge.

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. 

Contact:  

Clayton Sealey, senior director of marketing and communications at The Mint Museum

Clayton.sealey@mintmuseum.org | 704.534.0186 (c) 

Michele Huggins, associate director of marketing and communications at The Mint Museum  
michele.huggins@mintmuseum.org | 704-564-0826 (c)

 

Journey through two centuries of American art and artists in American Made: Paintings and Sculpture from the DeMell Jacobsen Collection, presented by PNC Bank, at The Mint Museum

For Immediate Release | Images Here

Charlotte, North Carolina (August 16, 2022) — The Mint Museum is pleased to announce the opening of American Made: Paintings and Sculpture from the DeMell Jacobsen Collection, which features more than 100 works of art by renowned American artists, such as Benjamin West, Sarah Miriam Peale, Thomas Cole, John Singer Sargent, Mary Cassatt, Robert Henri, and Charles Alston. The exhibition will be on view September 10 through December 24 at The Mint Museum’s uptown location (known as Mint Museum Uptown). Drawn entirely from the DeMell Jacobsen Collection, the exhibition beautifully illustrates distinctive styles and thought-provoking art explored by American artists over the past two centuries.

Though many objects from the DeMell Jacobsen Collection have been on view at other museums, ranging from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum to the Amon Carter Museum of American Art and Saint Louis Art Museum, this is the first exhibition to see the best of the collection brought together in one location.

“Private collections by definition reflect the tastes and focus of the collector. In the case of Diane Jacobsen, we are fortunate that not only does she have a keen eye for quality, condition, and the appropriate frame, but she has actively collected works by female artists and artists of color, often overlooked in surveys of American art, offering our visitors a broader understanding of artistic production in America from its early days as a young country to the 20th century,” says Todd Herman, Ph.D., president and CEO at The Mint Museum.

The exhibition, presented by PNC Bank, begins with portraits by masters including Rembrandt Peale and Thomas Sully, before moving on to highlight the development of mid-19th-century landscape painting with works by Asher B. Durand, John Frederick Kensett, and others. Enticing images of fruits, flowers, and other delights by Severin Roesen, John Francis, Ferdinand Richardt, Elizabeth Williams, and Adelaide Coburne Palmer will be featured alongside trompe l’oeil (“deceives the eye”) examples by William Michael Harnett, John Haberle, and John Peto. Twentieth-century modernism and realism can be seen in works by artists ranging from Patrick Henry Bruce and Marsden Hartley to Paul Cadmus, Charmion von Wiegand, Suzy Frelinghuysen, Elizabeth Catlett, and Earnie Barnes.

The mission of The Thomas H. and Diane DeMell Jacobsen Ph.D. Foundation to “carefully research and obtain American masterpieces” is abundantly represented in American Made, says Jonathan Stuhlman, Ph.D., senior curator of American art at the Mint.

“It has been a pleasure to work with Dr. Jacobsen and her team to bring this exhibition to life over the past few years,” Stuhlman says. “Dr. Jacobsen has built this collection with not only an incredible passion for teaching the public about American art, but with a sense of exploration and discovery, a keen eye, and incredible connoisseurship.”

The September 10 opening-day celebration will include a panel discussion with Diane Jacobsen, Ph.D., distinguished scholar, art collector, and chair of the Thomas H. and Diane DeMell Jacobsen Ph.D. Foundation, along with Herman and Stuhlman.

American Made: Paintings and Sculpture from the DeMell Jacobsen Collection is generously presented in Charlotte by PNC Bank. Additional generous support is provided by The Dowd Foundation, Windgate Foundation, U.S. Bank Private Wealth Management, and The President’s Cup. The national tour of American Made is made possible by Bonhams, Christie’s, Doyle, Schoelkopf Gallery, and Sotheby’s. Media partners are SouthPark magazine and WDAV 89.9.

“Since establishing a presence in North Carolina one decade ago, PNC has invested heavily to support the arts and the region’s thriving cultural community,” says Weston Andress, PNC Bank regional president for Western Carolinas. “Through our frequent collaborations with The Mint Museum, we’ve helped bring world-class exhibitions to the city of Charlotte, and we’re delighted to continue that tradition with American Made.”

Accompanying the show is a catalogue of the DeMell Jacobsen Collection of fine art that is principally authored by Elizabeth Heuer, Ph.D., with contributions from other leading scholars, edited by the Mint’s Jonathan Stuhlman, Ph.D., and published by D. Giles Ltd. It is available in The Mint Museum Store or online at store.mintmuseum.org.

Following its run at the Mint, the exhibition will travel to the Dixon Gallery and Gardens in Memphis, Tennessee; the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens in Jacksonville, Florida; the San Antonio Museum of Art in Texas; and the Huntsville Museum of Art in Alabama.

Ticket Information
The Mint Museum exhibition is free for members and children ages 4 and younger; $15 for adults; $10 for seniors ages 65 and older; $10 for college students with ID; and $6 for youth ages 5–17. For museum hours, visit mintmuseum.org.

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 — the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community.

PNC Bank
PNC Bank, National Association, is a member of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC). PNC is one of the largest diversified financial services institutions in the United States, organized around its customers and communities for strong relationships and local delivery of retail and business banking including a full range of lending products; specialized services for corporations and government entities, including corporate banking, real estate finance and asset-based lending; wealth management and asset management. For information about PNC, visit www.pnc.com.

The Thomas H. and Diane DeMell Jacobsen Ph.D. Foundation
The Thomas H. and Diane DeMell Jacobsen Ph.D. Foundation is dedicated to preserving and exhibiting American art by carefully researching and obtaining American masterpieces, providing restoration, if necessary, and facilitating long-term loans to accredited major museums and traveling exhibitions. Created in 2011 as a 501(c)3 private operating foundation, the Foundation educates and stimulates creativity and teaches viewers about our nation’s rich artistic heritage with the goal of celebrating American art.

Media
For interviews, digital images, or additional information, please contact:

Michele Huggins, associate director of marketing and communications
michele.huggins@mintmuseum.org | 704.564.0826 (c)

Clayton Sealey, senior director of marketing and communications
clayton.sealey@mintmuseum.org | 704.534.0186 (c)

Diedrick Brackens (American, 1989–). survival is a shrine, not the small space near the limit of life, 2021; cotton and acrylic yarn, 92 x 98 inches.

‘Diedrick Brackens: ark of bulrushes’ retells African American histories and connects American craft traditions through powerful woven art

For Immediate Release 

Charlotte, North Carolina (June 23, 2022) — The Mint Museum is pleased to present Diedrick Brackens: ark of bulrushes, displaying large-scale textiles, handwoven basket boats, and performative photography by internationally recognized artist Diedrick Brackens. Originally curated by Lauren R. O’Connell for the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, The Mint Museum iteration installs the SMoCA exhibition alongside works from The Mint Museum’s collection of quilts and weavings, many of which are on view for the first time, and a survey of contemporary North Carolina weavers. ark of bulrushes will be on view July 16–December 11, 2022 at Mint Museum Randolph. 

Brackens is best known for his weavings that explore narratives about queerness, masculinity, and the Black experience in the United States. His work incorporates elements of West-African weaving, American quilting, and European tapestry-making, as well as histories associated with craft. 

In ark of bulrushes, colorful weavings are encoded with patterns, constellations, and Black figures to form a mythology that combines past stories about liberation, from the Bible to the Underground Railroad, with current narratives of freedom and remediation. Additionally, Brackens first basket boats consider how craft can activate narratives for self-deliverance.

“I really started to think about how I could employ baskets as a tool for self-liberation. For me the question was: Could you make a basket big enough to float away, and is this something that one could do in a clandestine manner or in plain sight? I want the baskets to make some of these myths feel possible, that these aren’t just stories we tell ourselves, but that there is possibility through making, through craft, to actualize these things,” Brackens says.

In the performative photography, Brackens brings the baskets back into nature. “It speaks to how folks have been dispossessed from nature. I think there is so much power in it and so much peace,” he says.

Brackens and O’Connell worked with the Mint’s Chief Curator and Curator of Contemporary Art Jen Sudul Edwards, PhD, and Senior Curator of Craft, Design, and Fashion Annie Carlano to expand the original SMoCA version with related objects from the Mint’s collection of quilts, weavings, and Native American baskets.  

“The sensation of feeling lost and the yearning for guidance — physically, spiritually, emotionally, historically — is a state of existence humans have felt for as long as they have wandered the Earth, and Diedrick Brackens gives us an entirely new way to consider this experience through his poignant, potent imagery that Lauren O’Connell has assembled into this powerful constellation of works,” Sudul Edwards says.  

Contemporary regional artists who have works in the exhibition, include Charlotte-based artists Renee Cloud, Katrina Sanchez, and Andrea Vail, along with Edwina Bringle of Penland, North Carolina, Andrea Donnelly of Richmond, Virginia, and Martha Clippinger of Durham, North Carolina.

Diedrick Brackens: ark of bulrushes is organized by Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) and curated by Lauren R. O’Connell, curator of contemporary art at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. Support is provided by the S. Rex and Joan Lewis Foundation and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Learning & Engagement and Community Outreach programming for this exhibition is generously supported by Windgate Foundation.   

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 — the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community. 

Media 

For interviews, digital images, or additional information, please contact: 

Clayton Sealey, senior director of marketing and communications
clayton.sealey@mintmuseum.org | 704.534.0186 (c) 

Michele Huggins, associate director of marketing and communications
michele.huggins@mintmuseum.org | 704.564.0826 (c) 

For Immediate Release | Images available here

Charlotte, North Carolina (May 13, 2022) —  For more than 200 years, members of the Cole family have been potting in central North Carolina — Randolph, Moore, Lee, and Montgomery counties. Six generations of Coles, and no fewer than 18 individuals, are represented in The Mint Museum’s permanent collection. More than 60 highlights of their wares are included in the new installation The Cole Family: A Dynasty of North Carolina Potters, on view at Mint Museum Randolph.

From crocks, jars, and jugs to pitchers, candleholders, and vases, “turning pots” is one of the oldest and richest craft traditions in North Carolina. The deep-rooted legacy of the Cole family of potters began with Raphard Cole, born in 1799. He and his sons produced utilitarian stoneware, such as crocks, jugs, and urns, that were needed in an agrarian economy. Following generations distinguished themselves from their forebears by training their daughters, as well as their sons, on how to “turn pots.”

As the North Carolina tourist market for decorative ceramics evolved, the Cole family produced an impressive variety of colorfully glazed vases, pitchers, candleholders, and other ceramic pieces. Examples of all these wares also are on view in the installation.

“In a state filled with multigenerational families of gifted potters, the Coles stand out as one of North Carolina’s most enduring and prolific. For more than two hundred years, they have contributed enormously to the state’s ceramic traditions through their well-potted objects and their exceptionally beautiful glazes,” says Brian Gallagher, senior curator of decorative arts at The Mint Museum.

The Cole Family: A Dynasty of North Carolina Potters presents a visual history of “turned pots” and the family that helped turn North Carolina into one of America’s centers for handmade, traditional pottery.

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 — the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community.

Contact
Clayton Sealey, senior director of marketing and communications
clayton.sealey@mintmuseum.org | 704.534.0186 (c)

Michele Huggins, associate director of marketing and communications
michele.huggins@mintmuseum.org | 704.564.0826 (c)

FROM LEFT: Mark Rothko (American, born Russia, 1903–70). No. 17 [or] No. 15 1949, oil on canvas, 51 7/8 x 29 1/8 inches. Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc. National Gallery of Art, Washington 1986.43.142. Mark Rothko (American, born Russia, 1903–70). Untitled 1951, oil on canvas, 44 1/4 x 37 3/8 inches. Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc. National Gallery of Art, Washington 1986.43.157.

Charlotte, North Carolina (March 10, 2022) — For the first time in its 85-year history, The Mint Museum has not one, but two, Mark Rothko paintings on view. Through a long-term loan with the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., two paintings by the Abstract Expressionist painter Mark Rothko are on view in the Modern Contemporary galleries at Mint Museum Uptown. The two works — No. 17 [or] No. 15 and Untitled 1951 — are the only paintings by Rothko currently on view in North Carolina.

To celebrate, Harry Cooper, senior curator and head of modern and contemporary art at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., presents “Rothko Becoming Rothko” 6:30 p.m. April 13 at Mint Museum Uptown about the life and works of the famed artist. The lecture is part of the Wednesday Night Live Series, presented by Bank of America, and includes free admission to the museum, plus a cash bar, 5:30-9 p.m.
Rothko’s serene floating blocks of color, typical of his mature work in the 1950s and 1960s, are considered a pivotal moment in the move from figural painting to Abstract Expressionism, says Todd A. Herman, president and CEO.

“Influenced by the tragedies of World War II, Rothko felt that painting needed to reach deeper into our shared subconscious where humanity can be connected through emotional responses to color and shape. He worked in a vertical format to reflect the human form and encouraged people to stand just a few feet in front so that the work could fill their vision and maximize the effect.”

The paintings will be on view through March 2023 at Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts.

Ticket Information
Admission to The Mint Museum is free for members and children ages 4 and younger; $15 for adults; $10 for seniors ages 65 and older; $10 for college students with ID; and $6 for youth ages 5–17.

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 — the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community.

More information, contact: Michele Huggins, Interim Director of Marketing and Communications at The Mint Museum
michele.huggins@mintmuseum.org | 704.564.0826 (c)

The Mint Museum is proud to announce major additions to its collection, including internationally renowned artist Kehinde Wiley’s Philip the Fair. Wiley, a California native, is best known for painting President Barack Obama’s portrait. Philip the Fair is an example of Wiley’s majestic representation of urban Black men recast in place of those populating European old-master paintings, and asking the question ‘who gets represented?’ Philip the Fair references a 15th-century stained-glass image of Philip the IV of France who was known as Philip the Fair.  The painting has been on loan at The Mint Museum since 2006, but is now part of the museum’s collection.

“The Mint Museum continues to grow and refine its collection through purchases and gifts with stellar examples from artists that represent a diverse array of backgrounds and experiences,” says Todd Herman, president and CEO at the Mint. “We are grateful to our generous donors, and especially to the artists, for allowing us to share these beautiful and inspirational works with our audience.”  

Other exceptional works entering the collection, include Willie Cole’s Silex, currently on view in the Mint’s Continuing Conversations exhibition, and Elizabeth Talford Scott’s quilted and appliqued mixed-media piece Untitled (Shield), part of the Mint’s Craft + Design Collection, both of which transcend time with stories tied to race and cultural experiences. 

Expanding the museum’s collection by artists from outside the United States are works by Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto, Indian fashion designer Anamika Khanna, Canadian artist Simone Saunders, British photographer Sam Taylor-Johnson, Dutch artist Iris van Herpen, Belgium artist Berlinde de Bruyckere, and Spanish artist Nacho Carbonell. 

In addition are notable works by Charlotte-based artists, including Nellie Ashford, MyLoan Dinh, de’Angelo Dia, and Julio Gonzales, that reflect cultural heritage, ancestry, and community. 

“We are particularly proud of the diversity represented in our acquisitions over the last couple of years. Not only are the makers of all profiles — international, regional, men, women, nonbinary, young, late career — but the media spans the gamut,” says Jen Sudul Edwards, chief curator and curator of contemporary art. “These new acquisitions reinforce The Mint Museum’s commitment to all forms and all makers as long as the work is thoughtful, ambitious, and excellent.”  

The acquisition of Philip the Fair is made possible by the generous support of the Mint Museum Auxiliary, the Katherine and Thomas Belk Foundation, and Kelle and Len Botkin.

For more information, contact:
Michele Huggins, interim director of marketing and communications at The Mint Museum
michele.huggins@mintmuseum.org | 704.564.0826 (c) 

The Mint Museum is thrilled to share that the short film “Foragers,” a unique composition of visual and performing art, won an Emmy in the competitive Arts and Entertainment category at the Nashville/Southeast Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Emmy Awards.

Commissioned by Wells Fargo Private Bank, The Mint Museum partnered with Charlotte Symphony to create the short film that unites visual and performing arts and celebrates the power of women artists.

The film opens with Natalie Frazier Allen, chair of The Mint Museum’s board of trustees, discussing the collaboration of artists while scenes of the installation of Foragers flash on the screen. Foragers, also presented by Wells Fargo Private Bank, spans four stories, 96 windows and 3,720 square feet, and features women in roles traditionally associated with men.

Following the introduction, artist Summer Wheat, who created Foragers, explains her inspiration for the work and the power of the female figures represented. At the crux of the film are duets played by Charlotte Symphony musicians Jenny Topilow, Alaina Rea, Andrea Markle, and Andrea Mumm Trammell in front of the monumental work at Mint Museum Uptown.

In the soaring open space, film producers Kelso Communications and Priceless Miscellaneous had the freedom to roam up, down, and around the musicians as they performed their contemporary classical pieces, creating a one-of-a-kind virtual event.

The Emmy was awarded Saturday, February 26, 2022 during the Nashville/Southeast Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences virtual Emmy Awards ceremony.

E.V. Day (American, 1967–). Daytona Vortex, 2020, neoprene, filament, metal. On loan from Jimmy and Chandra Johnson.

The Mint Museum debuts Daytona Vortex sculpture commemorating NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson’s 2006 Daytona 500 victory

For Immediate Release 

Charlotte (December 22, 2021) — Daytona Vortex by New York-based artist EV Day makes its public debut December 23, 2021 at The Mint Museum in uptown Charlotte. On loan from Jimmie and Chandra Johnson, the sculpture is made from the fire suit Jimmie Johnson wore when he took the win at the 2006 Daytona 500. 

Made from the winning fire suit, monofilament and hardware with a mirrored stainless steel base, Jimmie Johnson commissioned Day to create the sculpture that stands more than 12 feet tall. For decades Day has constructed sculptures that question social structures and perceptions around gender and sexuality, as seen in her Exploded Couture series that includes Transporter, which is on view in the Mint’s permanent collection galleries on Level 4 at Mint Museum Uptown. 

Bold forms and colors found in the sculpture generate notions of speed, technology, and celebratory confetti. The reversed engineering of the suit pays homage to Karuta, the complicated armor worn by samurai warriors. Day also considers Jimmie Johnson’s racing suit in the lineage of space exploration, tracing its fiber genetics to the suit that allowed Major Arthur Murray to become the first pilot to leave the Earth’s atmosphere in 1954.  

“It celebrates the power and heroism of humankind’s innovation,” Day says. “Tectonically the language of the piece highlights the friction between man and machine — softness of the highly tailored fabric to the rigid structure of the hardware. It may seem that these forces are at odds, but they are interdependent on one another,” Day says. 

When Jen Sudul Edwards, PhD, chief curator and curator ofcontemporary art at the Mint, learned about the commissioned piece, she knew she wanted to have it on view at the Mint.  

“Like Transporter, Daytona Vortex is visually stunning and conceptually powerful as it pushes us to rethink ideas around gender, dress, social interactions, expectations and popular culture,” Sudul Edwards says. “It’s also a poignant reconsideration of sports heroes like Jimmie Johnson and the tension that must be maintained between the physical and intellectual, assurances and risk, in order to succeed.” 

Daytona Vortex is on view December 23, 2021-June 5, 2022, in the Gorelick Gallery on Level 3 at Mint Museum Uptown. 

Ticket Information 

The Mint Museum exhibition is free for members and children ages 4 and younger; $15 for adults; $10 for seniors ages 65 and older; $10 for college students with ID; and $6 for youth ages 5–17. Frontline workers and their immediate families receive complimentary admission through December 31, 2021. 

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. 

Contact: 

Michele Huggins, Interim Director of Marketing and Communications at The Mint Museum 

michele.huggins@mintmuseum.org | 704-564-0826 

The Mint Museum presents The World of Anna Sui, a retrospective of the iconic fashion designer

For Immediate Release 

Charlotte, North Carolina (November 2, 2021) — The Mint Museum is pleased to announce its upcoming exhibition The World of Anna Sui, a major retrospective of the iconic fashion designer, on view November 20, 2021- May 1, 2022, at its Mint Museum Randolph location. The exhibition — presented by PNC Bank — provides a look inside the creative process of Sui, who recently was featured in T: The New York Times Style Magazine’s 2021 Greats issue and is known for her mastery of street-chic style from mod to punk, surfer to bohemian.

The World of Anna Sui is organized by the Fashion and Textile Museum, London and curated by Dennis Nothdruft, head of exhibitions at the Fashion and Textile Museum, London. The first iteration of the exhibition debuted at the Fashion and Textile Museum, London in the summer of 2017, and has toured the globe, from New York City to Shanghai to Tokyo. The Mint Museum’s iteration — curated by Annie Carlano, the Mint’s senior curator of Craft, Design, & Fashion — is the last stop for the exhibition’s current international tour. It presents more than 100 looks from the designer’s archives, with a roll call of archetypes that capture the Sui aesthetic, such as rockstar, Americana, fairytale, grunge, retro and nomad. It is the first full fashion exhibition at The Mint Museum to be devoted to a woman’s body of work, as well as the first dedicated to an Asian American designer. As the museum celebrates the 85th anniversary of its founding, the exhibition brings to life aspects of The Mint Museum’s evolution.

“One of the rare women-owned fashion brands, Sui and her innovative spirit are a fitting complement to the pioneering spirit of the donors who launched the Mint’s notable fashion collection in 1972,” says Todd A. Herman, PhD, president and CEO of The Mint Museum.

Since her first catwalk show in 1991, Sui has shaped not only the garments, textiles, accessories, beauty and interiors that comprise her design universe, but also the course of fashion history. This fun and raucous exhibition takes the visitor through the many phases and influences of Sui’s career that have made her such a darling of both street fashionistas and the runway, says Herman.

“In addition to capturing the output of Sui’s creativity and artistic vision, this exhibition celebrates what it takes to build a successful business — entrepreneurship, innovation, determination and hard work,” says Weston Andress, PNC regional president for Western Carolinas. “PNC is excited to help the Mint bring this meaningful exhibition – the first of its kind — to Charlotte.”

Part autobiography and part cultural commentary, Sui uses her fashion to reflect her experiences as part of a vibrant New York City art and music scene in the late 1970s. Her designs point to her friendships with fellow Parsons School of Design students Steven Meisel and Marc Jacobs; and models Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell and Christy Turlington. Her fashions are a product of her own high-fashion-meets-thrift store and biker-meets-princess style, as well as an ongoing fascination and study of London’s art and music world, from Aubrey Beardsley to The Beatles.

“Through her meticulous research of history, art and design, Anna Sui creates not simply fashions, but an entire gesamtkunstwerk, with head-to-toe touches: earrings, sunglasses, coats, bags, socks and shoes, and even bottle carriers,” says Annie Carlano, senior curator for craft, design & fashion at The Mint Museum. “Our installation brings the world of Anna Sui alive, with a killer soundtrack and vibrant interiors.”

The exhibition is organized by the Fashion Textile Museum, London and presented by PNC Bank. Generous individual support is provided by Deidre and Clay Grubb, with additional support from the Mint Museum Auxiliary. Additional individual support is provided by Posey and Mark Mealy, Celene and Marc Oken, Kati and Chris Small, Ann and Michael Tarwater, Rocky and Curtis Trenkelbach, the Fashion Task Force, and friends of fashion.

Ticket Information

The Mint Museum exhibition is free for members and children age 4 and younger; $15 for adults; $10 for seniors age 65 and older; $10 for college students with ID; and $6 for youth age 5–17. Frontline workers and their immediate families receive complimentary admission through December 31, 2021.

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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. 

PNC Bank

PNC Bank, National Association, is a member of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC). PNC is one of the largest diversified financial services institutions in the United States, organized around its customers and communities for strong relationships and local delivery of retail and business banking including a full range of lending products; specialized services for corporations and government entities, including corporate banking, real estate finance and asset-based lending; wealth management and asset management. For information about PNC, visit www.pnc.com.

Anna Sui

Anna Sui’s collections take people on a creative journey that is unparalleled in the world of fashion. Mixing vintage inspiration with current cultural obsessions, she effortlessly designs hip and exuberant original clothing. Anna Sui’s first fashion show in 1991 earned her international acclaim. The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) recognized Anna Sui with its Perry Ellis Award for New Fashion Talent in 1993 and honored her again in 2009 with the prestigious Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award. She received an honorary doctorate in Fine Arts from Parsons School of Design at the New School in 2017. Anna Sui’s products are sold in over 300 stores in 30 countries. The Anna Sui line also includes her very popular fragrance and cosmetic collections, as well as successful footwear, eyewear, and jewelry licensees. Anna Sui designs and manufactures directly from her New York City studio. Her runway shows continue to inspire and set trends through her signature lens. The Anna Sui brand has been independently owned since its inception in 1981.

The Fashion and Textile Museum

The Fashion and Textile Museum is the only museum in the UK dedicated to showcasing contemporary fashion and textile design. The Museum is committed to presenting varied, creative and engaging exhibitions, alongside an exciting selection of educational courses, talks, events and workshops. In place of a permanent collection is a diverse program of temporary exhibitions, displaying a broad range of innovative fashion and textiles from designers and makers around the world. The Fashion and Textile Museum was founded in 2003 by icon of British design, Dame Zandra Rhodes. Today, the Museum is operated by Newham College, London — one of Europe’s largest further education colleges. Situated in the heart of fashionable Bermondsey Village, the Museum is housed in a beautiful and distinctive building designed by renowned Mexican architect, Ricardo Legorreta.

Contact: 

Caroline Portillo, Senior Director of Marketing & Communications at The Mint Museum caroline.portillo@mintmuseum.org| 704.488.6874 (c) 

Michele Huggins, Communications and Media Relations Project Manager at The Mint Museum michele.huggins@mintmuseum.org | 704.564.0826 (c) 

The Mint Museum celebrates its 85th anniversary with a weekend of festivities and complimentary museum admission 

For Immediate Release 

Charlotte, North Carolina (October 12, 2021) — October 22, 2021 marks the 85th anniversary of The Mint Museum. A weekend celebration is planned October 22-24 to commemorate the opening of North Carolina’s first art museum. Festivities, presented by Chase, kick off 5-9 PM October 22 at Mint Museum Randolph. Events include the opening of the newest Interventions installation by local artist and muralist Irisol Gonzalez and an artist talk with Gonzalez at 6:30 p.m., live painting by local artists Elisa Lopez Trejo and Arthur Rogers, plus a cash bar, food trucks, music by DJ Claudio Ortiz, cupcakes, and giveaways with free mini art kits compliments of Chase. 

The celebration continues at Mint Museum Uptown noon-4 PM October 23, and includes live music by Groove Masters and Orquesta Mayor, live painting by local artist Arthur Rogers, a cash bar, cupcakes, raffle prizes, docent tours of the John Leslie Breck: American Impressionist exhibition, and giveaways. Museum admission is free throughout the weekend at both museum locations. 

“We are excited to help the Mint Museum celebrate 85 years of being a key part of the Charlotte community,” says Justin Brovitz, Chase’s Consumer Banking Market Director in the Carolinas. “This past year and a half has taught us so much about the value of art and the arts to boost our spirits, to inspire our creativity, and to strengthen our communities. It is with that in mind that we are supporting a free weekend of the Mint Museum’s new exhibitions, installations and other fun activities in celebration of this milestone.” 

The Mint Museum was established in 1936 thanks to the efforts of many women who were devoted to bringing art to the Charlotte community, especially Mary Myers Dwelle. As chairperson of the Charlotte Woman’s Club Art Department, Dwelle arranged art exhibitions and lectures that were eagerly received by Charlotte audiences. Recognizing the need for a free-standing arts institution, she and other arts advocates identified the historic U.S. Mint building on Tryon Street as a viable location. Despite financial hurdles, Dwelle and her team of arts advocates marched forward ultimately inspiring funding for the purchase and relocation of the building to the Mint’s current Randolph Road location. In 2010, Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts opened at 500 South Tryon Street. 

The Mint Museum recognizes that throughout its history it has not always been the welcoming place for all people that it aspires to be today. Through initiatives, such as showcasing works by diverse groups of artists, providing added accessibility through special events and free museum days, and special programming, the museum strives to be inclusive for all people, races, and backgrounds. 

“The Mint has connected generations through the power of art,” says Todd Herman, PhD, president and CEO of The Mint Museum. “As we look forward to the next 85 years, we are guided by a commitment to welcome and inspire artists and visitors of all backgrounds with the amazing art in our collections and through special exhibitions and programming.” 

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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. 

Contact: 

Caroline Portillo, Senior Director of Marketing & Communications at The Mint Museum caroline.portillo@mintmuseum.org| 704.488.6874 (c) 

Michele Huggins, Communications and Media Relations Project Manager at The Mint Museum michele.huggins@mintmuseum.org | 704.564.0826 (c) 

The Windgate Foundation awards The Mint Museum two $1 million gifts to grow its Craft and Design Collection

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Charlotte, North Carolina (September 9, 2021) — The Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina has received two $1 million dollar gifts from the Windgate Foundation. One of the $1 million gifts will be used to establish an acquisition endowment for the purchase of works by living craft artists for the Mint’s permanent collection. The other $1 million is designated for operating expenses to advance the museum’s mission.

“We are both honored and thrilled that the Windgate Foundation has recognized the strength of The Mint Museum’s programs and the importance of our Craft and Design collection,” says Todd Herman, PhD, president and CEO of The Mint Museum. “Their generous gift will allow us to continue to grow this important collection with an emphasis on living and diverse artists.”

The Mint Museum collects international contemporary decorative arts in the areas of glass, fiber art, metal, studio jewelry, design, studio furniture, wood art, and clay. The Craft and Design Collection, housed at Mint Museum Uptown, includes works of art from the mid-20th century to the present, with a focus on 21st-century pieces. The Windgate Foundation gift will be used to grow The Mint Museum’s Craft and Design Collection with works of art made by a diverse group of artists.

“Craft is central to the identity of the Mint, one of a few art museums in the country with permanent collection galleries devoted to the ongoing presentation of local, national, and global craft,” says Annie Carlano, senior curator of Craft, Design & Fashion at The Mint Museum. “We are honored that the Windgate Foundation has once again recognized the importance of the craft collection at the Mint, as well as our exhibitions, programs, and publications.”

By forging alliances regionally, nationally, and internationally, the museum continues to find new ways to integrate craft and design into the broader conversation about art and society. The new gift to The Mint Museum is a significant expansion of the Windgate Foundation’s commitment to the museum’s Craft and Design program. Previously, the Windgate Foundation has supported Covid-19 Relief, the Michael Sherrill Retrospective exhibition and catalogue, Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World’s Fairs 1851-1939 educational programming, and other art acquisitions at the Mint.

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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 — the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community.

Contact:

Caroline Portillo, Senior Director of Marketing & Communications at The Mint Museum
caroline.portillo@mintmuseum.org| 704.488.6874 (c)

Michele Huggins, Communications and Media Relations Project Manager at The Mint Museum
michele.huggins@mintmuseum.org | 704.564.0826 (c)

(more…)

The Mint remembers Dr. David C. Driskell, a pioneering artist and scholar

We are losing many great minds and kind hearts in these spring months and while we may not be able to recognize all, we will try to celebrate the lives of artists, collectors and patrons who have had direct impact on the museum and our community. One such man of national and international acclaim is artist and scholar Dr. David C. Driskell, who passed away of coronavirus on April 1, 2020 in Washington D.C. at the age of 88. His touring exhibition Narratives of African American Art and Identity was on view at The Mint Museum in 2002.

Driskell was born on June 7, 1931 in Eatonton, Ga. His paternal Gullah lineage was from the Georgia Sea Islands. His family moved to Hollis in the Appalachian Mountains of western North Carolina when he was a child. His parents were both  “makers”—his father, a blacksmith and Baptist preacher; his mother, a basket weaver and quilter. Educated in a small segregated school house, his teachers recognized his intellect and passion for art and encouraged him to attend college.  He tells the story, with great humor, of traveling to Washington, D.C.,  enthusiastically arriving at Howard University totally unaware of admission procedures, determined to “attend” college.  He sat in on classes until someone helped him officially enroll. His passion, his determination to learn, create, and teach never faulted.

Like his parents, Dr. Driskell also remained a maker. A figurative painter, his work had the loose brushwork and bold colors of the abstract expressionist painters who dominated the galleries in his youth. He became nationally recognized and lauded as early as 1956 with his modern day Pietà, Behold Thy Son, a memorial for the brutally murdered Emmett Till. The painting now hangs near Dr. Driskell’s Washington D.C. home, at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Covid-19 virus abruptly ended his life; however, his legacy—his indelible contribution to the canon of American art history—will live on through his art and through his many publications, scholarly dissertations, lectures, and the generations of art historians that he spawned.

Driskell modeled himself after his mentor, Dr. James A. Porter, who established the art department at Howard University and pioneered the field of African American Art History. As heir to Porter’s groundbreaking work in the field, Driskell pursued his study, achieving his Bachelor of Arts from Howard University in 1955 and an MFA from Catholic University in 1962. He also studied at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine in 1953 and Art History at The Hague, Netherlands in 1964.

Driskell remained an important teacher as well as scholar. He taught at Talladega College in Alabama, Howard University, Fiske University in Tennessee, Bowdoin College in Maine, the University of Michigan, Queens College, and Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, before joining the faculty of the Department of Art at the University of Maryland, College Park in 1977. He remained affiliated with the school through his retirement in 1998. In 2001, the school established the David C. Driskell Center for the Study of Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora. The school reflects its namesake: Terry Gips, Director of The Art Gallery University of Maryland, states, “Driskell evidences his commitment to enhancing the study of art by emphasizing the multicultural contributions made by Native Americans, Black, Asian and European artists.”

Rubie Britt-Height, Director of Community Relations at The Mint Museum, first met Driskell while on staff at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. “Dr. Driskell was often involved with us—sharing, advising, and supporting,” says Britt-Height. “He would lend commentary on a work or an exhibition, and we’d inquisitively seek his wisdom. And of course, he had great ties to Loïs Mailou Jones, his Howard University art instructor.”

Driskell advised esteemed collections, and in 1996, he assisted President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton in their selection of the first work of art by an African-American for the White House permanent collection with the acquisition of Henry Ossawa Tanner’s Sand Dunes at Sunset, Atlantic City.

Driskell directly touched our Charlotte community when his chose to honor his North Carolina roots by ending his national touring exhibition, Narratives of African American Art and Identity at The Mint Museum in 2002. The museum exhibition, along with a solo exhibition of his paintings at Noel Gallery, was facilitated by former Mint Museum trustee B.E. Noel. “The best way we can honor Dr. Driskell is to enfold the work of African-American art into every aspect of the canon and celebrate our common humanity through art,” says Noel.

Todd Herman, the Board of Directors and our Mint staff extend our appreciation to Dr. Driskell and sincere condolences to the Driskell family.

This piece was written by B.E. Noel, a former trustee of The Mint Museum who knew Dr. David Driskell through her role as a gallerist, collector, and scholar.

Get your glow on at The Mint Museum’s “Light Up the Night” celebration Feb. 14, powered by Duke Energy and Piedmont Natural Gas

Charlotte, N.C. (February 6, 2020): The Mint Museum welcomes the community to its free Light Up the Night event, powered by Duke Energy and Piedmont Natural Gas, 6-9 PM Feb. 14 at Mint Museum Uptown. The free Valentine’s Day event features immersive experiences for all ages, including glowing swings on the plaza, live music by DJ Fannie Mae, and pop-up maker spaces inside the museum.

One highlight sure to fill Instagram feeds: five circular glow swings installed on the plaza outside Mint Museum Uptown. The LED-lit hoop-shaped swings are designed for guests to twist and glide. Each swing is suspended on rubber-and-rope cords attached to steel structures. LED lights embedded in the swings rotate through neon candy colors when in motion, gradually dimming to a soft white light when still. 

The event—free and open to the public—is held in conjunction with special exhibition Immersed in Light: Studio Drift at the Mint, of which Duke Energy and Piedmont Natural Gas is a corporate sponsor. The exhibition, which showcases the Dutch artist collective, runs through April 26 at Mint Museum Uptown. Spotlight tours take place every half-hour in the galleries on the museums Level 3 and Level 4 galleries.

In addition to the gallery experiences, enjoy light bites and illuminated cocktails at the cash bar, and make creative designs at pop-up maker spaces with glow-in-the-dark art activities.

Fans of Immersed in Light can enjoy a special “Fall in Love With Dutch Design” conversation at 6 PM in the boardroom, presented by the Mint’s Senior Curator of Craft, Design and Fashion Annie Carlano, curator for the exhibition. Carlano will showcase exceptional works by Dutch artists and the hottest Dutch designers of the 21st century. 

Want more info?
Contact Michele Huggins, the Mint’s communications and media relations project manager, michele.huggins@mintmuseum.org or at 704-337-2122

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 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.

Duke Energy

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of the largest energy holding companies in the U.S. It employs 30,000 people and has an electric generating capacity of 51,000 megawatts through its regulated utilities, and 3,000 megawatts through its nonregulated Duke Energy Renewables unit.

Duke Energy is transforming its customers’ experience, modernizing the energy grid, generating cleaner energy and expanding natural gas infrastructure to create a smarter energy future for the people and communities it serves. The Electric Utilities and Infrastructure unit’s regulated utilities serve approximately 7.7 million retail electric customers in six states – North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. The Gas Utilities and Infrastructure unit distributes natural gas to more than 1.6 million customers in five states – North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. The Duke Energy Renewables unit operates wind and solar generation facilities across the U.S., as well as energy storage and microgrid projects.

Duke Energy was named to Fortune’s 2020 “World’s Most Admired Companies” list, and Forbes’ 2019 “America’s Best Employers” list. More information about the company is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke Energy News Center contains news releases, fact sheets, photos, videos and other materials. Duke Energy’s illumination features stories about people, innovations, community topics and environmental issues. Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

Piedmont Natural Gas

Piedmont Natural Gas, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, is an energy services company whose principal business is the distribution of natural gas to more than 1 million residential, commercial and industrial customers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. The company also supplies natural gas to power plants. Piedmont is routinely recognized by J.D. Power for excellent customer satisfaction, and has been named by Cogent Reports as one of the most trusted utility brands in the U.S.

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of the largest energy holding companies in the U.S. It employs 30,000 people and has an electric generating capacity of 51,000 megawatts through its regulated utilities, and 3,000 megawatts through its nonregulated Duke Energy Renewables unit.

Duke Energy is transforming its customers’ experience, modernizing the energy grid, generating cleaner energy and expanding natural gas infrastructure to create a smarter energy future for the people and communities it serves.

Duke Energy was named to Fortune’s 2020 “World’s Most Admired Companies” list, and Forbes’ 2019 “America’s Best Employers” list. More information about the company is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke Energy News Center contains news releases, fact sheets, photos, videos and other materials. Duke Energy’s illumination features stories about people, innovations, community topics and environmental issues. Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

Charlotte, NC (January 9, 2020): The Mint Museum is pleased to announce its upcoming presentation of Classic Black: The Basalt Sculpture of Wedgwood and His Contemporaries, opening February 9, 2020 at Mint Museum Randolph.

The exhibition will feature more than 100 works of art on loan from across the U.S., as well as England, and will focus exclusively on black basalt sculpture—the first show of its kind to do so. Classic Black will showcase works ranging from life-size portrait busts to fanciful vases, dynamic statues of mythological heroes to portrait medallions in low relief.

The exhibition features loans from major museums in the United States and England such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Birmingham Museum of Art, as well as important, one-of-a-kind objects from notable private collections in America, some of which are making their public debut.

One noteworthy aspect of the show is its presentation: a completely groundbreaking, contemporary treatment. With the help of the prominent Charlotte muralist and street artist known as “Owl,” each of the exhibition rooms will feature a specially commissioned graphic mural in striking, sunset hues. The bright colors and graphic patterns will challenge visitors’ expectations and enliven the historical pieces, making them more relevant to the modern viewer. And while completely unconventional, the design aesthetic nevertheless recalls 18^th-century architecture and interior design, reinterpreting it for the modern-day audience.

And it’s a presentation that Wedgwood himself — as a master marketer of luxury, with an eye for presentation — would likely approve of, says Brian Gallagher, Curator of Decorative Arts at The Mint Museum. “Wedgwood would have never wanted his works to sit on a putty-colored pedestal, against a putty-colored wall,” says Gallagher.

Classic Black is also the Mint’s first exhibition dedicated completely to sculpture. And because the museum is known for its British ceramics collection, it’s appropriate that its first sculpture show draws from an aspect of that collection.

“Classic Black and its remarkable presentation will break every mold,” says The Mint Museum’s President and CEO Todd A. Herman, PhD. “And we believe it will attract longtime Wedgwood enthusiasts as well as a new audience keen on seeing the marriage of 18^th-century pieces with 21^st-century mural art.”

About one-third of the works on view in Classic Blackare based directly on marble and bronze sculptures from the classical world. Other objects in the exhibition derive from works of art created in later centuries by some of the great figures in European art history, including Michelangelo and Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue, published by D. Giles Limited, London, which will include extended object entries and introductory essays contributed by Robin Emmerson, Gaye Blake-Roberts, Nancy Ramage, and MG Sullivan.

The exhibition was made possible with generous support from presenting sponsor Wells Fargo Private Bank.

“This is not your grandmother’s Wedgwood,” says Jay Everette, Officer of the Wells Fargo Foundation. “Wells Fargo’s Foundation decided to serve as presenting sponsor of the exhibition as part of its focus on arts, history, culture and heritage community grants. We were intrigued by the compelling contrast of past and present. We hope it allows viewers to see Wedgwood’s story, works and legacy in a different light.”

Additional support was provided by Moore & Van Allen and the Samuel H. Kress Foundation. The Exhibition catalogue was fully funded by the Delhom Service League and an anonymous patron.

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 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.

A Note from Our CEO, Todd Herman, PhD

The citizens of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County have an opportunity to invest in the quality of life we enjoy and improve our collective well-being. When you vote FOR the upcoming sales-tax referendum during early voting or on Election Day, you are voting to transform YOUR county and community by improving PARKS and GREENWAYS, investing in TEACHERS and classroom support staff, and supporting a thriving ARTS & CULTURE sector.

The Mint needs your help to make this a reality. If you have ever enjoyed an exhibition, program, or lecture at either of our locations, been moved by a work of art, or watched your children or grandchildren light up with excitement when engaging with the arts, vote to allow that experience to be shared! When arts, culture, history, literature, and science are an integral part of kids’ lives, it improves their academic and social skills and creates thoughtful citizens. There are many important social issues that face our community, from domestic violence to the need for more affordable housing. But the arts—which touch the soul, grow the spirit, and offer hope—are a critical component if we are to improve our communities. The Mint Museum enthusiastically endorses this referendum, and I ask you to join us in investing in our future through a simple action: VOTE YES.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

The revenue (approximately $50 million per year) will be invested in Mecklenburg County in four ways:

• 45 percent ($22.5 million) to restore and expand arts, science and history education in public schools, enable cultural programs that reach deep into neighborhoods and ensure residents have access to arts and culture regardless of where they live or what they can afford.
• 34 percent ($17 million) in increased funding for our parks and greenways to revitalize our system, which was ranked near the bottom of a recent national study of metropolitan parks systems.
• 16 percent ($8 million) for increased teacher supplements and additional classroom support, such as psychologists and teacher assistants.
• 5 percent ($2.5 million) for arts and culture programs and parks in Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville, Matthews, Mint Hill and Pineville

For more information please visit, A Better Mecklenburg’s website.

By state law, the ballot will not mention arts, parks, and education. To give your support, vote FOR the quarter-cent sales tax increase in Mecklenburg County.
Early voting begins Oct.16 and Election Day is Tuesday, NOV. 5 (polls open 6:30 AM to 7:30 PM).

Show your support now by picking up a yard sign at Mint Museum Randolph, and by sharing this with your friends!
We can win this!

Todd Herman, PhD
President & CEO,  The Mint Museum

Todd A. Herman, PhD
President & CEO,  The Mint Museum

Photo: JW Kaldenbach. Ralph Nauta and Lonneke Gordijn. Courtesy of Studio Drift.

Charlotte, NC (September 9, 2019): The Mint Museum is pleased to announce the opening of the first solo museum exhibition outside Europe by Studio Drift, an artist collective based in the Netherlands that uses technology in art to illuminate the power and beauty of nature. The exhibition, Immersed in Light: Studio Drift at the Mint, will run from September 20, 2019 to April 26, 2020 at Mint Museum Uptown, and will feature five works created over the last decade, including one installation making its international premiere at the Mint. PNC Bank is the presenting sponsor.

Studio Drift was founded by Dutch artists Ralph Nauta, 40, and Lonneke Gordijn, 39, who established their studio in 2007, after graduating from the prestigious Academy Eindhoven. Based in Amsterdam, the studio has grown to more than 20 artists, technologists/engineers and more, with Nauta and Gordijn at the helm. Studio Drift’s work is lauded in art circles worldwide for using man-made technology to show the beauty of nature. And they do it in a way that inspires awe and meditation, a way to invite the viewer to consider technological possibilities.

At Burning Man in 2017, Studio Drift unveiled its Tree of Ténéré, a towering, lifelike tree illuminated by 175,000 LED lights that people could climb. At NASA’s 50th-anniversary celebration for the Apollo 11 moon landing, Studio Drift presented its performance piece Franchise Freedom, which consisted of 600 Intel drones soaring through the night sky, simulating the flight pattern of starlings. Iconic ‘80s rock band Duran Duran played during the performance.

Studio Drift. Fragile Future 3, 2018, installation at Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Photo: Gert Jan van Rooij

One of Studio Drift’s most iconic works, Fragile Future—which will be on display at the Mint—is comprised of natural elements. The Fragile Future installation is made from hundreds of tiny dandelion seeds hand-glued, seed by seed, onto LED lights and held together by bronze electrical circuits. Nearby will be Amplitude, an installation made of 20 large but delicate glass wings that moves smoothly to suggest a giant bird in flight—another nod to the ability of manmade technology to highlight the beauty of nature.

The exhibition also will include the world premiere of Studio Drift’s new work: Coded Coincidence on Mint Museum Uptown’s Level 5 expansion space. Museum visitors will be able to walk through a massive plexiglass chamber, while more than a dozen steerable wind blowers direct and lift elm seeds to swirl around the viewer. The project was inspired by the many elm trees in Amsterdam and is also a fitting nod to Charlotte’s vast tree canopy.

Immersed in Light has also inspired a local partnership with the Charlotte Ballet. For the ballet’s annual Innovative Works performance Jan. 25–Feb. 6, artistic director Hope Muir has commissioned two choreographers to create an experimental ballet inspired by Studio Drift’s exhibition at the Mint. The dancers will perform in the galleries, and a video presentation of the dance will be broadcast at the Innovative Works shows.

“I am so excited for this opportunity for Charlotte Ballet to collaborate with The Mint Museum and Studio Drift,” says Hope Muir, Charlotte Ballet’s artistic director. “We are always searching for ways to connect with different art forms, and we can’t wait to see what emerges from this innovative partnership between dance and visual art.”
Guests attending the opening-day celebration for Immersed in Light: Studio Drift at the Mint on Sept. 20 at Mint Museum Uptown, will be able to meet Drift co-founders Gordijn and Nauta. Godijn will discuss her work and inspiration at 6 PM Friday at Mint Museum Uptown.

Studio Drift. Amplitude, 2017, installation at Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Photo: Gert Jan van Rooij

The exhibition is presented by PNC Bank, with additional support from the Mint Museum Auxiliary and Duke Energy – Piedmont Natural Gas. This program is also supported as part of the Dutch Culture USA  program by the Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York.

Immersed in Light also benefits from media partnership and in-kind support from Wheelhouse Media, The Charlotte Observer, QC Exclusive, Le Meredien Charlotte, Peachy the Magazine, Pride Magazine, and Rite-Lite.

About Studio Drift

Studio Drift was founded by Dutch artists Ralph Nauta, 40, and Lonneke Gordijn, 39, who established their studio in 2007, after graduating from the prestigious Academy Eindhoven. Based in Amsterdam, the studio has since grown to more than 20, including artists, technologists/engineers, and more, with Nauta and Gordijn at the helm. In their installations and interactive sculptures, the relationship between nature, humans, and technology is key. Studio Drift is represented by Pace Gallery taking part in the gallery’s Future\Pace program, and is also represented by Carpenters Workshop Gallery.

About PNC Bank

PNC Bank, National Association, is a member of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC). PNC is one of the largest diversified financial services institutions in the United States, organized around its customers and communities for strong relationships and local delivery of retail and business banking including a full range of lending products; specialized services for corporations and government entities, including corporate banking, real estate finance and asset-based lending; wealth management and asset management. For information about PNC, visit www.pnc.com.

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 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.

Charlotte, N.C. (June 25, 2019): The Mint Museum will be reopening its doors on Tuesdays as part of its ongoing commitment to be more available and accessible to all members of the community.   

The Mint’s decision, which takes upeffect on July 1 at the start of its new fiscal year, will allow members of the community to view the museum’s new crop of innovative exhibitions during daytime hours. The reopening marks the first time in over six years that the museum has been open on Tuesdays.  

The reopening serves as one of many strategic initiatives spearheaded by The Mint’s President and CEO Todd A. Herman, Ph.D, less than a year after he assumed the role. The overarching goal: to broaden the museum’s accessibility.  

 In fall 2018, the museum added Friday date-night hours at Mint Museum Uptown, extending regular hours until 9 PM. The Friday evening hours cater to those who may not be able to visit the museum during the week, and offer a variety of creative ways for people to experience the Mint.  

 “Through these changes, we’re building a better Mint,” says Herman. “We want to give the community more opportunities to take advantage of all the Mint has to offer, and we’re excited for more people to join our family.”  

 The decision to add Tuesday hours comes at the same time as a bevvy of breathtaking and inspiring exhibitions and events are making their way to Mint Museum Uptown and Mint Museum Randolph.  

 One exhibition, Never Abandon Imagination: The Fantastical Art of Tony DiTerlizzi, opened Saturday, June 22 at Mint Museum Randolph and presents paintings and sketches from the career of author and illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi, whose bestselling works include The Spider and the Fly, The Spiderwick Chronicles (co-written by Holly Black), and Kenny & the Dragon. 

 On view until November 3, the exhibition highlights 150 original works across DiTerlizzi’s career, from his school-age sketches to his early days of illustrating for Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering, his children’s book illustrations to his fantastical middle-grade works. The galleries also are interactive, giving kids the opportunity to make their own works of art. 

 The Mint is also organizing and hosting the first solo museum exhibition outside Europe by Studio Drift, an artist collective based in the Netherlands that creates breathtaking sculptures that explore the relationship between humanity, nature and technology. 

 The exhibition, Immersed in Light: Studio Drift at the Mint, will run from September 21, 2019 to April 26, 2020 at Mint Museum Uptown, and will feature five works created over the last decade, including one installation premiering at the Mint.  

Lauded in art circles worldwide for its innovative approach to art through technology, Studio Drift entered the general public’s eye in the U.S. in 2017, when its Drifter — a gravity-defying monolithic block of concrete — wowed at the Armory Show. The Dutch artist collective again made headlines a few months later when its Tree of Ténéré — a towering lifelike tree illuminated by 175,000 LED lights — debuted at the Burning Man festival. The group’s critical reception across the globe has continued to grow, and most recently, the group was included in the 2019 Venice Bienniale. 

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 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. 

The Mint Museum and Southern Tiger Collective have partnered to launch Charlotte’s first “mural slam” on Saturday, June 22 at Mint Museum Randolph, starting at 2 PM.

The event, known as Battle Walls, is a street art project focused on bringing Charlotte’s best street artists to compete as they create. The Mint is just the first stop in a five-week tournament, which is expected to draw hundreds of spectators of all ages and backgrounds.

The mural slam will take place on the lawn of Mint Museum Randolph, 2730 Randolph Road.

It’s free to attend, and viewers will be able to vote on their favorite piece of art, sending the winner to the final championship round, says Southern Collective co-founder Alex DeLarge. The competing artists are Arko + Owl, Dammit Wesley, Matt Moore, and Bree Stallings.

The collaborative effort of The Mint Museum and Southern Tiger Collective is call to action to break down the barriers of traditional mindsets that say classical and scholarly works of art can’t mingle with street art. It’s also the opportunity to make new friends and bring diverse communities together.

The Southern Tiger Collective was established in 2017 by local artists Alex DeLarge and Dustin Moates. The collective works to bring artists together to enhance vehicular and pedestrian traffic exposure to street art, murals, and creative marketing and branding. Since 2017, the number of artists at Southern Tiger Collective has grown, and their work can be seen throughout Charlotte in areas such as the Peculiar Rabbit, Abari, Pure Intentions and many other walls in the Queen City.

Battle Walls kicks off at a time during the public opening of Never Abandon Imagination: The Fantastical World of Tony DiTerlizzi, a retrospective exhibition featuring more than 150 magical works of Tony DiTelizzi (@diterlizzi). Most may know DiTerlizzi as a designer for Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, The Spiderwick Chronicles, The Spider & The Fly, Kenny and the Dragon, and the WondLa trilogy.

DiTerlizzi himself will be on site June 22, giving a public talk on how he became an artist at 1 p.m., followed by a book signing at 2 PM.

Museum admission will be free that day, so visitors can experience both the new exhibition and the excitement of Battle Walls without pulling out their wallet.

There will be music by DJ AHUF (@djahuf), local craft beer, and food trucks such as Scratch Kitchen CLT (@scratchkitchenclt) and The Chimi Spot (@thechimispotnc).

Meet the four artists in round one of Battle Walls:

Arko + Owl | @arko83art + @owl.clt

Arko + Owl were the first artists to be featured in Constellation CLT, a museum-wide project designed to connect visitors with the universal talent found directly from the community of Charlotte. Arko + Owl’s murals were housed in Mint Museum Uptown in Fall 2018 but their work can currently be found at Common Market (South End), Wooden Robot Brewery, Spirit Square, and more.

Dammit Wesley | @dammit_wesley

Wesley’s most notable mural, Strange Fruit can be found at Spirit Square. He is an artist, graphic designer, and the Creative Director at BLKMRKTCLT, an 800 sq. ft gallery and studio space located at Camp North End. On Wesley’s Behance portfolio he states, “I am a bold individual and it speaks through my work, its more flashy colors and subject matter but strong composition and structure that accomplish a harmony thunderous visuals.”

Matt Moore | @puckmcgruff

Most may know Matt Moore as one of “The Matts” who tackled the infamous five-story mural of Neptune along the wall of The Nook apartments on Central Avenue in Plaza Midwood. Moore’s work can be found in many other locations, including Camp North End, Townsquare Interactive, and Revolve Residential.

Bree Stallings | @breequixote

A multimedia artist, activist, writer, and illustrator, Stallings has done work at  Camp North End, Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, C3 Lab, and more. On her website, she states that she uses “art as her vehicle to raise awareness for many causes that affect her life and those closest to her such as economic mobility, sexual health advocacy, displacement and homelessness and environmental consciousness.”

Be sure to stop by Mint Museum Randolph on Saturday, June 22 to enjoy all these activities, and stay tuned on The Mint Museum website, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for future Battle Wall updates.

Credits to promo designer: @hello.soto

Photo by Carey King

Charlotte, N.C. (June 11, 2019): It is with great pleasure that The Mint Museum announces the newest addition to the Mint family: Jennifer “Jen” Sudul Edwards, PhD, will serve as new Chief Curator and Curator of Contemporary Art, beginning July 1.

There was an impressive pool of candidates for this position, and ultimately, Sudul Edwards stood out for her vast experience, fresh perspectives, and deeply integrated role in the cultural fabric of Charlotte. “Jen’s passion for the arts and for quality exhibitions and programs is a perfect match for the talent already at the Mint,” says The Mint Museum’s President and CEO Todd A. Herman, PhD. “Together, the Mint can boast one of the strongest curatorial teams in the region with a shared vision of community engagement and expert scholarship.”

In addition to organizing fresh and provocative exhibitions, Sudul Edwards has seemingly boundless high energy. Her curatorial vision will help the institution move forward and explore new ways to engage with the community.

“I have long admired the Mint’s commitment to diverse art forms, from craft and design to fashion, painting to sculpture,” says Sudul Edwards. “I am excited to bring my own expansive curatorial approach to that respected team.”

She received her doctorate from NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts and held curatorial positions at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, Calif. and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, before serving as the curator at the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art. At the Bechtler, Sudul Edwards won numerous awards for her publications, exhibitions and curatorial work, including Charlotte Magazine’s “Best Curator” award in 2017.

Sudul Edwards also is an experienced fundraiser and is active beyond the walls of the museum in the local arts community. She is the chairman of the board at Goodyear Arts, a nonprofit residency and events program that utilizes underused spaces to showcase local visual, performing, and literary artists. And she’s the co-founder and co-organizer of Sphere Series, an art speaker series that brings together local, national, and international leaders in the arts to discuss the value of cultural exchange. Sudul Edwards also serves on the AFA Advisory Committee at Central Piedmont Community College.

Sudul Edwards joins the Mint team at a key point in the institution’s evolution. Herman, who is approaching his one-year anniversary as president and CEO, is committed to expanding the museum’s engagement and involvement with the city, as well as improving accessibility.

A year after extending Friday hours through 9 p.m. at Mint Museum Uptown, both museum locations will be opening again on Tuesdays, beginning July 1, at the start of the new fiscal year. It’s part of a broader initiative to provide enhanced access for the community.

“I’ve only been in Charlotte for four years, but I’ve fallen in love with it — the passionate people, the scrappy creativity,” says Sudul Edwards. “Making sure as many people as possible make their way in the doors of Mint Museum Randolph and Mint Museum Uptown to see what we’re doing is imperative.”

Sudul Edward’s first day at the Mint will be July 1. To see some of her work before she joins the Mint team, she’s currently organizing A Face in the Crowd for SOCO Gallery, opening June 26.

She also is curating W|ALL: Defend, Divide, and the Divine for the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles — an examination of the historic use and artistic treatment of walls over the centuries — opening Sept. 21. She is also currently contributing to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery collections catalogue and contributing to Magnum journal.

“It’s an exciting time to be involved with the Mint,” says Herman. “It’s a new chapter.”

About The Mint Museum

The Mint Museum is a leading, innovative museum of international art and design committed to engaging and inspiring all members of our global community. The Mint Museum is dedicated to leadership in collecting, exhibiting, conserving, researching, publishing, interpreting, and sharing art and design from around the world.

These commitments are central to the museum’s core values of leadership, integrity, inclusiveness, knowledge, stewardship, and innovation, promoting understanding of and respect for diverse peoples and cultures.

Visitors can find larger-than-life art installations with a variety of unexpected materials in a special project housed in the level-five expansion space at Mint Museum Uptown.  

Known as The Noise We Make by artist Jan-Ru Wan, the installation is a study in art created with found materials from industrial sites. The installation was organized by independent curator and arts advocate Jonell Logan, who met Wan at the Greenhill Arts Center in Greensboro, N.C. after learning about her work. Logan says she was enthralled by the complexity and beauty of Wan’s creations, which use everything from human hair to coffee filters, chanting boxes to spoons.  

The Noise we Make, on view until June 14 at Mint Museum Uptown, came to fruition a year later. Here’s a look at a few of the materials used to create Wan’s stunning works of art:  

1. Chanting boxes: The type of chanting boxes in Wan’s Kneeling (2019) are common in Taiwan.  While there are several prayers recorded on the boxes, the one Wan selected was a chant for the bodhisattva (a sanskit mantra) of compassion. It is used mainly for praying for one who is suffering in life.
   

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2. Coffee filters: When Wan came to the United States 20 years ago, it was her first time seeing coffee filters. She was shocked that people would use them and dispose of them every day. The filters seen in her A Tangle of Hopelessness (2006-2019) also represent something more to her: the idea of filtration in our society—how we filter information, how it influences our individual realities. Wan began to see the coffee filters as symbols of individuals’ memory and mind. The two-sided nature of A Tangle of Hopelessness represents the act of filtering certain aspects of one’s life, and in turn, only seeing small pieces of others’ lives.
   

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3. Spoons: In Kneeling (2019), Wan uses previously manufactured items and manipulates them so that they stand in for new ideas. In this piece, the small spoons represent Buddha spoonfeeding people religion, not necessarily spirituality.
   

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4. Wax: Many of the pieces in the show incorporate wax—a substance Wan says reminds her a tears and skin. She also uses wax to freeze objects in time, creating a protective seal on the object.
   

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5. Pink plastic: In the titular piece, The Noise We Make (2019), the pink plastic used was originally found by the artist in the trash. Wan washed, cut, screen printed, folded and sewed each piece herself. Also used in Kneeling (2019), the magnificent size of each of the plastic pieces captures the audience’s attention and draws focus to the everyday, repurposed items.
   

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6. Bean sprouts: Grown in Wan’s own kitchen, bean sprouts are used repeatedly in the artist’s work. They represent the life cycle and Wan’s interest in impermanence. 
   

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7. Human hair: In each of the small, silk, smiley-face-adorned pouches that Wan uses in her Residue of Separation (2019)there is a bundle of human hair.  Collected from salon floors across the world—from the Netherlands to Taiwan to several cities in North Carolina — the hair represents physical separation to Wan. The prayer bench centered in the same piece was acquired in Charlotte, specifically for this installation.  
   

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   About The Mint Museum

   The Mint Museum is a leading, innovative museum of international art and design committed to engaging and inspiring all members of our global community. The Mint Museum is dedicated to leadership in collecting, exhibiting, conserving, researching, publishing, interpreting, and sharing art and design from around the world.

   These commitments are central to the museum’s core values of leadership, integrity, inclusiveness, knowledge, stewardship, and innovation, promoting understanding of and respect for diverse peoples and cultures.

Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta with Fragile Future, from an article by Freunde von Freunden

“People find the time to look at art within a gallery setting, but the world is one big exhibition if you only care to look.” –Studio Drift, 2017.

The Mint Museum is organizing the first solo museum exhibition outside Europe by Studio Drift, a design group based in the Netherlands that creates breathtaking sculptures that explore the relationship between humanity, nature and technology. Dutch artists Ralph Nauta (b.1978) and Lonneke Gordijn (b.1980) established their studio in 2007, after graduating from the prestigious Design Academy Eindhoven. Their work emanates from their distinct, yet complementary and intertwined interests. Whereas Nauta has long been fascinated by science fiction and futuristic thinking, Gordijn has an abiding interest in nature, which she views as more hi-tech than anything humans could create. Accordingly, in bringing their ideas to life, they approach technology from “an intuitive and emotional perspective,” as Gordijn puts it, often using it to emulate nature and ultimately to create an emotional experience for the viewer. Frequently new technology must be developed to realize their ideas, requiring ongoing collaborations with scientists, university research facilities, computer programmers, and engineers. Over the years Studio Drift has grown to 20 employees, who manage a busy schedule of commissions, gallery shows, and other projects around the world.

In 2018 the studio had their first solo exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. They have won numerous international design awards and have participated in group shows such as Design Society at the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) in 2016 and What is Luxury?, a collaboration between the V&A and the Crafts Council in 2015. Studio Drift’s work has been featured at several major design fairs including Design Miami/Basel, Art Paris Art Fair, Dubai Design Week, artmonte-carlo, FOG Design + Art, and ZONA MACO. Their design works and site-specific installations are included in the permanent collections of the Rijksmuseum, Indianapolis Museum of Art, SF MoMA, and others.

This exhibition will feature five works by Studio Drift dating from the last decade to today, most of which have been customized for the Mint, and one installation, Seeds (working title only), premiering here. This blog post is the first in a series that will explore each of the works in the exhibition and offer a behind-the-scenes view of the exhibition’s development.

Studio Drift. Fragile Future 3, 2015, installation at Cidade Materrazo, Brazil

The story of Studio Drift starts with its lighting installation Fragile Future, a network of bronze electrical circuits and dandelion puffs made of LED lights to which dandelion seeds have been individually hand-glued. It is a profound and poetic reflection on the fact that light is the basis and sustenance of all life as well as a testament to the transience of our life and times. Delicate dandelion puffs are the ultimate symbol of ephemerality, yet here they are frozen in time, unable to fulfill their original purpose. Instead, they filter the LED lights and appear to either give power to them or derive power from them.

Studio Drift. Fragile Future Chandelier (Detail). Courtesy of Carpenters Workshop Gallery

Fragile Future began as Gordijn’s graduation project at the Design Academy Eindhoven after she noticed the similarity between LED lights and the centers of dandelions and realized that the seeds could be used to filter light. As she told Modern magazine in its spring 2017 issue, “It worked out perfectly and the hard light was spread so organically and softly. This was the first time that I realized that nature and technology did not have to be enemies, but could also be connected with each other and even share a similar size and aesthetic.”

After graduating, Gordijn and Nauta, who had been friends since their first days at Eindhoven, founded Studio Drift and developed Fragile Future further. Early versions were individual light fixtures, but the concept soon evolved into modules—just as dandelions are weeds, notorious for spreading everywhere, Fragile Future can expand in any direction. Essentially a three-dimensional circuit board without the board, it can be mounted on walls, hung from a ceiling, or spread across the floor. Lonneke and Ralph describe the development of the work in this video:

Studio Drift showed Fragile Future in 2007 at the Salone del Mobile in Milan, the major international design fair, and immediately received accolades.  This success enabled them to show the work at Design Miami the following year, leading to representation by the Paris-based Carpenters Workshop Gallery. A show of Fragile Future by that gallery at the PAD design fair in Paris in 2009 sold out the edition of eight plus four artist’s proofs. Since then, Studio Drift have continued making new iterations of Fragile Future while also exploring ever more ambitious ideas in other sculptures, which will be described in upcoming blog posts. Their exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum included the largest installation of Fragile Future to date, shown below; the version shown at The Mint Museum will be of similar size.

Studio Drift. Fragile Future 3, 2018, installation at Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Photo: Gert Jan van Rooij

Charlotte, N.C. (April 3, 2019): The Mint Museum is pleased to announce that works from across the career of New York Times bestselling author and illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi will be on view in the upcoming exhibition  “Never Abandon Imagination: The Fantastical Art of Tony DiTerlizzi” from June 22 to November 3, 2019 at Mint Museum Randolph.

Tony DiTerlizzi – Photo credit “Jim Gipe photo / Pivot Media”

DiTerlizzi is widely recognized as one of this generation’s leading authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults, and the exhibition—the most extensive look at the art of book illustration The Mint Museum has ever done—will feature more than 150 of his original works.

The exhibition will showcase paintings and sketches from DiTerlizzi’s popular picture books, including The Spider & The Fly (a Caldecott Honor book), chapter books Kenny and the Dragon and the WondLa trilogy, as well as The Spiderwick Chronicles, a middle-grade series he co-wrote with Holly Black that has sold more than 20 million copies, has been translated in over 30 countries, and was made into a feature film.

Tony DiTerlizzi, 2003.
Materials: Acryla gouache on Bristol board.
Cover illustration for The Spiderwick Chronicles: The Seeing Stone, 2003.
©Tony DiTerlizzi. All rights reserved.

It will also highlight the early years of DiTerlizzi’s career, when he got his start designing for Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering. The breadth of the artist’s career is expected to draw audiences of all ages and backgrounds, from young children to young-at-heart adults, gamers to artists of all mediums.

DiTerlizzi is known for creating compelling characters—think fantastical creatures, monsters, and heroes—that draw viewers into new worlds, and so the exhibition itself will be designed to bring his works to life. There will be interactive elements where visitors can engage with beloved characters, an area where visitors can lounge and curl up with one of DiTerlizzi’s books, and spots where inspired visitors can even do their own sketches.

“The Mint Museum design team has taken its cues from Tony’s fantastical world of characters and created an experience for visitors of all ages, unlike anything you have seen at the Mint before,” says The Mint Museum President and CEO Todd A. Herman, PhD.

Tony DiTerlizzi
Created: 2001
Materials: Acryla gouache on Bristol board.
Illustration from Ted, 2001.
©Tony DiTerlizzi. All rights reserved.

The “Never Abandon Imagination” exhibition name comes from DiTerlizzi’s personal motto. “Imagination is so key to us as a people,” says the 49-year-old artist. “All the breakthroughs in humanity were by imaginative thinkers.”

During the run of the exhibition, the museum will also present a selection of works by local illustrators in an adjacent gallery, celebrating the tremendous talent right here in the Charlotte region.

“Tony’s boundless energy, enthusiasm, and desire to engage his readers and viewers are infectious,” says Senior Curator of American, Modern, and Contemporary Art Dr. Jonathan Stuhlman. “Our team has greatly enjoyed getting to know his characters and finding ways to bring them to life in the galleries.”

There will be a VIP launch party open to Mint members only on Thursday, June 20 with DiTerlizzi, and the exhibition at Mint Museum Randolph will be open to the public Saturday, June 22.

The exhibition was organized by the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where it broke attendance records in 2018. It is presented in Charlotte thanks to the generous support of the Triad Foundation.

For more details and to become a Mint member, visit www.mintmuseum.org

Tony DiTerlizzi, 1999.
Cover illustration for Dungeon Adventures magazine #262, 1999.
Materials: Acryla gouache on Bristol board.
©Tony DiTerlizzi. All rights reserved.

Photo by Marco Del Comune

Charlotte, N.C. (March 18, 2019) Argentinian glass artist Silvia Levenson will be at Mint Museum Uptown 2 – 4 PM Sunday, March 24 to discuss her career and how the theme of domestic violence plays out in her work—particularly in her sculpture Until Death Do Us Part, recently acquired by The Mint Museum.

Levenson’s work is known for starting conversations about difficult topics, such as violence against women inside the home. Her show-stopping Until Death Do Us Part—installed in February at Mint Museum Uptown—is anchored by a 330-pound hollow glass cake, topped by a plaster hand grenade.

Behind the translucent, three-tiered cake, on a striking red wall, are the words “until death do us part,” formed from metal wire. It’s a metaphor for the fragility of relationships and the domestic violence many women worldwide face every day.

“The family is often equated with sanctuary…but the evidence shows that it is also a place that imperils lives,” says Levenson. “One-third of murdered women in the world are killed by a husband or partner.”

Levenson was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina but emigrated to Italy in 1981 with her husband and young children to escape the oppressive regime of military dictator Jorge Rafael Videla. During his rule from 1976 to 1981, members of Levenson’s family “disappeared.” Her experience over that intense and frightening time continues to inform her work. She currently divides her time between Buenos Aires and Lesa, Italy.

The event is open to the public and included in the price of museum admission. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask Levenson questions and meet with her after the discussion while enjoying light refreshments, including cookies, coffee, and tea. Mint Museum members get in free. Price for non-members is just museum admission: $15 for adults, $10 for college students and seniors (65+), $6 for children ages 5-17, and free for children ages 4 and under.

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Questions? Contact Caroline Portillo, Director of Marketing & Communications at The Mint Museum: caroline.portillo@mintmuseum.org, 704.337.2009.

Silvia Levenson (Argentinian, 1957–). Until Death Do Us Part, 2013, kiln-formed glass, metal structure, plaster, wire. Museum Purchase: Funds provided by the Mint Museum of Craft + Design Collections Board and the Charles W. Beam Accessions Endowment. 2018.64

Potters Market at The Mint Museum to return in 2020

Charlotte, N.C. (March 8, 2019)  After much thought and deliberation, the Delhom Service League of the Mint Museum has decided to postpone its signature event, the Potters Market, until 2020, when the festival will be reimagined to be bigger and more robust than ever.

“We want to re-do it, reinvent it,” says Phil Sciabarrasi, president of the Delhom Service League, the ceramics affiliate of The Mint Museum, which promotes ceramic arts and education. “We want to spend time revisiting all aspects of the Potters Market to help us produce an experience that that will continue to grow and highlight North Carolina ceramics, while also delighting potters and attendees.”

One of the major changes in store: Rather than continue as an invitational, the 2020 Potters Market will be a juried show, a move that will bring even more diversity to the beloved affair.

The event will also coincide with the 10^th anniversary of the opening of Mint Museum Uptown. “This will be a very celebratory year for the museum, and our intention is to make the 2020 Potters Market a large part of that celebration,” says Sciabarrasi.

Started in 2004, the annual Potters Market is beloved by ceramics collectors and pottery fans alike for the opportunity it provides to get to know dozens of the state’s best potters and shop the latest works in the rich tradition of North Carolina pottery. Wares range from mugs, teapots and jars to oversized pots, contemporary art pottery and sculptures.

Funds raised by the festival help support acquisitions to The Mint Museum’s ceramics collection and help to promote interest in ceramic arts. Delhom Service League hosts many public programs and hands on experiences throughout the year using these funds, relating to all types of ceramics, from ancient to contemporary. As the group works to reimagine the Potters Market, they hope enthusiasts will continue to engage with ceramics and clay by taking advantage of these programs.

“Delhom Service League is thankful for the corporate sponsors, individual sponsors, and attendees who have been so supportive over the years, and for the exceptional potters who have brought their best work to sell,” says Sciabarrasi. “Potters Market has grown into one of the most important ceramics event in the state, and we want to return in 2020 with an enhanced experience worthy of their continued support in our exciting new chapter.”

For questions, email delhomserviceleague@gmail.com.

About Delhom Service League

The Delhom Service League was founded by M. Mellany Delhom as an affiliate organization of The Mint Museum in 1975. The group—credited with boosting interest and funding for The Mint Museum’s vast ceramics collection—is comprised of a diverse group of artists, teachers, corporate leaders, writers, librarians, doctors, and collectors. Over the last 40 years the focus of the group has expanded, but the mission of the group is the same: to promote ceramic arts and education. Today the league presents nationally and internationally known speakers, and supports the Delhom-Gambrell Reference Library for the decorative arts. It has funded the acquisition of numerous objects for the Mint’s ceramics collection.

Find Delhom Service League on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. See the Delhom Service League rack brochure with calendar.

Top Five Reasons to Take an Art of Reading Public Tour at Mint Museum Randolph

1. Meet Fellow Bibliophiles.
The only thing better than reading a book you love is the opportunity to discuss it with others. Art of Reading public tours give you a chance to explore characters and analyze plot turns. The discussion is followed by a visit to the galleries to view art works that connect to the book.

2. The Sunday Afternoon Tours are Less Expensive than Panther Game Tickets.
Public tours take place on selected Wednesdays, 6-7:30 pm and Sundays, 2-3:30 pm. During football season, it’s an alternative activity for a Sunday afternoon. Off season, it’s a great way to spend selected Sundays. [And remember Wednesday evening options too: admission to the museum is free after 5:00.]

3. It’s a New Way to View Mint Art. Just Imagine:
Mr. Darcy holding that Derby Porcelain coffee cup and saucer in the Portals to the Past Exhibition (Pride and Prejudice). Or, Frida Kahlo wearing a distinctive necklace similar to the jadeite one in the Ancient American Galleries (The Lacuna). Or, Tree-ear admiring the 12th Century Korean porcelain bowls in the Wares of the World Exhibition (A Single Shard). Or, Sarah Grimke learning plantation social customs by using the Staffordshire miniature tea and coffee service in the Portals to the Past Exhibition (The Invention of Wings).

4. Tours are Free.
Free to museum members; free after admission for non-members.

5. There’s A Tour for All Interests.
Choose from four current book tours: Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen); The Invention of Wings (Sue Monk Kidd); The Lacuna (Barbara Kingsolver); or A Single Shard (Linda Sue Park).

More information on group tours can be found here.
A fifth tour for Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns will launch at Mint Museum Uptown April 2019.

Michele Allen and Alice Ross, Docents and Members, Public Tours Task Force

“You’re invited to a VIP party.” These are words that are not usually sent in my direction, so when an invitation to the VIP Opening Party for the Michael Sherrill exhibition showed up in my inbox, I wasn’t entirely sure how to proceed. (more…)

This fall we expanded our hours at Mint Museum Uptown on Fridays, staying open until 9 PM. It’s a new ‘date night’ option for those who may have been too busy to visit us during the week. (more…)

Drawing together nearly 100 works from the museum’s Modern & Contemporary Collection, Under Construction: Collage from The Mint Museum is the museum’s first exhibition to focus on this dynamic, engaging medium. This technique, in which materials from different sources are cut, torn, and layered to create new meanings and narratives, experienced a renaissance after World War II, due in large part to Charlotte native Romare Bearden, whose work plays a special role in this exhibition.

The exhibition will be open to Mint members only on Friday, November 30; it opens to the public on Saturday, December 1. A party celebrating the exhibition and featuring artists, lenders, donors, and Mint members is scheduled for January 31, 2019 – check mintmuseum.org/events for details.

Bearden has long had a special place at The Mint Museum, which maintains a gallery dedicated to his work at Mint Museum Uptown. In this special exhibition, he and his work serve as a point of departure to explore the medium for which he is best known.

“It was great fun pulling together Under Construction,” noted Dr. Jonathan Stuhlman, Senior Curator of American, Modern, and Contemporary Art. “This is the first time that the museum has examined this fascinating technique in depth in a special exhibition. It also was exciting to think about how the work of Romare Bearden (which is found throughout the exhibition) relates to that of so many other artists in the collection. Under Construction is filled with dynamic, thought-provoking objects that are sure to inspire and delight our visitors.”

Under Construction explores not only classic collages including those by Bearden, but also the wide range of ways in which the technique has inspired artists and impacted other forms of art, from painting and printmaking to photography and assemblage. Featuring more than 30 international artists, Under Construction will explore the growth and impact of the collage technique from the 1950s to the present. It will include more than a dozen works by Bearden, as well as examples by such notable artists as Sam Gilliam, Robert Motherwell, Tim Rollins and K.O.S., Shepard Fairey, Howardena Pindell, Robert Rauschenberg, and James Rosenquist.

Visitors will be able to discover how eight inventive contemporary artists have continued to mine the medium recent years in a section titled “New Directions.” Although drawn primarily from the rich holdings of The Mint Museum, this exhibition will also include special loans from private collections.

The exhibition is organized by The Mint Museum. Media partners are The Charlotte Observer, Pride Magazine, and Peachy.

Media and special guests are invited to preview the exhibition at 10 AM on Friday, November 30 at Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts, 500 South Tryon Street. Light refreshments will be served and interviews with the curator and select artists will be available. RSVP to leigh.dyer@mintmuseum.org.

As an artist whose work spans performance art, music, sound, light, architecture, and virtual reality, Vesna Petresin’s perspective is in great demand. In addition to designing Lumisonica for The Mint Museum, Vesna has had a busy year full of exciting projects. During the last six weeks alone, she presented at three major events: the Netherlands Film Festival (Utrecht, The Netherlands, September 27 – October 5); the Beyond Festival and Symposium (Center for Media Arts, Karlsruhe, Germany, October 3 – 7); and VR Days Europe (Amsterdam, October 24 – 26). Additionally, she gave a talk at the TNW Conference at the Technical University of Munich in March, and since January has served as an Artist-in-Residence at the Amsterdam Academy for the Arts.

Vesna Petresin performing in Open Studio, a mixed reality experience, ID Lab, Theatre and Dance Academy, Amsterdam 2018

According to its website, the Netherlands Film Festival is “the leading platform for the Netherlands’ national film culture. It celebrates the achievements of Dutch filmmakers and provides the bridge between film culture and all facets of Dutch society….It is active throughout the year, stimulating and promoting Dutch film culture before the 9-day extravaganza in late September” when the best productions of the previous 12 months are presented. “These days, cinema is more than just films, and so NFF incorporates into its program disciplines that draw inspiration from, and themselves influence, the cinematic narrative form, from TV drama, music, and visual arts to games and interactive productions.” This year was the festival’s 38th year.

Vesna spoke on a panel in the “Our Brave New World” session, moderated by Dr. Dan Hassler-Forest, a researcher, writer, and lecturer at Utrecht University. In Vesna’s words, this panel was “about the utopian and dystopian aspects of new imaging and media technologies.” In describing her talk, entitled “The Real and the Virtual of VR,” she wrote, “The strength of Virtual Reality is that it offers the possibility to experience artificial realities as real: time and space fused into a “modulated” reality. Within this medium, my performance work has a strong idiosyncratic signature, exploring the medium in various contexts. My work is in transdisciplinary art and Research & Development – through performance and public art I examine the processes of transformation and the concept of time.”

Following her talk, Vesna presented Matter = Information, a new immersive sound and light VR experience for HTC Hive, which she created in collaboration with the Dutch VR developer Aron Fels.

Vesna Petresin and Aron Fels, still image from Matter = Information, 2018

The theme for this year’s Beyond Festival was Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence and Post-Capitalism. Its website states: “Within the coming decades new technologies are going to change our lives and the way we perceive it beyond our expectations. The BEYOND Festival is a creative collaboration of science, technology and art, an experimental laboratory for new forms of art, which simultaneously offers a glance at social effects regarding new technologies in a global context…It is a festival of films, audio-visual installations and additionally a symposium which exhibits new forms of art and media, such as 2D, 3D, artificial intelligence, virtual-, mixed- and augmented reality.”

Vesna expanded on the idea of matter as information in her talk, “Present Continuous.” She describes the talk thusly: “As the world of technology focuses on the process from bits to particles and from particles back to bits, the impact of social change through technology gives rise to a digital world order. Here, our value is defined by what we contribute to data processing. The culture of flow, Interaction, sharing, tracking, prosuming [serving as both producer and consumer], redefines ways in which we learn, work, trade, communicate and relax. In the world when the ancient myths are fused with emergent godlike technologies such as artificial intelligence and genetic engineering, how will we define what it means to be human?” Vesna presented similar ideas in her talk at the Technical University of Munich in March.

After the talk Vesna again presented the VR experience, Matter = Information.

Vesna Petresin and Aron Fels, still image from Matter = Information, 2018

For the exhibition portion of the Beyond Festival, Vesna showed The Scores of Chaos, a VR experience based on composer György Ligeti’s musical notation, which she created with a team in Amsterdam called the XR Base Unit. They worked at XRBASE Amsterdam, a co-working space and production company for immersive content that has locations across Europe. Vesna has worked with XRBASE Amsterdam (formerly known as VRBase) on several projects, including content visualization and modeling for Lumisonica.

Still image from The Scores of Chaos | Executive producer: Daniel ‘Kip’ Doornink | Fractal artist: Julius Horsthuis |Creative coders: Sander Sneek, Ruud op den Kelder | Creative advisor: Vesna Petresin | Voice-over audio: Whoozy Music | Supported by XMG, Sensiks
All music by György Ligeti performed by Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Cappella Amsterdam.

Vesna writes, “The Scores of Chaos is an immersive experience, commissioned by Muziekgebouw (Amsterdam 2018) as an homage to the musical genius of the contemporary Hungarian composer Ligeti.

His music featured in some of the most iconic scenes in Stanley Kubrick’s work, making this collaboration groundbreaking for the history of the moving image. Ligeti’s fascination with the world of fractals, chaos and multisensory experience of music, has been the inspiration behind an imaginary trip into the world of his scores. Music becomes an immersive visual landscape, a doorway into the otherworldly beauty of mathematics, of our imagination, and the universe.”

György Ligeti’s music also inspired Vesna’s sound composition for Lumisonica.

VR Days Europe is “a conference and exhibition focused on Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality XR content, creativity, and innovation” comprising keynotes, sessions, workshops, and seminars led by “over 140 thought leaders and experts drawn from the health, technology, business, and arts sectors.”

Vesna presented a talk at the Museum Morning panel, at which creators, producers and artists shared projects that successfully used XR (X Reality) technology in the museum and heritage sector. The panel’s moderator was Daan Kip, a co-founder of VR Days Europe and founder of the XRBASE network. Other panelists included Nina Diamond, Content Manager at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Vesna’s talk, “Immersive Ambients,” discussed how “Interactive media allow us to create immersive environments and experiences outside of the ‘white cube’ of a gallery or the ‘black box’ of a theatre.” She writes, “To create a fusion of the built environment and the media, my practice utilizes the conceptof a smart, playable city…. People actively shape their environment; my work attempts to render visible and audible the impact we have on the world – on the shapes, colors, sounds, emotions, social experiences and physical processes – simply by being here.” She discussed Lumisonica, among other projects.

Vesna also hosted a session in the Philosopher’s Salon, a yurt where visitors took off their shoes, refrained from using technology, and discussed questions surrounding XR technology such as human relationships with virtual characters and the ethical implications of humans carrying out acts in virtual environments that are illegal in the real world.

Vesna’s talk, another version of “Present Continuous,” focused on presence in Virtual, Physical, and Mixed Reality. “As our present looks increasingly dystopian, questions arise about the future and the impact of social change through technology, while a new digital world order seems to be taking shape. A sense of presence in virtual worlds is akin to an escape from the trauma of existence. a largely disembodied experience allowing to play god. Rethinking the philosopher Montaigne, the sensory perception may well be synonymous with sensory illusion, as the meaning of the truth seems to become intangible, and commodified,” she writes of her talk. Afterward she led a conversation among salon visitors.

Throughout her research and artistic practice, Vesna Petresin engages with pressing questions around the relationship between humans and technology in the twenty-first century. Lumisonica extends that inquiry to the environment of The Mint Museum, creating an enhanced experience in which visitors’ interactions with the technology on the staircase lead to new perceptions of their effect on the spaces they inhabit. Come to the debut of Lumisonica at Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts, 500 South Tryon Street, on Friday night, November 16, from 6 to 9 PM to experience it yourself.

The Mint Museum is pleased to announce the public debut of Lumisonica, a site-specific, interactive light and sound installation on the Grand Staircase of Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts created by Vesna Petresin. Beginning Friday, November 16, visitors will experience a changing canvas of ambient light and sound that responds to their movements as they climb or descend the stairs.

That evening, Mint Museum President & CEO Todd A. Herman PhD and artist Vesna Petresin will make remarks. The event begins at 6 PM with remarks anticipated at 6:30 PM. Petresin and Creative Design Lead Ben Mason will also be available to speak to the media. There will be a cash bar in the museum’s atrium, and the museum galleries will remain open until 9 PM.

Petresin, born in Ljubljana, Slovenia, is a trans-disciplinary artist who has exhibited and performed at the Tate Modern; ArtBasel Miami; the Royal Academy of the Arts; the Venice Biennale; the Institute of Contemporary Arts London; and the Vienna Secession. She is based in London, Amsterdam, and Berlin. She is scheduled to be an artist in residence at the McColl Center for Art + Innovation from January through April.

Mason, based in Asheville, runs a digital media business offering services such as media systems architecture and design, photography, animation, web design, sound design, show control/stage interactives, and more. He designed and implemented the lighting and sound systems and consulted on programming for Lumisonica.

The project was funded through a generous grant from The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which challenged museums to use technology to enhance the visitor experience.

Creating a multisensory landscape

Lumisonica transforms the museum’s main entrance into an unparalleled immersive experience that will be choreographed by the visiting public. Based upon the idea of the smart city, this multisensory landscape makes invisible space visible, audible, and tangible while aiming to increase people’s awareness that they can and do shape their own place, perceptions and reality. Lumisonica assures a daring and playful experience like no other in the heart of Charlotte’s flourishing art district. Juxtaposed near the large reflective Niki de Saint Phalle sculpture Firebird in front of the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, this light and sound sculpture provides another dynamic feature to highlight entropic experiences, moiré patterns and other optical and perceptional illusions in this cultural area.

The “smart city” concept of this dynamic datascape is drawn from two components that change the form to an accessible visual/audio display based upon public movement and engagement:

Visual content is created by programmable LED light features embedded into the staircase and railings. The light effects are designed to work interactively based on data captured from the environment as well as on presets of visual effects. The light effects are programmed along a 24/7 schedule with pre-rendered sets at specific times of the day, combined with responsive effects based on criteria such as visibility, program of events at the museum, and the number of visitors.

Audio content permeates ambient sound loops designed to respond and support the light effects. These amplify the visitor’s feeling of presence in the environment and assist their spatial navigation, by amplifying the ranges of frequencies that translate to embodied sensations. The audio content includes composed soundscapes and loops of sonic textures as well as key framed musical motifs on specific days and at specific times to announce events.

“My work tries to offer a moment to remember we inhabit and co-create a multisensory symphony,” said Petresin. “The piece for the Mint has been inspired by the idea that matter is information under constant transformation, bringing memory, human connection, wonder, and innovation.”

Lumisonica will be in place during The Mint Museum’s upcoming exhibition Immersed in Light (Fall 2019 – Spring 2020). The exhibition will feature experiential lighting installations by four contemporary artists and designers at Mint Museum Uptown.

Staircase to enhance museum experience, visitation

The Mint was among 12 recipients of $1.87 million in funding from the Knight Foundation for new ways of using technology to immerse visitors in art. Institutions in cities including Philadelphia, Detroit, Miami, Minneapolis, Chicago, and New York City are joining Charlotte in creating new tools ranging from chat bots to augmented reality apps to engage new audiences.

Funding for this project is part of a Knight Foundation initiative to help museums better meet new community demands and use digital tools to meaningfully engage visitors in art. Knight, which promotes informed and engaged communities, has helped institutions—from newsrooms to libraries—adapt to and thrive in the digital age. This funding expands the foundation’s use of its digital expertise to help art museums build stronger, more vibrant communities.

“The arts have the rare power to bring diverse communities together, provoke personal reflection, and inspire new ways of thinking,” said Victoria Rogers, Knight Foundation vice president for the arts. “Our hope is that by integrating technology, museums can better reach and engage audiences in ways that connect them to the art.”

ABOUT VESNA PETRESIN

Vesna Petresin is currently an Artist-in-Residence at Amsterdam University of the Arts and a Visiting Fellow at Goldsmiths (University of London). She has been an Artist in Residence at ZKM in Germany and created a London-based trans-disciplinary art collective whose exploration of optics, acoustics and psychology takes the format of performance, installation and artifact.

As a time architect, non-object based designer, space composer and performer, her practice utilizes an alchemy of media and senses (sound, film, space, interaction, and performance) to take art out of the white cube and bring it into an immersive experience. The key concept is transformation—of the material, the immaterial and the self.

Petresin seeks elements to link cultures rather than separate them and pays attention to archetypal formal constants and patterns existing in nature, human perception and the creative process. Her work in immersive light is ground-breaking and has been featured at Tate Modern, ArtBasel Miami, Venice Biennale, The Royal Festival Hall, The Royal Academy of Arts, ICA, The Sydney Opera House, Vienna Secession, Cannes International Film Festival and Kings Place among others.

Petresin’s academic background in classical music and architecture has propelled her as a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts, a Member of the Architectural Association, a keynote speaker at symposia including “SuperLux: Smart Light Art, Design and Architecture for Cities” (Technical University of Munich, 2016), the XR Summit (ISE at RAI, Amsterdam 2018) and a print author of internationally notable publications. She has written on smart cities (Thames & Hudson, Black Dog) and on Leonardo da Vinci’s creative methods in relation to 21st century view of morphogenesis in art and design for Springer Publications.

ABOUT THE JOHN S. AND JAMES L. KNIGHT FOUNDATION

Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. We invest in journalism, in the arts, and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy.

The Young Affiliates of the Mint (the “YAMs”) are proud to present the Sixth Annual Fall Ball: “Mint Main Event.” The black-tie gala will take place on Saturday, November 3 from 8 PM to midnight at Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts and will be themed around old Hollywood and include live entertainment and an open bar. This year’s Fall Ball will serve as a fundraiser in support of the YAMs’ contribution to the Mint’s Annual Fund to provide Mint Museum tours for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools students.

In support of the YAMs’ mission of promoting and celebrating the arts, the charitable event will be an ode to old Hollywood glam featuring live music from Sammy Sinatra and the Mad Men, “the South’s premiere Vegas style lounge act with a twist,” as well as Charlotte’s own DJ Chescov. There will even be a red-carpet walk of fame highlighting the names of attendees who purchased early-bird tickets, recognizing them for their support.

“We’re proud to bring Fall Ball back to Mint Museum Uptown following their Grand Re-opening Celebration,” said Amorette Mangum, co-chair of the annual event. “To make this philanthropic event even more accessible for Charlotte’s young professional crowd, we’ve lowered the ticket prices for the first time in the event’s history.”

Tickets start at just $80 for members and $99 for non-members and include hors d’oeuvres and complimentary beer and wine. To learn more and to purchase tickets, visit https://13800.blackbaudhosting.com/13800/Fall-Ball-2018-MINT-MAIN-EVENT.

Special thanks to the 2018 Fall Ball title sponsor, Felix Sabates Lincoln, and our annual gold sponsor, United Global Technologies, as well as Tito’s Vodka and La Belle Helene for their contributions to this annual event. In addition to Fall Ball, the YAMs are proud to partner with UGT for their 2018-2019 signature events including the YP Mixer, Derby Days, and the Art Show.

About Felix Sabates Lincoln

Felix Sabates Lincoln, located on South Boulevard in Charlotte, has a strong and committed sales staff with many years of experience satisfying customers’ needs. Felix Sabates is proud to sponsor the YAMs and the Charlotte arts community as well as serve as the title sponsor for Fall Ball: Mint Main Event.

About the United Global Technologies

For almost a decade, United Global Technologies has set the standard for US-based IT and engineering services. Founded in 2009, by Elizabeth Bernstein and Jason Monastra, UGT has excelled at meeting the diverse information technology, engineering, and operational needs of industrial and service leaders across the country and around the globe. Through the generosity and tireless efforts of UGT employees, families and friends, philanthropy has become more than an initiative — it is a way of life. UGT is headquartered in Charlotte, NC and is thrilled to be a part of the thriving community. To learn more about UGT visit https://www.ugtechnologies.com/.

About the Young Affiliates of the Mint

Established in 1990, the YAMs are a diverse group of young professionals promoting and supporting The Mint Museum through cultural, social, leadership, and fundraising activities and events. All YAM event proceeds directly benefit Charlotte-Mecklenburg students by offsetting the cost of Mint Museum tours throughout the school year.

For More Information Contact:

Amorette Mangum or Victoria Mathias

Fall Ball Co-Chairs, Young Affiliates of the Mint

youngaffiliatesofthemint@gmail.com

A project as complex and technologically advanced as Lumisonica requires close collaboration among many people. And while it may seem ironic for a project involving digital technology, the best format for such collaboration is through face-to-face meetings. For this reason, Vesna Petresin traveled from her current home base of London to The Mint Museum to work on Lumisonica on October 9 and 10. She spent much of her time with two key people: Creative Design Lead Ben Mason, who is based in Asheville, and lighting consultant Terry Reeves, who also traveled from London.

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In his delicately rendered sculptures, Michael Sherrill seeks to elicit a sense of wonder from viewers, and to make them see the natural world anew as he works with clay, glass, and metal to create exquisite floral forms. This retrospective organized by The Mint Museum illustrates the artist’s evolution over his more than 40-year career and highlights his contributions to contemporary art, craft, and design.

Michael Sherrill Retrospective opens later this month at Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts, 500 South Tryon Street. The museum will offer member-only hours 11 a.m.- 9 p.m. on Friday October 26; Sherrill gives a public talk, free with museum admission, 11 a.m. Saturday October 27. It is followed by a book signing in the Mint Museum Store with a new, lavishly illustrated catalogue published by The Mint Museum to accompany the exhibition.

The exhibition will travel to the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in summer 2019, and the Arizona State University Art Museum in early 2020.

Temple of the Cool Beauty (Yucca)
Michael Sherrill
Created: 2005
Materials: polychrome, porcelain, Moretti glass, silica bronze
Gift of Ann and Tom Cousins. 2014.78a-b. Collection of The Mint Museum.

“The idea for a Michael Sherrill Retrospective was ignited by close study of one of the Mint’s sculpture’s, Temple of the Cool Beauty (Yucca), then on loan from Ann and Tom Cousins, and further research,” said Annie Carlano, the Mint’s curator of Craft, Design, & Fashion. “Surveying contemporary clay globally, Michael’s work is exceptional in its sheer beauty—delicate botanical reveries that chronicle life cycles from blossom to wither. His command of materials, not just clay but metal and glass, and his brilliance as an inventor of tools and technologies, make the magic happen. There is simply nothing like his work anywhere on the planet.”

Carlano serves as lead organizing curator and Marilyn Zapf of The Center for Craft is guest curator; filmmakers Matthew Mebane and Maria White contributed video to the exhibition.

Primarily a self-taught artist, Sherrill moved from Charlotte, North Carolina to the Western North Carolina mountains in 1974. His early influences came from the North Carolina folk pottery tradition and the community surrounding Penland School of Crafts, Seagrove Potters, and the Southern Highland Handicraft Guild, as well as from his studies of the ceramics of Asia and the Americas. These influences are apparent in Sherrill’s functional objects from the late 1970s and 80s. These early explorations led quickly to a new sculptural vocabulary, strong minimalist organic forms inspired by the botanical world. Sherrill’s unique aesthetic sensibilities are matched by his extraordinary skill and inventiveness. A true innovator, he has developed clay bodies and special tools to make the material fulfill his desired artistic outcome.

Over 70 objects will be on view, from a group of Steins (1977) to A Beautiful Death (2017).  Loans from institutions including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; The Museum of Arts and Design, New York; the Racine Museum of Art; and individual collectors in Oregon, Florida, Vermont, and North Carolina are featured.

“The Mint Museum is committed to collecting, publishing, and exhibiting the best of contemporary craft,” said Dr. Todd A. Herman, President & CEO of the Mint. “We have recognized the unique talent of Michael Sherrill since his early forays in functional vessels, and through accessions and exhibitions have acknowledged his creative expression and skill. This retrospective is the culmination of several years of dedication and excellence on the part of Mint staff and I am proud of our team and other contributors.”

Exhibition sections and catalogue

Michael Sherrill Retrospective begins with a sense of place, as the visitor walks through re-creations and interpretations of his cobalt blue studio doors and the woods of his mountain home. Twenty-first-century ceramics, like contemporary art in general, can be characterized as an exciting period of experimentation: to express their creative vision, makers are incorporating new media and technologies to reach beyond traditional methods. Sherrill is one of the foremost practitioners of this approach. His inventiveness and worldview play ahead of current trends, and working off the beaten track, he developed a naturalist’s sensitivity to the botanical wonders of Bat Cave, North Carolina. Finding the universal in the close at hand, Sherrill’s extraordinary evolution in creating with clay—and other materials—is conveyed in this exhibition.

The first section of the exhibition, Early Works, features functional stoneware forms that demonstrate the young artist’s influences from both historic and contemporary North Carolina pottery as well as Native American and Asian inspired shapes, glazes, and raku firing techniques.  It’s the smallest section of the show, due to the fact Sherrill’s oeuvre evolved so quickly from an artist’s initial period of exploration to maturity.

Teapots is the largest section of the exhibition and illustrates the way in which Sherrill uses the utilitarian object as vehicle for his forays into materials, process, and aesthetics. Here we can see sober Minimalist designs, drawing on traditional squat round forms, exuberant colorful expressionist compositions, and pure abstract forms.  In this rich and imaginative installation, reminiscent of a fine tea shop, what is unseen is as important as the surface ornamentation, as Sherrill moves fluidly from stoneware to porcelain. Installed in an imaginative teashop-like setting, this section of the exhibition includes a hand-on activity related teas from around the world.

In an intimate room off the Teapot section is Studio.  In this section of the exhibition visitors will encounter a selection of tools, organic materials, and other curiosities from Michael Sherrill’s actual studio Wonder Wall—a space filled with objects that inspire and invite contemplation.  Underscoring the inventor in the artist, across from the Wonder Wall is an installation of array of colorful clay work tools from the artist’s Mudtools line. Visitors will be able to scroll through the twitter feed of Mudtools to see the amazing ways people around the globe are utilizing these implements.

Contemporary Sculpture begins with transitional objects from teapot botanical abstractions to full blown sculpture. Inspired by the ubiquitous rhododendron that he sees every day on his daily walks with his wife Margery, the artist crafted a series of ceramic and life size sculptures in 2008. Still, this is not entirely a linear path, as Sherrill hones his naturalist sensibilities, skill, and technologies creating both large scale an intimate ornate plant forms and makes huge creative leaps to Neo-Minimalist sheaths, reminiscent of Agnes Martin paintings. The last group of objects in the visitor’s path was created since 2014. Showing his fantastic facility with clay, glass, and lost wax casting bronze in wall mounted and freestanding sculptures, objects such as Black Medicine, A Beautiful Death, and Dutch Solomon eschew any doubt that he is a Southern American master.

Each section is introduced by a video that features Michael Sherrill addressing the visitor. Shot on location in Bat Cave and including some vintage film, the videos were produced by Matthew Mebane and Maria White, award winning documentary filmmakers based in Charleston, South Carolina.

A scholarly exhibition catalogue, edited by Carlano, accompanies the exhibition. It features essays by Marilyn Zapf, Assistant Director and Curator, The Center for Craft and Guest Curator; and Ezra Shales, Associate Professor of Art History, Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Published by The Mint Museum, the book will be available for $40 at both museum locations; beginning November 15, it will be available online at store.mintmuseum.org.

Michael Sherrill has received numerous prestigious awards, including the US Windgate Fellowship: Crafts and the Arts, US Artists (2010) and is a highly regarded teacher and lecturer throughout the United States, and in Japan and China.  He serves on several non-profit boards and councils including the Archie Bray Foundation, and the Center for Craft, and has served as a member of the Founders’ Circle Board of Directors.

Mint curators Annie Carlano, Senior Curator of Craft, Design & Fashion and Emily Pazar, former curatorial assistant for Craft, Design & Fashion are the organizing curators; Marilyn Zapf, Assistant Director and Curator, The Center for Craft, Asheville, N.C., is Guest Curator.

The exhibition is organized by The Mint Museum. STEELFAB is the presenting sponsor for the exhibition. Generous support for the exhibition catalogue and tour provided by the Windgate Foundation; additional funding from the Founders’ Circle and Bank of America.

Media and invited guests are invited to preview the exhibition from 10 a.m.-noon on Thursday October 25; RSVP to leigh.dyer@mintmuseum.org.

The Mint Museum just reached 10K followers on Instagram, and to celebrate we’re giving away five items from our Store and a Mint membership to one lucky winner.

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The two people sitting across from me, ARKO + OWL, are an artistic duo who set out to find love in each other and with the city of Charlotte. They were chosen as the first artists to be featured in The Mint Museum’s newest project, ConstellationCLT. Every year The Mint Museum will highlight approximately three contemporary artists in the Charlotte region to showcase their distinct works of art.  

Having just finished painting for the night, the two enter the room beaming with unfiltered joy and happiness. They graciously meet me at Mint Museum Uptown, site of their most recent mural, to sit down for a chat about their career as artists and their views on the community that Charlotte is beginning to build.  

“Why the mask?” I start with the most obvious question. The two, though unmasked when sitting in front of me, prefer to conceal their identities when posting online or doing public events. 

The question of the masks is answered by OWL, one half of the duo, in a way that showcases the smooth friction produced by the anonymity in art. “Before the mask I was very concerned with how I looked and how people saw me. The mask gives me the opportunity to not care as much about that and to just go through the process. In a way I can focus more on the art and not about what people think of it.”  

Arko + Owl

With the mask, OWL feels that she could make things more freely than without it. “I can fully embrace my art,” she says, “and then when I overhear someone say something critical, it’s a little less personal. It’s not directed at me. They don’t know that I’m standing behind them and they don’t know who I even am. At that point it is all about the art that they see in front of them.” The words of criticism are relevant in a way that separates her feelings of being connected to the work from being a part of the work itself.  Freely losing one’s sense of self in the artistic process is what propels that same art to the forefront of the collective imagination. Raw feelings of the human condition are brought forth from artists that are allowed to embrace the intricate details of love and loss; of joy and anguish. 

Art of that substance acts as a reflection of the person standing in front of it, as well as a reinterpretation of the artist that made it. Seeing that reinterpretation and hearing its voice is indicative of the overreaching power of art to bind people together. Art allows others to connect with people who seemingly would never have been able to before. Cultivating a sense of understanding in all people is what brings gravity to a work of art. Common ground shared among people different from one another erases boundaries of isolation. It forms strings of connectivity that pull on the human vital of compassion. “Community, much like culture, is what you make of it,” says ARKO, “we are at the beginning of a really big push right now. And It’s not just us, it’s everybody. Everyone who is out doing pop-ups, doing stencils, doing graffiti, everyone showing in galleries.” Everyone who is striving to put art out into the city of Charlotte. Everyone, he seems to be suggesting, who is working toward that same goal of using art to bring people together, both physically and ideologically.  

Arko + Owl at Mint Museum Uptown

“I went to art school, I showed in galleries, I did the whole academia thing,” ARKO says, specifically recalling his interaction with the traditional structures surrounding art institutions, “but personal success isn’t what all of this is about to us. We want to bring this art to everyone and to let those voice of the minorities be heard. Not just the people that are traditionally held up as artists.” ARKO originally rejected the ideas of tradition, but says he is coming back around to it and is now looking to build upon them to form a new meaning around art. There is an evolution of traditional spaces, he says, that can be utilized to educate people about different ways of thinking and living. He describes art as an open door to other people’s worlds; a way to see things from a different perspective. Specifically, he wants to bring people, art and happiness in any way possible; whether that means working with traditional museums or utilizing Instagram to give away free art.  

OWL shares this sentiment as she recalls the protest surrounding the tragic death of Keith Lamont Scott in 2016; a time when things didn’t look as promising for minorities who may not be given the chance to have their opinions heard. She speaks about how they both wanted to do something to help recover Charlotte’s lost sense of community. “Some people’s voices aren’t as free as others, and because of that we decided to say something in the way that we could; by using our art. After the protest we helped paint the windows of the Hyatt Hotel. It was our way of reaching out to the community and making our voice heard.”  

Arko + Owl at Hyatt Hotel

ARKO + OWL are both taking note of Charlotte’s lack of representation, and they hope to help bring those voices that are traditionally silenced to the forefront of the conversation. Charlotte is currently in a unique position of having the opportunity to develop a new definition for itself, one that could include everyone’s voice. The duo hopes to capitalize upon this to help make diversity a large part of the new culture that is emerging in Charlotte. The installation at Mint Museum Uptown lies in the same contextual vein of equal representation within the city. The pair said they immediately rejoiced when they were contacted about the mural at the Mint, but more for the vocalization that the mural is giving minorities rather than their personal success. Like the painting of the Hyatt’s windows, they viewed this too as a start to bringing a level playing ground to the Charlotte art scene. Progress of building upon and moving on from traditional viewpoints lies in the collaboration between institutions of long-standing reverence and independent artist like themselves. They say they are excited at the prospect of institutions being willing to reach out and work with local artist to bring in fresh voices. “I think it’s amazing that we get the chance to help break down the assumption that there is a corporate world in Charlotte that doesn’t interact with the real people…I am in awe that I am literally drawing with a marker on the walls of a museum. Its completely crazy.” Together, both ARKO + OWL and the Mint hope they can elevate the voices of the people they serve. Working with one another can allow the artist and their art to present a new face to the Charlotte that looks like them; to a Charlotte that is culturally rich, ethnically diverse, and welcoming to everyone who wants to call it their home. 

ARKO + OWL have multiple installations inside of Mint Museum Uptown that are going to be featured in the Talking Walls Mural Festival, October 10-13, as well as serving as the launch of the Mint’s ongoing ConstellationCLT project.

You can find ARKO on Instagram at @Arko83art, and OWL at @owl.clt

Lumisonica, the interactive light and sound installation designed by Vesna Petresin for the Grand Staircase at Mint Museum Uptown and scheduled to debut this November, marks the Mint Museum’s first experience with this kind of multimedia, interdisciplinary, intangible art. To recap a previous blog post, Lumisonica is “based on the concept of a smart, playable city. It encompasses disciplines from architecture, lighting design, sound design, choreography and set design, to interactive visual arts.” (more…)

African-Print Fashion Now! A Story of Taste, Globalization, and Style introduces audiences to the dynamic traditions of African dress featuring colorful, boldly patterned printed cloth. The exhibition, opening to the public at Mint Museum Randolph October 7 following two days of Mint member previews, highlights the interplay between regional preferences and cosmopolitanism that has long flourished on the continent, while highlighting the expansiveness of 21st-century African-print fashion.

The exhibition will be open to Mint members on Friday, October 5 from 11 AM-6 PM and Saturday October 6 from 1-6 PM, and will open to the public on Sunday, October 7 from 1-5 PM. Two fashion designers with work featured in the exhibition, Titi Ademola and Alexis Temomanin, will be in Charlotte from Thursday through Sunday and are available for media interviews. Sunday’s event includes a public talk with both designers from 2-3 PM, free after museum admission. Public opening day also includes a drumming performance and a light reception with cash bar. Ademola, a Ghanian/Nigerian designer, is founder of the KIKI label, while Temomanin is the British-Ivorian founder of menswear brand Dent de Man.

African-Print Fashion Now!, organized by the Fowler Museum at UCLA, expands the Mint’s presentations of contemporary fashion into a broader cultural arena, and continues the Mint’s emphasis on presenting exhibitions that represent diverse voices and backgrounds. “This exhibition aligns with our mission to explore the meaning of fashion in a global 21^st-century context,” said Annie Carlano, Senior Curator of Craft, Design, & Fashion at the Mint. “From the bold, dynamic cloth, to the inventive, sculptural silhouettes, the textiles and fashions in this exhibition have inspired and infiltrated Western fashion, art, music, and popular culture.”

“The Mint is honored to be one of three venues for this important exhibition, and very pleased to collaborate with the Fowler Museum, UCLA, for the first time,” said Dr. Todd Herman, PhD, President & CEO of the Mint. “Additionally, we are deeply grateful to Charlotte’s own Michael Gallis for his role in bringing this exhibition to our community.”

The works featured throughout the exhibition demonstrate the vital role that African-print has played in the expression of beauty, fashion, and heritage, while creating transcultural connections across Africa and into the larger world.

The exhibition is complemented by an interactive design studio created by the Mint’s Learning & Engagement team, offering visitors of all ages opportunities to design their own prints, experience African-print fabrics, and go on a scavenger hunt through the exhibition.

Four sections weaving multiple themes

The exhibition is organized into four sections: “It All Starts with Cloth,” “Portraits in Print,” “Regional Styles, Fashion Preferences,” and “New Directions.” Collectively, the installation includes dozens of tailored fashions, nearly 100 archival and contemporary cloths, approximately 20 black-and-white studio portrait photographs from the 1960s and 1970s, a series of runway videos, and several works by contemporary visual artists. Ensembles on view draw from the Fowler’s collections, private loans, and the extensive archives of the Dutch textile manufacturing company Vlisco.

Several themes weave their way throughout the exhibition, mimicking the cyclical nature of fashion trends and the ripple effects of politics and technology on the formation of identity. One theme is consumer agency, both in determining designs and patterns through purchasing power and by commissioning unique ensembles from seamstresses and tailors. Another theme is the theatrical power of fashion, and its ability to express individualism or collective solidarity, whether in a family portrait or Women’s Day Marches in communities across the continent. Finally, a link between imaging and fashion surfaces in each section of the exhibition. From formal portraiture to visual arts to ubiquitous African fashion calendars to street style photos shared by cell-phone, it is clear that representations of fashion have always been a nuanced form of communication.

Fashion subtly communicates about place, heritage, and belonging through such means as appropriation, pastiche, and revival. Throughout the exhibition, African-print fashions are considered to be creative responses to key historical moments and empowering projections about Africa’s future.

About the Exhibition

“It All Starts with Cloth” addresses the history of African-print textiles, originally inspired by batik or wax-resist cloth from Indonesia. A dense grid of more than 60 cloths manufactured in Europe, Africa, and Asia evokes the vibrating colors and designs stocked in open-air markets and cloth shops across the African continent. A visual timeline of production across these regions outlines the history of the cloth trade in West and Central Africa from the 1800s to the present. Archival photographs and dramatic film footage of the Vlisco factory in operation transport audiences to the production of cloth in the Netherlands.

“Portraits in Print” leaves behind the brightly colored world of African-print fashion and enters an intimate black-and-white space of memory. A gallery introduces four photographers from Africa’s “golden age” of black-and-white photography in the 1960s and 1970s: Francis K. Honny (Ghana, 1914–1998); Jacques Toussele (Cameroon, 1935–2017); Omar Ly (Senegal, 1943–2016); and Mory Bamba (b. Mali, 1949). Their photography studios in newly independent West African countries provided a platform for an ascending middle class to see themselves and be seen by one another. The portraits are indicative of a historical moment when local African-print ensemble styles gained new significance as expressions of national and Pan-African pride and identity.

“Regional Styles, Fashion Preferences” takes an in-depth look at localized contemporary African-print fashion whereby stylish dress is a feature of daily life. Ensembles on view from Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, and Senegal reflect an array of styles, all of them customized and individually made to order. This section presents a case study from Kumasi, Ghana to illustrate the interactive commissioning process between seamstresses or tailors and their fashion-conscious clientele. The bold patterns of the cloth engineered with subtle and striking variations in style reveal the ingenuity and flair of regional designers.

“New Directions” bridges regional cultures with transnational art and fashion networks, beginning with African-print styles on global runways in Paris, New York, Dakar, and other cities. Designers in this section include Titi Ademola (b. London, based in Ghana), Ituen Bassey (b. Nigeria), Afua Dabanka (b. Germany, based in Ghana), Lisa Folawiyo (b. Nigeria), Adama Amanda Ndiaye (b. Democratic Republic of the Congo, based in Senegal), Alexis Temomanin (b. Côte d’Ivoire), Gilles Touré (b. Côte d’Ivoire), and Patricia Waota (b. Côte d’Ivoire). Ensembles on view feature full-length gowns and men’s blazers, metallic wax print, and architectural pleating and boning—all of which harmoniously marry the drape of the fabric with the strategic construction of print patterns for stunning results.

Juxtaposed with these glamorous designs are contemporary works by photographers and other visual artists who incorporate print-cloth imagery to convey evocative messages about heritage, hybridity, displacement, and aspiration.

Members of the media and invited special guests are invited to preview the exhibition from 5:30-7 PM on Thursday October 4 at Mint Museum Randolph, 2730 Randolph Road in Charlotte. Light refreshments, wine, and beer will be served. RSVP to Leigh.Dyer@mintmuseum.org.

Publication

The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated volume generously funded by the R. L. Shep Endowment Fund at the Fowler Museum. The publication includes essays authored by exhibition co-curators Suzanne Gott, Kristyne S. Loughran, Betsy D. Quick, and Leslie W. Rabine with additional essays contributed by Kathleen Bickford Berzock, Boatema Boateng, M. Amah Edoh, Helen Elands, Anne Grosfilley, Karen Tranberg-Hansen, Helen Jennings, Sandra Klopper, Stephan F. Miescher, Hansi Momodu-Gordon, John Picton, Elisha P. Renne, Victoria L. Rovine, Ken Aïcha Sy, and Nina Sylvanus. It is on sale for $40 in both locations of the Mint Museum stores.

Credit

African-Print Fashion Now! A Story of Taste, Globalization, and Style is organized by the Fowler Museum at UCLA in association with Vlisco Netherlands B.V. It is guest curated by Suzanne Gott with Kristyne S. Loughran, Betsy D. Quick, and Leslie W. Rabine. In Charlotte, Annie Carlano, Senior Curator of Craft, Design, & Fashion, is the project curator. Major funding is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts with the additional support of R. L. Shep, DutchCulture, and Pasadena Art Alliance.

The exhibition is presented in Charlotte by PNC Financial Services with generous additional support from the Mint Museum Auxiliary, Wells Fargo Private Bank, and Moore & Van Allen.

ABOUT THE FOWLER MUSEUM

The Fowler Museum at UCLA explores global arts and cultures with an emphasis on works from Africa, Asia, the Pacific, and the Americas—past and present. The Fowler enhances understanding of world cultures through dynamic exhibitions, publications, and public programs, informed by interdisciplinary approaches and the perspectives of the cultures represented. Also featured is the work of international contemporary artists presented within the complex frameworks of politics, culture, and social action.

Above image:

Standing in a round sound stage in Vesna Petresin’s studio in the ID Lab, up several flights of stairs at the Academie voor Theater en Dans, (Theater and Dance Academy) a division of the University of the Arts (AHK), Amsterdam, I am literally in the middle of light and sound experiments for Lumisonica. (more…)

Screen print painting depicts North Carolina native and Hall of Fame inductee.

The Mint Museum has acquired a painting of North Carolinian and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Nina Simone.

Nina Simone is by British artist Russell Young. “Having such a beautiful portrait of a N.C. native who was such a strong African-American woman, activist, and performer will add to our contemporary art collection here. Plus, I think it will be such a popular piece with our audiences,” said Dr. Jonathan Stuhlman, the Mint’s senior curator of American, Modern, & Contemporary Art. He made the choice with former Assistant Curator Adam Justice, now Director of Galleries at UNC Charlotte.

Russell Young was born in 1959 in Northern England. From an early age, he was drawn to the idea of the quintessential “American dream,” which he thought represented freedom and possibility. Known for his bold, iconic silkscreen paintings of pop imagery turned upon themselves to explore the nature of the American counter culture as seen through the eyes of his youth, his bold ground breaking screen print renditions present a visual journey that bears witness to both the excess and ambition that has helped shape the American Dream. His prints are a brooding and sometimes brutal celebration of the characters and events that glamorize and chastise in equal measure. Whether through direct visual reference or by title, the works set out to both assert and challenge our perception and understanding of what it is to be American in the 21st century.

His body of work includes paintings, screen prints, sculptures, installations and film. He has shown in galleries and museums in London, Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Tokyo, Singapore, New York, Detroit, Miami and Los Angeles. His work is included in the collections of Aby Rosen, The Qatari Royal Family, Kate Moss, David Bowie, Liz Taylor, Barack Obama, The Albertina Museum, The Saatchi Collection and Brad Pitt.

The screen print painting, embedded with diamond dust, is not yet on view but will go out in the coming months, following a grand re-opening celebration for Mint Museum Uptown this fall; watch mintmuseum.org for updates.

Note: Producers of the hit TV show “American Idol” recently held open auditions at Levine Center for the Arts and Mint Museum Uptown. Two members of the Mint staff agreed to share their audition experiences.

Jen Cousar, graphic designer:

It was 9 AM, and I had absolutely no idea what I’d gotten myself into. I’d chosen my song, practiced for friends and family, got dressed up, and had finally arrived uptown in front of The Mint Museum and there it was: the “American Idol” bus.

Beyond the bus were hundreds of wide-eyed (and slightly sleepy) Idol hopefuls lined up and filling the sunny alley in front of me. It was wonderful and terrifying at the same time. I walked toward the check-in line, and couldn’t help but smile as a large group of auditioners sang the chorus of “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele in perfect harmony. It was pure magic.

I made my way down the alley and into the check-in line. I was immediately greeted by a kind, funny fellow auditioner named V. (I’ll call her V here because she had very intentionally not told anyone that she was auditioning, and I don’t want to mess that up for her). She had a guitar on her back and the biggest smile on her face. I learned that she spent a lot of time traveling back and forth to South America to visit family, was in school and wanted to be a doctor, and was going to sing an original song for her audition. We laughed and chatted as we filled out our extensive questionnaires and video release forms.

Soon after, I was able to submit my forms and jump to the front of the line (shoutout to the Mint and producers on that one!) and was lined up with three other contestants. One girl had auditioned for “American Idol” three times prior; another was nervous because someone in the tent next to us was singing the same song she’d chosen; the final man was in a band and would be playing at Matthews Alive that night.

As I laughed and talked with the many people around me, I was comforted to see so much diversity. We were all there because of a love of music and song, and a desire to share that with the world. It didn’t matter where we were from or our different backgrounds, in this space we were unified in our experience and connected by commonality.

My group was called forward and one by one we sang. Each different, and in my opinion each doing a great job. I sang a country song called “Something More” by Sugarland, a song I’d grown up loving. It felt amazing. Once we each sang, we were politely told that none of us would be moving on.

Sure, I’d hoped for better, but as I walked away to find my way back to work, I felt like I’d accomplished something. I wasn’t nervous, I wasn’t afraid, I was just a happy girl who got to sing her song surrounded by wonderful people.

Toni Pennington, Mint Museum Shops:

Of all the things I have done in my 24 years, I’d have to say that this is the craziest. Me, being the ambivert that I am, refused and convinced myself that I am not that “special voice” that “American Idol” is looking for. When I told my mom about it, she was beside herself and urging me to audition. At first I was resistant, but finally I decided, what could it hurt?

The days leading up to the audition, I prepared my song and practiced day in and out in preparation. I even recruited my acting coach to help with a video submission. When the day finally came, I was just a bucket of nerves. I put on my favorite outfit, grabbed my unicorn water bottle and head wrap, and made my way uptown to work and the audition. My coworkers were extremely encouraging and gave me the mojo I needed to go into the streets for my audition.

There were a few hiccups on the way to the table, but I finally made it. I was standing in line at the table with only three people in front of me to sing but I was so nervous I was ready to abandon my spot in line. My throat went dry, my arm got all tingly, and I had to go to the bathroom really badly but then finally my courage took over and said, “No matter what, it’s an experience. You can do it and you WILL do it because it’s all just for fun and the love of music. You got this.” With that, I took a sip of my water, shook out my hands and stepped up to the table with my unicorn water bottle, and sang my heart out. The nerves went away, the anxious voice in my head silenced, and I just let go.

In the end, the producer said no, but I was not discouraged or hurt. I felt so proud of myself for going up there and singing even when I had convinced myself otherwise. Was I disappointed? A little bit, but it was the most fun I had that day and can’t wait to do more auditions in the future.

When I first arrived on the staff of The Mint Museum, I didn’t quite “get” the passion of my friends who collect pottery. All it took was my first experience at a Potters Market Invitational on the lawn in front of Mint Museum Randolph, and I was hooked. To the uninitiated, here are a few reasons why the event is worth a visit:

1. Museum-quality art: You may already be aware that North Carolina is one of the top destinations for pottery-making in the world, and that the Mint is a leading collector of this art form. It’s been a thrill to snag beautiful finds by potters whose work is featured prominently in the museum’s collection.
2. And it’s affordable: You can find plenty of options under $100 by these museum-worthy artists – it’s one of the easiest ways to get started as an art collector.
3. More than pots! My purchases have included a lamp, a wall clock, Christmas ornaments, candleholders, and much more – my home is filled with functional pieces I enjoy using daily.
4. The most pottery ever: Each year the number of participating potters has increased – it used to hover around 50, but this year they’re tallying over 65.
5. Make a day of it: Yes it appeals to shopaholics, but it’s also just fun to listen to the live music, catch a pottery-making demonstration, grab lunch, stroll the museum galleries, and people-watch. My daughter’s been going with me every year since she was 3 and she loves it too.
6. Enjoy the community: There are opportunities to meet and get to know the potters, and though you may find yourself competing with other shoppers to grab a one-of-a-kind piece before it’s gone, it’s always fun to compare purchases with each other later!
7. Support the museum: Proceeds from the event support The Mint Museum’s collecting, scholarship, and public programming. Every year you’ll see placards on extraordinary works that have been selected as gifts from the Delhom Service League, organizers of the event, to join the Mint’s collection.
8. Did we mention the beer? For the first time, the Delhom organizers have decided to include a “beer garden” with craft selections from Birdsong Brewing along with wine and snacks from Delectables by Holly. Sounds like a perfect addition to the day, and I can’t wait to check it out!

Visit PottersMarketattheMint.com for more info and tickets!

ABC show to conduct auditions at Levine Center for the Arts

Producers from the ABC show “American Idol” have scheduled auditions for Friday August 31 on Levine Center for the Arts Plaza, in the 500 block of South Tryon Street. Mint Museum Uptown’s galleries will remain open to the public on Friday and the Mint encourages both auditioners and non-auditioners to stop by the museum for the excitement! Here are some things to know:

PARKING: Auditioners and their guests are encouraged to use light rail (Stonewall and Convention Center stops are just 2-3 blocks away) and/or look for paid public lots throughout uptown. Levine Center for the Arts parking garage has LIMITED visitor parking for those who plan to visit museum galleries during museum operating hours.

LINE: Check-in for the audition line is on Levine Avenue. The line begins at 6 a.m. and auditions begin at 9 a.m.

EXTENDED HOURS: Mint Museum Uptown’s Shop will open to the public at 9 a.m. and the museum galleries will open to the public at 10 a.m. (The early openings are Friday only, Uptown location only). The Shop will have bottled water and some snacks available.

IDOL SPECIAL: Auditioners and their guests will receive coupons valid for 2-for-1 museum admission on Friday.

MUSEUM ADMISSION: Guests to the museum galleries may be subject to additional security procedures on Friday; visitors are asked to leave bags at the museum Coat Check. Prohibited items in museum galleries include: Artificial noise makers; fireworks; glass bottles, aluminum cans, flasks, and water bottles containing liquid of any kind; hard-sided containers including coolers and thermoses; laser pointers; lighters; outside food and beverages including water bottles; portable chairs (exceptions for guests with disabilities); projectiles including Frisbees, footballs, or inflatable balls; radios; “selfie sticks” or poles of any size (exceptions for guests with disabilities); still cameras with lenses longer than 3″ (except escorted media); weapons of any kind.

Public is invited to join our grand re-opening and exciting fall lineup

Following a five-week closure for floor refinishing and other improvements, Mint Museum Uptown will re-open its doors to the public Wednesday August 15, and is inviting the public to join a jam-packed lineup of special events in the coming weeks to celebrate its grand-reopening; welcome its new President & CEO, Todd A. Herman PhD; and enjoy a new fall lineup of exhibitions, as well as new features in its permanent collection galleries. Upcoming events include:

• September 5, Community Coffee : From 8:30-10:30 a.m., the public is invited to Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts, 500 South Tryon Street, to join the Mint’s new President & CEO, Todd A. Herman PhD, for a light breakfast and conversation. The free event will be held in the Morrison Atrium. RSVP at mintmuseum.org/events .
• September 8, Potters Market Invitational : The traditional kickoff to the fall season, sponsored by the Delhom Service League, will bring more than 65 renowned North Carolina potters – the highest number in the 14-year history of the event – to the lawn at Mint Museum Randolph, 2730 Randolph Road, to sell their wares from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tickets are $12 and proceeds support the Mint’s ceramics collection. More at PottersMarketattheMint.com .
• September 12, special screening of “ The Gospel According to André :” Mint Museum Randolph hosts a public screening of the documentary chronicling the fashion career of North Carolina native André Leon Talley, former editor-at-large for American Vogue and curator of The Glamour and Romance of Oscar de la Renta (closing after August 19), with a special appearance by Talley himself. Tickets are $10 or $7.50 for Mint members; more at mintmuseum.org/events .
• September 14-15-16, Grand Re-Opening of Mint Museum Uptown: The community is invited to join this FREE event on Friday September 14 and Saturday September 15 to celebrate the unveiling of Lumisonica , an interactive light and sound installation on the Grand Staircase by international artist Vesna Petresin; the opening of Mainframe, the newest art show organized by Young Affiliates of the Mint (and on view through October 17); a live-painting mural project from local muralists Owl + Arko on Saturday September 15; and a spectacular aerial performance by dancers from Caroline Calouche & Co. , launched from the roof of Mint Museum Uptown and occurring on the façade above the staircase, on September 15 and 16 . The performance, entitled “Perspective,” marks the first “vertical” aerial dance performance of its type in Charlotte. The weekend event will also include live music, cash bar, and food trucks. Details at mintmuseum.org/events .
• Expanded operating hours – soon Friday evenings at Uptown: The grand re-opening weekend marks the debut of new, extended operating hours at Mint Museum Uptown. Beginning September 14, Mint Museum Uptown will remain open until 9 p.m. on Fridays (the Randolph location will maintain the existing schedule of closing at 6 p.m.). The museum is extending Friday hours in response to visitor feedback to make its galleries and programming more accessible and convenient to the public.

Fall exhibition lineup ahead

In the permanent collection galleries, visitors will encounter new frames on signature works of art, as well as newly installed works in the Schiff-Bresler Family Fiber Art Gallery on Level 3. Following the September events, the community is invited to mark its calendars for the Mint’s spectacular fall exhibition lineup, which includes:

African-Print Fashion Now! A Story of Taste, Globalization, & Style : October 7, 2018-April 28, 2019 at Mint Museum Randolph, 2730 Randolph Road; Mint member-only hours Friday October 5, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. and Saturday October 6, 1-5 p.m.; two fashion designers, Titi Ademola and Alexis Temomanin, speak at 2 p.m. on Sunday October 7. This exhibition introduces visitors to a dynamic and diverse dress tradition and the increasingly interconnected fashion worlds that it inhabits: “popular” garments created by local seamstresses and tailors across the continent; international runway fashions designed by Africa’s newest generation of couturiers; and boundary-breaking, transnational and youth styles favored in Africa’s urban centers. All feature the colorful, boldly designed, manufactured cotton textiles that have come to be known as “African-print cloth.” The exhibition is organized by the Fowler Museum at UCLA in association with Vlisco Netherlands B.V. It is guest curated by Suzanne Gott with Kristyne S. Loughran, Betsy D. Quick, and Leslie W. Rabine. Major funding is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts with the additional support of R.L. Shep, DutchCulture, and the Pasadena Art Alliance. It is presented in Charlotte by PNC Financial Services, with additional support by Wells Fargo Private Bank.

Michael Sherrill Retrospective : October 27, 2018-April 7, 2019 at Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts, 500 South Tryon Street; Mint member-only hours 11 a.m.- 9 p.m. on Friday October 26; Sherrill gives a free public talk 11 a.m. Saturday October 27. In his delicately rendered sculptures Michael Sherrill seeks to elicit a sense of wonder from viewers, and to make them see things fresh. Working with clay, glass, and metal, his exquisite floral forms have the allure of Martin Johnson Heade’s passion flower and orchid paintings and the botanical engravings of John James Audubon, at the same time they are remarkably new. This retrospective will illustrate the artist’s evolution over his more than 40-year career and highlight his contributions to contemporary art, craft, and design. Primarily a self-taught artist, Sherrill moved from Charlotte, North Carolina to the Western North Carolina mountains in 1974. His early influences came from the North Carolina folk pottery tradition and the community surrounding Penland School of Crafts and the Southern Highland Handicraft Guild. Exhibition organized by The Mint Museum. Generous support for the exhibition catalogue and tour provided by the Windgate Foundation; additional funding from the Founders’ Circle Ltd. and Bank of America.

Under Construction: Postwar Collage at The Mint Museum : December 1, 2018-Aug. 18, 2019 at Mint Museum Uptown. This is The Mint Museum’s first large-scale exhibition to explore the dynamic medium of collage. Mint member-only hours 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday November 30. Although this artistic technique, in which materials are cut, torn, and layered to create new meanings and narratives, gained acclaim in the early twentieth century through the groundbreaking work of such artists as Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Kurt Schwitters, and Jean Arp, it experienced a renaissance (particularly in America) after World War II. Charlotte native Romare Bearden is widely credited with rejuvenating and reinvigorating the technique. His work, which has long been a highlight of The Mint Museum’s collection, serves as the point of departure for this fascinating exhibition featuring more than 50 international artists and more than 100 works of art.

14th annual Mint Museum Potters Market Invitational set for Saturday, September 8

Collectors and pottery lovers will have access to the latest works by leaders in the rich tradition of North Carolina pottery when potters from across North Carolina and surrounding areas return to Mint Museum Randolph for the 14th annual Mint Museum Potters Market Invitational on Saturday, September 8, 2018.

Sixty-six outstanding North Carolina potters have been invited to participate in this year’s event presented by the Delhom Service League, the ceramics affiliate of The Mint Museum, promoting ceramic arts and education. They’ll come from Seagrove, Western N.C., the Catawba Valley, and the Piedmont, and set up their booths in a tent on the lawn of the museum with remarkable works in clay – useful wares including mugs, teapots and jars, as well as oversized pots, contemporary art pottery, and sculptures. It’s like a shopping tour of the state’s best potteries all under one tent in one day. Attendees have the opportunity to get to know the potters as well as their work.

This year’s show will introduce ten potters new to this event, as well as 12 potters who participated in prior years but were not present in 2017.  Well-known participating potters include Donna Craven, Akira Satake, Ben Owen III, Eric Knoche, Mark Hewitt, and Cynthia Bringle. Every year, hundreds of pottery enthusiasts line up in advance of the opening to gain access to the day’s best treasures.

The Delhom Service League has named Sarah Belk Gambrell Honorary Chairman of the 2018 Potters Market Invitational. Mrs. Gambrell was a Charter Member of the Delhom Service League and her strong support for the Delhom, The Mint Museum, and the Potters Market Invitational has been instrumental in each of these institutions’ success.  The Delhom-Gambrell Library, named to honor Mrs. Gambrell, is one of the Mint’s many important resources, and is considered to be one of the top ceramics libraries in the country.

Established in 1975, the Delhom Service League has grown from a few students of ceramics to over one hundred men and women who not only study the history of ceramics but also work to present educational programming, support the ceramics collection, add volumes to the Delhom-Gambrell Library, and provide funds for the purchase of objects to enhance the collection. Their most recent projects include funding the publication British Ceramics 1675-1825, a catalogue of the collection edited by Brian Gallagher, Curator of Decorative Arts, as well as support for the new installation of the European ceramics collection throughout Mint Museum Randolph.

The admission fee ($10 through September 1; $12 after that) includes access to the potters’ tent from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. as well as free admission to the museum and docent led gallery tours. “Thirty-one of the participating potters are represented in the Mint’s permanent collection, which is a reflection of the high quality of work that will be available at this show,” says Vince Long, who chairs the project this year for Delhom Service League. “Potters Market Invitational is such a great opportunity to connect with artists as real, live people, and then see their art inside the museum.”

Additionally, there are folk musicians, pottery-making demonstrations, and food, and new this year, a beer garden serving local craft beer as well as wine and other beverages. Children 12 and under are admitted free of charge when accompanied by an adult.

Individual sponsorships of $100 include Early Admission at 9:15 a.m. in advance of the general public. Special parking and continental breakfast are also included. Individual sponsorships of $150 also include attendance at the Meet the Potters Party being held Friday, September 7 from 6:30-9 p.m. Sponsors will enjoy dinner, music, and an opportunity to mingle with the potters and other pottery enthusiasts. Funds raised by Potters Market Invitational provide acquisitions of pottery and library materials for the Mint.

Potters Market Invitational admission tickets and sponsorships are available at the door and in advance at PottersMarketattheMint.com , where you can also find detailed information on all the participating potters. For questions, please email info@PottersMarketattheMint.com or call 704.337.2000. Find Potters Market Invitational on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.

Herman has led Arkansas Arts Center since 2011.

Following a national search, The Mint Museum Board of Trustees has unanimously approved naming Dr. Todd Herman as the Mint’s new President & CEO. (more…)

The Mint Museum is pleased to announce that it has selected internationally-renowned artist Vesna Petresin to create a . The project is being funded through a generous grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which challenged museums to use technology to enhance the visitor experience.

“Ever since Mint Museum Uptown opened in 2010, we have sought ways to interface more directly with Levine Center for the Arts plaza, by enlivening the front of the building to be more welcoming to our visitors,” said Jonathan Stuhlman, Senior Curator of American, Modern, & Contemporary Art.

“After a careful review of more than three dozen applicants, our team felt that Vesna’s proposal was a perfect blend of interactivity, innovation, and aesthetics. We are excited to work with her to bring her vision—and the entrance to the museum—to life!” said Annie Carlano, Senior Curator of Craft, Design, & Fashion.

Petresin, born in Ljubljana, Slovenia, is a trans-disciplinary artist who has exhibited and performed at the Tate Modern; ArtBasel Miami; the Royal Academy of the Arts; the Venice Biennale; the Institute of Contemporary Arts London; and the Vienna Secession. She is represented by Bonnie Hall Fine Art Asset Management. Her installation, Lumisonica, will map the physical movements of people on the museum’s steps, responding with a changing canvas of ambient light and sound.

Petresin will work with her team, including regional and city of Charlotte consultants, to design, test, and create the installation throughout the spring and summer. Work will continue while Mint Museum Uptown closes from early July through mid-August for a floor refinishing project (Mint Museum Randolph will remain open). It is scheduled to debut at a public celebration in September (details to be announced closer to the date).

Creating a multisensory landscape

This public art project transforms the museum’s main entrance into an unparalleled immersive experience that will be choreographed by the visiting public. Based upon the idea of the smart city, this multisensory landscape makes invisible space visible, audible, and tangible while aiming to increase people’s awareness that they can and do shape their own place, perceptions and reality. Lumisonica assures a daring and playful experience like no other in the heart of Charlotte’s flourishing art district. Juxtaposed near the large reflective Niki de Saint Phalle sculpture Firebird in front of the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, this light and sound sculpture provides another dynamic feature to highlight entropic experiences, moiré patterns and other optical and perceptional illusions in this cultural area.

The “smart city” concept of this dynamic datascape is drawn from two components that change the form to an accessible visual/audio display based upon public movement and engagement:

Visual content is created by programmable LED light features embedded into the staircase and railings. The light effects include subtle, safe and non-intrusive animated patterns, designed to work interactively based on data captured from the environment as well as on presets of visual effects. The light effects are programmed along a 24/7 schedule with pre-rendered sets at specific times of the day, combined with responsive effects based on criteria such as visibility, program of events at the museum, and the number of visitors.

Audio content permeates ambient sound loops designed to respond and support the light effects. These amplify the visitor’s feeling of presence in the environment and assist their spatial navigation, by amplifying the ranges of frequencies that translate to embodied sensations. The audio content includes composed soundscapes and loops of sonic textures as well as key framed musical motifs on specific days and at specific times to announce events.

Additionally, the project plan is to expand from installation to an online digital experience through a contextual component set to provide an immersive experience exclusive to each visitor entering the website. In this way, Petresin allocates access to a wider public and allows the Mint visitor an ability to take with them a direct experience from their museum outing.

“My work tries to offer a moment to remember we inhabit and co-create a multisensory symphony,” said Petresin. “The piece for the Mint has been inspired by the idea that matter is information under constant transformation, bringing memory, human connection, wonder, and innovation.”

Petresin will also create a special sound and light sequence for Lumisonica as part of The Mint Museum’s exhibition Immersed in Light (Fall 2020 – Spring 2021). The exhibition will feature experiential lighting installations by four contemporary artists and designers in the Gorelick Galleries at Mint Museum Uptown.

Staircase to enhance museum experience, visitation

The Mint was among 12 recipients of $1.87 million in funding from the Knight Foundation for new ways of using technology to immerse visitors in art. Institutions in cities including Philadelphia, Detroit, Miami, Minneapolis, Chicago, and New York City are joining Charlotte in creating new tools ranging from chat bots to augmented reality apps to engage new audiences.

Funding for this project is part of a Knight Foundation initiative to help museums better meet new community demands and use digital tools to meaningfully engage visitors in art. Knight, which promotes informed and engaged communities, has helped institutions—from newsrooms to libraries—adapt to and thrive in the digital age. This funding expands the foundation’s use of its digital expertise to help art museums build stronger, more vibrant communities.

“The arts have the rare power to bring diverse communities together, provoke personal reflection, and inspire new ways of thinking,” said Victoria Rogers, Knight Foundation vice president for the arts. “Our hope is that by integrating technology, museums can better reach and engage audiences in ways that connect them to the art.”

Above image: Concept rendering for Mint Museum Uptown Grand Staircase installation titled Lumisonica, courtesy of Vesna Petresin.

ABOUT VESNA PETRESIN

Vesna Petresin is currently an Artist-in-Residence at Amsterdam University of the Arts and a Visiting Fellow at Goldsmiths (University of London). She has been an Artist in Residence at ZKM in Germany and created a London-based trans-disciplinary art collective whose exploration of optics, acoustics and psychology takes the format of performance, installation and artifact.

As a time architect, non-object based designer, space composer and performer, her practice utilizes an alchemy of media and senses (sound, film, space, interaction, and performance) to take art out of the white cube and bring it into an immersive experience. The key concept is transformation—of the material, the immaterial and the self.

Petresin seeks elements to link cultures rather than separate them and pays attention to archetypal formal constants and patterns existing in nature, human perception and the creative process. Her work in immersive light is ground-breaking and has been featured at Tate Modern, ArtBasel Miami, Venice Biennale, The Royal Festival Hall, The Royal Academy of Arts, ICA, The Sydney Opera House, Vienna Secession, Cannes International Film Festival and Kings Place among others.

Petresin’s academic background in classical music and architecture has propelled her as a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts, a Member of the Architectural Association, a keynote speaker at symposia including “SuperLux: Smart Light Art, Design and Architecture for Cities” (Technical University of Munich, 2016), the XR Summit ( ISE at RAI, Amsterdam 2018)  and a print author of internationally notable publications. She has written on smart cities (Thames & Hudson, Black Dog) and on Leonardo da Vinci’s creative methods in relation to 21st century view of morphogenesis in art and design for Springer Publications.

ABOUT THE JOHN S. AND JAMES L. KNIGHT FOUNDATION

Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. We invest in journalism, in the arts, and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy.

From “Project Runway” to Broadway fame, Sosa inspired by both William Ivey Long and Oscar de la Renta

Like Oscar de la Renta, designer Emilio Sosa is originally from the Dominican Republic. And like William Ivey Long, he is known for designing Broadway costumes. Now, Sosa will join those other two famous names in visiting The Mint Museum this spring as part of the “Year of Fashion.”

Teens and educators are invited to register for a FREE event on Saturday May 19, ” From Page to Stage with Emilio Sosa ,” from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at Mint Museum Uptown. And the public is invited to a FREE public lecture on Sunday May 20 from 2-4 p.m. at Mint Museum Randolph. The events are part of the Mint’s celebration of national Art Museum Day .

When first approached by the Mint to pay a visit to Charlotte, Sosa’s reaction was immediate: “Both Oscar de la Renta and William Ivey Long have influenced my work in ways too numerous to mention,” he said. So it’s fitting that his plans bring him to the Mint when both designers’ work will be on view in the Mint’s galleries.

Sosa’s name first hit the mainstream thanks to the hit Lifetime TV show hosted by Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn. On the seventh season of Project Runway, Sosa gained international notice when he won five challenges on his way to a runner-up finish. He made his return to the small screen on season 2 of Project Runway All Stars where he also finished as runner-up. The seemingly tireless Sosa has a fashion line, ESOSA, which has been seen on stars including Uzo Aduba, Taraji P. Henson, and Wendy Williams.

The New York-raised Sosa has been designing since he was 14. He attended the Pratt Institute to study fashion design and it was a part-time job in the famed costume shop Grace Costumes that introduced him to costumes and theater. Upon graduation, Sosa worked in dance for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater as an assistant wardrobe supervisor. Next, he worked for Spike Lee at his advertising agency doing costumes for commercials and as the costume designer for Lee’s independent film, Red Hook Summer. Like William Ivey Long, Sosa is a devoted follower of couturier Charles James; Sosa also calls The Wiz director and costume designer Geoffrey Holder a mentor and credits Holder with teaching him the practical art of designing.

“I learned the practical art of design from Geoffrey, I learned how to speak actor from Geoffrey. Fast forward 30 years and it was refined now with my relationship with William Ivey Long. Those are my bookends as far as how I came into this business,” said Sosa in an interview earlier this year.

Sosa has designed costumes for Broadway productions of Top Dog Underdog (2002), Porgy and Bess (2012), Motown the Musical (2013), and, most recently, On Your Feet: the Emilio and Gloria Estefan Story (2015), currently on its national tour which included a stop in Charlotte this fall. He received a Tony Award nomination for his work on Porgy and Bess.

And following his record on Project Runway, Sosa hasn’t always been a runner-up. In designing the costumes for the Off-Broadway production of By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (2012), Sosa won a Lucille Lortel Award, awards which recognize excellence in New York Off-Broadway theatre. The second-place finisher that year? None other than William Ivey Long.

Call for artists to explore technology through art experience

The Young Affiliates of the Mint (the “YAMs”) announce their Third Annual Juried Art Show, ‘Mainframe,’ a participatory compilation of works that explore the role of technology in society and/or how technology overstimulation has impacted the world’s youngest generations. The dawn of the mainframe computer marked a turning point in society. Technology advancements occur constantly and turn new products obsolete in a matter of months. Ironically, technological devices elicit an array of reactions and emotions from the user. Whether it is nostalgia, innovation, or possible obsession, we are all influenced in some way by the advances the world has encountered.

The YAMs call for artists making work that is participatory, immersive, experiential, interactive, and/or multi-sensory that explores the use and effect of technology in society. The YAMs are calling for submissions now through May 31, 2018 and are accepting works made within the United States. Artists must submit high-resolution images of the works submitted, an artist statement, and a CV. Artists must include installation or artwork specifications to aid in curating and installation for the show. The entry fee is $40 for up to 8 works of art.

‘Mainframe’ will be held in the Level 5 expansion space of Mint Museum Uptown from September 20 – October 17, 2018. The submissions will be juried by a distinguished panel of jurors: Lia Newman, Curator of Director/Curator of the Davidson College Art Galleries, Ivan Toth Depeña, an Charlotte-based new media artist, and Kelly McChesney, Public Art Director of the city of Raleigh and Director of Lump, a non-profit alternative art space in Raleigh, North Carolina. ‘Mainframe’ is the Third Annual Young Affiliates of the Mint Art Show, following the 2016 inaugural exhibition, “80×80: An Art Show,” heralded as the best Charlotte exhibition of 2016 by Creative Loafing, and the 2017 art show, “Gendered,” drawing in over 2500 attendees for a politically and culturally relevant exhibition.

For submissions and more information about ‘Mainframe’, visit youngaffliates.org/artshow

For questions regarding ‘Mainframe’, email: youngaffiliatesartshow@gmail.com

ABOUT THE YOUNG AFFILIATES

The Young Affiliates of the Mint Museum is the longest running young professional group and the premier social arts organization for young professionals in Charlotte, North Carolina. For 28 years, the YAMs have supported the Mint Museum through a variety of social, cultural, leadership and fundraising activities and events. The YAMs have made substantial donations of tangible and intangible goods to the Mint Museum since 1990.

Exhibition’s VIP preview coincides with ‘Coveted Couture’ gala April 28; public access begins April 29

Following a blockbuster run at Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The Mint Museum is preparing to welcome a new, custom-curated version of The Glamour and Romance of Oscar de la Renta this April. The exhibition celebrates the illustrious life and career of the influential fashion designer, and will contain new additions never seen in previous incarnations at other museums. It will pay tribute to a Mint supporter and Charlottean who created the first archives for the late designer, as well as featuring dresses from the Mint’s own Fashion Collection.

The exhibition opens to Mint supporters at the museum’s annual Coveted Couture gala on April 28 at Mint Museum Randolph, 2730 Randolph Road in Charlotte (see mintmuseum.org/gala for more information). Mint members have exclusive access on April 29 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.; the general public can visit from 2-6 p.m. on April 29 and during regular museum hours afterward, including four FREE hours of access from 5-9 p.m. each Wednesday. It remains on view through July 29. NEW: The exhibition has been extended and will be on view through August 19, 2018!

Presented in collaboration with Oscar de la Renta, LLC, the exhibition features approximately 50 ensembles sourced from de la Renta’s personal archives, the archives of French label Pierre Balmain, private lenders, and the Mint’s collection. It is curated by André Leon Talley, former editor-at-large for American Vogue magazine and lifelong friend of the designer, with assistance by fashion historians Molly Sorkin and Jennifer Park. Talley curated a previous incarnation, entitled Oscar de la Renta: The Retrospective, at the de Young Museum in San Francisco in 2016.

From the start of his award-winning career, which spanned more than five decades and two continents, Oscar de la Renta set out to design beautiful clothes for every occasion in a woman’s life. The Glamour and Romance of Oscar de la Renta highlights recurring themes throughout his career. Themes to be explored include the influence of the garden on his designs; Spanish influences; and Eastern European influences. The creations on view offer a window into de la Renta’s world through a range of looks, from elegant daywear to resplendent evening gowns.

The exhibition will also pay tribute to Marianna Sheridan of Charlotte, who befriended de la Renta and became the first archivist for Oscar de la Renta LLC. She was instrumental in bringing the designer to Charlotte for a 2011 appearance and fashion show at Mint Museum Uptown, and helped bring a dress from the designer’s archives into the Mint’s collection. She passed away in 2017.

“We are thrilled that the Mint is showcasing Oscar’s extraordinary contributions to the world of fashion, with the help of Oscar’s dear friend André Leon Talley,” said Alex Bolen, CEO of Oscar de la Renta, LLC. “We are honored to pay tribute to our dear friend and colleague Marianna Sheridan and the incalculable contributions she made to the creation of our archive.”

The exhibition is organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, with the collaboration of Oscar de la Renta, LLC. It is presented to the Charlotte community by Wells Fargo Private Bank, with additional support from the Mint Museum Auxiliary, Moore & Van Allen, and Dickens-Mitchener. It is accompanied by a slate of educational programming, including a FREE public lecture by famed fashion designer Emilio Sosa on May 20. Details are available at mintmuseum.org/happenings. A catalogue and other accompanying merchandise will be on sale in the Mint Museum Shops.

Media and special guests are invited to preview the exhibition on Friday April 27 at 10 a.m. Talley and Mint curators and staff will be available for interviews, and refreshments will be served. To attend, RSVP to leigh.dyer@mintmuseum.org .

ABOUT OSCAR DE LA RENTA

Oscar de la Renta (1932–2014) began his career in the 1950s as an apprentice to the renowned Spanish couturier Cristóbal Balenciaga. In 1961, he left Madrid to join Antonio del Castillo in Paris as an assistant in the couture department of Lanvin. Shortly after, he relocated to New York, establishing his own eponymous label in 1965. Lauded by fashion press, he quickly gained prominence on the international fashion scene. Considered among the world’s greatest fashion designers, de la Renta created award-winning ready-to-wear and evening wear for customers ranging from everyday women to first ladies and celebrities. In 1992, de la Renta became a designer for French label Pierre Balmain. He was the first American designer to helm a French couture house, a position he held until 2002.

Visitors, staff will focus on Mint Museum Randolph during interval

Mint Museum Uptown, a soaring architectural marvel in the heart of Levine Center for the Arts, must close its doors to the public from July 9 through approximately August 17, 2018. The closure is necessary to refinish the building’s heavily-visited hardwood floors for the first time since the building opened to the public in 2010.

UPDATED: The interval falls during the highly anticipated exhibition The Glamour and Romance of Oscar de la Renta , which will be on view at Mint Museum Randolph April 29 through its recently extended closing date of August 19. “With this exhibition serving as a significant draw, along with our popular permanent collections of Decorative Arts, Ancient American, European, and African art on view at Mint Museum Randolph, we expect the Mint will continue to be a strong force for visitors and tourism during the summer,” said Hillary Cooper, Director of Advancement & Communications for the Mint.

A committee representing the City of Charlotte (which owns the Mint’s two buildings), Mint staff, and other stakeholders determined the temporary closure of the 175,000 square foot uptown location is necessary to protect the public, staff, and art collection while the project is underway. Mint staff will either relocate to offices at the Randolph location or work remotely during the interval. The Mint Museum Uptown Shop and Halcyon, Flavors from the Earth restaurant will experience a briefer impact, with closing anticipated between July 25 and August 1.

Some dates may be subject to change, and the Mint will use its website, eblasts, and social media to keep the public informed throughout the project.

“The public will be invited to a grand re-opening celebration soon after we re-open,” said Cooper. “We expect this improvement to keep Mint Museum Uptown’s role as a premier center city destination secure for many years to come.” NOTE: Festivities are now planned for the weekend of September 14-15, 2018; keep an eye on mintmuseum.org/happenings for details.

NEW: During the closure, Mint Museum members will receive FREE admission to the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art and Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture . Not yet a member? Visit mintmuseum.org/join . Additionally, Mint members receive a 10 percent discount in the Bechtler shop! All museums rely on their members to support their access to the community; please consider also becoming a member of the Bechtler and the Gantt Center in addition to the Mint.

FREE MINT MEMBER YOGA: Offered by N.C. Yoga Bar each Wednesday evening will move to Mint Museum Randolph from July 18 through mid-August!

Proceeds to benefit Outward Bound Intercept program

The Mark Headen Endowment Fund and Wells Fargo Private Bank are pleased to announce the second fundraising event Modeling for Impact on January 20th, 2018 at Mint Museum Uptown in Charlotte, N.C. With gratitude and pride, the event will be a part of The Mint’s Year of Fashion celebration. All proceeds will be contributed to North Carolina Outward Bound’s Intercept program. Acclaimed news anchor Maureen O’Boyle will emcee the event.

The Mark Headen Endowment would like to give special thanks to Wells Fargo Private Bank for being Modeling for Impact’s title sponsor for the second year in a row. Uwharrie Bank, Springs Creative, and Alphahound are also corporate sponsors for the 2018 fundraising event. Hendrick BMW will be providing transportation throughout the weekend for all the traveling models. Homewood Suites by Hilton – Southpark will be accommodating the models during their stay. Tony Hernandez Studios, represented locally by Hidell Brooks gallery, Windy O’Connor, and Capitol are among those who have donated items to be bid upon during the silent auction portion of the event.

Modeling for Impact will feature a runway show produced, casted, and styled by Headenistic – a Charlotte-based full-service production and talent agency owned by the late Mark Headen’s eldest son, Franklin Headen. Franklin has worked for the last six years as a photo producer, casting director, wardrobe stylist, model scout, and talent manager for fashion brands throughout the US and the UK. He started his journey in fashion as a Historic Costume Collection Intern at The Mint Museum back in 2010. He was also heavily involved in writing the copy for the 2011 Oscar de la Renta Art of Fashion event and the production of the accompanying fashion show presentation at the Mint. Headenistic’s Sabrina Linville, director and producer of Model Material will be co-producing the runway show. Supermodel Anna Wolf will be headlining the runway show. Wolf is from Charlotte, N.C. and has walked for designers including Oscar de la Renta, Ralph Lauren, and Lela Rose. She is also one of the muses of Victoria’s Secret photographer David Bellemere’s. She met Franklin Headen during the casting for the Oscar de la Renta show at the Mint in 2011 and they’ve collaborated on countless projects since then.

Los Angeles fashion brands Indah, Hot as Hell, and Beach Riot, as well as New York lines _SCAPES NY and 6 Shore Road will be sending their new collections to be debuted on the Modeling for Impact runway. Amerie 1936—a Charlotte-based accessories brand by sisters Jasmine and Shanetta Foster—will be adorning the runway looks with their jewelry. Franklin Headen and Jasmine Foster met and graduated together at Charlotte’s Northwest School of the Arts.

Award-winning New York City-based makeup artist and hair stylist Katy Albright will be creating the beauty looks for the runway show. Albright, a Charlotte native, will be leading the beauty team comprised of Stewart Hough, Jami Svay, Elizabeth Tolley, and the Jeffre Scott team comprising Charlton Alicea, Mary Ingram, and Alane Paraison.

New York City-based fashion and portrait photographers Nikki Krecicki and Grace Ann Leadbeater will be documenting the event through still images. Krecicki and Leadbeater have had work exhibited both in New York and the South. Krecicki has also been a Photo Researcher and Photographer for Conde Nast and Vogue.com since early 2017, while Leadbeater has collaborated with major art and fashion icons Lady Gaga, Nan Goldin, and Giambattista Valli. Video Content Creator Jordan Studdard, who is also based in New York City, and Argentinian-born filmmaker and photographer Annie Piacentini, will also be documenting the event through moving image. Additionally, Paris Mumpower, a New York City-based graphic designer/digital media artist and photographer, will document the event, as well. Franklin Headen developed friendships with these five artists while studying at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, GA.

THE STORIES BEHIND SOME OF THE GARMENTS IN “CHARLOTTE COLLECTS: CONTEMPORARY COUTURE & FABULOUS FASHION”

THE STORIES BEHIND SOME OF THE GARMENTS IN “CHARLOTTE COLLECTS: CONTEMPORARY COUTURE & FABULOUS FASHION”

BY HEATHER GWALTNEY

What do birthdays, a pregnancy, furtive feathers, love at first sight, a good investment and luggage left behind all have in common? Sometimes a dress is more than just a dress. Based on interviews with the featured collectors, this is a “behind the seams” look at some of the striking gowns featured in Charlotte Collects: Contemporary Couture & Fabulous Fashion, on view at Mint Museum Randolph through February 4, 2018.

Bride-to-be Amanda Weisiger Cornelson envisioned a long-sleeved dress with color for her summer 2016 wedding. Upon seeing her gown on the runway at the Giambattista Valli Haute Couture Fall 2015 show at the Grand Palais in Paris, it was love at first sight. She visited the designer’s atelier after the show and tried on a few of the other beautiful pieces from the collection, but in the end she only had eyes for the originally-selected gown.

Like her daughter Amanda Cornelson, Lisa Dargan’s Giambattista Valli blue ostrich feather skirt was wedding attire. She wore the dress only once in her home, for a fitting that had to take place downstairs in her entry hall because no other rooms were large enough to accommodate the generous train (the wedding was in Savannah). But she was periodically reminded of the magic of her wedding day as feathers continued to appear, for a more than a year, in unusual places such as in her nightstand and in a suitcase that did not accompany her on her wedding travels.

When Myra Gassman wears her historic Commes des Garcons dress, it always elicits a reaction. So much so that, more than once, people have offered to buy it off of her while she was wearing it. She purchased it from a store in Carmel, California and more than five years after she purchased it, the store owner called and offered to buy it back at double the price she paid. (It’s one of the most important pieces in the exhibition due to its rarity and excellent condition.)

Deidre Grubb and her family arrived at the airport one hour before their flight to visit friends in St Barths and were told that they were too late to have their bags put on the plane. In order to make their scheduled flight, the Grubbs elected to leave their luggage behind in the trunk of their car and travel with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Upon landing in St. Barths, their hosts offered to lend them some clothes to wear but also took them shopping. Knowing the caliber of St. Barths’ shopping, instead of buying the same sorts of things she already had at home, Deidre opted to take the opportunity to buy something really special, a gown by Italian designer Roberto Cavalli which she wore twice to dinner during the vacation. Since coming to Charlotte, the dress made its black-tie debut worn by her friend Leslie Culbertson, at the Mint’s Coveted Couture Gala.

Alex Holleman’s Delpozo coat is the actual, hand-stitched coat that was shown on the runway. However, as shown, the coat didn’t make it into the collection and was destined for storage. Alex loved it so much that she convinced the designer to sell it to her and, despite its significant weight, she wears it as often as possible.

For Chandra Johnson, her gowns in the exhibition represent celebrations, as they were all worn to the NASCAR Awards in Las Vegas when she accompanied her husband, seven-time NASCAR Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson. However, when Chandra thinks about the white silk Isaac Mizrahi gown, she also remembers feeling very, very ill. In fact, though she was approximately three months pregnant at the time, the Johnsons hadn’t yet divulged the secret. However, protocol required her to sit on the stage, facing the audience at the banquet. So, despite the fact that they had yet to share the news with their closest friends, she had to warn the woman organizing the awards show that she was pregnant in case sickness caused her to make a quick exit from stage.

Ashley Anderson Mattei’s pink and yellow two-piece Giambattista Valli ensemble elicits happy memories of a milestone birthday that took place during the year she and her family lived in Paris. In celebration of her 40th birthday, her husband, Scott, teamed up with Laura Vinroot Poole to take Ashley to her very first fashion show: a couture Giambattista Valli fashion show in Paris. Part of the gift was that, in addition to attending the show, she could choose a gown. Though shown with a slightly different profile on the runway, due to the nature of couture, she was able to request some changes to customize the shape of the gown’s skirt to make it feel more “her” when she wears it with the beautiful pink beaded top.

Laura Vinroot Poole first saw her silk taffeta cocktail dress when she hosted Giambattista Valli’s first-ever couture collection show in the United States at the Duke Mansion. Though the pajama-influenced dress was shown in crisp, white taffeta, she had it made in in one of her favorite color combinations, pale pink with cherry red piping. Couture can be customized, up to a point, as the designer has to sign off on the changes to the piece since his or her name will be on it and Vinroot Poole surmises that Giambattista must have agreed that the color combination was as dreamy as she thought it would be.

Dr. Kimberly Blanding Putney had no particular event in mind when she saw her Missoni gown at Nordstrom but she felt it was a must-purchase. Initially worn for a music and art collaboration event, the fun, colorful pattern makes her smile. For her, wearing it is effortless due to the feel of the fabric, its slightly transparent nature, and the beauty of its craftsmanship.

When asked by her husband to name something she would want for her birthday if she could have anything, Ann Rosemund Tarwater replied, “a Carolina Herrera dress.” Though it gave him a moment’s pause, he made her wish come true and on their next trip to New York City, they spent the afternoon trying on her beautiful pieces. With this gown she feels she has been gifted the look of elegance, femininity, and classic beauty.

NFL Quarterback Cam Newton shared his fashion philosophy with the Mint at the time his foundation loaned his Versace suit ensemble to round out the exhibition with a menswear sample: “I like to incorporate my individual style into everything I do, especially my fashion sense. From a young age I was encouraged to always be myself, and I make it a point to empower others to do the same. Expressing myself through fashion is something I take seriously…but not so seriously that I can’t have fun with it. Having fun is the name of the game for me. I like classic looks with a twist of something different, like some colorful loafers or a bold tie. Don’t be afraid to stand out! Check out this outfit, for example. The pin stripe Versace suit is classic. It’s dressy, but not too formal. The jacket could even be worn with jeans and a V-neck. I chose the full suit paired with a white dress shirt, a handmade feather bow tie from Charleston’s Brackish Bow Ties, and some colorful Giuseppe Zanotti loafers to complete the look.”

Visitors can use SMARTIFY on their phones to learn behind-the-scenes info on selected works of art

If you’re a fan of visual arts and you own a smartphone, you’ll want to download the free SMARTIFY app before your next visit to The Mint Museum – or more than 30 other participating art museums worldwide.

The Mint Museum is the latest to enter works of art in its collection into the database used by SMARTIFY, a global mobile app also in use at museums worldwide including National Gallery (London); Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York); and The Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam). Using image recognition technology, the app allows gallery visitors to scan and identify works of art in using their smartphone, to access rich interpretation, and build a personal collection. The Mint’s participation officially launches November 22, though visitors can now test the app on the first group of objects in the database.

“We at The Mint Museum decided to join SMARTIFY because it’s a great way for visitors to learn more about the art we have on view,” said Lyndsay Kibiloski, the Mint’s digital media specialist who is overseeing the effort. “I often look at our works on view and want to know more, and with this app, you can do just that. We hope that visitors will find SMARTIFY to be both a useful and fun way to interact with the Mint’s collection.”

The Mint started with providing information about signature works from its Craft + Design Collection – specifically, Project Ten Ten Ten , a group of works of art by leading artists and designers around the world commissioned in conjunction with the opening of Mint Museum Uptown in 2010. Most are permanently installed at Mint Museum Uptown. Additionally, visitors can scan the famous Chihuly chandelier in the entryway and the monumental Sheila Hicks sculpture in the atrium. Those objects plus Tom Joyce’s “Thicket” sculpture on the terrace are accessible without paying museum admission, and the remainder are accessible free each Wednesday evening from 5-9 p.m. Additionally, hard copies of the supplemental content will be available at the Mint’s front desks by the November 22 launch for anyone who does not use a smartphone.

The Mint is in the midst of adding new objects to the database each quarter moving forward, with a group of objects on view at Mint Museum Randolph in the next installment. In the coming weeks, labels will be added to works of art that appear in the database so visitors will know which ones to scan.

Working across a growing network of museums, SMARTIFY is becoming a global platform for art. Using advanced image recognition technology, SMARTIFY instantly identifies works of art by scanning them on your smartphone. Simply by holding the phone up to a work of art, detailed information about the work is instantly shown onscreen. Glimpses of curatorial research, links to video or audio content, or hidden stories behind the work can all be brought to visitors in a seamless experience, in the presence of the work itself.

The app is currently available at: Royal Academy of Arts, UK; The National Gallery, UK; National Portrait Gallery, London, UK; The Wallace Collection, UK; The Bowes Museum, UK; Turner Contemporary, UK; Ben Uri Gallery, UK; Sculpture in the City, City of London, UK; Guildhall Art Gallery, City of London, UK; Middlesborough Institute of Modern Art, UK; Deutsche Bank at Frieze Art Fair, UK; Rijksmuseum Twenthe, Netherlands; The Rijksmuseum, Netherlands; Mauritshuis, Netherlands; Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro, Italy; Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia (Doge’s Palace, Museo Correr etc.), Italy; Museo San Donato, Italy; Le Musée en Herbe, France; Spray Collection, France; Little Beaux-Arts, France; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Spain; Laguna Art Museum, USA; Museum of Contemporary Photography, USA; The State Hermitage Museum, Russia; The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Russia; The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, USA; The Getty, USA; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, USA; LACMA, USA, and The Mint Museum, USA.

Coming soon: National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens (EMST), Greece; Horst-Janssen-Museum, Oldenburg, Germany; Musée National des Beaux-arts de Québec, Canada, and many more.

Fall Ball 2017: Under the Big Top

“This year, for the first time ever, we’re excited to host Fall Ball at Mint Museum Randolph,” said Satie Munn, chair of the annual event. “It’s a beautiful location and will allow us to highlight our talented performative and visual artist community here in Charlotte.”

Tickets start at $100 and include heavy hors d’oeuvres and complimentary beer and wine; liquor is also available for purchase. To learn more and to purchase tickets, visit mintmuseum.org/happenings/1528/fall-ball-2017-under-the-big-top/.

Special thanks to the 2017 Fall Ball title sponsor, Search Solution Group; gold sponsors, Scoop Charlotte, Marand Builder, East Coast Entertainment, and Eat Work Play; as well as Birdsong Brewing, Sycamore Brewing, The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery, Concierge by FoodBuy, Berkshire Dilworth, Moving Mountains Photography, Blueprint Financial, Sodexho, Nectar Floral Designs, Canteen Vending, and Party Reflections for their contributions to this annual event.

About the Young Affiliates of the Mint

Exhibition is part of eight-exhibition In Focus/Enfoque project thanks to Bank of America

Develar y Detonar (Reveal and Detonate): Contemporary Mexican Photography features the powerful, thought-provoking work of more than 40 of Mexico’s leading photographers. This not-to-be-missed exhibition, on view from October 28, 2017 through June 17, 2018 at Mint Museum Uptown, examines the wide range of approaches that these photographers use to explore subjects, ranging from their own personal histories and relationships to their engagement with the country’s diverse landscape to pressing social and political issues ranging from land use, drug trade, and immigration to beauty, sexuality, and gender.

Media and special guests may preview the exhibition at 10 a.m. on Thursday October 26 at Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts, 500 South Tryon Street in Charlotte. RSVP to leigh.dyer@mintmuseum.org .

Ranging in size from a few inches across to floor-to-ceiling murals, some of these works are highly formal; others make a play for sheer beauty; still others are manipulated or staged to instill a sense of magic and wonder. Develar y Detonar promises to open an engaging dialogue around the power of photography to both document and question many aspects of modern life, examining issues that are not isolated to residents of Mexico but that stretch across cultures and borders. This exhibition is drawn from the Televisa Foundation’s rich collection of contemporary art; after having been seen in Madrid and Mexico City, The Mint Museum’s presentation marks its North American debut.

“I am honored that The Mint Museum was given the opportunity to be the first museum in the country to host this important exhibition. The Mint has a long relationship with Charlotte’s Latino community, which is one of the fastest growing in the country,” said Dr. Jonathan Stulhman, the Mint’s curator of American, Modern, & Contemporary Art. “While the photographers featured in this exhibition are all based in Mexico and draw upon subjects and themes that are a part of their daily lives and personal histories, we believe that many of these topics transcend borders and offer the opportunity for a rich dialogue in our community. The work in the show is at turns thought-provoking, beautiful, shocking, and humorous: an unfiltered, no-holds-barred snapshot of contemporary life.”

Develar y Detonar is also the central exhibition in a community-wide initiative celebrating Mexican photography titled In Focus/Enfoque: Contemporary Photography in Mexico, which involves many arts and cultural organizations across Charlotte this fall including Bechtler Museum of Modern Art; LACA (Latin American Contemporary Art) Projects; The Light Factory; McColl Center for Art + Innovation; New Gallery of Modern Art; and SOCO Gallery.

“We modeled this community-wide initiative after a program we sponsored in Los Angeles called Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA, which featured Latin American and Latino art at 70+ institutions,” added Allen Blevins, Bank of America’s director of Global Art & Heritage Programs. “In Focus/Enfoque provides a unique opportunity for Charlotte to highlight the contributions of Hispanic and Latin American artists and spark community dialogue on the topics raised within these collections.”

Reveal and Detonate (Develar y Detonar): Contemporary Mexican Photography is organized and circulated by Televisa Foundation, Hydra Photography, and Centro de la Imagen. It is presented to the Charlotte community with support from Bank of America.

It is accompanied by educational programs including a panel discussion featuring leaders in Mexican-American relations; a Latin Music Concert featuring “Music of Mexico;” an educator workshop; and a series of dates throughout spring 2018 when Spanish-language interpreters will be available in the galleries to answer visitors’ questions. Details available at mintmuseum.org/happenings.

“The fact that so many visual arts organizations have come together for this initiative speaks to the community engagement we have here in Charlotte,” said Charles Bowman, Bank of America’s market president for Charlotte and North Carolina and Mint Museum board member. “We’re proud to be a convener of In Focus/Enfoque and provide an opportunity to feature important, thought-provoking work of these artists.”

As a major supporter of arts and culture across the region, Bank of America led the planning, collaboration, and funding of In Focus/Enfoque: Contemporary Photography in Mexico. The Arts & Science Council is supporting collaborative community engagement and programming efforts. For details, visit CharlotteCultureGuide.com/InFocus .

Note: Visitors may find some subject matter challenging.

IMAGE: Fernando Montiel Klint. Estudio de campo, from the series Muro de la Concentración II, 2014, chromogenic print.

Marc Jacobs, Jason Wu, Dolce & Gabbana, and more in “Charlotte Collects: Contemporary Couture and Fabulous Fashion,” opening October 14 at Mint Museum Randolph

Better than a front-row runway seat, the new Mint-organized exhibition Charlotte Collects: Contemporary Couture and Fabulous Fashion will offer up-close, 360-degree views of gowns, dresses, and ensembles from leading 21^st-century designers when it opens October 14 at Mint Museum Randolph.

On view through February 4, 2018, the exhibition is part of the three-exhibition series known as the “Year of Fashion” at The Mint Museum, celebrating an art form the Mint has collected for more than 40 years. Members of the media and special guests are invited to preview the exhibition at 10 a.m. on Thursday October 12 at Mint Museum Randolph, 2730 Randolph Road. Light breakfast will be served and Mint curators and participating collectors will be available for interviews. RSVP to leigh.dyer@mintmuseum.org.

This exhibition, generously presented to the Charlotte community with support from PNC Financial Services, focuses on individuals in the Charlotte community who consider fashion an important form of art and design, and collect both one of a kind masterworks and ready-to-wear garments of the highest quality. Additional support is provided by a group of Mint patrons known as the Friends of Fashion. (More information at mintmuseum.org/art/projects/the-year-of-fashion-at-the-mint-museum/ )

A range of contemporary designers from the U.S., Canada, Taiwan, Europe, and Japan are featured, and reflect the personal fashion philosophies of eleven individuals known for their unique style: Ann Tarwater, Lisa Dargan, Amanda Weisinger Cornelson, Alex Holleman, Dr. Kim Blanding Putney, Myra Gassman, Ashley Anderson Mattei, Deidre Grubb, Laura Vinroot Poole, Chandra Johnson, and recently added, noted Charlotte style icon and NFL Quarterback Cam Newton .

“There is such masterful craftsmanship and innovative technology in contemporary fashion from the cloth itself – hand embroidery, digital printing, pressure pleating – to the pattern making, construction, and draping,” said Annie Carlano, senior curator of Craft, Design, & Fashion at the Mint. “What visitors will see in the galleries is both traditional centuries-old sewing techniques and 21st century inventiveness.”

“We are thrilled to help the Mint deliver a relevant and compelling exhibition to the community that brings art alive for new audiences,” said Weston M. Andress, Regional President – Western Carolina for PNC.

Media partners for the exhibition are Garden & Gun Magazine; The Charlotte Observer; and Peachy.

The Mint’s fashion collection has previously inspired spotlight exhibitions on designers including House of Chanel; Dior, Balmain, and Saint Laurent; and Franco Moschino. This year, it also serves as the inspiration for the exhibition William Ivey Long: Costume Designs 2007-2016 at Mint Museum Uptown, and the forthcoming The Glamour and Romance of Oscar de la Renta in spring 2018 at Mint Museum Randolph.

“The specific fashions in the exhibition were selected because innovative examples by the fashion designer are on the museum’s ‘wish list;’ as we build the museum’s holdings of 21^st-century international fashion, it is hoped that these and or similar examples will enter the permanent collection soon,” said Carlano. “Consider, for example, the neo-Romantic silhouettes of the Giambattista Valli, in the collections of Dargan, Anderson Mattei, and Vinroot Poole, which conjure up Cinderella at the ball. Equally sculptural but with more of an adventurous vibe are the fashion designs of Issey Miyake, Junya Watanabe for Comme des Garcons, and Rodarte, in the collections of Myra Gassman and Chandra Johnson. Timeless elegance is interpreted by Jason Wu, Isaac Mizrahi, and Carolina Herrerra, from the collections of Alex Holleman, Chandra Johnson, and Ann Tarwater. Eclecticism is represented in an ensemble by Versace, as worn by Cam Newton.”

The exhibition will be available to all general-admission museum visitors and will be open FREE each Wednesday evening from 5-9 p.m. Related educational programming will occur throughout the exhibition; details available at mintmuseum.org/happenings .

Image: Isaac Mizrahi, designer (American, 1961–), Isaac Mizrahi New York, Xcel Brands (2011–). Evening gown made to order ready-to-wear design, 2009, silk. Collection of Chandra Johnson

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, survivors are offered free admission

The Mint Museum wishes to express its support for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. We are offering free admission to all breast cancer survivors at both Mint Museum Uptown and Mint Museum Randolph throughout the month of October. Simply notify the Guest Services staff of your status at the time of your visit (no documentation required).

We honor all those who have fought and are fighting breast cancer. The Mint Museum is committed to its role in sustaining a healthy community in Charlotte and beyond.

Gary Blankemeyer, museum CFO since June 2015, to become COO/CFO

Bruce LaRowe, interim President & CEO of The Mint Museum, and the executive committee of The Mint Museum Board of Trustees have named  Gary Blankemeyer as the new Chief Operating Officer/Chief Financial Officer of The Mint Museum effective  September 25.

Blankemeyer was hired as the Mint’s first-ever Chief Financial Officer in June 2015, and had been acting as interim Chief Operating Officer since July. He replaces Toni Freeman , who left the Mint in July to take a new position as Executive Vice President, Community Engagement at the Arts & Science Council.

“Gary is the perfect person to assume this expanded role because of his extensive experience in the nonprofit and for-profit sectors, and his distinguished track record at the Mint,” said LaRowe .

As CFO, Blankemeyer has overseen the Mint’s financial and IT activities, including financial management and reporting, budgeting, general accounting, billing, investment administration, financial strategic planning, IT strategic planning, and grants management. As COO/CFO, he will assume supervision over several additional Mint divisions including Special Events (private museum rental business); the Museum Shops; Human Resources; security; housekeeping; and facilities management.

“During his time at the Mint, Gary has been an excellent steward of the Mint’s financial resources, and we believe he will continue to position the Mint for sustainability and future strategic growth,” said Weston Andress, chair, The Mint Museum Board of Trustees.

Prior to joining the Mint, Blankemeyer was the Senior Vice President, Finance for the nonprofit Child Care Resources Inc. and held responsibility for all financial activity. He spent more than 20 years at Bosch Rexroth Corp. in various senior financial and general management positions where he developed overall strategic, financial, and operational plans for various divisions of the manufacturing giant.

“I really appreciate the opportunity and confidence from Bruce LaRowe and the Executive Committee of The Mint’s Board of Trustees,” said Blankemeyer. “It has been a great two years for me here, especially in learning a new business and working with such a talented and supportive group of managers, board, and staff. I am truly excited about having an expanded role to help enhance the Mint’s mission and future success.”

New exhibition to bring new admission fee policy

From Broadway to the television screen, the exhibition William Ivey Long: Costume Designs 2007-2016 will offer backstage access to the art of costume design from September 23, 2017 through June 3, 2018.

The opening, the centerpiece of a weekend-long celebration at the Mint, will also feature a free-admission community day on September 23 and brings the first of three exhibitions during the “Year of Fashion” at the Mint.

“The Mint has collected fashion for over 40 years, and has organized many exhibitions around this important art form, but this marks the first time we have focused specifically on theatrical costume design,” said Annie Carlano, senior curator of Craft, Design, & Fashion at the Mint, and co-curator of the Mint-organized exhibition. Adds Rebecca E. Elliot, assistant curator of Craft, Design, & Fashion at the Mint and exhibition co-curator: “This exhibition offers viewers a rare, close-up vantage point from which they will see the excellent craftsmanship of the costumes, as well as how William Ivey Long uses colors, silhouettes, and other elements of costume design to create characters.”

Visitors will experience sumptuous and elaborate costumes, faithful period recreations, and innovative fantasy creations – all a testament to Long’s extraordinary talent and imagination. Idea boards, fabric swatches, and exquisite drawings by Long elucidate his working methods, from inspiration to finished costume.

The exhibition begins with a glimpse into his designs and working methods, in an immersive studio environment with interactive features and a library of costume and fashion books. It focuses primarily on his most recent work from the past 10 years, including The Lost Colony (redesigned in 2007–2008), the story of the settlement of Roanoke Island in 1587, and a beloved tradition for many families across our state. Also included are the Broadway revivals of The Mystery of Edwin Drood (2012) and On the Twentieth Century (2015); the Broadway musical Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (2013); the Kennedy Center’s original production Little Dancer (2014); and the television specials Grease Live! and The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again (both 2016). Drawing mainly from Long’s studio archive, the exhibition includes sketches, fitting photographs, and other preparatory materials, as well as finished costumes.

Born in Raleigh in 1947, Long is one of the most renowned theatrical costume designers working today. Raised in the world of theater, he grew up in Rock Hill, South Carolina. He began graduate training at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, but ultimately transferred to the Yale School of Drama where he earned an MFA in set design in 1975. Long then apprenticed in New York under the couturier Charles James, whom Long calls “the ultimate costume architect.”

“Fashion design and costume design are similar in that both involve mounting shows whose story is told through clothing,” said Long. “Mr. James was both my fashion mentor and hero, and he taught me a great deal about how to tell a very effective story through garments.”

Long has received Tony Awards for Nine (1982), Crazy for You (1992), The Producers (2001), Hairspray (2003), Grey Gardens (2006), and most recently, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (2013). He has designed costumes for hundreds of other projects, including operas, dance performances, films, television shows, and performers such as the Rolling Stones.

The exhibition is presented to the Charlotte community with generous support from Wells Fargo Private Bank, with additional corporate support provided by J.P. Morgan and Novant Health. It was also made possible by substantial contributions from the Mint Museum Auxiliary and Friends of William Ivey Long.

It is accompanied by a scholarly book, William Ivey Long Costume Designs 2007-2016, published by the Mint and distributed by Yale University Press. The book tells the story of this American legend through a review of his illustrious career and an analysis of his work. It was edited and co-authored by Carlano with essays from contributors Elliot and Peter Marks, chief theater critic at The Washington Post. It is available in the Mint Museum Shops for $45 and media preview copies are available.

SPECIAL EVENTS – AND A NEW ADMISSION POLICY

The public is invited to view the exhibition FREE on Saturday, September 23 as part of the Mint’s celebration of the national Museum Day Live! observance organized by Smithsonian Magazine. Museums throughout the nation are offering free or reduced admission and other special events throughout the day.

The Mint will offer special “Member Moment” gallery tours with Long himself at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. (free to Mint members); a free lecture by Long at 2:30 p.m. (open to all); and a book signing in the Mint Museum Uptown Shop at 4 p.m. Additionally, the Mint will offer free live outdoor “Jazzin’ on the Terrace” at noon in celebration of Charlotte-born artist Romare Bearden and celebrations occurring at nearby Romare Bearden Park. Details on this and other programming occurring throughout the exhibition are available atmintmuseum.org/happenings .

Blumenthal Performing Arts is collaborating with the exhibition by hosting a special “Tribute Concert to William Ivey Long” on February 24, 2018 at Knight Theater at Levine Center for the Arts. The gala concert will include songs from the shows featuring Long’s designs, as well as tributes and video stories from his friends. More information will be available via mintmuseum.org and blumenthalarts.org closer to the date.

Beginning on Sunday, September 24, the Mint will implement a new admission policy which eliminates fees to visit special exhibitions, and will change general admission to $15 per adult (discounts for students and seniors; children under 5 and Mint members admitted free). Formerly, special exhibition visitors paid up to $24 per adult general admission.

The new admission policy is aimed at increasing public access to the Mint’s special exhibitions, which will now always be open FREE during the Mint’s free admission hours from 5-9 p.m. on Wednesdays (formerly, an exhibition surcharge applied during those hours).

“Back in 2013, we began the policy of charging additional fees for special exhibitions as a way to drive membership – we inspired more visitors to become members and receive a year of unlimited admissions,” said Hillary Cooper, the Mint’s director of advancement & communications. “However, our admission trends suggested that the fee was a barrier for some visitors and was keeping people from viewing our special exhibitions. We are thrilled to be able to eliminate this barrier and increase visitation for the Mint’s special exhibitions.”

The policy will apply to other special exhibitions throughout the year including the two remaining “ Year of Fashion ” exhibitions –Charlotte Collects: Contemporary Couture and Fabulous Fashion , on view October 14, 2017 through February 4, 2018 at Mint Museum Randolph; and The Glamour and Romance of Oscar de la Renta, on view in spring and summer 2018 at Mint Museum Randolph. It also applies to Develar y Detonar: Contemporary Mexican Photography , opening October 28 at Mint Museum Uptown as part of the seven-institution In Focus/Enfoque project. Details of upcoming exhibitions are available at mintmuseum.org/art and images for media use are available upon request.

Media and special guests are invited to preview this exhibition at 10 a.m. on Thursday, September 21 at Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts, 500 South Tryon Street. Long is scheduled to attend; he and exhibition curators will give a gallery tour and other staff will be available for interviews. Light refreshments will be served. RSVP to leigh.dyer@mintmuseum.org.

PMI coming Saturday, September 9, 2017

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (August 10, 2017) – Back again on September 9th, ceramics collectors and pottery lovers will have access to the latest works by leaders in the rich tradition of North Carolina pottery. Fifty-two potters from across North Carolina, designated the Pottery State, return to Mint Museum Randolph for the 13th annual Mint Museum Potters Market Invitational.

The event is presented by the Delhom Service League, the ceramics affiliate of The Mint Museum, which promotes ceramic arts and education. Artists will come from Seagrove, Western N.C., the Catawba Valley, and the Piedmont, to the tent on the lawn of the museum on Randolph Road with remarkable works in clay – functional wares including mugs, teapots and jars, as well as oversized pots, contemporary art pottery, and sculptures. It’s like a shopping tour of the state’s best pottery all under one tent in one day. Attendees will have the opportunity to get to know the potters as well as their work.

Well-known participating potters include Akira Satake, Ben Owen III, Eric Knoche, and Julie Wiggins. In fact, 27 potters who will be at the event are included in the Mint’s ceramics collection, some of which can be seen on view in the installation Wares of the World: Asian Influence in Contemporary North Carolina Ceramics.

It’s a fun-filled day with pottery and pottery demonstrations, food, and music.

The $12 admission fee includes access to the potters’ tent from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. as well as free admission to the museum and docent led gallery tours. Children 12 and under are admitted free of charge when accompanied by an adult.

Individual sponsorships of $100 include Patron’s Early Admission Ticket at 9:15 a.m. in advance of the general public. Special parking and continental breakfast are also included. Individual sponsorships of $150 include attendance at the Meet the Potters Party being held Friday, September 8 from 6:30-9 p.m. Sponsors will enjoy dinner, music, and an opportunity to mingle with the potters and other pottery enthusiasts.

Potters Market Invitational admission tickets and sponsorships are available at the door and in advance at https://mintmuseumold.wpengine.com/happenings/1281/potters-market-invitational-2017/ For questions, please email delhomserviceleague@gmail.com or call 704.337.2000. See our rack card and list of potters . Find Potters Market Invitational on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.

Seven cultural institutions collaborate on unprecedented project

In Focus/Enfoque, an ambitious multi-institution exhibition of contemporary Mexican photography, will take place in Charlotte from August 2017 through spring 2018. Inspired by the highly successful Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA, this unique collaboration features more than 50 artists from Mexico and the United States. As an exploration of diverse topics and themes—including design, gender, activism, identity, globalism, and borders—In Focus/Enfoque will showcase a wide variety of contemporary art in dialogue with the Queen City.

As a major supporter of arts and culture across the region, Bank of America led the planning, collaboration, and funding of In Focus/Enfoque. The Arts & Science Council is supporting collaborative community engagement and programming efforts.

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The Mint Museum

Reveal and Detonate: Contemporary Photography in Mexico

Develar y Detonar: Fotografía Contemporánea en México

October 28, 2017 to June 17, 2018

Mexico is an ever-changing nation with a rich cultural history; yet it also has undergone deep social, political, and ideological transformations during the modern era.  Reveal and Detonate , the anchor exhibition of In Focus/Enfoque, offers a compelling survey of the work of more than 30 contemporary Mexican photographers, with intergenerational artists coming together to draw a complex, contradictory, and thought-provoking map of present-day Mexico. The Mint Museum will be the first U.S. venue for this exhibition, which has previously appeared in Madrid in 2015 and Mexico City in 2016.

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The Light Factory

lightfactory.org

Exposed/Expuesta: Exploring Identity in Contemporary Mexican Photography

August 24 to October 13, 2017

Mexico’s complex history has created an equally complex society. Over time, it has absorbed various different cultures and traditions, combining strong Catholic values with beliefs from other religions, and mixing influences from foreign cultures with indigenous, pre-Hispanic customs. Exposed/Expuesta will feature work by 10 contemporary artists who use photography to question and challenge notions of identity through personal and cultural explorations of their own environment.

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McColl Center for Art + Innovation

mccollcenter.org

Nelson Morales, Artist-in-Residence

August 28 to December 5, 2017

In Focus/Enfoque artist Nelson Morales focuses on sexual diversity in different cultures—mainly the community of muxe, a third gender—on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, part of the state of Oaxaca. This fall, Morales will be an artist-in-residence at McColl Center, where he plans to collaborate with Time Out Youth, a Charlotte-based organization dedicated to empowering LGBTQ youth. The artist will also conduct a three-part photography workshop in Spanish at McColl Center and The Light Factory.

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Bechtler Museum of Modern Art

bechtler.org

Paul Strand in Mexico

September 1, 2017 to January 7, 2018

Already a respected photographer in the United States, Paul Strand lived in Mexico from 1932 to 1935 where he worked on Redes (1936), a film commissioned by the Mexican Secretariat of Public Education, and photographed the changing landscape and people of Mexico. Strand traveled the countryside photographing the small towns, churches, and the people who occupied the land. Twenty images were selected and published as a portfolio in 1940, titled Photographs of Mexico.

Maestros mexicanos de la fotografía moderna: Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Manuel Carrillo, Flor Garduño, Graciela Iturbide y Mariana Yampolsky: Works from the Bank of America Collection

September 29, 2017 to March 4, 2018

The mid-20^th century was a time of great change in post-Revolutionary Mexico as the sociopolitical landscape struggled to find stability. In these decades of flux, many artists captured the country’s efforts to establish a unified Mexican cultural identity. Maestros mexicanos de la fotografia moderna focuses on five modernist photographers who documented this period: Manuel Álvarez Bravo (Mexican, 1902–2002), Manuel Carrillo (Mexican, 1906–1989), Flor Garduño (Mexican, born 1957), Graciela Iturbide (Mexican, born 1942), and Mariana Yampolsky (Mexican, 1925–2002).

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LaCa (Latin American Contemporary Art) Projects

lacaprojects.com

Karina Juarez, Humberto Rios, and Alejandra Laviada

September 14 to November 4, 2017

Karina Juarez, Humberto Rios, and Alejandra Laviada, an award-winning trio of emerging contemporary photographers, present powerful works in the gallery’s first-ever photography exhibition. The photographs present varying themes and images, ranging from identity and personal loss to metaphorical and autobiographical elements, and create striking visual narratives taken from the personal experiences of the artists, as well as from conceptual ideas and practices. All three artists have extensive artistic training and have been featured in international solo and collective exhibitions.

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NEWLY ADDED:

New Gallery of Modern Art

newgalleryofmodernart.com

Phyllis Galembo: Mexico

October 18 – November 27, 2017

Using a direct, unaffected portrait style, Phyllis Galembo captures her subjects informally posed and strikingly attired in ritualistic dress. Her work illuminates the transformative power of costume and ritual — a complex, mysterious, and profound tradition in which the participants transcend the physical world and enter the spiritual realm. Her subjects, chosen from Africa and the Americas, have resourcefully cobbled together materials gathered from their immediate environment to create beguiling representations of mythical figures important to their culture. The photographs shown here are small sampling of the raw portraits Galembo took at important cultural and religious events throughout Mexico between 2008 and 2017. During religious holidays such as Semana Santa, Easter Week, Corpus Christi, and the Virgin of Guadalupe, families throughout Mexico participate in masquerade events. Creating costumes and masks made of body paint, cardboard, leather, cloth, paper mache, plants, and corn, these striking, unique assemblages embody the beliefs and cultural values of the community and pay homage to their ancestors.

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SOCO Gallery

soco-gallery.com

Alejandro Cartagena: Home

December 13, 2017 to January 12, 2018

Alejandro Cartagena: Home is an exhibition of photographs from the Monterrey, Mexico-based artist, featuring works from his “Carpoolers” and “Mexicana Suburbia” series. Cartagena’s works employ landscape and portraiture as a means to examine social, urban and environmental issues. His images have been exhibited internationally and are in the collections of several museums including the SFMOMA, the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the Portland Museum of Art, the Museo de Arte Moderno in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the Fototeca de Nuevo Leon, Mexico, and the Fototeca Nacional in Pachuca, Mexico. This will be the artist’s first exhibition in North Carolina.

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Note: Parents may wish to preview the exhibitions before viewing with younger visitors.

In Focus/Enfoque: Fotografía Contemporánea en México

In Focus/Enfoque es una ambiciosa exhibición multiinstitucional de fotografía contemporánea mexicana la cual tomará lugar en Charlotte desde agosto del 2017 hasta la primavera del 2018. Inspirada por el altamente exitoso Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA, esta colaboración única presenta más de 50 artistas de México y los Estados Unidos. Como una exploración de diversos temas -incluyendo diseño, género, activismo, identidad, globalismo y fronteras- In Focus/Enfoque presentará una amplia variedad de arte contemporáneo en diálogo con la Ciudad Reina.

Como patrocinador principal de las artes y la cultura a través de la región, Bank of America lideró el planeamiento, la colaboración y el financiamiento de In Focus/Enfoque. La coordinación educativa y comunitaria es coordinada por el Arts & Science Council.

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The Mint Museum

mintmuseum.org

Develar y detonar: fotografía en méxico

Del 28 de octubre de 2017 al 17 de junio de 2018

México es una nación en cambio constante con una historia cultural densa a pesar de haber sufrido transformaciones sociales, políticas e ideológicas durante la era moderna. Develar y detonar, la exhibición central de In Focus/Enfoque, ofrece una muestra apasionante del trabajo de más de 30 fotógrafos contemporáneos mexicanos con artistas intergeneracionales que se unen para dibujar un mapa complejo, contradictorio, que invita a la reflexión del México de hoy. El Mint Museum será la primera plaza para esta exhibición en los Estados Unidos la cual ha sido vista previamente en Madrid en 2015 y en la Ciudad de México en 2016.

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The Light Factory

lightfactory.org

Exposed/Expuesta: Explorando identidad en la fotografía mexicana contemporánea

Del 24 de agosto al 13 de octubre de 2017

La historia compleja de México ha creado una sociedad igualmente compleja. Con el tiempo, México ha absorbido varias culturas y tradiciones diferentes, combinando valores católicos fuertes con creencias de otras religiones y mezclando influencias de culturas extranjeras con costumbres indígenas y prehispánicas. Exposed/Expuesta presentará el trabajo de 10 artistas contemporáneos que usan la fotografía para cuestionar y desafiar las nociones de identidad a través de las exploraciones personales y culturales de sus propios ambientes.

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McColl Center for Art + Innovation

mccollcenter.org

Nelson Morales, artista en residencia

Del 28 de agosto al 5 de diciembre de 2017

El artista de In Focus/Enfoque Nelson Morales está enfocado en la adversidad sexual en diferentes culturas – principalmente en la comunidad de muxe, un tercer género – en el Istmo de Tehuantepec, parte del estado de Oaxaca. Este otoño, Morales será el último artista en residencia en el McColl Center donde planea colaborar con Time Out Youth, una organización con base en Charlotte, dedicada al fortalecimiento de la juventud LGBTQ. El artista también conducirá un taller de fotografía en español dividido en tres sesiones en el McColl Center y en The Light Factory.

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Bechtler Museum of Modern Art

bechtler.org

Paul Strand en México

Del 1ero de septiembre de 2017 al 7 de enero de 2018

Siendo un fotógrafo ya respetado en los Estados Unidos, Paul Strand vivió en México de 1932 a 1935 donde trabajó con Redes (1936), una película que le fue comisionada por el Secretario de Educación Pública de México, y fotografió el paisaje cambiante y la gente de México. Strand viajó por las áreas rurales fotografiando pequeños pueblos, iglesias y las personas que ocupaban la tierra. Veintiún imágenes fueron seleccionadas y publicadas en un portafolio titulado Fotografías de México en 1940.

Maestros mexicanos de la fotografía moderna: Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Manuel Carrillo, Flor Garduño, Graciela Iturbide y Mariana Yampolsky: Obras de la colección de Bank of America

Del 29 de septiembre de 2017 al 4 de marzo de 2018

La mitad del siglo 20 fue un tiempo de gran cambio en el México post revolucionario donde el ámbito sociopolítico luchaba por encontrar estabilidad. Durante estas décadas de cambio continuo, muchos artistas capturaron los esfuerzos del país por establecer una identidad cultural mexicana unificada. Maestros mexicanos de la fotografía moderna se enfoca en cinco fotógrafos modernistas quienes documentan este período: Manuel Álvarez Bravo (Mexicano, 1902–2002), Manuel Carrillo (Mexicano, 1906–1989), Flor Garduño (Mexicana, nacida en 1957), Graciela Iturbide (Mexicana, nacida en 1942) y Mariana Yampolsky (Mexicana, 1925–2002).

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LaCa (Latin American Contemporary Art) Projects

lacaprojects.com

Karina Juarez, Humberto Ríos y Alejandra Laviada

Del 14 de septiembre al 4 de noviembre de 2017

Karina Juarez, Humberto Ríos y Alejandra Laviada, un trio galardonado de fotógrafos contemporáneos emergentes, presentan obras intensas en la primera exhibición de fotografía de la galería. Los fotógrafos presentan diversos temas e imágenes que oscilan entre la identidad y la pérdida personal, y elementos metafóricos y autobiográficos, creando narrativas visuales impresionantes tomadas tanto de las experiencias personales de los artistas como de ideas prácticas y conceptuales. Los tres artistas tienen un extenso entrenamiento artístico y su trabajo ha sido presentado en exhibiciones internacionales individuales y colectivas.

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SOCO Gallery

soco-gallery.com

Alejandro Cartagena: Home

Del 13 de diciembre de 2017 al 12 de enero de 2018

Alejandro Cartagena: Home es una exhibición de fotografías del Monterrey del artista mexicano que muestra obras de las series de sus “Carpoolers” y “Periferia Mexicana”. Las obras de Cartagena emplean paisaje y retrato como un medio de examinar asuntos sociales, urbanos y ambientales. Sus imágenes han sido exhibidas internacionalmente y están en las colecciones de varios museos incluyendo el SFMOMA, el Museo de Fotografía Contemporánea de Chicago, el Museo de Bellas Artes de Houston, el Museo de Arte de Portland, el Museo de Arte Moderno en Río de Janeiro, Brasil, la Fototeca de Nuevo León, México y la Fototeca Nacional en Pachuca, México. Esta será la primera exhibición del artista en Carolina del Norte.

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Nota: Estas exhibiciones pueden abarcar temas y contenido para personas adultas incluyendo desnudos. Se sugiere a los padres visitar las exhibiciones antes de verlas con visitantes más jóvenes.

Artists to perform and present live at 14th annual event

ArtSí Charlotte, an arts initiative that supports and connects Latino artists in the Charlotte area, today announced the featured artists for its signature event Con A de Arte. Artists featured this year include performers, visual artists, and writers who will present their works live at the Con A de Arte event taking place on Wednesday, June 7th at Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts, 500 South Tryon Street, uptown Charlotte, at 6:00 p.m. The presentations and awards will be followed by a reception that will give the public the opportunity to interact with the featured artists and awardees. Appetizers will be served. Cash bar available.

FEATURED ARTISTS:

• Tita Ramírez – Writer
• Francisco González – Visual Arts
• Cristina Cassidy –Documentary Film
• Daniel González and Nataly Ramírez Cheek –  Dance
• Reinaldo Brahn – Music

AWARD RECIPIENTS:

• Frank Dominguez – Sarah Wolfe Lifetime Achievement Award
• The Latin American Coalition – Lifetime Achievement Community Award
• Julio Gonzalez – Emerging Artist Award

ABOUT ARTSI

ArtSí is a community initiative that advances the Latino arts and culture in the Charlotte region and that facilitates connections with the Charlotte arts community at large. ArtSí is run by volunteers, and it serves a membership base of over 200 individuals, from Latino artists to art supporters, and its work is backed by a group of well-known and respected local organizations that support its mission. Organizations supporting ArtSi include the Mint Museum, Queens University of Charlotte, and Levine Museum of the New South.

Mint, Bechtler, Gantt Center, Knight Theater invite the public to free event

The public is invited to Levine Center for the Arts on Saturday, June 3, 2017. African dancing. A portrait paint-off. Drums. Art-making. Aerial dancing. Jazz. Food trucks. T-shirt screen printing. Hip Hop Orchestrated. Cuban dance. And FREE museum access all day.

The arts come alive at the second annual #LongLiveArts Festival, hosted by the four member institutions of Levine Center for the Arts – the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, the John S. and James L. Knight Theater, the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, and Mint Museum Uptown. The public is invited to the 500 block of South Tryon Street between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. for the festival. Interactive art-making workshops for all ages begin on Saturday morning at 11 a.m., with a main stage set up on Levine Avenue of the Arts and emceed by Emmy Award-winning poet and author Boris “Bluz” Rogers.

Community artists are invited to join a #LongLiveArts Festival Multi-Artist Paint-Off, sponsored by Binders Art Supplies and Frames, where local artists compete in a live painting competition. The artwork will then be auctioned off with proceeds going to support the Levine Center for the Arts.

Other performers and activities scheduled as part of Saturday’s activities include Caroline Calouche’s aerial dancers; Drums4Life; Cuban Jazz by Charlotte Repertory Dance Theatre; Roving Puppetry by Drew Nowlins; an art class with Cathay Dawkins; salsa dancing demonstration, as well as interactive art-making activities led by the education staffs of the three member museums. Docents from the three museums will lead free 30-minute “ArtBreak” tours inside each museum at noon, 1 p.m., and 2 p.m.

For a complete schedule, click here or visit our facebook page.

WHAT: #LongLiveArts Community Festival

WHEN: Saturday, June 3

11 a.m.-4 p.m.

WHERE: Levine Center for the Arts, 500 block of South Tryon Street, including Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, John S. and James L. Knight Theater, Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, and Mint Museum Uptown

ABOUT LEVINE CENTER FOR THE ARTS

Levine Center for the Arts is one of Charlotte’s major cultural destinations, home to Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, John S. and James L. Knight Theater, and Mint Museum Uptown. The Center was made possible through the support of the City of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, Campaign for Cultural Facilities, and The Leon Levine Foundation, one of the country’s largest and most impactful philanthropic organizations, along with the generosity of Bank of America Foundation, Wells Fargo Foundation, and Duke Energy Foundation, among many others.

A generous grant from the THRIVE Fund is enabling the four institutions to work more closely together than ever before to increase visibility and access to the unified center. The $250,000 award from the THRIVE Fund over two years is making possible the center’s first-ever joint marketing campaign, as well as free monthly lunchtime tours and a free community festival. The THRIVE Fund was established in 2013 to provide financial stability for Charlotte’s cultural sector under the leadership of Hugh McColl, former Bank of America chairman and CEO, and is currently administered by the Foundation For The Carolinas. The Mint Museum spearheaded the grant and is managing the project in collaboration with the other institutions. More information at levinecenterarts.org.

Mint among 12 recipients of nationwide Knight Foundation technology grants; $150,000 to create interactive staircase

Mint Museum Uptown’s grand staircase, a landmark of the Levine Center for the Arts campus since the building’s opening in 2010, will be transformed with technology into an interactive feature that welcomes new audiences and invites them to climb up to the museum and engage with the art inside.

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is announcing today that the Mint is among 12 recipients of $1.87 million in funding for new ways of using technology to immerse visitors in art. Institutions in cities including Philadelphia, Detroit, Miami, Minneapolis, Chicago, and New York City will join Charlotte in creating new tools ranging from chat bots to augmented reality apps to engage new audiences. The Mint’s $150,000 project, planned to be completed by summer 2018, will enhance the museum’s exterior architecture with interactive light and sound elements to become a must-see, must-hear, must-climb destination.

“In the years since our opening, we have heard that some visitors consider our façade intimidating, and we wanted to find new ways to make our building more welcoming,” said Hillary Cooper, the Mint’s Director of Advancement & Communications. “We expect this interactive staircase to drive new museum attendance, enhance the uptown streetscape, and become an approach that other museums can replicate to enhance their own entrances.”

A curator-led committee of museum staff, in consultation with the City of Charlotte which owns the Mint’s building, will convene to begin the process of considering artist proposals and commissioning the work. The Mint will invite other Charlotte arts groups to assist in the creation of musical elements. The current staircase is equipped with LED lighting connections, and the plan calls for enhancing these connections and the railing with light and sound elements. The approach was inspired by the “Touch My Building” public art project at Seventh Street Station, which includes panels that light up and play sounds when visitors touch them. Plans also call for installing components that can count the number of visitors who interact with the staircase, thus providing a new source of visitation data.

“Most importantly, of course, we want all of the visitors to our new staircase to be inspired to continue their journey into the front doors of the museum, and discover the world-class collections, exhibitions, and programming available there,” said Cooper.

Funding for this project is part of a Knight Foundation initiative to help museums better meet new community demands and use digital tools to meaningfully engage visitors in art. Knight, which promotes informed and engaged communities, has helped institutions—from newsrooms to libraries—adapt to and thrive in the digital age. This funding expands the foundation’s use of its digital expertise to help art museums build stronger, more vibrant communities.

“The arts inspire us, challenge us and connect us to each other and where we live. People want those experiences to be personalized, interactive and shareable, just as they experience their daily lives,” said Alberto Ibargüen, Knight Foundation’s president. “We support arts institutions that are willing to lead and seize the opportunities tech offers to engage visitors, patrons and audiences.”

National Art Museum Day Celebration May 18

Thursday’s announcement by Knight Foundation coincides with Art Museum Day , a recurring national designation each May 18 established by the Association of Art Museum Directors. In observance this year, the Mint has joined with its Levine Center for the Arts partners for “The Art of Yoga,” a celebration which will incorporate a FREE communitywide yoga class utilizing the Mint’s Grand Staircase and the Levine Center for the Arts plaza. Following the hour-long outdoor yoga class, the Mint along with the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art and the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture will offer three free hours of gallery access from 6-9 p.m. along with cash bars and food trucks. The event is in partnership with The Charlotte Observer/ Charlotte Five and is sponsored by OrthoCarolina. More information available at levinecenterarts.org .

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. We invest in journalism, in the arts, and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy.

Bruce LaRowe, a familiar face in the Charlotte arts scene, to assist the Mint during its upcoming leadership transition

The Mint Museum Board of Trustees has approved its CEO succession plan and authorized the hiring of Bruce LaRowe as interim CEO following previously announced plans for Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson to leave The Mint Museum’s President & CEO position. LaRowe will assume the position effective June 21.

LaRowe served for 20 years as Executive Director of Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, recognized as one of the top five professional theaters for youth in the country. After he stepped down in 2013, he joinedLevRidge Resources , a Charlotte firm that provides professional interim leadership to nonprofits during transitional periods. This will mark his second term at the Mint, as he previously served as Interim Director of Learning & Engagement during a vacancy in that senior leadership position in 2014-15. LaRowe has also served as the interim leader of local nonprofits including Thompson Child & Family Focus and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Charlotte, as well as serving as interim Development Director at Habitat for Humanity Charlotte.

LevRidge Resources also recently shepherded the Mint through the process of developing a new three-year strategic plan which will provide guidelines for the Mint’s next leader. The Mint’s board actively participated in the development of the plan along with Mint staff, and approved the plan’s strategic themes on Wednesday evening. “The extensive track record of both Bruce LaRowe and LevRidge Resources in working with the Mint and other nonprofits in the community makes Bruce the perfect person to lead the Mint during this transition,” said Weston Andress, chair of the Mint’s board. “Bruce knows the Mint well, he knows the cultural landscape both locally and nationally, and he is exceptionally highly regarded throughout Charlotte and beyond.”

“Thanks to the hands-on involvement of the board and staff of The Mint Museum, the three-year strategic planning process can now serve as the transition plan for the Mint’s next CEO,” said Kathy Ridge, who helped lead the strategic planning process along with Mint Museum Board of Trustees member Karl Newlin.

LaRowe will work with Mint senior leadership on refining the strategic metrics and tactics of the three-year plan, as well as keeping a variety of ongoing museum projects on track during the process of conducting a national search for a permanent CEO. The Mint’s board is in the process of designating a committee to oversee the search, which will launch this summer.

LaRowe holds a Master of Arts in Community Arts Management from the University of Illinois. He chaired the Board of Arts North Carolina and has been a guest lecturer for the N.C. Center for Nonprofits. During his tenure at Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, he created the vision along with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library to build ImaginOn, a 100,000 square-foot cultural resource for children recognized as unique in the nation.

“I am pleased to have the opportunity to work with the Mint’s senior leadership to ensure a seamless transition and assist the Mint in entering a new phase of growth and sustainability,” said LaRowe.

Show to be on view June 16 through July 21, 2017

The Young Affiliates of the Mint (the “YAMs”) are announcing the artists selected by the jury panel for their second annual art show, GENDERED: An Inclusive Art Show. GENDERED will be on view in Mint Museum Uptown’s Level 5 expansion space from Friday, June 16, 2017 through Friday, July 21, 2017. An Opening will be held on Friday, June 16 from 7 to 10 p.m. An Artist Panel moderated by Adam Justice, Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at The Mint Museum, will be held on Wednesday, June 28 from 6 to 8 p.m.

GENDERED seeks to create an inclusive arts forum for gender and its common intersectionalities with race, class, sexuality, and identity. The current divisive political climate finds people seeking a means to come together and find a common understanding. The YAMs believe in the unifying force of art and seek to create a safe space of expression and dialogue. GENDERED is a group exhibition featuring twenty-four artists from across the country and representing a variety of viewpoints through diverse mediums that invites viewers to join the conversation. The featured works of art were selected by a panel of esteemed jurors: Kelli Connell, Ryan James Caruthers, John Edmonds, & Carla Hanzal.

For more information about GENDERED, visit: youngaffiliates.org/gendered

For questions regarding GENDERED, email: youngaffiliatesartshow@gmail.com

FEATURED ARTISTS:

Jeremy Brooks, Wendell Brown, Greg Climer, Ani Collier, Margaret Curtis, Stacey Davidson, Robyn Day, Lisa DeLoria Weinblatt, Holly Fischer, Shterna Goldbloom, Gordon C. James, Mariah Karson, Justin Korver, Indrani Nayar-Gall, Betsy Odom, Austin Power, Stacey Rexrode, Santiago Sanchez, Anna Wehrwein, D’Angelo Williams, Holly Wilson, Celeste Wilson, Guanyu Xu and Studio 345.

ABOUT THE YOUNG AFFILIATES:

The Young Affiliates of the Mint Museum is the longest running young professional group and the premier social arts organization for young professionals in Charlotte, North Carolina. For twenty-seven years the YAMs have supported the Mint Museum through a variety of social, cultural, leadership and fundraising activities and events. The YAMs are committed to raising funds to offset the cost of free school tours of the Mint Museum for school-aged children in Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools. These tours inspire a new generation of artists and art enthusiasts who will make Charlotte a more vibrant community.

She begins at ASC July 17, 2017

The Arts & Science Council (ASC) has announced Toni L. Freeman as its Executive Vice President, Community Engagement.  Freeman comes to ASC from The Mint Museum where she currently serves as Chief Operating Officer.  She begins at ASC on July 17.

Freeman, who has over 20 years of executive management experience, will lead ASC’s strategic change initiatives including advocacy, public sector investments, donor stewardship and branding. Her expertise in the nonprofit and corporate sectors span from serving as director of project research and evaluation at The Duke Endowment, director of donor and business relations at MeckEd, founding board member and past chair of the Women’s Impact Fund, past president of the Junior League of Charlotte and Association of Junior Leagues International to senior vice president for finance, administration and membership at the Charlotte Convention & Visitors Bureau and corporate associate
vice president at SunHealth (now Premier).

“Toni’s ideas, approach, and leadership style is a perfect fit for ASC,” said Robert Bush, ASC president. “She is well-respected in the community and has created long-standing relationships with thought leaders, elected officials, companies, foundations and others.  She understands the role arts and culture has in building social capital and tackling community issues and priorities.”

Born in Oklahoma City and raised in Milwaukee, WI, she earned a B.A. from National-Louis University and a M.A. from Michigan State University.

“Toni has been a tremendous asset to the Mint Museum,” said Weston M. Andress, chairman of The Mint Museum’s Board of Trustees. “I know she will continue to share her passion, knowledge and dedication for a thriving arts and cultural community through her new role with ASC.  I’m glad she will continue to serve Charlotte’s cultural sector.”

About ASC
ASC is the chief advocate, resource hub and steward for the Charlotte- Mecklenburg region’s cultural community. Its core functions include advocacy, cultural education programs, cultural planning, fundraising, grant making, public art and workshops and trainings for the cultural community. ASC works to ensure Culture For All by combining resources from local and state government with those of the
private sector to maximize community impact throughout the cultural sector. ASC’s mission is to ensure access to an excellent, relevant, and sustainable cultural community for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg region.

Museum to host three extraordinary exhibitions, launch new fashion initiative in the coming fiscal year

The Mint Museum, long renowned for holding one of the largest and most significant Fashion Collections in the Southeastern United States, will celebrate the art form with its upcoming “Year of Fashion,” the museum announced today to attendees of its annual gala.

Weston M. Andress, chairman of the Mint’s Board of Trustees, issued a proclamation declaring the “Year of Fashion” to 400 attendees at the sold-out Coveted Couture gala, an annual fundraising event permanently devoted to celebrating the Mint’s collection, conservation, study, and exhibition of fashions both historic and contemporary. The “Year of Fashion” will span the museum’s next fiscal year beginning July 1, 2017 and continuing through June 30, 2018.

“Today we celebrate the Mint for delivering relevant and compelling exhibitions and programming that engages all members of our diverse global community, and we are thrilled that we will be able to introduce new concepts of art to our community through this year-long focus on fashion,” Andress said.

“Fashion design is like kinetic sculpture, and leading couturiers are like master architects who build with fabric and applied elements using the body as armature,” said Annie Carlano, Senior Curator of Craft, Design, & Fashion at the Mint. “Our relationship with fashion is both universal and personal; fashion reflects the times we live in and who we are.”

The “Year of Fashion” will center around three exhibitions to be on view throughout the year, and is also accompanied by a major financial gift provided by loyal Mint supporters Ann and Michael Tarwater. In honor of his wife Ann, Michael Tarwater has given a lead gift to launch a Fashion Initiative at Mint Museum Randolph to enhance the storage, study, exhibition, and development of innovative immersive programs around fashion in years to come. “The Tarwaters believe the Mint should be the fashion leader in our region – and beyond.  They see fashion design as one of the most engaging and meaningful art forms, with rich aesthetic and cultural associations, and a gateway to understanding style through the ages. They are dedicated to making Charlotte a great city for all, and that includes robust support for the arts. With this lead gift for a dynamic fashion presence at the Mint, Ann and Michael are giving back to the city that has been their home for more than 30 years, and we cannot thank them enough,” said Carlano. Further details of the Fashion Initiative will be made public during the coming months.

The three exhibitions to be hosted at the Mint are:

• William Ivey Long: Costume Designs 2007-2016 . On view at Mint Museum Uptown from September 23, 2017 through June 3, 2018. North Carolina native William Ivey Long is one of the most renowned theatrical costume designers working today. Since the beginning of his career in the 1970s, he has designed over 70 Broadway shows, has won six Tony awards and received 15 nominations, and has earned many other honors and accolades. The exhibition will explore William Ivey Long’s most recent work, from 2007 to today. It will focus on his process, featuring sketches, swatches, mood boards, and other preparatory materials in addition to the costumes themselves. The exhibition, co-curated by Carlano, and Rebecca Elliot, Assistant Curator for Craft, Design, & Fashion, will provide visitors with exposure to this form of art and allow for comparison of the different goals of theatrical costume and fashion.

• Charlotte Collects: Contemporary Couture and Fabulous Fashion. On view at Mint Museum Randolph from October 14, 2017 through early 2018. This is the first of a series of Craft, Design, & Fashion exhibitions featuring significant collections and collectors in Charlotte. Curated by Carlano, Charlotte Collects is an exhibition that takes an intimate look at important fashion designs in the collections of several fashion leaders in our community. From exquisite bespoke creations by couturier Giambattista Valli, to the innovative designs by Issey Miyake and elegant minimalism of Jason Wu, the exhibition strives to present a wide range of 21^st century fashion through the personal stories of each of these collectors, with the goal of both celebrating these women, and building excitement for the future of fashion at Mint Museum Randolph.  Informative and dynamic, the installation will include runway videos.
• An exhibition of fashion designs by Oscar de la Renta, scheduled to be on view in spring 2018 at Mint Museum Randolph. Organized in close collaboration with the House of Oscar de la Renta and the designer’s family, the exhibition is curated by André Leon Talley, former American editor-at-large for Vogue and a lifelong friend of de la Renta. It is scheduled to debut at the Mint next spring following its recently announced run at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston this fall. It is anticipated to contain fashions made during the span of his career in Spain, Paris, and New York. The Mint hosted the late designer for a fashion show fundraiser organized by the Mint Museum Auxiliary in 2011.

Wells Fargo Private Bank has signed on as presenting sponsor of both the William Ivey Long and Oscar de la Renta exhibitions, as well as serving as lead sponsor of this year’s Coveted Couture gala. “Wells Fargo Private Bank is pleased to help the Mint present these signature exhibitions to the community,” said Jay Everette, Community Affairs Manager, Wells Fargo Foundation, and co-chair of this year’s Coveted Couture gala. “The intersection of art, fashion, costume, and design offers incredibly rich content and concepts to explore through both exhibition presentation and community programming.”

“The Mint thanks Wells Fargo, the Tarwater family, the Auxiliary, and all of the hundreds of other individual, corporate, and foundation sponsors who make possible our ability to continue to present these groundbreaking exhibitions to our community,” said Carlano.

The Mint also announced Saturday that the next Coveted Couture gala will be timed to coincide with the opening of the Oscar de la Renta exhibition, and will be co-chaired by Charlotte fashion industry leaders Laura Vinroot Poole and Perry Poole. More information on the plans will be available later in 2017 at mintmuseum.org/gala .

Above image: Lisa Dargan in couture by Giambattista Valli, 2014. Photograph by Gately Williams. From the upcoming exhibition Charlotte Collects: Contemporary Couture and Fabulous Fashion.

Museum to name interim leader, launch national search

The Mint Museum today announced its President & CEO Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson is leaving the museum on June 30, 2017.

The Mint Museum Board of Trustees will announce an interim president and launch a national search for her permanent replacement in the coming weeks.

“The Mint is most appreciative of Dr. Jameson’s strategic leadership in an especially difficult economic environment during the last seven years,” said Weston M. Andress, chairman of The Mint Museum’s Board of Trustees. “She is a leading voice for the arts and leaves the Mint in a strong position to move forward. We would like to thank Kathleen for her years of service.”

Dr. Jameson joined the Mint in 2010 from the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas. She brought a strong combination of curatorial expertise and programming, management, and academic experience to the Mint.

On arrival in Charlotte, she assisted with the move to the new Mint Museum Uptown, a 145,000-square-foot facility that is part of what is now Levine Center for the Arts. She guided the revitalization of the Mint on Randolph Road, as well. Mint Museum Randolph houses ceramics and Decorative Arts, Art of the Ancient Americas, African Art, and Fashion collections.

During her tenure, the Mint hosted numerous significant exhibitions, including Here & Now: 80 Years of Photography at the Mint, an exhibition curated by Dr. Jameson that was drawn from the Mint’s permanent collection of stunning photographs.

In 2013, the groundbreaking international exhibition Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World’s Fairs 1851-1939 opened featuring 200 objects shown at every major world’s fair during that pivotal time in history.

The next year, the museum opened Connecting the World: The Panama Canal at 100 on the centennial of the opening of the Panama Canal.

Currently on view through August 13 at Mint Museum Randolph is The Wyeths: Three Generations, Works from the Bank of America Collection. State of the Art: Discovering American Art Now opens at Mint Museum Uptown this coming Saturday, April 22, and remains on view through September 3, 2017.

Exhibition from Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art to remain on view through September 3

The Mint Museum announces State of the Art: Discovering American Art Now , on view April 22 to September 3. The exhibition was organized by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, where it debuted in 2014, and features 75 works in sculpture, painting, drawing, video, and mixed media by 39 artists from every region of the U.S. The diverse range of styles and voices reflects what’s happening in American art right now. The exhibition examines how today’s artists are informed by the past, innovate with materials old and new, and engage deeply with issues relevant to their communities. The exhibition is presented in Charlotte by PNC Financial Services, with additional support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and Young Affiliates of the Mint.

Members of the media are invited to preview the exhibition at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 19 at Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts, 500 South Tryon Street in Charlotte. Light refreshments will be served and curatorial staff will be available for interviews. RSVP to the media preview to leigh.dyer@mintmuseum.org. High resolution images are available upon request and media photography is permitted during the event.

The State of the Art exhibition culminated a year-long process in which Crystal Bridges’ curatorial team logged more than 100,000 miles, crisscrossing the country to visit artists in rural communities, small towns, and urban centers. The exhibition seeks to explore what is happening in studios and creative communities and then introduce those artists to a broader audience. The exhibition opened to unprecedented national attention, such as a feature on CBS Sunday Morning, placing State of the Art at the forefront of an ongoing discussion about art in America. Accolades include a 2015 Excellence in Exhibition Award from the American Alliance of Museums (AAM).

“I am very excited to share this exciting exhibition with our audience,” said Dr. Jonathan Stuhlman, the Mint’s senior curator of American, Modern, & Contemporary Art. “Visitors are sure to delight in the diversity of its subject matter, artistic approaches, and mediums – there truly is something for everyone. State of the Art demonstrates the many ways in which contemporary art can intersect and connect with our daily lives and personal histories.”

“We know what art can do, how it changes perspectives, even lives,” said Weston M. Andress, PNC regional president of Western Carolina. “We are committed to supporting innovative, thought-provoking works such as this fine exhibition offered by The Mint Museum. We are proud to bring it to our community.”

Among the included artists are North Carolina’s own Bob Trotman and Peter Glenn Oakley. Trotman’s carved wooden sculptures are tongue-in-cheek examinations of the corporate lifestyle and derive from his own childhood memories of his father’s corporate persona. Oakley reimagines mundane objects, in this case a sewing machine, into elegant marble sculptures, shifting our attention away from their practical uses to the beauty of their design.

Other exhibited artworks include Drawing E. Obsoleta, a video by former North Carolina artist Jeff Whetstone, where the artist attempts to manipulate the writhing form of a black snake to create a line-drawing of the landscape. Pittsburgh artist Lenka Clayton approaches her creations from a maternal perspective. In her installation titled 63 Objects Taken Out of My Son’s Mouth, Clayton showcases an array of small objects that would have originally been stepped on, ignored, or thrown away, but are now interpreted as potentially life-threatening hazards. The largest exhibited work is by Brooklyn artist Jonathan Schipper. Slow Room is an installation evoking ‘grandma’s living room’ where all the furniture and adornments are tethered to a hidden winch. Each piece is slowly pulled toward the back of the room until nothing exists but a pile of destroyed objects. For Schipper, this is a metaphor for the gradual progress and ultimate end of life; the slow lapse of time keeps us unaware of gradual changes made to our minds and bodies throughout our lifetimes.

Four of the artists will visit the Mint to give FREE public talks during the exhibition, along with NexGen Mint workshops to teens 14-18 and other opportunities for interaction. They include Delita Martin, whose free talk will be at 6 p.m. on Thursday May 4; Bob Trotman, who appears at 6 p.m. on Wednesday June 14; Eyakem Gulilat at 6 p.m. on Thursday July 19; and Jeff Whetstone at 6 p.m. on Wednesday August 9. Exhibition programs are supported, in part, by the Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation. For details and other information about public programming surrounding the exhibition, visit mintmuseum.org/happenings .

Above image: Carl Joe Williams (1970- ). American Shotgun, 2012, mixed media on found door. Courtesy Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas. Photo: Edward C. Robison III.

Organized by Jonell Logan from 300 Arts Project, The Exhibition Features work by artist Antoine Williams

Kidnapped Pagans is not your traditional exhibition. Organized by Jonell Logan, founder of 300 Art Project, this arts public/private art installation features work by former Charlotte resident Antoine Williams. Engaging in issues of history, culture, and the black experience, Williams combines drawing, painting, and collage to present and challenge the spaces that people of color occupy within our society.  This show will be on view in April 29-May 20^th, 2017 in the Level 5 exhibition space at the Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts. The exhibition will be available FREE to the public during regular museum operating hours. Works of art will also be installed throughout various neighborhoods in Charlotte for up to three months beginning in late April.

Kidnapped Pagans is one model for community ownership and engagement in the arts. As an independent curator, Logan partnered with The Mint Museum, individual property owners, Charlotte Center City Partners, and Charlotte Urban Design, City of Charlotte, to bring the work to Charlotte. In addition to being at The Mint, work by Antoine Williams will be installed on newspaper kiosks and private buildings throughout Charlotte.  The intention is to expand the exhibition beyond the museum boundaries, foster personal interaction with the work within our communities, and expand our collective understanding of how and where art can impact our lives. We will announce the installation and de-installation schedule so that Charlotteans who are interested in meeting Antoine can not only see the process, but talk to him one on one about art, culture, and the questions raised by the work. These installations will remain in Charlotte for 1-3 months, depending on site.

This dually-installed, public exhibition allows for a continuation of support of new and experimental methods of contemporary art making in Charlotte. Kidnapped Pagans creates a timely and creative dialogue around class, race and narrative within the African America perspective. As Charlotte investigates its challenges with economic mobility and cultural exchange, Williams’ work provides a unique opportunity to engage contemporary art, culture, narrative in a way that can foster greater exchange and understanding in a growing and learning Charlotte.

This project was made possible with support from the Knight Foundation and the Pollination Project.

Exhibition Description:

Kidnapped Pagans

“…And this is what it means to be an American Negro, this is who he is-a kidnapped

pagan, who was sold like an animal and treated like one…”  -James Baldwin

“I’m African-American, I’m African. I’m black as the moon, heritage of a small village

Pardon my residence. Came from the bottom of mankind, my hair is nappy… my nose is round

and wide.”  -Kendrick Lamar

Kidnapped Pagans is a site-specific installation of semi-autobiographical narrative vignettes by artist Antoine Williams. The installation, which will span the entirety of the front gallery, consisting of life-size figures made from wheat-paste and found object. These distorted figures are a part of the artist’s personal mythology, which, serves as metaphor for larger systemic issues that rest at the intersection of class, race, geography, and semiotics.

Also, within the space there will be one to two large to mid-size mixed media paintings that will encapsulate the narratives. Essentially this show will reflect the specifics of Black life in the southeast United States but echoes of contemporary issues we face as a nation.

About the Curator:

Kidnapped Pagans is organized by Jonell Logan, an independent curator and founder of 300 Arts Project. Logan recently curated the Lilith exhibition at The Light Factory, on view through April 6, 2017. Logan has worked at various museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Studio Museum in Harlem.

About the Artist:

Antoine Williams’ art practice is an investigation of his cultural identity through the exploration of societal signs as they relate to institutional inequities. He has created a mythology, which have become a narrative catalogue of loosely autobiographical humanoid beings that personify the complexities of perception, which can affect race, class, and masculinity. His works of art are heavily influenced by sci-fi literature from such authors as Octavia Butler and H.G. Wells. Themes in science fiction can be analogous to the Black experience in America. Therefore, Williams has created a world of beings that personify the complexity within hierarchies of power in everyday life. These figures manifest as mixed-media installations, paintings, drawings, and collage. These entities reference the Dadaist, who appropriated and re-contextualized images from society in order to create “anti-art”. Namely Hans Arp, who considered the destruction of “signs” as a subversive act. The signs he is interested in are tropes associated with the Black body within the American psyche.

In the vein of Felix Gonzales-Torres, Williams has a concern for making the personal, public. These beings (which are nameless) are inspired by personal experiences from a rural working class, upbringing, in Red Springs, North Carolina that related to wider contemporary concerns. Inspired by the Amiri Baraka poem “Something in the Way of Things”, these beings live in the intangible spaces that exist between the nuances of class and race. They are both born of and perpetuate the actions and thought processes due to social reproduction. They exist in an abstracted purgatory.

Call to action to #SavetheNEA, #SavetheNEH, #SavetheIMLS

Dear Mint Museum supporter:

 
President Trump’s newly proposed budget – released Thursday – cuts all funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and the Institute for Museum & Library Services (IMLS), among other agencies and programs. These cuts would have serious negative implications for The Mint Museum, its annual operating budget, and the arts community at large.

Please join our effort to be heard by contacting your elected officials or engaging your networks or social media circles to give them factual context about the Mint and the value we provide the community. You can click here for a link to take action, and use #SavetheNEA, #SavetheNEH, and #SavetheIMLS on social media.

We have also provided some Questions & Answers below for you to use when talking to others. The arts matter – let’s do our part to help fight these proposed cuts. Thank you for all you do to make the Mint accessible, relevant, and vital to the global community we work to serve with excellence and passion every day.

Q. Does the Mint receive funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, or the Institute for Museum & Library Services? 

A. In recent years these three agencies have provided the Mint nearly $300,000 in critical funding.

Q. Which Mint programs have been supported by funding from the NEA, NEH, or IMLS? 

A. In addition to general operating support provided by the North Carolina Arts Council each year, NEA grants have assisted Sunday Fun Days; digitization of our collections; and our teen program NexGen Mint (with some funding also supporting summer camp scholarships this year). NEH funds have supported preservation assistance for our collections, and the IMLS supported community outreach during the centennial of Romare Bearden’s birth. Additionally, the NEA and IMLS have supported Mint Museum Uptown’s Lewis Family Gallery and Art Packs and ArtVenture scavenger hunts distributed to thousands of families.

Q. What would the Mint do if these agencies were eliminated? 

A. There are many unanswered questions, including whether or not our annual NCAC operating support will be reduced or eliminated. While the consistent annual support the Mint receives from federal sources is not a large portion of our operations, we would need to replace this funding in order to maintain our commitment to serving our community.

Q. What can supporters of the Mint do to help? 

A. Please share this nformation with your own networks. You can also contact your elected officials and ask them to support these or other sources of arts funding. And, most of all, you can continue to be ambassadors of the Mint to our community, sharing news about the exceptional art and programming the Mint provides, and advocating for the museum as a powerful force for tourism, economic development, education, engagement, and inspiration to the community at large.

Below is additional information from the Association of Art Museum Directors:

Reach of the NEA: 

*No other arts funder-public or private-sends funds to every congressional district in every state and to all the U.S. territories.

*The NEA and NEH don’t tell states what to do with the funds they receive. The states set their own priorities.

*The NEA and NEH’s investment in state and regional arts organizations helps to bolster a strong arts and culture ecosystem in United States. 

*The loss of the NEA / NEH / IMLS would have the greatest impact on rural areas, low-income areas, and schoolchildren, seniors, and veterans.

Economic Factors: 

*Taxpayer investment in the NEA and NEH is minimal, just 94 cents per capita, less than the cost of one cup of coffee each year; but, 

*The NEA has a huge impact for that minimal investment. On average, each dollar awarded by the NEA to an arts organization enables that organization to leverage nine dollars from other sources. 

*This makes the NEA an economic driver, generating more than $600 million annually in these matching funds.

Thank you again for your support of the Mint and for assisting us in this call to action.

Sincerely,

Kathleen V. Jameson, Ph.D.

President & CEO, The Mint Museum

Media, hospitality industries invited to hear details of spring seasons

Members of the media and supporters are invited to hear details of the spring arts season for four of Charlotte’s key cultural institutions, including several new collaborations making their public debut.

Executives and staff from the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art; Blumenthal Performing Arts’ Knight Theater; the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture; and The Mint Museum will introduce their spring cultural offerings and updated slate of collaborative events. Highlights include:

“See All Three” tours debut April 23: Led by curatorial and creative staff at the three museums, participants are invited to experience special guided tours discussing common threads among exhibitions at the Bechtler, Gantt Center, and Mint. The tours are free for members who have joined any of the three museums at the $250 level or higher. The upcoming tour will focus on the evolution of abstraction during the 20^th century, beginning with Bechtler Collection: Relaunched and Rediscovered; continuing with The Future is Abstract at the Gantt Center; and concluding with the new special exhibition State of the Art: Discovering American Art Now, opening that weekend at Mint Museum Uptown.

Yoga at Levine Center for the Arts on May 18: In collaboration with Charlotte Five, the institutions will team up to host a FREE communitywide outdoor yoga class on the plaza at Levine Center for the Arts, followed by an evening of food trucks cash bars, and free gallery access at the three museums. The event will be at 5:30 p.m. on May 18, which is also International Art Museum Day. Look for more information soon at CharlotteFive.com.

#LongLiveArts Festival returns June 3: For the second year, all four LCA institutions are collaborating on a FREE community festival celebrating all the performing and visual arts the institutions offer to the community. The event will be 11 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturday June 3 and will feature performances, family-friendly activities, food trucks, and more.

ArtBreak tours continue monthly: Now entering their second year, the FREE docent-led tours are offered to the public at noon on the third Thursday of each month at each of the three museums. Themes for the tours shift every three months, allowing visitors to pick a different museum each month and have new experiences all year long. Since their debut in March 2016, the tours have drawn 769 visitors.

Following the presentation to those in attendance at the Mint on March 29, participants will be invited to select one of the three museums and experience an abbreviated “ArtBreak” tour for themselves. Other spring highlights at Levine Center for the Arts to be discussed include:

At Bechtler Museum of Modern Art

Celebrating Jean Tinguely and Santana (May 12 – September 10, 2017)

Swiss artist Jean Tinguely’s iconic sculpture Santana, completed in 1966, celebrated its 50th birthday in 2016. To mark the occasion, the museum will offer a survey of Tinguely’s development as an artist through a presentation of his sculptures both from the Bechtler collection and on loan, drawings and prints, and personal correspondence between the artist and the Bechtler family. Additionally, Alberto Giacometti: 45 Drawings Portfolio remains on view through June 5.

At Blumenthal Performing Arts’ Knight Theater

Charlotte Jazz Festival 2017, April 20-23: Blumenthal Performing Arts’ hit jazz festival returns to the Queen City this spring, once again featuring the critically acclaimed Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra under the leadership of musical director Wynton Marsalis. Sponsored by The Leon Levine Foundation, Charlotte Jazz Festival 2017 will take place at Levine Center for the Arts and Romare Bearden Park, with even more to offer than the inaugural sellout year. In a new collaboration, each jazz ticket purchased brings a free pass to the three Levine Center for the Arts museums ($20 value). Visit CharlotteJazzFestival.com, BlumenthalArts.org, or call 704.372.1000 for complete details and pricing.

At Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture

Four exhibitions remain on view through July 8: The Future is Abstract; Alison Saar: The Nature of Us; Zun Lee: Father Figure; and Jordan Casteel: Harlem Notes. This summer, the Center will feature private collections of African-American collectors. Additionally, the Center will discuss collaborations to bring art into the community with the Bechtler, Northwest School of the Arts, and the newly opened Renaissance West community.

At Mint Museum Uptown

On April 22, the Mint will debut State of the Art: Discovering American Art Now, an unprecedented survey of 75 works of contemporary art from every region of the country. Among the works will be the installation Slow Room by Jonathan Schipper, which will slowly self-destruct in front of visitors’ eyes over the course of four-plus months. Also included will be selections by North Carolina artist Bob Trotman. The exhibition, on view through September 3, is organized by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, and presented in Charlotte with generous support from PNC Financial Services, and additional support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and Young Affiliates of the Mint.

At Levine Center for the Arts

A generous grant from the THRIVE Fund is enabling the four institutions to work more closely together than ever before to increase visibility and access to the unified center. The $250,000 award from the THRIVE Fund over two years has made possible the center’s first-ever joint marketing campaign, created and administered by local firm Orbital Socket. A Levine Center for the Arts TV Ad, #LongLiveArts, created by Orbital Socket, won a Midsouth Regional Emmy Award earlier this year. The THRIVE Fund was established in 2013 to provide financial stability for Charlotte’s cultural sector under the leadership of Hugh McColl, former Bank of America chairman and CEO, and is currently administered by the Foundation For The Carolinas. The Mint Museum spearheaded the grant and is managing the project in collaboration with the other institutions. More information at levinecenterarts.org. Also, follow @LevineCenterArt on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

To RSVP or for further questions, contact:

Leigh Dyer

Director of Public Relations, The Mint Museum

704.337.2009

Leigh.Dyer@mintmuseum.org

ABOUT LEVINE CENTER FOR THE ARTS

Levine Center for the Arts is one of Charlotte’s major cultural destinations, home to Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, John S. and James L. Knight Theater, and Mint Museum Uptown. The Center was made possible through the support of the City of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, Campaign for Cultural Facilities, and The Leon Levine Foundation, one of the country’s largest and most impactful philanthropic organizations, along with the generosity of Bank of America Foundation, Wells Fargo Foundation, and Duke Energy Foundation, among many others.

ABOUT BECHTLER MUSEUM OF MODERN ART

The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art is dedicated to the exhibition of mid-20th-century modern art. It is named after the family of Andreas Bechtler, who assembled and inherited a collection created by seminal figures in modernism. The collection comprises more than 1,400 works. Some works are accompanied by books, photographs, and letters illustrating personal connections to the Bechtler family. For museum details visit bechtler.org.

ABOUT BLUMENTHAL PERFORMING ARTS + KNIGHT THEATER

Blumenthal Performing Arts serves the Carolinas as a leading cultural, entertainment and education provider. Blumenthal Performing Arts receives operating support from the Arts & Science Council and North Carolina Arts Council. Blumenthal Performing Arts is also supported by PNC Bank, sponsor of the PNC Broadway Lights. More information: blumenthalarts.org.

ABOUT HARVEY B. GANTT CENTER

Founded in 1974, Charlotte’s Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture (formerly the Afro-American Center) exists to present, preserve and celebrate the art, history and culture of African-Americans and others of the African Diaspora through dance, music, visual and literary arts, film, educational programs, theatre productions and community outreach. Named for Harvey Bernard Gantt, the prominent architect, community leader and former mayor of Charlotte, the Center is housed in an inspired and distinguished award-winning structure and is home to the nationally celebrated John and Vivian Hewitt Collection of African-American Art, which was generously donated by Bank of America. More information: ganttcenter.org.

ABOUT THE MINT MUSEUM

The Mint Museum is a leading, innovative museum of international art and design committed to engaging and inspiring all members of our global community. Established as the first art museum in North Carolina in 1936, The Mint Museum has grown to include two dynamic facilities, Mint Museum Uptown and Mint Museum Randolph, and currently boasts one of largest collections in the Southeast. Mint Museum Uptown houses an internationally renowned Craft + Design Collection, as well as collections of American and Modern & Contemporary Art. The five-story, 175,000 square-foot facility was designed by Machado and Silvetti Associates of Boston. Historic Mint Museum Randolph is located three miles to the south. More information: mintmuseum.org.

The Wyeths: Three Generations, Works from the Bank of America Collection to go on view March 11-August 13, 2017

For more than a century, the members of the Wyeth family have created works of art that have stirred the imagination and fascinated art lovers worldwide. The Mint Museum is now preparing to host an exhibition of Bank of America’s largest collection of unique works by one family, providing a window into the Wyeth family’s artists through more than 60 remarkable paintings, drawings, and photographs.

The Wyeths: Three Generations, Works from the Bank of America Collection will open March 11 and remain on view through August 13 at Mint Museum Randolph, 2730 Randolph Road in Charlotte. Members of the media and special guests are invited to preview the exhibition at 10 a.m. on Thursday March 9. Interviews with curators, Mint staff, and Bank of America representatives will be available, and media photography is permitted. RSVP to leigh.dyer@mintmuseum.org to attend.

“Through our Art in our Communities program, Bank of America has made our corporate art collection available for museums and nonprofit galleries around the world,” said Bank of America’s North Carolina and Charlotte Market President Charles Bowman, who also sits on the Mint’s board of trustees. “This is the first time this unique Wyeth exhibition will be on display in the South and the first time it’s been seen in the U.S. in seven years. We’re very excited to bring these generational works to the Mint Museum for the Charlotte community to enjoy.” In addition to lending the works to the Mint, the exhibition is sponsored by Bank of America.

“This is the most comprehensive exhibition of work by the members of the Wyeth family that the museum has ever hosted,” said Dr. Jonathan Stuhlman, the Mint’s Senior Curator of American, Modern, and Contemporary Art. “We extend our gratitude to Bank of America for sharing these treasures of American art with our visitors, who will delight in the opportunity to see so many of these beautifully-executed images of stories, people, and scenery created over the course of the entire 20th century.”

Patriarch N.C. Wyeth was one of the country’s foremost illustrators at the turn of the 20th century. Included in the exhibition are his illustrations for books by Robert Louis Stevenson and Washington Irving. N.C.’s son, Andrew, is known for his haunting, highly detailed realist paintings and is represented by works from the 1940s through the 1990s. Although not as well-known as her brother, Andrew, Henriette Wyeth was an accomplished artist who painted striking portraits, landscapes, and still lifes. She is represented in the exhibition, as is her husband, Peter Hurd, who chronicled the landscape of the American west. Andrew Wyeth’s son, Jamie, represents the third generation of the family in the show. Jamie continues the family’s tradition of realism using oil paint rather than his father’s preferred mediums of tempera and watercolor. His paintings often feature the people, animals, and landscapes of Maine and Pennsylvania, and are imbued with a unique sense of magic and mystery.

Charlotteans may remember the success of the Mint’s presentation of Andrew Wyeth’s “Helga” paintings in 2004-2005. This presentation is part of the ongoing celebration of the Mint’s 80^th anniversary year as North Carolina’s first art museum, and reflects its ongoing commitment to American art. This exhibition is accompanied by an illustrated brochure and a variety of educational programming, with details available at mintmuseum.org/happenings. Among the special guests during the exhibition’s run will be Victoria Wyeth, granddaughter of Andrew Wyeth, who will appear for a FREE “ Evening with Victoria Wyeth ” talk at 6 p.m. on Wednesday March 29.

IMAGE: Jamie Wyeth (1946- ), The Tempest, A Triptych, 1999, watercolor, gouache, and varnish highlights on gray archival cardboard. Bank of America Collection.

Second art show headed to Level 5 expansion space

The Young Affiliates of the Mint (the “YAMs”) announce their Second Annual Art Show, Gendered: An Inclusive Art Show, to be held in Mint Museum Uptown’s Level 5 expansion space, with a call to artists to submit bodies of work that explore intersectionalities with gender, race, class, and identity. Gendered will be a group exhibition including 10-15 artists, each of whom will show a body of cohesive work to be selected by guest curators. The Young Affiliates are accepting submissions now through March 26, 2017. The show will be regional, accepting entries from artists living and/or making art in the Southeastern states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Virginia.  Artists must submit high resolution images of the works submitted, an artist statement, and a CV. The entry fee is $40 for up to 15 works of art from a cohesive body of work. Gendered will open to the public on June 16, 2017 and be on view until July 21, 2017 with additional programming to be announced in conjunction with the show.

80×80: An Art Show , the Young Affiliates’ Inaugural Art Show, was awarded BEST EXHIBITION OF 2016 by the readers of Creative Loafing. Held in June of 2016 at Mint Museum Uptown, opening night was attended by over 600 people. 80×80 featured 80 works in honor of Mint Museum’s 80th anniversary, opening a dialogue between artists, unbridled from any overarching theme, content, medium, or geographic parameters. A featured 80×80 piece, ’Impala’ by Anne Lemanski of Spruce Pine, N.C., was acquired by The Mint Museum through a generous private donation and is currently on view at the Schiff-Bresler Family Fiber Art Gallery at the Uptown location.

For submissions and more information about GENDERED visit youngaffiliates.org/gendered  

For questions regarding GENDERED, email: youngaffiliatesartshow@gmail.com

For more questions about Young Affiliates email: youngaffiliatespr@gmail.com

ABOUT THE YOUNG AFFILIATES:

The Young Affiliates of the Mint Museum is the longest running young professional group and the premier social arts organization for young professionals in Charlotte, North Carolina. For 27 years, the YAMs have supported the Mint Museum through a variety of social, cultural, leadership, and fundraising activities and events. The YAMs have made substantial donations of tangible and intangible goods to The Mint Museum since 1990.

New fiber art works in space named for Schiff-Bresler Family

The Mint Museum is pleased to announce a new named space in the Craft & Design Galleries at Mint Museum Uptown. Through the generosity of the Bresler Family Foundation, the Schiff-Bresler Family Fiber Art Gallery was inaugurated in recent weeks with a stunning installation including five new acquisitions in honor of Fleur Bresler, an initiative of the Mint Museum of Craft + Design Board of Directors. A longtime craft supporter, collector, quilt maker, donor, and friend of the Mint, Fleur and her late husband Charles Bresler gifted thirty-six historic American quilts to the Mint in 2001 and 2002. Fleur Bresler also donated a rare iconic Etruscan Chair by Danny Lane to the Mint in 2011.

As part of the Mint’s ongoing “Year of the Woman,” the museum is celebrating Fleur Bresler for all she has done to advance craft in this country, for her dedication to artists, at all stages of their careers, and for true philanthropy, raising the bar high, and leading by example. The “Year of the Woman” began in summer 2016 with the celebration of the museum’s 80^th anniversary as an institution founded by women, led by women, and known for pioneering exhibitions of work by women artists.

Five of the new acquisitions demonstrate the museum’s collection development in Craft + Design to focus on 21^st-century innovative international works. Highlights of the inaugural installation include Impala, a free standing sculpture by Anne Lemanski, designed and created in Charlotte during Lemanski’s residency at the McColl Center for Art + Innovation earlier this year and purchased by the Bresler Family expressly for the fiber art initiative. Wall mounted fiber art includes Chance of Flurries 2011, by another North Carolina-based artist, Nava Lubelski; Dream Year: 2015 by Mi-Kyoung Lee; Wall Hanging 3 2015, by Tanya Aguiñiga; and in between sculpture and wall hanging, displayed in a gigantic light box, Quilt Film Quilt 2015 by Sabrina Gschwandtner.

The inaugural installation also features a newly acquired furnishing panel designed by Anni Albers for Knoll, Eclat 1974, and a lace composition Fragments of My Dreams 3 1980, by fiber art pioneer Luba Krejci. Punctuating the new accessions are John Garrett’s Tales Told on a Sunday Afternoon Between Los Cordovas and the Pilar Landslide 1997, Claire Zeisler’s Blue Vision 1981, Ramona Sakiestewa’s Migration/9 2000, and the Project Ten Ten Ten installation  Urban Color Palette, Charlotte 2010, by Hildur Bjarnadóttir.

The works are expected to remain on view through October 2017 in the Level 3 galleries, which are accessible FREE each Wednesday evening from 5-9 p.m. and available via general admission during the remainder of regular operating hours.

Call NOW to book your private tour and workshop between December 2016 and February 2017!

Join us for a unique art experience at The Mint Museum! Discover the compelling life stories of the women artists featured in Women of Abstract Expressionism and Fired Up: Contemporary Glass by Women Artists from the Toledo Museum of Art . 

This two-hour program features catered refreshments and a private, expert-led tour of the Mint’s two premier exhibitions, followed by thoughtful discussion led by Sharon Lachow-Blumberg. Sharon is an accomplished psychological coach, facilitator of change, coloring book artist, and author. Her consulting firm, I’m Not Done Yet, helps individuals and organizations thrive through change and transition, with a focus on outcomes and engagement.

Challenge yourself and others to think creatively to overcome obstacles and live a relevant, resilient, and remarkable life. Please round up your network of women friends and colleagues and book your program today.

Mint Museum Uptown

Reservations available Wednesdays – Fridays in December 2016 and January and February 2017

Noon – 2 p.m. or 4 – 6 p.m.

Maximum Group Size:12

$40 per person

Please call Julie Olson Anna at 704.337.2043 or Julie.olsonanna@mintmuseum.org to secure your Women2Women Museum Experience now!

Click here for more information about Group Tours .

It’s all part of the Mint’s Year of the Woman! Visit mintmuseum.org/80th to learn more.

The Mint Museum Partners with Latin American Women’s Association to offer arts education opportunities to families in need.

The Mint Museum offers the opportunity to give someone a gift that brings a full year of inspiring experiences, while simultaneously helping a family in need. For every gift membership purchased through December 31, the Mint will give a free family membership to a family participating in the Latin American Women’s Association mentoring program.

The program focuses on parenting and school engagement and focuses on children attending schools in low-income neighborhoods. “The partnership with The Mint Museum in this Gift of Membership Campaign provides opportunities for many Latino families to take part in the programs offered by the Mint. Families will be enriched as they become members and enhance their quality of life by being exposed to the arts and beyond,” said Violeta Moser, Executive Director of the Latin American Women’s Association (LAWA).

Mint memberships bring a full year of unlimited free admission to the museum as well as discounts on shopping, art classes, summer camps, and other members-only opportunities throughout the year.

The partnership has grown from the Mint’s acclaimed Latino Initiative, which focuses on bringing under-served families to the museum as well as ongoing outreach to the Latino community.

Increasingly, educators are recognizing the value of arts education in training and developing the American workforce for innovation – a movement known as “STEM to STEAM,” or adding art and design to the traditional fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

And during the holiday season, studies and surveys are showing that gift-givers are increasingly looking for one-of-a-kind experiences for their loved ones instead of, or alongside, material gifts.

Mint memberships support nearly all aspects of museum operations, including opportunities for student field trips; special free programming for the community; guest speakers; and more. Membership prices range from $25-$100 per year (plus tax) with levels for teachers, students, individuals, couples, families, seniors, and out-of-towners. Mint members also receive reciprocal benefits at designated Southeastern museums. Higher giving levels bring more benefits to Sustainer, Benefactor, and Crown Society members. For more information, visit mintmuseum.org/join or call 704.337.2018. For more information about LAWA, visit lawanc.org .

From October 13-27, enjoy a prix fixe menu at Halcyon and cultural attraction discounts!

Join Halcyon, Flavors from the Earth Restaurant and the Levine Center for the Arts cultural attractions during Center City #Oktoberfeast !

From October 13-27, enjoy a three-course prix fixe menu at the restaurant dubbed “one of America’s best museum restaurants” by Travel + Leisure. Choose a salad, entrée, dessert, and wine for just $42. And combine your restaurant stay with a trip to a cultural attraction! For this two-week period, the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, and Mint Museum Uptown are offering special discounts on shopping and museum admission to anyone who mentions Center City #Oktoberfeast! Enjoy $2 off general admission at the Mint; $2 off general admission at the Bechtler; or a special $5 admission rate at the Gantt Center ($4 off adult general admission). And don’t forget to visit the museum shops – all three museum shops are offering 10 percent off of total purchase to anyone who mentions Center City Oktoberfeast*! Levine Center for the Arts also includes Knight Theater, so you can also combine your visit with a Blumenthal Performing Arts or Charlotte Ballet show during the next two weeks!

Visit the Charlotte Center City Partners event page on Facebook  to find other delectable offers at uptown and South End restaurants during the next two weeks. And it all finishes with the inaugural Uptown Crawl on October 27 !

Halcyon, Flavors From The Earth

Center City OctoberFeast Menu

First Course (Please Choose One):

Salad Lyonnaise

Poached Egg. Benton’s Bacon Lardons. Frisee. Mustard Vinaigrette.

Cast Iron Salad

Brussel Sprouts. Onion. Sweet Potato. Walnuts. Gorgonzola. Pomegranate Vinaigrette.

Entrée Course (Please Choose One):

Butter Poached Spanish Sole

Potato Brandade. Smoked Shellfish. Lemon-Dill Butter Sauce

Petite Ribeye

Poached Egg. Trumpet Mushrooms. Roasted Shallots. Hollandaise. Demiglace

Dessert Course

House-Crafted Dark Chocolate Truffle with Daily Ice Cream

To Accompany Dinner, Please Enjoy A Glass Of One Of The Following:

Le Jade Picpoul de Pinet (White)

Or

Nozieres Ambroise de l’Her Malbec, Cahors (Red)

$42.00 

taxes and service are additional

*$50 purchases or more at the Gantt Center; no minimum purchase at the Mint or the Bechtler.

Dr. Leo Twiggs’ “Requiem for Mother Emanuel” series opens dialogue about racial conflict, tragedy, redemption, and forgiveness

The Mint Museum will host an exhibition of Dr. Leo Twiggs’ moving nine-painting cycle Requiem for Mother Emanuel . Twiggs, who lives and works in South Carolina, is one of the region’s most significant artists whose paintings have long dealt with the South’s difficult racial history. He conceived of the series, which he has described as dealing with one of the most difficult and important subjects he has ever undertaken, as a response to the tragic events of June 17, 2015 in Charleston, South Carolina.

In this cycle, Twiggs, in the words of Furman professor Dr. Courtney Tollison Hartness, sought to cope with “not only the horrors of the event,” but also to create an “outlet for his amazement as South Carolinians united in grief and the Confederate battle flag was removed from the State House grounds.” Twiggs himself states: “My paintings are a testimony to the nine who were slain. But I also record another moment: our state’s greatest moment . . . a response that moved us from tragedy to redemption. For one shining moment we looked at each other not as different races but as human beings.”

The cycle was recently on view at The Johnson Collection in Spartanburg, S.C., where it drew national attention after its impact on the coaches and captains of the Carolina Panthers NFL team. As Panthers’ captain Thomas Davis noted after viewing the exhibition in Spartanburg this summer, “I’m glad we had the opportunity to experience this. We know that seeing these paintings doesn’t change what happened, but I think it’s something that families can look upon and have a sense of relief knowing that they haven’t lost their family members in vain.” ESPN has produced a segment about the Panthers’ reaction to the exhibition which will air prior to the Panthers’ Monday Night Football broadcast on the evening of Monday October 10.

The Mint Museum’s President & CEO, Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson, noted that her institution had been considering hosting the Twiggs exhibition since August; however, recent events in Charlotte served to “cement the Mint’s commitment and have deepened and underscored the museum’s ongoing mission to utilize art as a means of fostering an open dialogue about critical issues facing our community.”

The Twiggs exhibition will open at Mint Museum Randolph, 2730 Randolph Road, on November 23, 2016 and run through February 19, 2017. The museum is in the process of developing related programming accompanying the exhibition that will foster meaningful dialogue around the issues central to Twiggs’ art. The exhibition will be open during regular operating hours, which include four FREE hours of community access each Wednesday from 5-9 p.m. During other hours normal general admission fees apply.

MEDIA NOTE: Media are invited to preview the exhibition at 10 a.m. on Tuesday November 22. RSVP or send questions to leigh.dyer@mintmuseum.org.

Pop-up show featuring dresses fashioned from billboards will be open FREE at Mint Museum Uptown October 19-30

Outdoor Is In, a pop-up fashion exhibition of 19 dresses created from re-imagined and recycled vinyl billboards and organized by Adams Outdoor Advertising, will be on view to the public FREE at Mint Museum Uptown from Wednesday October 19 through Sunday, October 30.

The show, which features a dress from a recycled Mint Museum billboard along with billboard dresses from 15 other local and national businesses and nonprofits, will be open FREE to visitors during regular museum operating hours both weeks at Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts, 500 South Tryon Street. (11 a.m.-9 p.m. Wednesday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, and 1-5 p.m. Sunday). Visitors may enter Level 5 without paying museum general admission if they wish to see only the fashion exhibition during their visits.

The show is in partnership with the Mint’s Year of the Woman, which is bringing two nationally pioneering exhibitions to Charlotte. Women of Abstract Expressionism, organized by the Denver Art Museum, is making its East Coast debut, and Fired Up: Contemporary Glass by Women Artists from the Toledo Museum of Art will be on view exclusively at the Mint. Both open to the public October 22, the 80^th anniversary of the Mint’s founding as the state’s first art museum, and will be open FREE during a community celebration weekend October 22-23.

“When we heard about the Mint’s celebration of the Year of the Woman, we recognized immediately that our first-of-its-kind project would be a perfect fit with the theme since the artists and designers who created the incredible dresses are all women,” said Jeannine Dodson of Adams Outdoor Advertising.

The concept for the Outdoor Is In fashion show came from a dress designed by Flavia Lovatelli, a Columbia, S.C. artist whose art was featured on a billboard as part of ArtPop, a collaboration between the Arts & Science Council and Adams Outdoor Advertising of Charlotte. Flavia at the time of being chosen for ArtPop was living in Charlotte (2014) and has since moved to Columbia. Lovatelli transformed her ArtPop billboard into a ball gown and inspired Adams Outdoor Advertising to challenge her and six other artists to re-imagine other billboards for an invite-only runway show at Mint Museum Uptown on Sept. 29. ArtPop is a national 501c3, headquartered and founded here in Charlotte whose mission is to promote local artists work through available media space. Art + Public Outdoor Project = ArtPop. The program is in 11 other cities.

Other Outdoor Is In designers, who call themselves “TrashionArtistas,” are Elyse Frederick of Charlotte, Edelweiss De Guzman of Mooresville, Rocio Llusca of Charlotte, Teresa Rench of Fort Mill, Althea Womack of Augusta, and Marynel Watters of Cornelius. The designers used billboards from the following companies and nonprofits: Anheuser-Busch, Dunkin Donuts, Carolinas Healthcare System, Chick-Fil-A, Coca-Cola, Fink’s Jewelers, Hendrick Honda on South Boulevard, Husqvarna, Miller Coors, Killingsworth Environmental, McDonald’s, The Mint Museum, Nichols Store, Pepsi, Second Harvest Food Bank, and Wells Fargo.

As part of the partnership, Adams Outdoor will be advertising Outdoor Is In along with the rest of the Mint’s Year of the Woman lineup on billboards around the Charlotte region.

Outdoor Is In is the latest pop-up show in the Mint’s Level 5 expansion space, home to the previous groundbreaking shows 80 x 80, featuring 80 contemporary works of art organized by Young Affiliates of the Mint; Moment Mile, a photography exhibition from The Light Factory; and The Boombox Project, an exhibition of photos by Lyle Owerko organized by SOCO Gallery. The 15,000 square foot expansion space, still raw and unfinished, was first unveiled in 2014 as part of a partnership with Wells Fargo. The museum is still developing its longer-range plans for the expansion space and plans to continue experimenting with new and creative art concepts there.

See more about Outdoor Is In at mintmuseum.org/art . Learn more about the Year of the Woman at mintmuseum.org/80th . Members of the media may view the show during the media preview for Women of Abstract Expressionism and Fired Up: Contemporary Glass by Women Artists from the Toledo Museum of Art on Friday, October 21 at 9:30 a.m. Light breakfast will be served and curators will be available for interviews. RSVP to leigh.dyer@mintmuseum.org.

The fashion show and exhibition reflect Adams Outdoor Advertising’s commitment to recycling and protecting the environment. Designers used EcoFlex Vinyl, which has biodegradable properties, to make many of the Outdoor Is In ensembles.

Another program demonstrating Adams Outdoor Advertising’s recycling efforts is Upcycle Life, a Charlotte-based nonprofit that trains and employs refugee women in our community.

*Flavia, Elyse Frederick & Rocio Llusca 3 of the designers in the Mint/Adams couture are all current or former #ArtPopCLT artists.

For more information about ArtPop, please visit their website ArtPopStreetGallery.com .

ABOUT ADAMS OUTDOOR ADVERTISING

Adams Outdoor Advertising, with its flagship office in Charlotte, is celebrating this year its 30th anniversary in the Charlotte metro market. With offices in 14 cities in the U.S., Adams is a full-service billboard company that works to provide local, regional and international clients with the best overall media strategy for their products and services.

Media invited to hear Bechtler, Blumenthal, Gantt, and Mint discuss fall plans

In a new “first” for Levine Center for the Arts, members of the media and key supporters are invited to the 46^th floor of the Duke Energy Center to hear details of the fall arts season for four of Charlotte’s key cultural institutions.

Executives and staff from the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art; Blumenthal Performing Arts’ Knight Theater; the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture; and The Mint Museum will introduce their fall cultural offerings and updated slate of collaborative events for Levine Center for the Arts. The Duke Energy Foundation has generously allowed the institutions to host the event in the “Vista” space on the 46^th floor of the Duke Energy Center, one of Charlotte’s landmark skyscrapers and a key part of the Levine Center for the Arts campus.

Among the collaborative efforts they will discuss: The cultural institutions are participating in the inaugural “Uptown Crawl” gallery event, opening their spaces to uptown pedestrians and bicyclists in a FREE event on September 22; they continue to collaborate on FREE monthly ArtBreak tours targeting the uptown lunch-hour crowd; in a first-of-its-kind effort, the four young-professional organizations of the cultural institutions are collaborating on a special “progressive” event for spring 2017; and following the highly successful inaugural #LongLiveArts community festival in May, the institutions are planning a second event for June 2017. Details on these and other efforts will be available at the media event. It will be moderated by the “Arts Guy,” local personality Adam Patwa, who recently debuted as the new face of Levine Center for the Arts. The marketing effort was created by Charlotte firm Orbital Socket and made possible by the THRIVE Fund, administered by Foundation For The Carolinas.

Fall highlights at Levine Center for the Arts include:

At Bechtler Museum of Modern Art

Upcoming Exhibitions

Bechtler Collection: Relaunched and Rediscovered (September 30, 2016 – April 23, 2017)

This exhibition expands on works from the museum’s collection including modern and contemporary artists. The impetus for the show comes from extensive new research into the collection and the artists in the holdings, many of whom have very little material available in English. Significant findings from the research will be included in the exhibition.

Celebrating Jean Tinguely and Santana (May 12, 2017 – September 10, 2017)

Swiss artist Jean Tinguely’s iconic sculpture Santana, completed in 1966, celebrated its 50th birthday in 2016.  To mark the occasion, the museum will offer a survey of Tinguely’s development as a sculptor through a presentation of his sculptures both from the Bechtler collection and on loan, drawings and prints, and personal correspondence between the artist and the Bechtler family.

Programming

Bechtler By Night – In partnership with Bank of America, the museum opens its four gallery floors to the public, free of charge, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. the third Friday of each month.

Jazz at the Bechtler – Mid-century art meets mid-century music on the first Friday of each month. Jazz concerts are performed by the Ziad Jazz Quartet.

Music and Museums – An innovative classical music concert/lecture program that fuses image, music, and conversation to provide a deeper understanding of selected artistic works.

Modernism + Film – Investigates themes in design, engineering, architecture and modern/contemporary art through the lens of film.

Family Day – Learn about the art and artists of Bechtler Collection and engage imaginations.

Community Outreach available to the public

Low to No Vision sponsored by Horizon Eye Care – Partnering with Metrolina Association for the Blind and other local and regional organizations, the museum offers tactile tours of select pieces from the collection to present a more meaningful museum experience for the low-to-no vision community.

Museum Memories – caters to those with early stage dementia and their caregivers.

At Blumenthal Performing Arts’ Knight Theater

Breakin’ Convention, Sept. 30-Oct. 1, 2016

Breakin’ Convention, the renowned international festival of hip hop dance, is returning to the Queen City! Direct from London’s Sadler’s Wells theatre, the festival will feature performances by hip hop stars from around the globe and from the neighborhoods of Charlotte at Levine Center for the Arts Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. This two-day celebration of hip hop culture will feature Friday and Saturday night shows at the Knight Theater showcasing some of the world’s great hip hop stars. During the day on Oct 1, enjoy Street Jam – a FREE festival at Spirit Square.  Free activities and performances for the whole family include: live DJs, workshops, graffiti, and other elements of hip hop culture.

A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder, Nov. 22 – Dec. 4, 2016

Getting away with murder can be so much fun… and there’s no better proof than the knock-‘em-dead hit show that’s earned unanimous raves and won the 2014 Tony Award® for Best Musical. Coming direct from New York, where a most gentlemanly NPR critic said he’d “Never laughed so hard at a Broadway musical,” Gentleman’s Guide tells the uproarious story of Monty Navarro, a distant heir to a family fortune who sets out to jump the line of succession, by any means necessary. The New York Times cheers, “It will lift the hearts of all those who’ve been pining for what sometimes seems a lost art form.”

At Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture

The exhibitions Shaping the Vessel, Nellie Ashford: Through My Eyes and Quilts & Social Fabric remain in the galleries through January 16, 2017.

Upcoming programming includes:

• Gantt Symposium 2016 with Anna Deavere Smith on September 22.

Acclaimed widely for her roles in “The West Wing,” “Nurse Jackie,” and “black-ish,” actress and playwright Anna Deavere Smith uses her singular brand of theatre to highlight issues of community, character and diversity in America and turns her interviews into scripts, transforming herself into an astonishing number of characters in this one-woman lecture performance.  A private Youth Symposium at Northwest School of the Arts the following day will serve as the launch of a new CMS partnership.

• The Heritage & History Series features nationally noted artists and scholars who preserve Black culture through an array of disciplines.  In hosting each culture keeper, the Gantt Center invites public participation in special events and experiences that illuminate important stories and engage audiences. Series programs include The Family Collage with Journalist A’Lelia Bundles on Tuesday, October 11 and 9^th Wonder, the Harvard Hip Hop Fellow on Thursday, November 17.

Continuing the yearlong theme, Redefining Art, the Gantt Center will open three new exhibitions on January 28, 2017:

o   The Future is Abstract

o   Alison Saar: Bearing Weight. Bearing Witness.

o   Jordan Casteel: Harlem

At Mint Museum Uptown

Join the Mint for the “Year of the Woman.” The museum was founded by women; has been led by women; and is celebrating female artists with its fall slate of exhibitions, both of which open to the public on the museum’s 80^th anniversary – October 22, 2016. More information on the fall slate, including a FREE community weekend October 22-23, is available at mintmuseum.org/80th .

Women of Abstract Expressionism (October 22, 2016-January 22, 2016)

This fall The Mint Museum is the only East Coast venue for this groundbreaking exhibition, the first major museum exhibition to focus on the innovative women artists affiliated with the Abstract Expressionist movement during its seminal years between 1945 and 1960. Organized by the Denver Art Museum, it will feature approximately 50 energetic, colorful, large-scale paintings created by 12 artists, including Helen Frankenthaler, Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Joan Mitchell, Grace Hartigan, Judith Godwin, Perle Fine, Deborah Remington, Jay DeFeo, and Sonia Getchoff. It is presented to the community by Wells Fargo Private Bank. Additional generous support provided by the Mint Museum Auxiliary, Duke Energy, Electrolux, and Davidson College.

Fired Up: Contemporary Glass by Women Artists from the Toledo Museum of Art (October 22, 2016-February 26, 2017)

Fired Up, co-organized by the Toledo Museum of Art and exclusively on view at Mint Museum Uptown, is the first American art museum exhibition about contemporary women artists who work with glass. It presents outstanding glass sculptures from Toledo’s renowned Glass Pavilion as well as recent acquisitions to their collection, on view for the first time in this exhibition. International in scope, over 40 sculptures are included in the exhibition, including works by Emily Brock, Lee Bul, Lisa Lou, Karen Lamonte, Silvia Levenson, Maya Lin, Laura de Santillana, Sibylle Peretti, Sylvie Vandenhoucke, and April Surgent. The exhibition has received generous support from Novant Health and UTC Aerospace Systems.

At Levine Center for the Arts

Levine Center for the Arts, named for local philanthropists Sandra and Leon Levine, was completed in 2010 through the support of the Campaign for Cultural Facilities; the City of Charlotte; and Mecklenburg County. A generous grant from the THRIVE Fund is enabling the four institutions to work more closely together than ever before to increase visibility and access to the unified center. The $250,000 award from the THRIVE Fund over two years is making possible the center’s first-ever joint marketing campaign. The THRIVE Fund was established in 2013 to provide financial stability for Charlotte’s cultural sector under the leadership of Hugh McColl, former Bank of America chairman and CEO, and is currently administered by the Foundation For The Carolinas. The Mint Museum spearheaded the grant and is managing the project in collaboration with the other institutions. More information at levinecenterarts.org .

WHEN: Tuesday Sept. 20 at 10 a.m.

WHERE: Duke Energy Center, 550 South Tryon Street, Charlotte – “Vista” space on the 46th floor

WHAT: Enjoy a light breakfast, soaring views, and updates on the fall arts season at the four Levine Center for the Arts institutions – the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art; Blumenthal Performing Arts’ Knight Theater;  Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture; and The Mint Museum

RSVP: No later than 9 a.m. on Monday Sept. 19. E-mail leigh.dyer@mintmuseum.org or call 704.337.2009. PLEASE NOTE: All media who wish to attend must be added to Duke Energy’s admission list 24 hours in advance; no last-minute additions. Please send a “yes” even if you are still a “maybe” – it’s easier to drop off later!

12th annual Mint Museum Potters Market Invitational set for Saturday, September 10

Collectors and pottery lovers will have access to the latest works by leaders in the rich tradition of North Carolina pottery when potters from across North Carolina and surrounding areas return to Mint Museum Randolph for the 12th annual Mint Museum Potters Market Invitational on Saturday, September 10, 2016.

Fifty outstanding North Carolina potters and two South Carolina potters have been invited to participate in this year’s event presented by the Delhom Service League, the ceramics affiliate of The Mint Museum, promoting ceramic arts and education. They’ll come from Seagrove, Western N.C., the Catawba Valley, and the Piedmont, and set up their booths in a tent on the lawn of the museum with remarkable works in clay – useful wares including mugs, teapots and jars, as well as over sized pots, contemporary art pottery, and sculptures. It’s like a shopping tour of the state’s best potteries all under one tent in one day. Attendees have the opportunity to get to know the potters as well as their work.

The addition of Winton and Rosa Eugene, from Cowpens, S.C., to the lineup of potters broadens the regional focus while keeping the spotlight squarely on North Carolina pottery traditions. Other well-known participating potters include Akira Satake, Ben Owen III, Cristina Cordova, Eric Knoche, and Julie Wiggins. Every year, hundreds of pottery enthusiasts line up in advance of the opening to gain access to the day’s best treasures.

The Delhom Service League dedicates the 2016 Potters Market Invitational to Daisy Wade Bridges (1932-2015), and is proud to honor her by establishing the Daisy Wade Bridges Purchase Prize from the Potters Market Invitational. Daisy Wade Bridges collected avidly and widely, and it is a certainty that without her dedicated support and enthusiasm there would not be a ceramics collection at The Mint Museum. One of Bridges’ favorite projects was the Potters Market Invitational, and each year she generously donated to the museum several pieces of pottery from this event, making certain that the museum’s North Carolina pottery collection would be broadened and inclusive. Bridges was a major force in ensuring the prominent place The Mint Museum holds in the world of ceramics.

The Delhom Service League is celebrating its 40th Birthday this year. Established in 1976, this unique organization has grown from a few students of ceramics to over one hundred men and women who not only study the history of ceramics but also work to present educational programming, support the ceramics collection, add volumes to the Delhom-Gambrell Library, and provide funds for the purchase of objects to enhance the collection. Their most recent projects include funding the publication British Ceramics 1675-1825, a catalogue of the collection edited by Brian Gallagher, Curator of Decorative Arts, as well as support for the new installation of the European ceramics collection throughout Mint Museum Randolph.

The $10 admission fee includes access to the potters’ tent from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. as well as free admission to the museum and docent led gallery tours. “Many of the potters that will be selling under the tent also have objects in the museum collection,” says Joe Skwara, who chairs the project this year for Delhom Service League and also serves as a docent. “Potters Market Invitational is such a great opportunity to connect with artists as real, live people, and then see their art inside the museum.”

Additionally, there are folk musicians, pottery-making demonstrations, and food. Children 12 and under are admitted free of charge when accompanied by an adult. Newly on view in the galleries will be the re-installation of the museum’s North Carolina pottery collection , which was guest curated by North Carolina potter David Stuempfle to reflect work by artists whose work is included in Potters Market Invitational. A free shuttle connects Mint Museum Randolph to Mint Museum Uptown from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. so visitors may experience both locations.

Individual sponsorships of $100 include Early Admission at 9:15 a.m. in advance of the general public. Special parking and continental breakfast are also included. Individual sponsorships of $150 also include attendance at the Meet the Potters Party being held Friday, September 9 from 6:30-9 p.m. Sponsors will enjoy dinner, music, and an opportunity to mingle with the potters and other pottery enthusiasts. Funds raised by Potters Market Invitational provide acquisitions of pottery and library materials for the Mint.

Potters Market Invitational admission tickets and sponsorships are available at the door and in advance at mintmuseum.org/happenings/1026. For questions, please email delhomserviceleague@gmail.com or call 704.337.2000. See our rack card and list of potters. Find Potters Market Invitational on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.

“Women of Abstract Expressionism” and “Fired Up: Women in Glass” to open October 22

Women were the driving force behind the founding of The Mint Museum as North Carolina’s first art museum. Women, including current President & CEO Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson, have provided exemplary leadership to the Mint. And now, the museum is preparing to celebrate women artists with two exhibitions opening on the museum’s 80^th anniversary this October 22.

Members of the media and special guests are invited to preview Women of Abstract Expressionism and Fired Up: Contemporary Glass by Women Artists from the Toledo Museum of Art on Friday, October 21 at 9:30 a.m. at Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts, 500 South Tryon Street in Charlotte. Light breakfast will be served and curators will be available for interviews. RSVP to leigh.dyer@mintmuseum.org.

Weston M. Andress, PNC Regional President for Western Carolinas and chair of The Mint Museum Board of Trustees, has issued a proclamation declaring the fiscal year running July 2016 through June 2017 to be the “Year of the Woman,” and the museum has launched a new website portal, video, and slate of community events to invite the global community to celebrate alongside the museum. See full details, and an interactive timeline recounting the museum’s history, at mintmuseum.org/80th/ .

“The Mint has planned a great year of exhibitions and events that showcase women’s contributions to the museum since its founding,” Andress said. “We hope the community will join us to help celebrate our 80th anniversary year.”

Added Dr. Jameson: “As the first woman to serve as President & CEO of The Mint Museum, and following in the steps of the many women who played instrumental roles over the years, I am pleased to be able to observe this historically significant event, and to help bring these two world-class exhibitions to the community.”

The Mint Museum’s building was originally the first branch of the U.S. Mint outside Philadelphia when it was constructed in 1836. It fell into disuse and was threatened with demolition by the 1930s, but a group of Charlotte residents led by Mary Myers Dwelle fought to preserve it and move it to its current location in Eastover, where it is now known as Mint Museum Randolph. It opened to the public on October 22, 1936. Mint Museum Uptown opened in 2010 as part of Levine Center for the Arts, the same year that Dr. Jameson became President & CEO.

Women of Abstract Expressionism on view Oct. 22, 2016-Jan. 22, 2017

This fall The Mint Museum is the only East Coast venue for this groundbreaking exhibition, the first major museum exhibition to focus on the innovative women artists affiliated with the Abstract Expressionist movement during its seminal years between 1945 and 1960.

The exhibition, which was on view at the Denver Art Museum through September 25, has garnered significant attention from press and critics across the country, with Time Magazine calling it an “indispensable show.” Along with shining a spotlight on the women who were key participants in the movement, the exhibition also emphasizes the role that artists working on the West Coast played in its development. It also reveals the broad range of styles and techniques that these artists employed, from pouring and staining to slashing and swirling brushwork.

Visitors to Mint Museum Uptown will be delighted and inspired by approximately 50 energetic, colorful, large-scale paintings created by 12 of these artists. While some of the women are well-known, such as Helen Frankenthaler, Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Joan Mitchell, and Grace Hartigan, the work of others, ranging from Judith Godwin, Perle Fine, and Deborah Remington to Jay DeFeo and Sonia Getchoff, will be a revelation.

Women of Abstract Expressionism will be accompanied by a variety of engaging lectures and events as well as a fully-illustrated catalogue published by Yale University Press featuring contributions by its curator, Dr. Gwen Chanzit, and scholars Robert Hobbs, Ellen Landau, Susan Landauer, Joan Marter, and Irving Sandler. Following its run at the Mint, the exhibition will travel to Palm Springs Art Museum in February 2017.

This exhibition is presented to the community by Wells Fargo Private Bank. Additional generous support provided by Duke Energy, Electrolux, the Mint Museum Auxiliary, and Davidson College.

Fired Up: Contemporary Glass by Women Artists from the Toledo Museum of Art exclusively on view at the Mint Oct. 22, 2016-Feb. 26, 2017

Color and form create instinctual appeal in glass – the most versatile and seductive of materials. Fired Up, co-organized by the Mint and the Toledo Museum of Art and exclusively on view at Mint Museum Uptown, is the first American art museum exhibition about contemporary women artists who work with glass.

At the beginning of the studio glass movement that originated at the Toledo Museum of Art in the 1960s, women were overshadowed by their male counterparts, rarely encouraged to explore glass techniques by their teachers, and discouraged from entering the field due to the financial commitment required to operate a glass studio, from equipment to the team of assistants necessary to the collaborative process of studio glass. Today, in the “post studio” era, the situation has changed; here and abroad, women are among the most innovative glass artists and their contributions to both the technical and content aspects of their art are exceptional.

Fired Up presents outstanding glass sculptures from Toledo’s renowned Glass Pavilion as well as recent acquisitions to their collection, on view for the first time in this exhibition, selected by co-curators Jutta-Annette Page, Senior Curator of Glass and Decorative Arts at Toledo, and Annie Carlano, Senior Curator of Craft, Design, & Fashion at the Mint. The Mint’s exceptional collection of contemporary glass is internationally praised, with works such as Danny Lane’s Threshold and Bertil Vallien’s King’s Voyage, but it contains few works by women (although the masterwork Relations, by Stanislav Libenský and Jaroslava Brychtová, is a husband-and-wife collaboration). Only a handful of glass works created by female artists are in the permanent collection. Presenting Fired Up will fill a gap in glass education and hopefully inspire the collecting of works by women.

International in scope, over forty sculptures are included in the exhibition, including works by Emily Brock, Lee Bul, Lisa Lou, Karen Lamonte, Silvia Levenson, Maya Lin, Laura de Santillana, Sibylle Peretti, Sylvie Vandenhoucke, and April Surgent. Ranging in scale from the tiny to the monumental, the sculptures are organized into five thematic groups: abstraction, vessels, the human form, nature, and the built environment.

Both the Toledo Museum of Art and The Mint Museum have a strong commitment to developing new interpretative strategies for glass, and this exhibition provides an opportunity for additional collaboration in experimental approaches to visual literacy. The exhibition is presented with generous support from Novant Health and UTC Aerospace Systems.

Media partners for both exhibitions are The Charlotte Observer and Adams Outdoor Advertising, which has also organized the pop-up fashion exhibition Outdoor Is In , on view FREE at Mint Museum Uptown October 19-30.

Anniversary weekend festivities, October 21-23

The two new exhibitions open to the public amid the Mint’s celebration of its 80^th anniversary. The museum will toast the exhibition openings with a by-invitation VIP celebration on Friday, October 21 at Mint Museum Uptown – watch for the Duke Energy tower to be lit in the Mint’s signature teal color on that evening. And the community is invited to a FREE day-long celebration at both museum locations on Saturday, October 22 – at Mint Museum Uptown, visitors will enjoy free access to both exhibitions along with lectures from curators of both exhibitions; and at Mint Museum Randolph, look for lots of family-friendly activities in celebration of the historic property and its surroundings. And on Sunday, October 23, the public is invited to another day of free admission at both locations, plus a free concert by accomplished pianist Dorothy “Dot” Lewis-Griffith, daughter-in-law of E.C. Griffith (1889-1973), who donated the three-acre tract of Eastover land on which the museum now sits. Her concert will feature music composed in the 1930s around the time of the Mint’s opening.

Further events throughout the “Year of the Woman” will invite the public to interact with the museum and its exhibitions. Find details at mintmuseum.org/happenings. The Mint is grateful for support from five of its previous female board chairs for its 80^th anniversary activities: Mary Lou Babb, Beverly S. Hance, Patty Norman, Jo Ann Peer, and Pat Rodgers. As the museum’s video announcing the year-long celebration has noted: “The Great Lady is turning 80 – and she’s just getting warmed up.”

MEDIA NOTE:

High-resolution images from both exhibitions are available upon request. Email leigh.dyer@mintmuseum.org .

Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club and local teen launch summer program

This summer as part of The Mint Museum’s NexGen Mint program for area teens, the museum is partnering with the Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club and a local teen to start a new photography club. The Mint is offering the program as part of its community outreach from the Here & Now: 80 Years of Photography at the Mint, curated by the Mint’s President & CEO, Dr. Kathleen Jameson. The Here & Now exhibition is on view through September 18 at Mint Museum Uptown.

Kathyrine Hankin, a rising tenth-grader at Charlotte Country Day School, has started “Mind to Heart,” a community service organization for peer to peer academic tutoring at the Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club on Marsh Road.  This winter, Kathyrine approached the Mint’s educators to propose offering a summer photography program to provide creative expression for 10-14 year olds at the Club.

Cynthia Moreno, Director of Learning & Engagement for the Mint, said: “We are delighted to be offering this introductory photography program with help from Charles Smith, the Unit Director at the Marsh Road Boys and Girls Club, and Kathyrine Hankin, the local teen who helped inspire the project.” Resident artist for the program is Nicolle Driscoll, a local photographer and videographer who has worked with middle school and high school teens. The ten-session program is being offered on Monday and Tuesday afternoons through July 24. Volunteers for the program include Lexi Myers, a Mint intern from Clemson University, and Kathyrine Hankin.

More information about the exhibition is available by clicking here ; more information on the NexGen Mint program available at nexgenmint.org .

ABOUT THE SALVATION ARMY BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF GREATER CHARLOTTE

The Salvation Army Boys & Girls Clubs was founded locally in 1934 on North Poplar Street. Today, eight clubs serve nearly 2,500 school-aged children, including more than 1,700 members, in Mecklenburg and Union counties. Programs include academics, recreation, the arts, character and leadership, and health and life skills. The clubs are located in diverse neighborhoods from Charlotte Housing Authority sites to the nation’s only club in a homeless shelter. The Boys & Girls Clubs is a division of The Salvation Army of Greater Charlotte. For more information, visit bgccharlotte.org.