Children age 5 and younger and their caregivers are invited to explore Latin music, stories, and instruments with Criss Cross Mango Sauce, a trio of Latino performing artists and educators.

Celebrating artists Romare Bearden and Pablo Picasso, enjoy exhibition-related dancing and art activites with free dance lessons, live painting, Latino and African-inspired music, and international rhythmic sounds with DJ Carlos Lebron and the Mint 2 Move Percussion Trio. Galleries are open until 9 PM.

See more than 30 diverse visual and performing artists responses to works in the exhibition Bearden-Picasso: Rhythms and Reverberations.

Presented in partnership with UNC Charlotte, enjoy the opening ceremony for the UNCC Lavagem African Brazilian Festival featuring African Brazilian instructors, The Spirit of the Drum: African Brazilian drumming class with Jose Ricardo and Bira Monteiro, and Danca Afro workshop with Nildinha Fonseca.

This is a Mint Community Relations collaboration with UNC Charlotte, generously supported by the Arts and Science Council.

Registration requested. Donations encouraged.

In recognition of the 50th anniversary of Pablo Picasso’s death, join free admission and a community celebration of Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds and Bearden/Picasso: Rhythms and Reverberations.

Learn about the life and works of Romare Bearden in a discussion with Richard Powell, PhD, Duke University professor and Romare Bearden Foundation advisor; and Denise Murrell, PhD, curator-at-large at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; moderated by Diedra Harris-Kelly, co-director of the Romare Bearden Foundation.

Following the salon talk, visitors are invited to join the guest speakers and members of the Romare Bearden Foundation at a reception with live music by local jazz vocalist Dawn Anthony and the Lovell Bradford Trio. Copies of Dr. Powell and Dr. Murrell’s books will be available, along with gift giveaways, at The Mint Museum Store.

“An Afternoon Salon: Romare Bearden and Modernism” is presented in coordination with The Mint Museum’s exhibition Bearden/Picasso: Rhythms and Reverberations. The salon event is free to attend, however, registration is encouraged.

Salon schedule:

2-4 PM: Richard Powell, PhD; Denise Murrell, PhD, and moderator Diedra Harris-Kelley present “An Afternoon Salon: Romare Bearden and Modernism.”

4-6 PM: Jazz reception with local jazz vocalist Dawn Anthony along with the Lovell Bradford Trio, and opportunity to meet guest speakers and members of the Romare Bearden Foundation.

About the speakers:

An Afternoon Salon: Romare Bearden and Modernism
March 18, 2-4 PM program; 4-6 PM reception and giveaways 
Mint Museum Uptown
Free

Hnin Nie’s response to Picasso’s Landscape of Juan-les-Pins (1920), 2023.

Playing Pablo

10 Local artists create murals in response to works in Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds 

By Jen Sudul Edwards, PhD 

Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds, organized by the American Federation of the Arts, is a major initiative for The Mint Museum. It not only brings major Picasso paintings to Charlotte from all around the world, but also offers an opportunity for the museum to bring together multiple cultural entities in collaborations and partnerships. One of these projects is a mural series enlisting 10 artists and collectives (some of whom will be familiar to the Mint audience from past projects) to create murals around the city. 

The initiative is a partnership with Carla Aaron-Lopez, curator of the Local/Street exhibition series that was on view at The Mint Museum in 2021 and 2022; and Talking Walls, the organization that has been supporting mural installations across the city for the last five years.  

Together with Aaron-Lopez and the Mint’s Curatorial Assistant Jamila Brown, a group of local artists were invited to paint a mural in response to Guernica — Picasso’s powerful, mural-size antiwar painting — or any of the landscapes included in the Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds. The result is a diverse range of styles and images that will dot Charlotte’s urban landscape and the two Mint museum locations beginning mid-February 2023.

Involving Charlotte contemporary artists was always central to the Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds. As Aaron-Lopez and local artist ARKO have pointed out, Picasso continues to be a major influence on contemporary artists both as an inspiration and as a foil. The exhibition allows local artists to study the works up close and in person, to break down the structure, and analyze the compositions and brushstrokes to further their own education and experimentation. This partnership reminds us that one of the museum’s primary goals is to preserve and present art’s history so that the next generation can push it forward.  

The Picasso Mural project is generously supported by a grant through the North Carolina Arts Council and Infusion Fund. 

Mural artists and locations 

ARKO and Dammit Wesley
Mint Museum Uptown 

Brand the Moth
Mint Museum Randolph

CHD:WCK!
Mint Museum Uptown 

HNin Nie
Optimist Hall

Emily Núñez
Queens University 

Kalin Reece
Elder Gallery 

Mike Wirth
Camp NorthEnd 

Frankie Zombie and 2Gzandcountin
Optimist Hall

Jen Sudul-Edwards, PhD, is chief curator and curator of contemporary art at The Mint Museum.

Three playwrights and four actors from Queen City New Play Initiative will create impromptu skits in response to works in Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds and our permanent collection galleries with projections of works in Mint Uptown Atrium.

Wednesday Night Live: Queen City New Play Initiative Bake-off
March 1, 2023 | 5-9 PM, 6:30 PM performance
Mint Museum Uptown
Free, cash bar

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.

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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.

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)

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Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds debuts February 2023 at The Mint Museum

The Mint Museum is the first, and only venue on the East Coast, to feature the traveling exhibition that includes many of Picasso’s greatest landscape paintings

For Immediate Release

Charlotte, North Carolina (May 19, 2022) — The Mint Museum is pleased to announce that Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds, a major traveling exhibition organized by the American Federation of Arts, will debut at Mint Museum Uptown February 2023. Comprised of approximately 45 paintings spanning Pablo Picasso’s full career, Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds is the first traveling exhibition to explore the breadth of the artist’s lifelong innovations in the landscape tradition.

The Mint Museum is the first of only three venues in the United States — and the only venue on the East Coast — to feature this exceptional exhibition filled with works from private collections and international museums together for the first time.

Assembling some of Picasso’s greatest landscape compositions in one traveling exhibition, Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds coincides with the 50th anniversary of the artist’s death. 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.

“This is the first time these Picasso paintings will be seen together and is the first time an exhibition of this magnitude will be held at The Mint Museum,” says Todd Herman, PhD, president and CEO at The Mint Museum. “We also recognize the enormous opportunity to collaborate with other local arts organizations and artists to take the magic and energy around this exhibition beyond the walls of The Mint Museum.”

Partnering cultural organizations working with the Mint to create a multilayered experience of innovative programming, 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 Charlotte Ballet.

The museum plans to host free school group tours in conjunction with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, in addition to numerous free community days at the museum.

A special component to the Mint’s iteration of the exhibition is Bearden/Picasso: Rhythms and Reverberations, which examines the impact of Picasso and his artistic influences on Charlotte-born artist Romare Bearden’s work. The works in Bearden/Picasso: Rhythms and Reverberations will be drawn from the Mint’s deep holdings of Bearden’s work, as well as from private collections and selected museum collections.

“The AFA is delighted to organize the first traveling exhibition of Picasso’s engagement with landscape, offering a new perspective on the artist’s oeuvre in this important show that will debut at The Mint Museum,” says Pauline Willis, director and CEO of the American Federation of Arts (AFA). “Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds is curated by the brilliant curator and Picasso scholar Laurence Madeline, with whom we are pleased to again collaborate following the great success of the acclaimed AFA traveling exhibition Women Artists in Paris 1850-1900.”

Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds at The Mint Museum is presented with the generous support of Bank of America and Duke Energy, and numerous individual contributors.

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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.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

The Mint Museum celebrates the re-installation of The Mint Museum Craft + Design Collection — with FREE admission and a weekend full of conversations with internationally acclaimed artists and makers

For Immediate Release | Images available here

Charlotte, North Carolina (May 12, 2022) — The Mint Museum is excited to announce the opening weekend of Craft in the Laboratory: The Science of Making Things May 21–22 at Mint Museum Uptown with complimentary admission throughout the weekend. As part of the celebration, highly acclaimed makers and educators Joseph Walsh, Hideo Mabuchi, and Silvia Levenson will present on their design inspirations, processes, and practices.

Examined through the lens of science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics, Craft in the Lab tells the story of how makers and designers use knowledge from the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math in their artistic processes.

From 2 to 3 p.m., Saturday, May 21 internationally acclaimed and Ireland-based maker Joseph Walsh and Stanford University professor and maker Hideo Mabuchi discuss how science, technology, engineering, and math are used in their design processes, followed by an artists reception. From 2-3 p.m. Sunday, May 22, renowned international glass artist Silvia Levenson highlights her use of glass and printing techniques to reflect tensions in daily life, domestic violence, discrimination, and refugee issues. These conversations are being presented in partnership with Müller Corporation and the Craft & Trade Academy, a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing trades and craft in Charlotte.

The installation, which officially opened February 12, 2022, represents highlights from more than 3,000 works in The Mint Museum’s world-renowned collections of regional, national, international handmade glass, wood, jewelry and metal, fiber ceramic, and design objects. Presented by Müller Corporation, Craft in the Lab also celebrates the reinstallation of The Mint’s highly acclaimed Craft + Design galleries — the first since its opening in 2010 at Mint Museum Uptown.

Co-curated by the Mint’s Senior Curator of Craft, Design, and Fashion Annie Carlano and Assistant Curator for Craft, Design, and Fashion Rebecca Elliot, the installation includes 100 objects organized by material and subject throughout the galleries, touchable material panels, and videos of makers at work in their studios.

“The reinstallation of the Craft + Design galleries allow us the opportunity to bring new works out on view and to interpret the collection through new pairings and themes,” says Todd Herman, president and CEO at The Mint Museum. “Craft in the Laboratory examines how investigation, experimentation, and critical thinking are common to both science and art, and the correlation of art with science, technology, engineering, and math that effectively changing STEM to STEAM concepts.”

The installation is accompanied by an important and timely catalogue on the topic, with contributions by several scholars and a lead essay by Elliot. The fully illustrated catalogue of the same name, published by Dan Giles Ltd., also includes contributions from museum staff, and guest essayists.

“Craft in the Laboratory is the first publication in over 20 years to discuss The Mint Museum’s Craft and Design collection in depth,” Elliot says. The book is available for purchase at The Mint Museum Store or at store.mintmuseum.org.

Craft in the Laboratory: The Science of Making Things is generously presented by Müller Corporation. Generous individual support provided by Beth and Drew Quartapella, Mary Anne (M.A.) Rogers, Ann and Michael Tarwater, and Rocky and Curtis Trenkelbach. Additional support provided by the National Endowment for the Arts. The catalogue is supported by the John and Robyn Horn 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.

Müller Corporation
Founded in Germany, and family owned and operated, Müller provides commercial surface installation, and cleaning and maintenance services to the solar, hospitality, automotive, food and beverage, and other industries. European standards and in-house trained craftsmen ensure superior results and unmatched client service. To learn more, visit mullercorporation.com.

Craft & Trade Academy
Founded in 2019, the training programs and apprenticeships are based on the international recognized German model. In order to develop apprentices into quality craftsmen, the Academy runs classroom and workshop training, as well as on-the-job training recognized by the Department of Labor. The Craft & Trade Academy is a public 501(c)3 nonprofit higher education institution committed to providing paths and expanding skills within the construction industry. To learn more, visit craftandtradeacademy.org.

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)

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5 things to shout about at The Mint Museum

While uptown Charlotte is alive with events during Charlotte SHOUT, there is also a lot to shout about at The Mint Museum. Mark your calendar for these don’t-miss happenings.

Wednesday Night Live: Rothko Becoming Rothko

April 13, 5–9 PM, 6:30 PM
Mint Museum Uptown
Free

To celebrate the two Rothko paintings on view at Mint Museum Uptown, Harry Cooper, senior curator and head of modern and contemporary art at the National Gallery of Art, presents a lecture about the life and works of Mark Rothko as part of the Wednesday Night Live Series presented by Bank of America. Enjoy free admission and a cash bar.

Dance it out at Mint 2 Move

April 14, 7-11 PM
Mint Museum Uptown
$9 members; $12 nonmembers with $1 off before 8 PM

Feel the rhythm, dance, laugh, and enjoy sizzling salsa, cha cha, bachata, line dancing, live musicians, and a live DJ playing Latin rhythms and Afro-beats, plus free dance lessons, a cash bar, complimentary party favors, and live painting at Mint 2 Move. Museum galleries open until 9 PM.

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Coined in the South: 2022

See works by more than 40 artists, all hailing from the Southeast. An array of mediums, some less conventional than others, make up the collective body of work that converges to become a mellifluent symphony of styles, perspectives, and approaches in the exhibition. On view: Level 4 Brand Galleries at Mint Museum Uptown.

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Craft in the Laboratory: The Science of Making Things

Craft in the Laboratory: The Science of Making Things is the first project of its kind in the Southeast to examine how artists and scientists think and work alike, and how designers of all types use science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in their making. It also celebrates the first re-installation of the Mint’s Craft + Design Collection in more than 10 years. Organized by medium, more than 100 objects from the Mint’s permanent collection are featured. On view: Level 3 Craft + Design galleries at Mint Museum Uptown.

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www.theplaidpenguin.com www.lunahzon.com

Have your cake and eat it too at Mariposa at the Mint

Stop by Mariposa at Mint Museum Uptown for dessert, a cocktail, or to share a plate before or after visiting the museum.

And of course, be sure to take a turn on the Impulse illuminated seesaws on Levine Avenue of the Arts, all part of Charlotte SHOUT!

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Jonathan Stuhlman, PhD, senior curator of American Art at The Mint Museum, discusses Farol, Elaine de Kooning’s 1958 painting inspired by bullfights she attended Sunday afternoons in Juarez, Mexico. “Farol” refers to the movement made by bullfighters, sweeping their capes out of the way as the bull charged by. The piece captures the motion, energy, and action of the fight itself. Although long overlooked, the work of de Kooning and her other female Abstract Expressionist colleagues has recently received greater attention thanks in part to exhibitions like Women of Abstract Expressionism hosted at The Mint Museum hosted in 2016. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Senior Curator of Craft, Design, and Fashion, Annie Carlano, discusses Spectral Boundary by artist Tom Patti. In combining more than 30 laminated and fused layers of glass, interlayer and woven fiber materials, Spectral Boundary exemplifies Tom Patti’s pioneering artistic effort to interpret the relationship between an advancing industrial culture and North Carolina’s textile heritage. The 40-foot monumental glass wall was made with the same compression machinery that manufactured the skin on the Stealth bomber, thus the wall is bulletproof and bombproof. Spectral Boundary is an outstanding example of how artists and scientists think alike.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Jen Sudul Edwards, PhD, chief curator and curator of contemporary art at The Mint Museum, explains the significance of works by mid-century modernist Doris Leeper. Leeper, who worked in painting and sculpture, hints at her interest in the three-dimensional in the painting Figures Eight. Leeper was born in Charlotte in 1929 but moved out of state. She maintained a presence in North Carolina, however, participating in the Mint’s juried competition series Piedmont Exhibition. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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.

Paintings by Abstract Expressionist Mark Rothko debut at The Mint Museum for first time in the museum’s history

For Immediate Release

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.

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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.

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

Kehinde Wiley acquisition caps off a roster of new works at The Mint Museum by culturally diverse artists

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) 

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In My Loan Dinh’s series “(Re)constructing the space in-between,” objects, covered in eggshells, appear fragile; but they are strong — strong enough to break glass. “I reach for these tools not only to break barriers, but also to build, forge, and construct new paths towards freedom and equality. Many things, like stones and bullets, can shatter glass. I am here to build,” Dinh says.

‘Broken, but in one piece’

Charlotte artist MyLoan Dinh explores the human condition – and the search for home

By Page Leggett

MyLoan (pronounced “mee-LAHN”) Dinh has been working with an unusually delicate medium: eggshells.

The Vietnamese-American artist, who splits her time between Charlotte and Berlin, uses them to encase objects — passports, hammers, boxing gloves. “With boxing gloves, you think of fighting,” she says. “I love the idea of pairing things that are complete opposites. There’s a tension there — a deeper meaning that starts a conversation.”

People might see the eggshell mosaics and think of the destructiveness of violence or the fragility of life. But for life to begin, the egg has to be open, to be broken, Dinh says. And brokenness is part of being human.

“I like creating something whole out of fragments,” she continues. “I like this idea that even though we might be broken, we’re in one piece. We’re going to be OK.”

MyLoan Dinh, United States (born in Vietnam), 1972– . “Off White,” 2019. Boxing gloves, eggshells, acrylic. Museum purchase made possible by the Charles W. Beam Endowment Fund.

From coop to kitchen to studio

Working with eggshells is tedious and time-consuming. Dinh starts by procuring eggs. She has to boil the eggs, crack and peel them. Then, she methodically places each tiny piece onto the object with an adhesive. She uses a stick pin or a needle; her fingers are too big for the job. Once the entire object is covered, she fills in with even tinier shell shards. She doesn’t want too much of a gap between fragments.

Each object gets covered in five or six protective layers. Something fragile has been made durable.

Some of the “eggshell art” was featured in Dinh’s installation for Constellation CLT — an exhibition series that spotlights local artists — this spring and summer at Mint Museum Uptown.

“I think it’s wonderful that museums are starting to look for artists in their backyard,” Dinh says. “There’s a lot of talent here. And why not expose the community to those artists? It’s wonderful that part of the community can now see themselves in these spaces.”

The part of the community she’s referring to: Asian-Americans. “When I was growing up, I couldn’t see myself in a museum setting because I didn’t have any role models,” she says. “I couldn’t name a single Asian artist. I saw some Asian art, but it was more like artifacts. So, this Constellations program is really amazing.”

‘A place we can call home’

She and her family were on one of the last ships out of Saigon in 1975. Dinh was 4. She has no memory of her homeland but still feels connected to her culture.

Her story is deeply personal, but there’s a universality to it. “Everyone deserves safety,” she says. “We all deserve the same basic human rights, the opportunity to live in dignity and to somehow find a place we can call home.”

Finding her way to safety was harrowing. For six days, they were forbidden to dock because the ships belonged to the now-defunct South Vietnamese government. “We were stateless,” she says.

The U.S.S. Kirk was the first, and then dozens of former South Vietnamese Navy ships, cargo and fishing boats lowered the Vietnamese flag and raised the American one. That was just the beginning.

Dinh’s family went to three different U.S. refugee camps before a Lutheran church in Boone agreed to sponsor them. “We’re still in touch with the pastor and his wife,” Dinh says. “At the time, there was this — not really, anti-Asian hate — but fear. People were afraid for different reasons: Would we be able to adjust? Were we Communists? Half the congregation wasn’t sure should they take us in. The minister told them, ‘As people of God, we have to.’”

They came to Charlotte because there was a bigger Vietnamese population here and it’s a bigger city. Dinh’s parents wanted to find their community.

Dinh herself has found a large creative community here. She and her husband — Till Schmidt-Rempler, a former dancer and choreographer — frequently host musicians, poets, storytellers and dancers in the 1935 log cabin that’s home to the couple and their teenage daughter. (Their son is working toward a PhD in art history in London.)

Evolution of an artist

Dinh’s work has evolved a lot since she first picked up a paintbrush to create what she calls “representational, figurative work.” It didn’t take long for her to expand her subject matter and media; she experiments to stave off boredom. In recent years, she’s been diving into storytelling.

“I began revisiting stories about what my family faced when I was growing up,” she says. “Much of that stuff, you just push away. You focus on your survival. You don’t want to bring it up because you think: ‘I’m resilient, I need to move on.’ But I felt it was time to pull it out slowly because of this shift in America, this racial reckoning.”

She doesn’t consider herself a political artist, but rather an artist concerned with social justice.

She hopes viewers see that concern in her work. “I think it’s good to let viewers enjoy the pieces for what they are, but I also like the idea of them reading my artist’s statement to understand why I made the piece. My message is that we need to find a way to share space with each other.”

‘My daughter ate it’

Dinh doesn’t always use food in her art — although she has coated everyday objects in candy conversation hearts — but she was inspired to create an installation last year using a ubiquitous Asian dessert.

“I created a fortune cookie installation the day after six Asian women were murdered [in Atlanta],” she says. “I just made it, held it in my hand and photographed it for social media. And, when Jen [Sudul Edwards] said she wanted to show it, I had to tell her: It was a real fortune cookie, and my daughter ate it. But I can get more.”

There are six fortune cookies in that little installation, she says, one for each of the six women murdered. The fortunes have numbers on them, and they are real telephone numbers to an actual hotline, Dinh says.

With her eggshell art, Dinh is a purist. She leaves the shells the colors nature intended. But she wanted dark brown eggs for several pieces — and went searching.

“There’s a chocolate brown egg that comes from a fancy French chicken called the Marans chicken, she says. “I joined a Facebook group of people who raise chickens and asked if anybody had Marans chickens. They were so responsive; I’ve been getting eggshells in the mail. Chicken people are really good people.

“You never know where you’ll find your community. And community is really another word for ‘home’.” 

Page Leggett’s writing appears regularly in The Charlotte Observer, Business North Carolina and SouthPark magazine. Besides writing, her other great passions are travel and art collecting. The first art lessons she took were at Mint Museum Randolph.

This story previously published in the Winter 2021 Inspired member magazine.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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 commemorates 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 

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Simone Elizabeth Saunders (Canada, 1983– ), She Holds the Key, 2019, cotton and linen ground cloth; wool threads. 62 x 60 inches. Collection of The Mint Museum. Museum Purchase with funds from the Charlotte Debutante Club. 2021.14. Photo: Courtesy of the Artist.

The Mint Museum announces ‘Craft in the Laboratory: The Science of Making Things’ — the first installation in the Southeast to explore how creative ingenuity melds with STEM concepts

For Immediate Release 

Charlotte (January 7, 2022) — Craft in the Laboratory: The Science of Making Things, presented by Müller Corporation, opens February 12 at Mint Museum Uptown. The installation is the first of its kind in the Southeast to explore how craft artists and designers use science and math concepts, and celebrates a revitalizing and reinstallation of the Mint’s highly acclaimed Craft + Design permanent collection.

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. 

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 [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Mindfulness encourages us to be more present with art, ourselves and each other. The Mint Museum brings mindfulness to the experience of looking at art and invites you to take a restorative pause in your day and engage deeply with a work of art.

Join a Mint educator for a 45-minute mindfulness session and discussion about the work ‘The Bull Fight from 1930’ in the exhibition Bearden/Picasso: Rhythms and Reverberations | Cost of Admission