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)

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

—–

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.

—–

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.

—–

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.

—–

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).

—–

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.

—–

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.

——

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.

—–

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.

—–

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.

—–

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.

—–

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.

—–

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).

—–

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.

—–

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.

—–

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 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.

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 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.

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.

Statement in response to HB2 adopted at April 11 meeting

On Monday April 11, The Mint Museum Board of Trustees adopted the following statement:

As The Mint Museum’s mission statement declares, “We are committed to engaging and inspiring ALL members of our global community.” In light of the recent passage of HB2, the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, we affirm our longstanding commitment to diversity and inclusiveness in all aspects of our work. In short, The Mint Museum promotes and embraces diversity, inclusion, and equality for ALL.

For further inquiries, please contact Hillary Cooper, Director of Advancement & Communications, at hillary.cooper@mintmuseum.org, or Leigh Dyer, Director of Public Relations & Publications, at leigh.dyer@mintmuseum.org.

The auld lang syne of 2015’s many magnificent moments made possible by our visitors, members, and supporters.

Style trendsetter headlines Fall EnrichMINT Forum October 14

Style trendsetter Jonathan Adler will headline The Mint Museum Auxiliary’s Annual Fall EnrichMINT Forum on Wednesday, 0ctober 14, from 6 – 8:30 p.m. at Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts, 500 South Tryon Street in Charlotte.

Adler is a renowned potter, interior designer, author, and entrepreneur. His mission is to bring style, craft, and joy to the consumer. Iconic and irreverent, his collection takes inspiration from mid-century style, art, global pop culture, and luxe lifestyles, offering consumers a refreshing approach to modern American glamour.

From his obsession with ceramics as a child growing up in New Jersey, Adler attended Brown University to study semiotics and art history but spent most of his time at the Rhode Island School of Design making pots.

He then taught pottery in New York City, eventually selling his concept for unique ceramic décor pieces to Barneys New York. His entrepreneurial career and design brand development had just begun. In 1998 he opened his first retail store and now has 26 Jonathan Adler stores worldwide. He also has numerous wholesale relationships with major high end retailers, and a website, all featuring his signature pottery, furniture, lighting, décor, bed, bath, tabletop, area rugs, and handbag product lines.

Adler has authored My Prescription for Anti-Depressive Living, 100 Ways to Happy Chic Your Life, On Happy Chic – Colors, and On Happy Chic – Accessorizing. He was also head judge on Top Designer, a reality series on the Bravo network.

An entertaining, humorous, and inspiring speaker, Adler’s presentation will be followed by a book signing. Proceeds benefit The Mint Museum.

“The Mint Museum Auxiliary is thrilled to welcome Jonathan Adler to Charlotte as the keynote speaker for the Fall EnrichMINT Forum, our premier kick-off event of the 2015-16 Room To Bloom Celebration. We’re sure our guests will be delighted by Jonathan’s outrageous humor and wit as he speaks about his humble beginnings, believing and achieving the American dream, the creative process, his design philosophy and personal mission to bring style, craft, and joy to your life – one accessory at a time! We expect this event to sell out,” said Mint Museum Auxiliary President Rocky Trenkelbach.

“In gratitude, we extend a special thank you to our Fall Celebration Partner, Wells Fargo, and to all of our sponsors, benefactors, and patrons for their significant contributions to make this event possible. We also want to thank Event Co-Chairs Kathryn Dixon and Carrie Miller for their ingenuity and hard work.”

Tickets for the event are $150. Seating is limited. Funds raised will be used to support inspiring educational offerings for the community and significant acquisitions for the permanent collection of The Mint Museum.

In addition to the Fall Celebration Partner Wells Fargo, the Auxiliary salutes its other generous sponsors: Presenting – InterCon and Veranda; Signature – ADAC; Select – Beacon Partners and Triad Foundation. Corporate – Belk, Carolina CAT, Doyle New York, Moore & Van Allen, Rinehart Wealth Management, SteelFab and Whitlock Builders; Mint Medley – Paper Twist, The Sporting Gent and Woo; Business – Autrey Kemp Nurseries, Barrie Benson Interior Design, Couture Knots, Dickens Mitchener, E. Frank Smith Residential Design, The English Room, Gerrard Builders, Gray Walker Interiors, Hidell Brooks Gallery, Hilliard Studio Method, Joyner Benfield Distinctive Land & Waterscapes, Mark Phelps Interiors, Meyer Greeson Paullin Benson, Morgan Landscape Group, Pursley Dixon Architecture, Ruard Veltman Architecture, Tiny and Vargi & Vargi; In Kind – Classic Party Rentals, Peachy the Magazine and The Scout Guide.

For more about the Mint Museum Auxiliary, how to join The Mint Museum, and ticket sales, visit mintmuseumauxiliary.org . For questions, email Nancy Smith at smith.nancyt@gmail.com or call 917.855.4443.

Above image: Photo by Todd Tankersley.

Artists to Perform/Present Live at 12th Annual Event Celebrating Hispanic Arts and Culture

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 2015. 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 10th at Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts, 500 South Tryon Street, uptown Charlotte, at 6:30 p.m.. The presentations will be followed by a reception that will give the public the opportunity to interact with the featured artists. Appetizers will be served. Cash bar available.

The featured artists were chosen by a group of professionals from institutions that include The Mint Museum, the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, and Queens University of Charlotte. The artists to be featured at Con A de Arte 2015 are:

FEATURED ARTISTS:

• Luis Ardila – Visual Arts
• Carlos Cruz – Multidiscipline Performance
• Rocio González – Multidiscipline Performance
• Zaire Kacz – Visual Arts
• Ivan Toth Depeña – Visual Arts
• Al Torres – Visual Arts

As part of the Con A de Arte celebration the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library will host a Literary Night at the Beatties Ford Road Regional Branch on Tuesday, June 9^th from 6:30 to 8 p.m. The Beatties Ford Road Library is located on 2412 Beatties Ford Road, Charlotte, NC 28216. Appetizers and soft drinks will be served.

The keynote speaker at both events is Mexican-American Photographer and Pulitzer Prize Winner Journalist José Galvez.

ABOUT JOSE GALVEZ

For over 40 years, José Galvez has used black and white film to create a powerful and unparalleled historical record of the Latino experience in America. His compelling work, done with respect, pride and no pretense, captures the beauty of daily life.

His photographs have been exhibited in museums and galleries here and abroad, including the Smithsonian. But more often, you’ll find him toting portable exhibits to schools, libraries, fiestas, low-rider shows, and rodeos.

Galvez moved on to the Los Angeles Times, becoming the first Mexican-American photographer on staff. In 1984, he was on a team of reporters and photographers that won a Pulitzer Prize for a series on Latino life in southern California: the first Chicanos to win the Prize. He left the Times in 1992 after winning many other awards for his photographs.

Galvez was an editor of and contributor to Americanos. He’s collaborated with writers such as Luis Alberto Urrea and Patricia Martin. His own stories illustrated with pictures he’s shot through the years is told in Shine Boy. His current work focuses on Latino communities of the American South, naturalization ceremonies, and documenting the many communities he visits every year.

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, Levine Museum of the New South, McColl Center for Visual Art and Innovation, and the Latin American Contemporary Art Gallery (LaCa Projects).

ABOUT THE CHARLOTTE MECKLENBURG LIBRARY:

Charlotte Mecklenburg Library began more than a century ago as a treasured repository of knowledge. Although people have evolved to read, explore and acquire knowledge in many new ways since then, one important feature has endured: Their services remains free to all who come to its premises with a desire to research, learn and experience.

The Public Library serves hundreds of thousands of people while also responding to the needs of individual library visitors.

NexGen Mint invites students to engage with art and design both online and in galleries

Calling the next generation of museum-goers: Teens are invited to engage with art and design at The Mint Museum in a wide range of new ways with the help of a recently launched initiative, NexGen Mint.

Teens’ lives are centered around home and school – and now, the NexGen Mint’s vision is to offer them a nurturing, creative “third place.” It’s a creative community to exchange ideas, have fun, interact, and learn from artist role models and peers.

Thanks to major grants from the Jimmie Johnson Foundation and Wells Fargo and additional support from IBM and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Arts & Science Council, the Mint is rolling out a series of new offerings for students ages 14-18, including:

–A free membership offering teens the opportunity to make unlimited visits to the museum with a guest;

–Exclusive opportunities for teens to interact and foster their creativity with internationally known artists and designers who visit the museum;

–New forms of online interaction via a new website with curated, teen-focused content and dialogue scheduled to launch this spring; and

–Scholarships for 30 teens to attend a free week-long summer art camp.

Following a series of teen focus groups during 2014, public events kicked off with a teen round table with contemporary artist Mel Chin at Mint Museum Uptown in February. Chin, a former Artist-in-Residence at McColl Center for Art + Innovation, introduced the participating teens to his installation SEA to SEE, which he created to analyze human environmental impact on the world’s oceans in conjunction with a recent Mint exhibition examining the centennial of the Panama Canal. And on March 21-22, teens met at Mint Museum Randolph with contemporary Pueblo artist Rose “Bean” Simpson of Santa Fe, New Mexico, for a hands-on roundtable and workshop. Future NexGen events include:

–An April design lab and talks with fashion designers threeASFOUR, whose body-altering creations are a major feature in the Mint’s upcoming Body Embellishment exhibition, which will be on view from April 11 through September 6 at Mint Museum Uptown.

–A May design lab and talks with Dzine (aka Carlos Rolon), an installation artist and painter and author of a photographic history of nail art. His visit is also in conjunction with the Body Embellishment exhibition.

–A June design lab and talks with modern jewelry designer Nora Fok, also featured in Body Embellishment.

Participants can register NOW to receive the free NexGen Mint museum membership and begin receiving invitations to upcoming events. More information is available at mintmuseum.org/visit/nexgenmint.

Exhibition unites the legendary fashion designer and Pop artist

Liza. Jackie. Liz. Between the 1960s and 1980s, these glamorous celebrities needed only one name to conjure images in the minds of those who heard them. Two of the men who helped make those women’s names so evocative are also one-word phenomena themselves: Warhol and Halston. They are the subjects of a new exhibition at The Mint Museum that will transport visitors back to the heady, freewheeling days of the New York art and fashion worlds of the 1980s.

Halston and Warhol: Silver and Suede, on view from March 7 through June 14 at Mint Museum Uptown, examines the interconnected lives and creative practices of these two American icons who had a profound impact on 20^th century art and fashion. The exhibition has been organized by The Andy Warhol Museum, one of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, and was co-curated by Halston’s niece, Lesley Frowick. It is presented with the cooperation of Halston Heritage, one of the major lenders to the exhibition.

Locally, the exhibition is presented through the generous support of PNC Financial Services, Electrolux, Moore & Van Allen, the Mint Museum Auxiliary, and the Young Affiliates of the Mint. The exhibition media partner is The Charlotte Observer.

“We are so pleased that such a broad cross-section of our corporate and affiliate partners have brought their support to this exhibition so it can visit Charlotte audiences as part of its national tour,” said Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson, President & CEO of the Mint.

The exhibition integrates Halston’s garments, including dresses, hats, and other accessories, along with Warhol’s photography, videos, and paintings. It includes approximately 40 of Halston’s creations including an iconic pillbox hat designed for Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in 1961, and his signature Ultrasuede shirtdress, juxtaposed with Warhol’s works. It also features archival material and ephemera from the archives of The Warhol and the personal collection of Lesley Frowick.

“Halston was by far and away one of Andy Warhol’s dearest friends. Is fashion sense was impeccable and his designs quite literally defined an age of American glamour,” said Eric Shiner, director of The Warhol.

“This exhibition is an endearing insider’s homage to friendship, Pop art, and fashion. My uncle left an indelible mark on fashion history and gave me the best seat in the house to watch the show,” added Lesley Frowick.

The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue, available in the Mint Museum Shops for $50. Additionally it will be accompanied by a full slate of educational programming. Special exhibition admission requires additional fees on top of general museum admission. The cost is $24 for non-member adults; $18 for college students/seniors; $6 for children 5-17; and free for kids under 5. Discounted admission is available on Wednesday evenings and at select special programs. Unlimited admission is always FREE to Mint Museum members. Special programming includes:

• Lecture: A Personal Journey – Lesley Frowick. Halston’s niece and the co-curator of the exhibition will share recollections and sign copies of her book. 3 p.m. March 8; event included with exhibition admission.
• Taste of the Mint: Halston and Warhol. Small plate and beverage pairings at Halcyon, Flavors from the Earth and E2 emeril’s eatery followed by an exhibition tour. 4 p.m. March 11 OR May 20; $50 or $35 for museum members.
• Sunday Fun Day: Halston and Warhol. Family-friendly activities and special exhibition admission $6 for adults and FREE for kids under 18. 1-4 p.m. March 15.
• Taste of the Knights: Small plate and beverage pairings at the Charlotte Knights’ BB&T Ballpark, followed by a short walk to the museum for a Halston and Warhol exhibition tour. $55 or $45 for museum members. March 18, 5:30 p.m.
• Educator Open House: Exhibition tour included, free for K-12 educators. March 18, 6-8 p.m.
• Art Fusion: Fab Fashion: FREE special exhibition admission included in this special program, March 18, 6-9 p.m.

More information and registration for these and other programs is available at mintmuseum.org/happenings or by calling 704.337.2000.

MEDIA INVITATION: Members of the media are invited to preview the exhibition at 10 a.m. on Thursday March 5. Light refreshments will be served. Lesley Frowick and museum staff will be available for interviews. Limited gallery photography will be permitted; due to copyright and conservation restrictions, some pieces will be unavailable for photography. High-resolution images are also available upon request. RSVP to leigh.dyer@mintmuseum.org.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS: The Mint Museum will preview its next exhibition, Body Embellishment, for members of the media at 10 a.m. on Thursday April 9 at Mint Museum Uptown. Organized by The Mint Museum, this exhibition explores 21^st century forms of body embellishment including fashion, jewelry, tattoos, and nail art. More information and images from this innovative show are available upon request to leigh.dyer@mintmuseum.org.

ABOUT PNC

This exhibition is supported by PNC and The PNC Foundation, which receives its principal funding from The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (www.pnc.com). PNC is one of the nation’s largest diversified financial services organizations providing retail and business banking; residential mortgage banking; specialized services for corporations and government entities, including corporate banking, real estate finance and asset-based lending; wealth management; and asset management. Follow @PNCNews on Twitter for breaking news, updates and announcements from PNC.

Speakers headline museum’s Contemporary Architecture + Design (CAD) Series

The Mint Museum is announcing an exciting lineup of speakers for its 2015 CAD (Contemporary Architecture + Design) lecture series, now entering its fourth year.

The series, aimed at exploring innovative perspectives and insightful stories on architecture and design, brings four speaker events to the community this winter and spring: Wendell Castle, known as the Picasso of the studio furniture design movement; Mikyoung Kim, who is currently designing a work of art for the Charlotte Area Transit System’s (CATS) Blue Line Extension; avant-garde fashion design team threeASFOUR; and installation artist, painter, and nail designer Dzine (aka Carlos Rolon).

Except where noted, event admission is $12; $5 for Mint Museum members (with included admission to select special museum exhibitions); or free to teens and college students with student ID. The events occur at Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts, 500 South Tryon Street. Tickets and more details are available at mintmuseum.org/happenings.

Wendell Castle, Furniture Designer

Thursday, January 15, 6 – 8 p.m.

$5 Mint members, $12 non-members*

FREE to teens and college students with ID

Light reception provided

Wendell Castle helped establish the art furniture movement in the 1960s and remains one of its most creative and iconic designers. Castle has influenced generations of furniture makers. He is renowned for his innovative techniques creating sculptural, biomorphic furniture.

wendellcastle.com

* Includes pre-program admission to the Beyond Craft exhibition

Mikyoung Kim, Architect and Public Artist

NOTE: Due to inclement weather, this event was rescheduled to April 16 at 6 p.m.

FREE event, co-sponsored by Charlotte Area Transit System

Light reception provided

Mikyoung Kim is an internationally renowned landscape architect and artist whose work focuses on merging sculptural vision with the urban landscape. Mikyoung Kim Design is currently designing art to be integrated at the UNC Charlotte station of the new CATS Blue Line Extension, scheduled to open in 2017. She has received awards from the American Society of Landscape Architects and the American Institute of Architects. Her work is also featured in Architectural Record, the New York Times, and Dwell Magazine.

myk-d.com

threeASFOUR, Fashion Designers

Sunday, April 12, 3 – 5 p.m.

$5 Mint members, $12 non-members*

FREE to teens and college students with ID

Light reception with cash bar

threeASFOUR is an avant garde group of three designers: Gabi Asfour, Angela Donhauser, and Adi Gil. Major museums acquiring designs for their collections include the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Costume Institute, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Additionally, their works have been featured in the Cooper-Hewitt Museum and Musee de la Mode et du Costume Galliera in Paris.

threeasfour.com

* Includes pre-program admission to the exhibition Body Embellishment

Dzine (aka Carlos Rolon), Installation Artist and Painter

Wednesday, May 6, 6 – 8 p.m.

$5 Mint Members, $12 non-members*

FREE to teens and college students with ID

Light reception with cash bar

Carlos Rolon, known as Dzine, creates ornate works of art and installations that combine contemporary art strategies with the “Kustom Kulture” and exuberant visuality of his Puerto Rican upbringing in Chicago. Formally trained as a painter, Rolon is the author of “Nailed,” a photographic history of nail art from the ancient Egyptians to contemporary fashion. Rolon’s work has been exhibited in prominent venues as diverse as Miami’s Bass Museum of Art and the 2007 Venice Biennale.

dzinestudio.com

* Includes pre-program admission to the exhibition Body Embellishment

Mint prepares to launch expansion of its digitization project

The Mint Museum is preparing to launch an expansion of a project to digitize its art collection, thanks to a $100,000 grant from The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

The Mint was among 13 Charlotte arts organizations receiving $1 million in grants announced at a celebration Friday evening at Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts, site of the Knight-supported work of art SEA to SEE. The interactive installation was created by North Carolina artist Mel Chin, a former Artist-in-Residence at McColl Center for Art + Innovation. The work, which suggests the experience of walking between two oceans with two large glass hemispheres and video and sound components, is part of the Mint-organized exhibition Connecting the World: The Panama Canal at 100. The exhibition, commemorating the centennial of the Canal’s completion in 1914, will remain on view through February 1.

The new phase of the Knight grant will launch at the Mint following the closing of Panama Canal at 100. Building on previous grants received from the Knight and from the National Endowment for the Arts, the museum’s expanded digitization project will create virtual tours of the museum and its collections and special exhibitions, plus interviews with curators and artists. The project will enable local and global residents to virtually visit the museum through tools including Google Photosphere Imaging, which enables viewers to see detailed 3-D panoramas, and RTI Imaging, a photographic method allowing the interactive re-lighting of an object from any direction. The digitization work will focus in particular on 100 key works of art in the museum’s collection, including the signature works Threshold by Danny Lane and Mega Footprint Near the Hutch (May I Have this Dance?) by Sheila Hicks.

“The Mint is grateful to the Knight Foundation for its significant support of our efforts to continue to bring art to as many members of our global community as possible, both virtually and inside the museum’s walls,” said Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson, president & CEO of the Mint.

“Arts organizations are increasingly meeting their audiences where they are and often that’s online,” added Dennis Scholl, vice president of arts for Knight Foundation. “The Mint’s efforts have already engaged visitors with the high-quality programmatic video they have created. We look forward to more as they work to not just bring more eyes to the collection but enhance visitors’ experiences by providing engaging content.”

Above image from Mint Museum Uptown: Nancy Pierce Photo

Mint prepares to launch expansion of its digitization project

Short story by Anthony Doerr and original commission by renowned artist Mel Chin to be part of exhibition, opening November 1 at Mint Museum Uptown

Sam Francis painting is one of the most significant acquisitions donated to the museum

With a generous gift from Bank of America, The Mint Museum is launching a new Collections Initiative to strengthen the breadth and scope of art that the museum makes available to the global community.

The Mint Museum announced today that the bank is gifting to the museum a seminal painting by California artist Sam Francis, Untitled (Seafirst) 1979, from the Bank of America Collection. The painting is one of the largest by size – at approximately 19 feet tall by 38 feet wide – and one of the most significant works to enter the museum’s collection.

“The Mint is deeply grateful to Bank of America not only for this specific painting, which is an incredible gift on its own, but also for the opportunity to highlight to the community our new initiative to target and acquire works of art that will continue to elevate the Mint’s stature in the national and international arena,” said Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson, President & CEO of the Mint. “This historic occasion serves as the catalyst to spur dynamic growth of the Mint’s exceptional collection of international art and design.”

The painting has been hanging in the Robert Haywood Morrison Atrium of Mint Museum Uptown on long-term loan since the building first opened to the public in October 2010, and is one of the first works of art viewed by visitors entering the museum.

“We’re honored to partner with The Mint Museum to launch their new collection drive by donating the Sam Francis painting from the Bank of America Collection, as it adds another world-renowned piece of art to a permanent collection here in Charlotte,” said Charles Bowman, North Carolina and Charlotte president, Bank of America. “The arts play a vital role in Charlotte’s cultural identity and economy and we’re hopeful that our gift encourages other businesses and individuals to donate to the museum’s collection.”

This is not the first time that the bank has donated art to the Mint Museum. In 1978 the bank donated Il Grande Disco by Arnaldo Pomodoro, which remains on view at the intersection of Trade and Tryon Streets in uptown Charlotte as part of the Mint’s public art program, and in 2002 it donated six paintings by renowned Charlotte-born artist Romare Bearden.

The Mint’s Collections Initiative seeks to empower the museum’s invested donors, affiliate groups, committees, boards, trustees, and new patrons to give and seek out major examples of art, craft, and design for the museum’s collection. The initiative will remain a key institutional focus through fall 2016, culminating in the publication of  a major publication on the museum’s exceptional permanent collection celebrating the landmark 80^th anniversary of North Carolina’s first art museum. The Mint will celebrate new acquisitions with a local, national, and international public relations and marketing campaign.

The Sam Francis gift sets an appropriate stage for the types of works of art that the museum is targeting for future acquisitions. “Sam Francis’s monumental painting is a tremendously important addition to the museum’s collection of modern and contemporary art; one that animates the atrium in an utterly dynamic fashion,” said Jonathan Stuhlman, the Mint’s Senior Curator of American, Modern, and Contemporary Art. “Untitled (Seafirst) 1979 demonstrates the artist’s commitment to new forms of abstraction and allows the museum to share with its visitors the impact of two key artistic movements of the 20th century – Abstract Expressionism and Minimalism – something that was not previously possible.”

California-born abstract expressionist Sam Francis (1923–1994) was one of the 20th century’s leading interpreters of light and color. Francis maintained studios in Bern, New York, Los Angeles, Paris, and Tokyo, making him the first post-World War II American painter whose reach was truly international. Throughout a long and prolific career, Francis created thousands of paintings as well as works on paper, prints, and monotypes. His work holds references to New York abstract expressionism, color field painting, Chinese and Japanese art, French impressionism, and his own Bay Area roots.

As Mint curators and other staff have been developing the initiative in recent months, one local foundation has responded by providing another generous major acquisition to the museum, which will be announced soon.

“This initiative will serve to build the cultural assets of this community, better enabling us to drive and support education, audience engagement, tourism, and economic development for the region,” Jameson said. “We welcome the entire community to join us in enhancing our collections and preserving them for generations to come.”

Members of the media are invited to the atrium of Mint Museum Uptown, 500 South Tryon Street, today between 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. to interview Jameson, Bowman, and other officials from the museum and Bank of America, as well as to photograph the Francis painting. High-resolution images and video of the painting are available upon request. RSVP to leigh.dyer@mintmuseum.org.

Above image credit: Sam Francis (American, 1923-1994). Untitled (Seafirst) 1979. Acrylic on canvas. Generously donated by Bank of America Corporation. Photo courtesy of The Mint Museum. © 2013 Sam Francis Foundation, California / Artists Rights
Society (ARS), NY.

About Bank of America

Bank of America’s commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a strategic part of doing business globally. Our CSR efforts guide how we operate in a socially, economically, financially and environmentally responsible way around the world, to deliver for shareholders, customers, clients and employees. Our goal is to help create economically vibrant regions and communities through lending, investing and giving. By partnering with our stakeholders, we create value that empowers individuals and communities to thrive and contributes to the long-term success of our business. We have several core areas of focus for our CSR, including responsible business practices; environmental sustainability; strengthening local communities with a focus on housing, hunger and jobs; investing in global leadership development; and engaging through arts and culture. As part of these efforts, employee volunteers across the company contribute their time, passion and expertise to address issues in communities where they live and work. Learn more at www.bankofamerica.com/about and follow us on Twitter at @BofA_Community.

Jazz Era-inspired party kicks off the holiday event season, raises money for planned photography exhibition

The Young Affiliates of the Mint have opened ticket sales for their inaugural Fall Ball to be held at Mint Museum Uptown on Friday, November 8, 2013.

Inspired by select artifacts in the groundbreaking World’s Fairs exhibition now on display at Mint Museum Uptown, the 2013 Fall Ball will transform the museum atrium into a Jazz Era club for the evening. Guests will enjoy 1920’s-inspired fare and Prohibition-era cocktails designed by sponsor Rémy Martin V and Cointreau. Live music will be provided by Charlotte-based performing band Cookie.

Guests will also have a chance to peruse and bid on a wide range of items in a luxury silent auction.  Event tickets include admission to the acclaimed exhibition Inventing the Modern World : Decorative Arts at the World’s Fairs 1851-1939, as well as heavy hors d’oeuvres, wine, beer, and signature event cocktails.

After 11 p.m., the party will continue at Bubble Charlotte, this year’s official Fall Ball After-Party sponsor.

Proceeds from the 2013 Fall Ball will go to support Bearing Witness: The New York Photo League and Sonia Handelman Meyer, a photography exhibition scheduled to open at Mint Museum Randolph on November 24.  Meyer, currently a Charlotte resident, first picked up the camera 70 years ago, but this will be the first time her work is the focus of a major museum exhibition.

Find more information and buy tickets at FallBallCharlotte.com. Tickets are $75 for members and $95 for non-members.

ABOUT THE YOUNG AFFILIATES OF THE MINT

The Young Affiliates of the Mint is a group of diverse young professionals who promote and support The Mint Museum through social, educational, leadership, and fundraising activities and events. Established in 1990, the Young Affiliates are the premier social arts organization for young professionals in the Charlotte area.

Our mission is designed to introduce members to the resources available at the Mint, and develop their own appreciation of the arts. The Young Affiliates offer a wide variety of programs including gallery openings, receptions, annual fund-raising parties, membership meetings, and after-work educational seminars.

The Young Affiliates make substantial donations of tangible and intangible goods to The Mint Museum each year. To date, the Young Affiliates have made eight acquisitions, including a photograph by Annie Leibovitz and outstanding pieces of contemporary craft purchased at the American Craft Council Craft Fair. These artworks are held in the permanent collection of the Mint with credit to the Young Affiliates.

Women of Vision: National Geographic Photographers on Assignment to travel to Charlotte following its debut in Washington, D.C.

Mint Museum Uptown will host National Geographic’s Women of Vision: National Geographic Photographers on Assignment exhibition, both museums announced today.

The traveling exhibition, presented nationally by The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC), opens today at the National Geographic Museum in Washington and will be on view there until March 9, 2014. In Charlotte, it opens at the Mint on March 29, 2014 and will be on view through July 20, 2014.

“This is the latest example of the Mint’s mission to bring to Charlotte works of art and exhibitions of both national and international importance,” said Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson, President & CEO of the Mint. “We could not be more pleased to bring such beautiful and inspiring work to this city, and we are grateful that the generous sponsorship of PNC makes it possible to host this show at the Mint.”

“Women of Vision” features nearly 100 photographs highlighting the influential work of 11 award-winning female photojournalists, including moving depictions of far-flung cultures, compelling illustrations of conceptual topics such as memory and teenage brain chemistry, and arresting images of social issues like child marriage and 21st-century slavery. In addition to the photographs, visitors will have an opportunity to learn how National Geographic magazine picture editors work closely with the photographers to select images and tell a story. Video vignettes will present first-person accounts that reveal the photographers’ individual styles, passions, and approaches to their craft.

All the photographers featured in the exhibition are scheduled to be at National Geographic headquarters in Washington, D.C. for grand opening festivities today, joining journalist Ann Curry for a panel discussion on the power of photography and the many people and places represented in their assignment work. The event will be live-streamed on http://wovexhibition.org/live-stream. Curry also wrote the foreword to the exhibition’s companion book, “Women of Vision: National Geographic Photographers on Assignment,” along with National Geographic magazine Editor in Chief Chris Johns. Several of the photographers are also expected to visit Charlotte for a panel discussion during the exhibition’s run here.

“The 11 photographers featured in this exhibition are inspirational trailblazers and storytellers,” said Jonathan Stuhlman, the Mint’s Senior Curator of American, Modern, and Contemporary Art. “Their photographs tell compelling stories of our planet and its people, from the savannahs of Botswana to the war-torn streets of Libya and Afghanistan; the beaches of the Jersey Shore to the rainforests of New Guinea.”

The exhibition will be presented concurrently with another extraordinary photography exhibition organized by The Mint Museum. Bearing Witness: The New York Photo League and Sonia Handelman Meyer opens November 23, 2013 at Mint Museum Randolph and will remain on view through June 29, 2014. It includes approximately 90 photographs by Photo League members, many from the Mint’s permanent collection, and contains a particular focus on the work of Meyer, currently a Charlotte resident. The exhibition is made possible through generous support from the MetLife Foundation, with additional support from the Young Affiliates of the Mint.

Women of Vision follows another blockbuster exhibition at Mint Museum Uptown, Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World’s Fairs, 1851-1939, which opened last month and remains on view through January 19, 2014. The Mint is the fourth and final venue on the national tour of the show, which was co-organized by Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh and The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City – illustrating the Mint’s ongoing priority of partnering with leading museums from around the world to bring significant exhibitions to Charlotte.

“The photos are a powerful reminder of the human spirit and a testament to the passion and remarkable work of these photographers,” said Weston Andress, Western Carolina regional president of PNC Bank and a member of the Mint’s Board of Trustees. “We know art enriches our lives, strengthens communities, and brings joy to many, and that’s why PNC is pleased to help bring this exhibition to Charlotte.”

Women of Vision was curated by National Geographic Senior Photo Editor Elizabeth Krist and includes these 11 extraordinary photographers:

●          MacArthur Fellow Lynsey Addario is widely admired for her conflict coverage in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Darfur, and the Congo. Featured assignment work includes images that document human rights issues, particularly the plight of women and families in conflict zones.

●          Kitra Cahana explores important social, anthropological, and spiritual themes. Born in Miami but raised in Canada and Sweden, Cahana earned her B.A. in philosophy from McGill University and her M.A. in visual and media anthropology from the Freie Universitat in Berlin.  She has won a first prize from World Press Photo, a TED Fellowship and the ICP Infinity Award. Her work includes images taken on assignment for NGM’s feature on the teenage brain and culture in the United States.

●          Jodi Cobb has worked in over 65 countries and produced 30 National Geographic magazine stories, including the acclaimed “21st-Century Slaves.” Cobb was the only photographer to penetrate the geisha world, which resulted in her Pulitzer Prize-nominated book, “Geisha: The Life, the Voices, the Art.” She was also the first photographer to document the hidden lives of the women of Saudi Arabia and among the first to travel across China when it reopened to the West. She has received numerous accolades, including repeated honors from the National Press Photographers Association, Pictures of the Year and World Press Photo as well as the 2012 Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism. Cobb was the first woman to be named White House Photographer of the Year.

●          Diane Cook is a leading landscape photographer whose work is in numerous collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego; and the L.A. County Museum in Los Angeles. Cook often works collaboratively with her husband, Len Jenshel. Their National Geographic magazine stories have covered New York’s elevated park, the High Line; Mount St. Helens; Green Roofs; the Na’Pali Coast of Hawaii; the U.S.-Mexico border; and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

●          Carolyn Drake is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Fulbright Fellowship, the Lange Taylor Documentary Prize, and a World Press Photo award, and she was a finalist for the Santa Fe Prize. She has spent years documenting the cultures of Central Asia and life in western China’s Uygur region.

●          A Knight Fellow and passionate advocate for visual arts education, Lynn Johnson has covered a wide range of assignments for the magazine, producing images for 21 stories on subjects including vanishing languages and challenges facing human populations in Africa and Asia. Johnson has also participated in photo camps in Chad, Botswana and the Pine Ridge reservation. She has received several awards, including the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for Coverage of the Disadvantaged.

●          Beverly Joubert is a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, filmmaker, photographer, and co-founder of the Big Cats Initiative. Together with her husband, Dereck, she has been documenting the plight of African wildlife for more than 30 years. Her images have appeared in more than 100 magazines worldwide, and the Jouberts have co-authored several books and scientific papers. They have produced more than 25 television documentaries, and their 2011 feature film “The Last Lions” reached more than 350 million people worldwide. Their films have garnered seven Emmys, a Peabody, Panda Awards, and the World Ecology Award. The Jouberts were inducted into the American Academy of Achievement, and for their conservation work in Botswana they received the Presidential Order of Merit.

●          Erika Larsen studies cultures with strong ties to nature. She published a 2009 story in the magazine on the Sami reindeer herders of Scandinavia, an assignment which grew out of her own documentary work for which she lived and worked within the culture for over four years.  Larsen received a B.F.A. and an M.F.A. from Rochester Institute of Technology and is the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship and a New Jersey State Arts Council Fellowship. Larsen’s photography has been exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery and the Sami Ájtte Museum in Sweden.

●          Stephanie Sinclair’s decade-long project on child marriage has earned global recognition, including three World Press Photo awards and prestigious exhibitions on Capitol Hill, at the United Nations and at the Whitney Biennial in New York. Her images also include scenes from Yemen and from polygamist families in the Fundamentalist Church of the Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

●          A celebrated figure in the photographic community, Maggie Steber has worked in more than 62 countries and her images have earned several prestigious honors, including the Leica Medal of Excellence and World Press Photo awards. National Geographic magazine has published her essays on Miami, the African slave trade, the Cherokee Nation, sleep, soldiers’ letters, Dubai, and a story on the science of memory that featured a touching sidebar on Steber’s mother, Madje, and her struggle with dementia. Steber has worked in Haiti for over 25 years and has a monograph published by Aperture Foundation Inc. entitled “Dancing on Fire.” She is a member of Facing Change Documenting America, a group of civic-minded photographers covering important American issues.

●          Amy Toensing began her prolific career covering the White House and Congress for The New York Times. She has created portraits of unforgettable people around the world while shooting magazine stories in Papua New Guinea, Puerto Rico, the Jersey Shore, and Tonga. For the past three years, she documented Aboriginal Australia for a story that was published in the June 2013 issue of the magazine. Toensing is also committed to teaching photography to kids in underserved communities. She has worked with Somali and Sudanese refugees in Maine and Burmese refugees in Baltimore, and she recently traveled to Islamabad to teach young Pakistanis.

Women of Vision is organized and traveled by the National Geographic Society. PNC Financial Services is the Presenting National Tour Sponsor for Women of Vision. Additional generous sponsorship supoprt in Charlotte is provided by Dickens Mitchener Residential Real Estate, the Mint Museum Auxiliary, UTC Aerospace Systems, and Moore & Van Allen.

Exhibition media partners: The Charlotte Observer and WFAE 90.7fm. Additional promotional support provided by WTVI.

ABOUT NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
Founded in 1888, the National Geographic Society is one of the world’s largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations. With a mission to inspire people to care about the planet, the member-supported Society offers a community for members to get closer to explorers, connect with other members, and help make a difference. The Society reaches more than 450 million people worldwide each month through National Geographic and other magazines; National Geographic Channel; television documentaries; music; radio; films; books; DVDs; maps; exhibitions; live events; school publishing programs; interactive media; and merchandise. National Geographic has funded more than 10,000 scientific research, conservation, and exploration projects and supports an education program promoting geographic literacy. For more information, visit www.nationalgeographic.com.

ABOUT PNC
This exhibition is supported by PNC and The PNC Foundation, which receives its principal funding from The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (www.pnc.com). PNC is one of the nation’s largest diversified financial services organizations providing retail and business banking; residential mortgage banking; specialized services for corporations and government entities, including corporate banking, real estate finance and asset-based lending; wealth management; and asset management. Follow @PNCNews on Twitter for breaking news, updates and announcements from PNC.

Image credit:

KITRA CAHANA

After working himself into a trance, a man leaps through a flaming pyre, one of the images from the “Women of Vision” exhibition.

Mint and partner PNC prepare to welcome the public for free activities

The Mint Museum has joined with PNC for its second community day, coming up Saturday, September 28 with a roster of free activities and free general admission to both Mint Museum Randolph and Mint Museum Uptown. (Non-members still must pay admission fees if they wish to visit Inventing the Modern World at Mint Museum Uptown).

Family-friendly hands-on activities will occur from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. at Mint Museum Randolph, 2730 Randolph Road. They include zumba, a bilingual musical performance and storytime, West African music and movement, and art activities. Click here for a full schedule of activities.

“The Mint is grateful to PNC and our other corporate sponsors and partners for their leadership and their recognition of the important role that cultural institutions such as the Mint play in this community,” said Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson, President & CEO of the Mint. “These events further the Mint’s ongoing commitment to being an accessible and relevant resource.”

PNC’s sponsorship is part of the financial company’s “Grow Up Great” initiative. Founded by The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc., PNC Grow Up Great, and PNC Crezca con Éxito form a bilingual, $350 million, multi-year initiative that began in 2004 to help prepare children – particularly underserved children – from birth to age five for success in school and life.

“PNC has a long history of supporting organizations that strengthen and enrich the lives of our communities,” said Weston Andress, PNC Regional President, Western Carolina. “We understand that a rich arts community and a focus on healthy living is an important part of making the region attractive for businesses, residents and visitors.”

The day coincides with a national free museum admission day established by Smithsonian Magazine, called Museum Day Live! Each year on Museum Day Live!, visitors to participating museums may receive two free adult admissions if they print out a voucher from the Smithsonian website. However, thanks to the support of PNC, the Mint will not require visitors to present vouchers and will automatically grant free admission at both locations.

The Mint’s first community day, sponsored by Novant Health with additional support from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, was held in June.

ABOUT PNC

The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (www.pnc.com) is one of the nation’s largest diversified financial services organizations providing retail and business banking; residential mortgage banking; specialized services for corporations and government entities, including corporate banking, real estate finance and asset-based lending; wealth management and asset management. Follow @PNCNews on Twitter for breaking news, updates and announcements from PNC.

Gang, of Studio Gang Architects, kicks off new CAD (Contemporary Architecture + Design) series

MacArthur Fellow Jeanne Gang, recently named one of the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum’s 2013 National Design Award Winners, will visit the Mint this Thursday, September 12, to launch the new season of the museum’s CAD (Contemporary Architecture + Design) speaker series. Gang is founder and principal of Studio Gang Architects, a Chicago-based collective of architects, designers, and thinkers practicing internationally.

Gang uses the medium of architecture to respond to pressing contemporary issues and their impact on human experience. Each of her projects resonates with its specific site and culture while addressing larger global themes such as urbanization, climate, and sustainability.

Recently realized projects by the firm include “The Garden in the Machine,” a proposal reimagining the suburb of Cicero, Illinois, for The Museum of Modern Art’s  Foreclosed:  Rehousing the American Dream exhibition; Aqua Tower, an Emporis Skyscraper of the Year; and the Nature Boardwalk at Lincoln Park Zoo. Gang will receive her National Design Award for Architecture Design at a gala dinner on October 17.

The Mint Museum’s Contemporary Architecture + Design series, which first launched in January 2012, explores innovative perspectives and insightful stories on architecture + design. Cash bar at 6:30 p.m. and talks begin at 7 p.m. at Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts, 500 South Tryon Street in Charlotte.  The CAD talks are free to students with valid ID, $5 for museum members and $15 for non-members. Register online at mintmuseum.org/happenings or call 704.337.2107 to register by phone.

Future speakers in the series are:

OCTOBER 24, 2013 | STEPHEN CASSELL & ADAM YARINSKY – ARO

Stephen Cassell and Adam Yarinsky are principals of Architecture Research Office (ARO), a New York-based firm practicing modern architecture and visionary urbanism, and known for their recent work exploring the effect of rising sea levels on the financial district of lower Manhattan. The firm has completed projects for Princeton University, Prada, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. ARO was the winner of the 2011 Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award for Architecture. Current work by the firm includes Zimple House at Tulane University’s Newcomb Lawn College and a restoration of American sculptor Donald Judd’s Home and Studio.

JANUARY 30, 2014 | BEN FRY – FATHOM

Ben Fry is principal of Fathom, an acclaimed Boston-based design consultancy that helps clients understand and express complex data visually through information graphics, interactive tools, software for installations, the web, and mobile devices.

MARCH 6, 2014 | KULAPAT YANTRASAST – why.how ARCHITECTURE

Kulapat Yantrasast, a native of Thailand, is the co-founder and principal of why.how Architecture, which he founded with fellow architect Yo-ichiro Hakomori. why.how completed the Grand Rapids Art Museum, the first new art museum in the world to receive the LEED certification for environmental design.

Show will feature decorative arts and design innovations from the world’s great cultural capitals

A groundbreaking international exhibition is set to arrive at Mint Museum Uptown this fall. Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World’s Fairs, 1851—1939presents outstanding examples of glass, furniture, jewelry, ceramics, precious metalwork, and textiles displayed at the world’s fairs between London’s Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations in London in 1851 and New York’s World’s Fair in 1939.

“The Mint is pleased to offer Charlotte audiences and the region a blockbuster exhibition celebrating art that is beautiful, inspiring, and historically significant,” said Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson, President & CEO of the Mint. “This nationally touring exhibition will be accompanied by one of the most exciting slates of in-depth and innovative programming we’ve ever hosted.”

Inventing the Modern World comprises approximately 200 objects shown during the major world’s fairs from 1851 to 1939 – a journey through the major cultural capitals of the world. Large and small in scale, these seminal objects are culled from private and public collections, primarily in America and Europe. Many of these objects have never before left their respective institutions or countries. Among the many lenders are The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Designmuseum Danmark, and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. The exhibition was co-organized by the Carnegie Museum of Art and The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, and traveled to the New Orleans Museum of Art before making its final stop at the Mint, where it will be on view from September 22 through January 19, 2014.

“We wanted to bring this exhibition to Charlotte because it truly does present the best examples of decorative arts from the second half of the 19th century through the first half of the 20th,” says Brian Gallagher, Curator of Decorative Arts at the Mint. “The exhibition also complements two of our museum’s greatest strengths: historical decorative arts and contemporary craft and design, and so we knew that our members and supporters would especially enjoy it.”

World’s fairs were important places for debuting advancements in modern living. “In the decades before television commercials, much less the Internet, these fairs were one of the primary vehicles through which people could learn about other cultures and other countries,” says Gallagher. “They were a place for people to see the latest works of art and design created in other countries as well as their own.”

Some fairs were broad in scope, displaying decorative arts alongside paintings, sculpture, industrial design and agricultural products; others concentrated on exhibiting decorative arts alone. Both types of expositions functioned as showcases and marketplaces for design. Above all, they democratized design, exposing countless visitors and others to the latest artistic and technological achievements of their time.

Exhibition highlights include an extraordinary Fabergé tiara fashioned from thousands of tiny rose-cut diamonds set on knife-edge mounts, which gives the tiara the appearance of woven lace. Acclaimed firms such as Tiffany & Co., Lalique, Cartier, and Boucheron are also represented at the exhibition through superlative examples of their works.

Inventing the Modern World is the grandest exhibition ever hosted by the Mint; it is the largest exhibition since the opening of Mint Museum Uptown, and the first to take up both the third and fourth special exhibition levels. It is also the Mint’s first ticketed exhibition in over a decade. Exhibition admission is $10 for adult visitors on top of regular museum admission. Exhibition admission is free for Mint members and children under 18 when they accompany a paying adult. (Exhibition tickets are available at mintmuseum.org).

The Mint will offer a lineup of can’t-miss special events during the opening weekend of Inventing the Modern World, and Charlotteans will have the opportunity to ride a Ferris wheel beside Mint Museum Uptown throughout the weekend. Guests can preview the exhibition with an exclusive cocktail reception at the Preview Celebration on Saturday, September 21 at 6:30 p.m. (Tickets are available for $200 for non-members, $100 for members, and $50 for Corporate Leadership Circle and Crown Society patrons; call 704.337.2011 to register.) Mint Museum Uptown will open early and offer special members-only hours on Sunday, September 22 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Coffee and light brunch fare will be offered. A private tour led by Brian Gallagher will also be offered on Sunday from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Space is limited and reserved for the Mint’s Benefactor and Sustainer members. Sunday Fun Day will also be held from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and will include family-friendly crafts and activities celebrating the exhibition (FREE for children and Mint members, $5 general admission /$15 general + special exhibition admission for adults). On Sunday, guests can also attend a special lecture by Inventing the Modern World co-curators Jason T. Busch, Chief Curator and the Alan G. and Jane A. Lehman Curator of Decorative Arts and Design at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, and Catherine L. Futter, Helen Jane and R. Hugh “Pat” Uhlmann Senior Curator of Architecture, Design, and Decorative Arts at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. The lecture is at 2 p.m. and is FREE for members and non-members after museum admission. For more information on these and other events or to register for programs, visit mintmuseum.org/happenings or call 704.337.2011.

Other programming during the exhibition’s run include a lecture on “Tiffany at the World’s Fairs” by the archivist at Tiffany & Co., New York, Annamarie V. Sandecki, scheduled for November 10, and a panel discussion by contemporary experts on concepts that may change our lives in the future, “What’s Next? Inventions that will change Contemporary Living,” scheduled for December 4 and sponsored by UTC Aerospace Systems. A full listing is available at mintmuseum.org/happenings.

Major support for this exhibition was provided by Wells Fargo, the Windgate Charitable Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. The exhibition is brought to Charlotte through generous support from Duke Energy, Novant Health, Rodgers Builders, and the Southern Christmas Show. In-kind support was generously provided by Adams Outdoor Advertising.

A fully-illustrated catalogue is available in the Mint Museum Shops in hardcover ($75 for non-members, $67.50 for members) and paperback ($45 for non-members, $40.50 for members).

NOTE TO MEDIA: Members of the media are invited to preview the exhibition at 10 a.m. on Thursday, September 19 at Mint Museum Uptown. Interviews with Curator Brian Gallagher and other museum officials will be available. RSVP to leigh.dyer@mintmuseum.org.

Free Bearden-themed tours of Mint Museum Uptown to be offered as part of grand opening of Romare Bearden Park

As Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation is gearing up to open its newest facility this weekend, the Mint is doing its part to highlight connections between world-renowned artist Romare Bearden and the city where he was born.

Mint Museum Uptown will offer three free Bearden-themed tours during grand opening festivities this Saturday, August 31, as the Mint encourages the public to visit both the park and the museum with the largest public holding of Bearden’s works.

Tour groups are invited to depart the new Romare Bearden Park from the corner of Martin Luther King and Church Streets at 10:45 a.m., 11:45 a.m., or 12:45 p.m. this Saturday, or meet at the Guest Services Desk of Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts, 500 South Tryon Street, at 11 a.m., noon, or 1 p.m. The museum is one block south of the park via South Church Street. Tour group participants will be granted free admission to the museum; all other museum visitors pay $10 for general adult admission (free for museum members). Children ages 5-17 pay $5 general admission and children 4 and under are free. Groups will experience the Bearden-inspired house inside the kid-friendly Lewis Family Gallery, as well as the permanent Romare Bearden Gallery which displays a rotating selection of works from throughout the artist’s career. Trained museum docents will lead the tours.

The park’s grand opening includes a wide range of art-related activities, including hands-on children’s art projects, an art show, and free tours of the Kinsey Collection at the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts + Culture. Free music and other performances will be offered at the park throughout the weekend.

For more information about grand opening weekend activities or Romare Bearden’s connections to the Mint, visit mintmuseum.org. Or, see a full schedule of the weekend’s events at parkandrec.com.

Director of Fine Arts and Curator of the Mint’s internationally-renowned Fashion Collection to retire

The Mint Museum is preparing to bid farewell to its beloved and longest-serving curator as Charles L. Mo, Director of Fine Arts and Curator of the Mint’s internationally-renowned Fashion Collection, announces his retirement effective September 30, 2013.

Hired in 1984, Mo was the first professional art historian and curator in the Mint’s history. Over the years he has overseen the museum’s American, European, and Asian art collections, and was responsible for building the Spanish Colonial collection from four items to several hundred works of art. For the last 15 years, he has also served as curator of the Fashion Collection, which has received attention from sources as diverse as Marie Claire magazine, Project Runway judge Nina Garcia’s Pinterest account, and MTV’s fashion blog under his watch. Today, the collection is the museum’s second-largest, and comprises over 10,000 objects that span three centuries.

“These many years at The Mint Museum have blessed me with so many positive and rewarding experiences,” said Mo. “These range from the growth of the collections to the numerous, important exhibitions that have been presented to this great community, and beyond.  I also acknowledge the countless number of museum members, donors, patrons, trustees, board of directors and the incredible staff that bring their talents and experiences to enrich this institution. I am most fortunate and, yet, I shall miss so much of the daily wonders of this great museum. As a most gratifying chapter closes for me, I look forward to a new chapter, its challenges and its rewards!”

During his career, Mo has served as Project Curator for such internationally important exhibitions as Treasures of Tutankhamun, Treasures of Chatsworth, Peru’s Golden Treasures, and Ramesses the Great, among others. He also organized Splendors of the New World, Allure of East Asia, Dressed to Impress, Art of Affluence,Andy Warhol Portfolios: Life & Legend, CHANEL: Designs for the Modern Woman, Fashionable Silhouettes, and Dior, Balmain, Saint Laurent: Elegance & Ease(currently on view at Mint Museum Randolph through January12, 2014), among many others at the Mint. He holds memberships in the American Association of Museum Curators and the Costume Society of America. Mo holds a B.F.A. and an M.A. in Art History from Louisiana State University.

“Charles’ tremendous influence and impact span significant eras in The Mint Museum’s history,” said Cheryl Palmer, the Mint’s director of Learning & Engagement, who has worked with Mo during his entire tenure at the Mint. “He joined the staff when the Dalton wing was under construction in the early 1980s, and the museum was more than doubling in size and literally turning its front entrance “face” to Randolph Road and the community at large. A few years later, Charles served as the museum’s curator in charge for the Ramesses the Great: The Pharaoh and His Time exhibition – a mammoth international undertaking, and a landmark event for the museum and for the city. Over the decades, he supervised major exhibitions of European and American masterpiece paintings, and he curated several important shows of works by Romare Bearden. Charles’ interests are truly global and encyclopedic.”

Annie Carlano, formerly Director of Craft + Design soon to be Senior Curator of Craft, Design, & Fashion, will assume responsibility for the Fashion Collection upon Charles’ departure.  The collections of Native American, Mexican, and Mayan art will also be under her care.  Carlano is uniquely qualified to oversee these specific areas, having been Curator of Costume and Textiles at the Wasdsworth Athenuem, Hartford, CT, and The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, as well as Senior Curator at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

“Charles has done a remarkable job in building a world class collection of fashion, based on his broad knowledge of costume history, and vast network of contacts,” said Annie Carlano, Senior Curator of Craft, Design, and Fashion.   “The exhibitions he has curated demonstrate his great expertise in all the details that comprise an historic fashion ensemble, from the dress, to the shoes, fan, jewelry, and millinery.  He studies period hairstyles and interprets them so beautifully with white paper.  Something I particularly admire about Charles is his artistry in creating the perfect silhouette for an 18^th century robe a l’anglasie or an 1880s ballgown with bustle.”

Jonathan Stuhlman, the Mint’s Curator of American Art since 2006, will assume responsibility for the Ancient Americas, Spanish Colonial, and African Art collections currently under Charles’ purview in his expanded role as Senior Curator of Modern, Contemporary and American Art.

“The Mint Museum has been so fortunate to have Charles as one of its greatest treasures. His influence, wisdom, kindness, and passion will be acknowledged and admired for years to come. The Mint would not be the institution it is today without his leadership, grace, infinite style and profound impact.,” said Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson, President & CEO of the Mint.. “We will also look forward to celebrating Charles in the months ahead, both privately and publicly, and his invaluable contributions during his remarkable 30 year tenure with the museum.”

Museum to be closed Tuesdays, move free hours to Wednesdays beginning July 16, 2013

Following careful study of attendance patterns, The Mint Museum will now open to the public at 11 a.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sundays, effective July 16, 2013, in order to maximize its highest-attended times and carefully steward its resources. Both locations of the museum will now be closed on Tuesdays in addition to Mondays. The museum will continue to offer free hours of community access each week, moving free evenings to Wednesdays from 5 to 9 p.m. instead of Tuesdays. Sunday hours remain unchanged. The new hours of operation are:

Closed Monday, Tuesday, and major holidays
Wednesday 11 a.m.-9 p.m. (FREE admission 5-9 p.m.)
Thursday-Saturday 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
Sunday 1-5 p.m.

“We researched our attendance patterns in an effort to optimize our public operating schedule and operate more efficiently, which allows us to more effectively respond to the community’s increased demand for meaningful and accessible arts and educational programming,” said Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson, President & CEO of the Mint. “We are very proud of our commitment to free community access, and we expect Wednesdays will be even more popular with the public than Tuesdays have been.”

Members of the media are asked to update all event calendars with the Mint’s new hours of operation. Please contact leigh.dyer@mintmuseum.org with any follow-up questions.

Mint to host culminating celebration June 20

ArtSí, Charlotte’s arts community initiative that supports and connects Latino and Latina artists in Mecklenburg County, is readying for its 10-year anniversary celebration, Con A de Arte (A is for Art). Three events will be held in uptown Charlotte:

• Con A de Arte Kickoff Party – Saturday, June 15 at 9 p.m., Cosmos Café, 300 N. College Street, uptown Charlotte
• Con A de Arte Literary Night at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, Tuesday, June 18 from 6 to 8 p.m., West Boulevard Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, 2157 West Boulevard Charlotte, NC 28208.
• MAIN EVENT: Con A de Arte Closing Reception & Awards Ceremony – Thursday, June 20 from 6-9 p.m., Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts, 500 South Tryon Street.

The celebration will culminate with the Closing Reception & Awards Ceremony, at which featured artists will present an artistic response to the exhibition Sociales: Débora Arango Arrives Today, which is on view at Mint Museum Uptown through Sunday, June 16. Colombian-born painter Débora Arango, who died in 2005 at the age of 98, was one of the pioneers of modern Colombian art. She is considered one of the most important and controversial modern artists of her time.

Featured artists were chosen by a group of art professionals that include: Cynthia Moreno (Assistant Learning & Engagement Director, The Mint Museum), Claudia González-Griffin (Residency & Exhibitions Manager, McColl Center for Visual Art), Melina Monita-Pacheco (Latino New South Project Coordinator, Levine Museum of the New South), Siu Challons-Lipton  (Chair, Art Department, Queens University of Charlotte), and Michele Shaul (Director, Center for Latino Studies, Queens University of Charlotte).

Award recipients will also be honored at the ceremony for their contributions to the arts community in Charlotte and the surrounding areas. Recipients have gone above and beyond in promoting and uplifting Latino artists.

FEATURED ARTISTS:
Visual Artists: Ivan Peña, Claudia Pureco, Oscar Ortiz, Angela Lubinecky, and Nico Amortegui; Latino Themed by Non-Latino Artists: Bill Temples – Fine Arts, Kevin Shank – Photographer, and Jan Notzon – Writer; Sculpture: Victor Gómez and Adrián Barrionuevo; Dance: Daniel Arredondo, El Alma de la Luna and Movimentos de Samba Brazilian Dance Co.; Music Singers: Aris Quiroga and Jessica Alberto de Gutierrez; Theatre: Mónica Román – Actress; Performing Multidiscipline: Genesis Soto – Poet, Actress; Food/Art: Clara Delgado Tapiero – Gelatin Artist; Photography: Armando Bellmas and Jonathan Reynas; Fashion Design: Jennifer Cardenas

AWARD WINNERS:
• Sara Wolf Lifetime Achievement Award presented to Edwin Gil
• Community Partner Award presented to Queens University of Charlotte
• Leading Latino/a Artist Award presented to Rosie Molinary
• Individual Community Supporter Award presented to Lucilla Ruvalcaba

The Con A de Arte presenting sponsors are the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library and The Mint Museum. In-kind sponsors are Cosmos Café, Jennifer Cardenas, Edwin Gil, Latin American Contemporary Art Projects, and Rooster Communications. For a full list of donors and key supporters, please visit the ArtSi website at www.artsicharlotte.org.

ABOUT ARTSÍ

ArtSí Charlotte is a community initiative developed to support Latinos/as in the arts in Mecklenburg County. ArtSí Charlotte connects Latino/a artists to available resources, creates opportunities, empowers Latino/a initiatives and bridges the cultural, communication and financial barriers that Latinos/as in the arts may face. Further, it aims to connect the community as a whole with an amazing pool of talented and diverse artists in the Latino culture. Strategic direction, administrative support and programming is provided by the following organizations, members of the steering committee: Latin American Women Association, Levine Museum of the New South, McColl Center for Visual Art, Mint Museum and Queens University. For more information about ArtSí Charlotte, visit ArtSiCharlotte.org or find us on Twitter at @ArtSiCharlotte and Facebook at facebook.com/ArtSiCharlotte.

For more information, contact:

Leigh Dyer
Public Relations Manager, The Mint Museum
704.337.2009
Leigh.Dyer@mintmuseum.org

Ana Lucia Divins
Latino Community Education Liaison, The Mint Museum
AnaLucia.Divins@mintmuseum.org
704.337.2123

Brian Cockman
President, Rooster Communications
brian@roostercomm.biz
877.210.3737, ext. 11

Mint is one of more than 1,800 Blue Star Museums nationwide

The Mint Museum and several of its uptown neighbors are once again joining Blue Star Museums, a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and more than 1,800 museums across America to offer free admission to all active duty military personnel, including active Reserve and National Guard, and their families from Memorial Day through Labor Day 2013. Leadership support has been provided by MetLife
Foundation through Blue Star Families. The complete list of participating museums is available at
www.arts.gov/bluestarmuseums.

All Blue Star Museums, including the Mint, Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Discovery Place, Johnson C. Smith University (which is hosting the exhibition COURAGE: The Carolina Story that Changed America in its James B. Duke Memorial Library) and Levine Museum of the New South, are offering free admission to all military ID holders and up to five family members. In addition, the Mint is offering free admission to any veteran with a Veterans Identification Card and up to five of their family members for the summer. The initiative applies to both Mint locations, Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts, 500 South Tryon Street, and Mint Museum Randolph at 2730 Randolph Road.

“We are thrilled to offer our support to military families and veterans this summer,” said Hillary Cooper, director of communications and media relations at The Mint Museum. “This initiative enables us to deepen our community connections and serve as a family-friendly center for learning and inspiration.”

“Blue Star Museums is something that service members and their families look forward to every year and we are thrilled with the continued growth of the program,” said Blue Star Families CEO Kathy Roth-Douquet. “Through this distinctive collaboration between Blue Star Families, the National Endowment for the Arts and more than 1,800 museums across the United States, service members and their families can connect with our national treasures with this unparalleled opportunity to visit some of the country’s finest museums for free.”

This year, more than 1,800 (and counting) museums in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and American Samoa are taking part in the initiative, including more than 450 new museums this year. Museums are welcome to join Blue Star Museums throughout the summer. The effort to recruit museums has involved partnerships with the American Association of Museums, the Association of Art Museum Directors, the Association of Children’s Museums, the American Association of State and Local History, and the Association of Science-Technology Centers. This year’s Blue Star Museums represent not just fine arts museums, but also science museums, history museums, nature centers, and 75 children’s museums. Among this year’s new participants are the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California, Grand Traverse Lighthouse Museum in Northport, Michigan, the Totem Heritage Center in Ketchikan, Alaska, and the World Museum of Mining in Butte, Montana.

ABOUT BLUE STAR MUSEUMS

Blue Star Museums is a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and more than 1,800 museums across America. The program runs from Memorial Day, May 27, 2013 through Labor Day, September 2, 2013.

Some special or limited-time museum exhibits may not be included in this free admission program. For questions on particular exhibits or museums, please contact the museum directly. To find out which museums are participating, visit www.arts.gov/bluestarmuseums. The site includes a list of participating museums and a map to help with visit planning.

This is the latest NEA program to bring quality arts programs to the military, veterans, and their families. Other NEA programs for the military have included the NEA/Walter Reed Healing Arts Partnership; Great American Voices Military Base Tour; and Shakespeare in American Communities Military Base Tour.

ABOUT BLUE STAR FAMILIES

Blue Star Families is a national, nonprofit network of military families from all ranks and services, including guard and reserve, dedicated to supporting, connecting and empowering military families. With our partners, Blue Star Families hosts a robust array of morale and empowerment programs, including Books on Bases, Blue Star Museums, Operation Honor Corp, Blue Star Careers and Operation Appreciation. Blue Star Families also works directly with the Department of Defense and senior members of local, State and Federal government to bring the most important military family issues to light.

Working in concert with fellow nonprofits, community advocates, and public officials, Blue Star Families raises awareness of the challenges and strengths of military family life and works to make military life more sustainable. Our worldwide membership includes military spouses, children, parents, and friends, as well as service members, veterans and civilians. To learn more about Blue Star Families, visit http://www.bluestarfam.org.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS

The National Endowment for the Arts was established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. To date, the NEA has awarded more than $4 billion to support artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities. The NEA extends its work through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector. To join the discussion on how art works, visit the NEA at arts.gov.

Kathryn Oosterhuis and Rachel Ellis are exceptional new hires.

The Mint Museum has hired two new staff members to round out its team. After a national search, Kathryn Oosterhuis has been hired to fill the new position of Archivist for The Mint Museum. She will be responsible for developing and managing the archives to keep an accurate, well-preserved record of the museum’s holdings and activities. Rachel Ellis has been hired as the Membership Manager to further the development of the museum and its membership program.

The creation of the Archivist position is enabled by a Documenting Democracy grant awarded by the National Historical Records and Publications Commission (NHRPC) to The Mint Museum for the initiation and development of its museum archives. The NHRPC is a statutory body affiliated with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and supports a wide range of activities to preserve, publish, and encourage the use of documentary sources, created in every medium, relating to the history of the United States.

The museum was awarded more than $45,000 from the NHPRC last year. The Mint was founded in 1936 as North Carolina’s first art museum, but its history goes back even further, reflecting significant historical data on the culture and society of both Charlotte and the region. The NHPRC’s grant also enables the museum to establish a physical space for the archives and initiate a museum-wide program to ensure that its history is preserved and made accessible to the community – now, and in the future.

“This is another huge step forward in establishing the Mint as a vibrant and relevant cultural leader. Sharing our history with the community furthers the Mint’s ability to serve as center of excellence in collections, exhibitions, scholarship, learning, engagement, and service. By strongly preserving our history, we are better poised to step into the future,” said Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson, President & CEO of the Mint.

“Not only do the funds received from the grant award enable us to document, preserve, and make accessible the records of the history of The Mint Museum, but the award of the grant itself is significant. The Documenting Democracy: Access to Historical Records Projects awards are given to support projects that preserve documentary heritage considered essential to understanding American democracy, history, and culture. The award of this grant is a profound recognition of the Mint’s role in the history of this city, the region, even the country,” said Joyce Weaver, the Mint’s librarian.

Oosterhuis was archivist for the YMCA Minneapolis collection at the Kautz YMCA archives at the University of Minnesota and Project Archivist at the James K. Hosmer Special Collections of Hennepin County Library. Her previous involvements also include archival work with the American Craft Council, a national organization founded to raise awareness and celebrate the American craft movement; work with the American Swedish Institute’s library and archive collection; and work with the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Oosterhuis received her Master of Information and Library Science degree from St. Catherine’s University in St. Paul, Minn.

“The range of experience Kathryn brings to the Archivist position will be instrumental in the success of the grant project and the development of our museum archives. I am believe she will be an invaluable asset to the museum and the community,” said Weaver.

Rachel Ellis has worked in the nonprofit industry for most of her professional career, focusing on development and donor relationships. She is excited to return to the museum world, having graduated from Baylor University with a degree in Art History and Museum Studies and prior work with the Amon Carter Museum and the Mayborn Museum Complex in Texas.

The Mint Museum is committed to providing an excellent membership experience, sponsoring many exclusive programs for its members throughout the year, such as First Look Fridays, where members get a private first glance at new exhibitions.

“As the Mint ramps up its general membership cultivation efforts, Rachel is the perfect person to assume the post of Membership Manager for the museum. Her rich experience and expertise, and passion for driving membership, will help us achieve our goal to have 20,000 members by 2016 through inspiring and engaging our global community,” said Jameson.

Ellis has lived in Charlotte since 2011 and most recently headed Individual Gifts & Member Services for Blumenthal Performing Arts.

(Above image: Ellis, left, and Oosterhuis, right.)

FECUND was developed as an experiential installation and one-man show.

UPDATE: The atrium installation is on hiatus until Sunday, May 12. The public is invited to return to the atrium  from May 12-20.

The public is invited to the atrium of Mint Museum Uptown from May 6-20 to experience an installation from local performance artist John W. Love, Jr., who will be inviting visitors to contemplate notions of “yes” as part of an interdisciplinary project entitled FECUND.

Access to the Robert Haywood Morrison Atrium, inside Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts, 500 South Tryon Street, is free during the hours of 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday (and until 9 p.m. on Tuesdays), 1-5 p.m. Sundays. Regular admission policies to the remainder of the museum will apply during Love’s residency. The Mint will post updates about the project at facebook.com/mintmuseum and @TheMintMuseum.

Love is the first individual artist to receive the Arts & Science Council McColl Award, which he was awarded in 2011 to pursue the development of FECUND. Love is a visual artist, playwright, poet, stage/video director, and actor. The installation will culminate with a one-man performance at Mint Museum Uptown on May 17 at 7:30 p.m., which is free to Mint members and $15 for non-members. Click here for more details on the performance and to register. (The May 17 performance is recommended for mature audiences). Registration is required for the performance and seating is limited.

“John is an essential reason why Charlotte’s art scene has continued to flourish,” said Brad Thomas, the Mint’s curator of Modern & Contemporary Art. “He could not be more deserving of the McColl Award. We are honored to feature John’s innovative installation and performance as part of the Mint’s ongoing commitment to supporting regional artists.”

The installation itself is entitled Path of Yes and will use texture, objects, and sound. The May 17 performance is entitled The Diaries of Neequa or She Who Would Be King. Together, these two components make up FECUND. Prior to this new installation and performance at the Mint, Love concluded his second artist residency at The McColl Center for Visual Art in the fall of 2012. His time at McColl was dedicated to the creative aims of FECUND in a process he described as “…steeped in exploration, experimentation, discovery, collaboration, play, and an exhilarating process of editing.” Love’s studio was a hub of activity for workshops, invigorating connections, and meditative contemplation. A collection of mixed-media sculptures was produced for the Path of Yes and will be positioned along a tiled floor developed in collaboration with Fine Arts students from Winthrop University and Adjunct Professor of Fine Arts Jon Prichard.

The installation marks the second time this year that the Mint has activated the atrium of Mint Museum Uptown with an art installation and invited the public to participate. In February, Japanese artist Motoi Yamamoto spent two weeks constructing a temporary saltwork, Floating Garden, drawing thousands of visitors to the atrium and drawing worldwide attention to the Mint in both social media and traditional media. The saltwork was dismantled March 3 and visitors were invited to return the salt to the sea, but a smaller saltwork remains on view in the Modern & Contemporary galleries of Mint Museum Uptown through May 26.

“The Mint is pleased to continue fulfilling the original vision of Mint Museum Uptown and Levine Center for the Arts by creating a community gathering spot where visitors can have transformative experiences,” said Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson, President & CEO of the Mint. “We look forward to continuing to surprise and delight our visitors with new offerings each time they return to our facilities.”

Keynote speech and day-long conference are open to the public

The public is invited to join a roster of chefs, writers, historians, and international designers – led by internationally renowned architect Michael Graves – who are visiting the museum later this month for a conference devoted to the innovative Mint-organized F.O.O.D. (Food, Objects, Objectives, Design) exhibition. Graves will be speaking on April 25 as part of the Mint’s Contemporary Architecture + Design (CAD) Series at Mint Museum Uptown, which will serve as the F.O.O.D. Conference’s keynote address, and the day-long conference follows on April 26.

Michael Graves and his firms have received more than 200 awards for design excellence since he founded his practice in 1964, including the 1999 National Medal of Arts from President Bill Clinton. Michael Graves & Associates provides planning, architecture and interior design services, and Michael Graves Design Group specializes in product design, graphics and branding. As one of the most well-recognized contemporary architects in the country, Graves is widely credited with the ‘democratization of design’ through his partnership and accessible product line with Target.

“Good design not only addresses practical problems, it humanizes the products we use daily. Fittingly, the Mint’s CAD Series (Contemporary Architecture + Design) concludes its season and opens the F.O.O.D. Conference with a lecture by Michael Graves, the visionary architect and designer. More than anyone else, Graves has changed the field by championing good design as essential to everyday life, and by creating objects that are accessible, intuitive, functional and beautiful,” said Cheryl Palmer, the Mint’s director of Learning & Engagement.

Graves’ lecture begins at 7 p.m. and the lecture is $5 for museum members, $15 for non-members, and free for students with valid ID. A light reception precedes the program at 6 p.m. Registration is required at mintmuseum.org/happenings.

The F.O.O.D. Conference promises a day of learning and creativity with presentations from industry leading writers, historians, chefs, and designers to complement the museum’s current exhibition devoted to objects designed to prepare, cook, and present food. The conference sessions mirror the four sections of the F.O.O.D. exhibition: Kitchen, Pantry, Table and Garden.

Presenters include Jessica Harris, author of 11 cookbooks and contributor to magazines such as Gourmet and Saveur; James Beard Award-winning author, bread expert and Johnson & Wales chef Peter Reinhart; Darra Goldstein, food historian and founding editor of Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture, named the 2012 Publication of the Year by the James Beard Foundation; Asheville-based architect Ken Gaylord, and Matteo Bologna, founding partner and principal of Mucca Design in New York.

Designers Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin of the FormaFantasma Studio, who created the work “Autarchy” for the Mint’s F.O.O.D. exhibition, will also be presenting.  Based on a prototype from 2011, this version of Autarchy was created especially for the Mint, and is made of agriculture waste, spices such as turmeric and paprika, and Geechie Boy corn meal. The two Italian designers are based in The Netherlands and their work seeks to bridge the relationship between craft, industry, object, and user. This is the studio’s first showing in an American museum. In 2011 the studio was nominated as one of the 20 most promising young design studios by Alice Rawsthorn, the design critic of The New York Times and Paola Antonelli, the senior design curator of The Museum of Modern Art.

“Designers are creative individuals who apply art and engineering to solve a problem. Regarding food, that problem might be making a spoon that holds just the right amount of liquid, that is comfortable to hold, and that looks really cool.  It might be creating a kitchen that incorporates sustainable appliances, green machines, and ergonomic furniture.  And it could even be coming up with a typeface, and innovative graphic designs, for restaurant advertisements, menus, or cookbooks. The Mint’s F.O.O.D. Conference brings together top international talent – chefs, culinary historians, designers, and architects –  to discuss their perspectives on the meaning of table, pantry, kitchen, and garden in our lives today,” said Annie Carlano, the Mint’s director of craft + design.

The conference runs from 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. and the cost for Mint or Center for Craft, Creativity and Design members is $60 with a box lunch and includes admission to Michael Graves’ CAD lecture. Cost for non-members is $85 with a box lunch, or $100 for lunch and admission to the Graves CAD lecture. Registration is required at mintmuseum.org/happenings. The conference is co-presented with The Center for Craft, Creativity and Design in Hendersonville, N.C., and funded by the Founders’ Circle. In-kind partners include Johnson & Wales University and The Mother Earth Group. Michael Graves’ lecture is generously supported by a grant from the Arts & Science Council.

The F.O.O.D. exhibition features approximately 300 modern and contemporary pieces, including unique and mass-produced works chosen from the Mint’s permanent collection, loans and new acquisitions. The exhibition is co-organized by the research center FoodCultura, Barcelona, and remains on view through July 7, 2013. F.O.O.D. (Food, Objects, Objectives, Design) is made possible through major support from PNC with additional support from Piedmont Natural Gas. Acquisition support was provided by the Design Committee of The Mint Museum.

Experience three museums in 48 hours for $20

Beginning April 1, 2013, individuals will have the opportunity to experience the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture and The Mint Museum at Levine Center for the Arts within 48 hours for $20 through the purchase of the new Levine Center for the Arts Access Ticket. Tickets are available only on CarolinaTix.org and exclude special events and performances in the Knight Theater. The purchase price represents a discount on the combined regular adult admission prices at the three institutions ($10 at the Mint and $8 apiece at the Bechtler and Gantt Center).

The Levine Center for the Arts Access Ticket is for regular admission only and may not be used for admittance to programs, performances or special events held at any of the participating institutions.

“This ticket provides access for cultural enthusiasts to experience all that Levine Center for the Arts has to offer,” said Scott Provancher, president of the Arts & Science Council.  “The incredible diversity of art ranging from one of the premier craft and design collections in the U.S. at The Mint Museum, exhibitions that tell and share the African-American experience at the Gantt Center, to one-of-a-kind works by some of the most important and influential artists of the mid-20th century at the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, is one that our community is fortunate to have and share with residents and visitors.”

The museums at Levine Center for the Arts

The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art (420 South Tryon Street, bechtler.org) 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. On view through July 29, 2013 is Artistic Relationships: Partners, Mentors, Lovers, an exhibition of 85 works by artists including Joan Miró, Alexander Calder, Fernand Léger and Le Corbusier who were not only connected by the creative spirit but also by personal circumstances. On view are paintings, prints, textiles and sculpture from the Bechtler collection that reflect the 20th century’s experimentation with abstract art and reveal a variety of approach, intent and result.

The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture (551 South Tryon Street, ganttcenter.org) presents preserves and celebrates excellence in the art, history and culture of African-Americans and those of African descent.  The Center has three new exhibitions celebrating the South that include: I Got Freedom Up Over My Head: Portraits by Julie Moos that captures women who have been active citizens, church members and civil rights activists; Jonathan Green: A Spiritual Journey of Life that provides a sense of place in the southern U.S. reflecting Gullah culture and the Low Country and Etched In The Eyes: David Herman, Jr. that examine “the young, the old, and the lives in between” of the unique Gullah/Geechee coastal culture.

The Mint Museum (500 South Tryon Street, mintmuseum.org) houses the internationally-renowned Craft + Design collection, as well as outstanding collections of American, contemporary, and European art at its Mint Museum Uptown location. Currently on view are three special exhibitions: F.O.O.D. (Food, Objects, Objectives, Design), a thematic look at objects used to prepare, cook and present food which will be open through July 7; Sociales: Débora Arango Arrives Today, a look at the career of one of the pioneers of modern Colombian art on view through June 16; and Return to the Sea: Saltworks by Motoi Yamamoto, featuring a small saltwork installation on view through May 26. In addition, admission to the Mint includes access to the historic Mint Museum Randolph three miles south, which houses collections of decorative arts, fashion, African art, and art of the Ancient Americas, among other collections.

Click here to purchase a ticket.

About Levine Center for the Arts

Levine Center for the Arts comprises four separate organizations: Mint Museum Uptown, Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture and the Knight Theater. The development is located on South Tryon Street between Stonewall Street and West Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd in Uptown Charlotte. As one of Charlotte’s key cultural destinations, Levine Center for the Arts was made possible through the Campaign for Cultural Facilities, the support of the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, and the generosity of The Leon Levine Foundation, one of the country’s largest and most impactful philanthropic organizations.

Contact:

Krista Terrell, APR

704-335-3035

krista.terrell@artsandscience.org

Special guests join the latest ‘Taste of the Mint’ tour

With a menu well-seasoned by salt, 22 people enjoyed the latest installment of the “Taste of the Mint” program on Wednesday evening – among them, the inspiration for the evening’s dining, artist Motoi Yamamoto of Japan.

“Taste of the Mint” allows participants to sample small plate and drink pairings at two world-class restaurants housed within Mint Museum Uptown: Halcyon, Flavors from the Earth restaurant and e2 emeril’s eatery. Then, the group heads inside the museum for a special tour. Future dates are scheduled for March 20, April 20, May 15, and June 26 and will be themed around the Mint’s upcoming F.O.O.D. (Food, Objects, Objectives, Design) exhibition. The series will resume monthly dates in fall 2013, and “Taste of the Mint” experiences are also available by appointment for groups of 10 to 25 people with at least 30 days’ notice. (Click here for details on group tours and click ‘Experiential tourism’).

In addition to Motoi Yamamoto, special guests during Wednesday evening included Brad Thomas, the Mint’s curator of Modern & Contemporary art; and Oscar Roldán-Alzate, organizing curator of the upcoming exhibition Sociales: Débora Arango Arrives Today, from Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín, Colombia. After dining with guests, Motoi resumed work on his large-scale saltwork, Floating Garden, in the museum’s atrium and answered a few questions from participants.

The evening began inside Halcyon, where Chef Marc Jacksina led a presentation entitled “Interactive Tomatoes,” demonstrating the difference in taste between three varieties of salt. The same tomatoes tasted remarkably different when paired with lava salt from Hawaii, Jurassic salt from Utah, and fleur de sal from Portugal. The course was paired with a Tarragon Salty Dog cocktail (in a salt-rimmed glass, of course).

Next, Jacksina introduced cabbage fermented in kosher salt (resembling simplified sauerkraut) paired with salmon, and for dessert, guests lingered over a scoop of rich salted caramel ice cream. But the evening had just begun, because it was soon time to head downstairs to e2 emeril’s eatery.

There, manager Jeff Wakem led demonstrations including a lesson in how to shuck an oyster, and chefs explained the process for curing bacon (in salt, of course), and braising it to be served on top of crostini. The signature cocktail for the evening, Zydeco Punch, included a splash of South American pisco liquor. Finally, it was time for the evening’s second dessert – a chocolate ganache tart with a light sprinkling of grey salt on top. “Salt balances, and it’s very necessary in any form of cooking,” said Stephanie Nikolic, the restaurant’s pastry chef. A dry Zinfandel wine was the perfect pairing to bring out the chocolate taste.

Once inside the museum, guests marveled at both the atrium installation and the smaller one being installed on Level 4 to remain in place during the run of Motoi Yamamoto’s exhibition, through May 26. One guest asked how Motoi developed his process for applying salt to the floor. His response: His parents owned a motorcycle repair shop, and all his life he was accustomed to the small plastic bottles they filled to oil the machinery. Those same bottles are what he uses to create his works of art.

Exhibition co-organized by Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín

Members of the media are invited to Mint Museum Uptown on Friday, February 22 to preview the new exhibition Sociales: Débora Arango Arrives Today and conduct interviews with its organizing curator, Oscar Roldán-Alzate of the Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín, Colombia. One-on-one interviews are available by reservation between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on that date (other dates and times may be available upon request).

Sociales: Débora Arango Arrives Today opens to the public at Mint Museum Uptown on Saturday, February 23 and remains on view through June 16. The Medellín-born painter Débora Arango, who died in 2005 at the age of 98, was one of the pioneers of modern Colombian art. She is considered one of the most important and controversial modern artists of her time. Although her work is well regarded today in her native country, Arango had to fight against the conservative elite’s prejudice throughout her life due to the political and social context of her paintings about the non-official civil war of the 1940s and 1950s, la época de La Violencia (1946-1963). Today, these paintings constitute an important site of collective memory.

Her work displays a sharp, perceptive, and courageous attitude, as she presented any political event in Latin America as if they were sociales (society columns). This is the first show by Arango in the United States.  This exhibition includes the most emblematic works from every stage of her career and is accompanied by a scholarly bilingual catalogue with color illustrations.

Roldán-Alzate will deliver a public lecture at Mint Museum Uptown about Arango and her works on Sunday February 24 at 2 p.m. The lecture will be in Spanish with English translation, and is free after museum admission ($10 general admission; free to Mint members).

Media are also invited to Mint Museum Uptown on Friday March 1 at 10 a.m. and may tour the Sociales exhibition along with previewing two other new exhibitions: F.O.O.D. (Food, Objects, Objectives, Design) and Return to the Sea: Saltworks by Motoi Yamamoto, both of which open to the public on March 2 following a “First Look Friday” on March 1 at 6:30 p.m. Both Sociales and F.O.O.D. are fully bilingual exhibitions, with all written materials appearing in both English and Spanish.

Media gallery tours and interviews with curators of both F.O.O.D. and the Motoi exhibition will be available at the preview on March 1 at 10 a.m. And on March 3, the media is invited to return to observe the community dismantling of a large-scale saltwork by Motoi, Floating Garden, which is being created in the Robert Haywood Morrison Atrium of Mint Museum Uptown between February 18 and March 1. RSVP to all events by emailing leigh.dyer@mintmuseum.org.

Sociales: Débora Arango Arrives Today is made possible through generous support from Polymer Group Inc. The exhibition is organized by Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín, Colombia, and Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach, California. The Mint Museum’s bilingual initiative is brought to our community through generous support from Duke Energy.

Comunicado de prensa: Oportunidad para entrevistar al curador del Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín
Oscar Roldán-Alzate, organizador de la nueva exhibición del Museo Mint
Sociales: Débora Arango llega hoy

El Museo Mint invita este 22 de febrero, a los medios de comunicación a la presentación de su nueva exhibición Sociales: Débora Arango llega hoy y a entrevistar al organizador, Oscar Roldán-Alzate, curador del Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín, Colombia. Las entrevistas personales se realizarán con previa cita y estarán disponibles entre las 11 am y 1 pm, de esa fecha (en otra fecha y hora pueden ser disponibles bajo solicitud).

Sociales: Débora Arango llega hoy, se exhibirá al público en el Museo Mint Uptown, el sábado 23 de febrero y permanecerá abierta hasta el 16 de junio. La pintora Débora Arango, nacida en Medellín, que falleció en 2005 a la edad de 98 años, fue una de las pioneras del arte moderno colombiano. Ella es considerada como una de las más importantes y controversiales artistas modernas de su tiempo. Aunque el trabajo de Arango es muy reconocido en su país natal, la pintora tuvo que luchar a lo largo de su vida contra los prejuicios de la élite conservadora, debido al contexto de sus obras, las cuales tenían como tema el ambiente político y social de la guerra civil no oficial, que ocurrió en las décadas de los cuarenta y cincuenta, la época de La Violencia (1946-1963). Hoy las pinturas de Arango constituyen una importante memoria colectiva de aquel tiempo.

Su trabajo muestra fuerza, sensibilidad y coraje, ya que a través de sus obras logró representar cualquier evento político de América Latina como si fueran sociales (columnas de sociedad). Esta es la primera exhibición de Arango en Estados Unidos. En esta muestra se incluyen las obras más emblemáticas de todas las etapas de su carrera y es acompañada por un catálogo bilingüe con ilustraciones a color.

Roldán-Alzate ofrecerá el domingo 24 de febrero a las 2 pm, una conferencia al público en el Museo Mint Uptown, sobre de Arango y su trabajo. El dialogo  será en español con traducción al inglés y es gratuita al público después de ingresar al museo ($10 la entrada general, gratuito para los miembros del Mint).

Los medios de comunicación están invitados al Museo Mint Uptown, el viernes 1 de marzo a las 10 am, a recorrer la exhibición Sociales y las otras dos próximas nuevas exhibiciones: F.O.O.D. (Comida, Objetos, Objetivos, Diseño) y El Retorno al Mar: Trabajos de Sal de Motoi Yamamoto, las cuales se abrirán al público el 2 de marzo, después del evento “Primer Vistazo” que abre el 1 de marzo a las 6:30 pm. Ambas exhibiciones Sociales y F.O.O.D. son completamente bilingües, todos los materiales estarán escritos en inglés y español.

Las visitas al museo para los medios de comunicación y las entrevistas con los curadores tanto de F.O.O.D. como de Motoi, estarán disponibles durante la presentación del 1 de marzo a las 10 am. El 3 de marzo, los medios de prensa están nuevamente invitados a observar el desmantelamiento a gran escala de Trabajos de Sal de Motoi, Jardín Flotante, que será creando en el atrio Haywood Robert Morrison del Museo Mint del Centro entre 18 de febrero y 1 de marzo. Hacer las reservaciones sobre su asistencia para todos los eventos al correo electrónico: leigh.dyer@mintmuseum.org.

Sociales: Débora Arango llega hoy, es posible gracias al generoso apoyo económico de Grupo Polymer Inc. La exhibición es organizada por el Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín, Colombia y el Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Long Beach, California. La iniciativa bilingüe del Museo Mint es brindada a la comunidad gracias al generoso apoyo financiero de Duke Energy.

Two renowned speakers visit Mint Museum Uptown next week.

Visitors have TWO great chances to experience widely renowned speakers next week when they visit Mint Museum Uptown: artist Joyce Scott and architect/designer Preston Scott Cohen.

First, Joyce Scott will appear for a FREE “meet the artist” lecture on Tuesday, February 5 at 7 p.m. at Mint Museum Uptown (both locations of the Mint are always open FREE on Tuesdays from 5-9 p.m.).

Her work is featured in the Mint’s permanent collection, and she is the Artist-in-Residence at the McColl Center for Visual Art. For more than four decades, Scott has created complex objects of skill, beauty, and sophistication that double as a social mirror. She blends pop culture with political/social references to explore race, sexism, morality, stereotypes, and other forms of social injustice. Her preferred technique is beadwork.

Then, on Thursday at 7 p.m., return to Mint Museum Uptown for the latest installment of the Mint’s groundbreaking CAD (Contemporary Architecture + Design) Series, featuring celebrated architect and designer Preston Scott Cohen. Cohen is a Boston-based designer and the Gerald M. McCue Professor in Architecture and Chair of the Graduate School of Design at Harvard. He is Principal at Preston Scott Cohen, Inc.  Cohen won the Herta and Paul Amir Competition to design a new building of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, a triangle form on a rectangle plot of land.

A light reception accompanies Cohen’s visit. Admission is $15 or $5 for Mint members; free for students with valid ID.

Pre-registration is required for both events; Visit mintmuseum.org/happenings to register.

“Vote for Art” winner discusses his artistic process

Brazilian artist Vik Muniz, winner of the Mint’s recent “Vote for Art” competition, drew a record crowd of 450 people to the Mattye and Marc Silverman Grand Room on the fifth floor of Mint Museum Uptown on Tuesday January 8 as he shared his life story and philosophy on art.
Despite his international success, Muniz said he has never created his art for the walls of a museum, but for individuals from all walks of life. “I’m very big with museum security guards,” he told the audience – because they have a better perspective than art critics on whether people truly like his work.
Muniz, a sculptor-turned-photographer, has photographed images created from materials including wire, sugar, chocolate, children’s toys, pigments, layers of paper, and even diamonds and caviar – all of which he shared with Tuesday’s audience. But it is his decision to use objects salvaged from the world’s largest landfill, Jardim Gramacho, located just outside Rio de Janeiro (and which recently closed) to re-create classic works of art that have earned him the most notice. Those images became the subject of the Mint’s Vik Muniz: Garbage Matters exhibition, on view through April 28 at Mint Museum Uptown. Muniz’s process was documented in the film Waste Land, which will screen at the Mint at 7 p.m. on January 29.
Muniz’s The Birth of Venus II (Pictures of Junk), a re-creation of Botticelli’s famous work, was the top vote-getter in the Mint’s “Vote for Art” competition last fall, and is being added to the Mint’s permanent collection.
“Art is not something that you make,” Muniz told the crowd. “It is something that flows through you, as life.”
Muniz shared more of his philosophies – and his impressions of Charlotte – in an interview after the lecture. Coming from a city of more than 30 million, he said, Charlotte feels small – but has lots to offer. “Everything is more condensed, the community is more tight, people know each other, but they also have lots of opportunities for culture,” he said.
He was pleased that the Charlotte audience provided such a strong turnout for his talk, he added, because he enjoys explaining his process. “My main mission is to demystify what I do, and what art does, too,” he said.
He encouraged Charlotteans to visit and support the Mint and other art museums. “To feel how an image changes as you approach it – that is something that you can only experience when you come to a museum,” he said. “When you share physical space with artworks, you have the chance to interact and engage with them – there is an interactive aspect to great art.”

(Above photo of Vik Muniz at Mint Museum Uptown on January 8 by Daniel Coston)

TOP 13 REASONS TO JOIN THE MINT MUSEUM IN 2013!

#1:  Engaging, inspiring, and transformative art experiences every visit

#2:  Coolest cultural organization in Charlotte

#3:  FREE entry to Mint Museum Uptown and Mint Museum Randolph all year long

#4:  Exclusive member previews of all major exhibitions

#5:  Invitations to special events and riveting educational programs

#6:  Reduced admission to lectures, classes, and summer camps

#7:  10% discount in Mint Museum Shops for all purchases over $10

#8:  10% discount at Mint Museum Uptown’s restaurant Halcyon, Flavors from the Earth and all Something Classic Café locations, plus discounts at other local businesses

#9:  FREE subscription to our eNews publication, Beyond the Wall, and bi-annual HAPPENINGS brochure

#10: Reciprocal privileges at designated Southeastern museums

#11: Private curator-led tours and special access to visiting artists

#12: Membership eligibility in the Mint’s affiliate and interest groups

#13: Playing an integral role in the cultural fabric of our community. Plus, you just won’t want to miss out on all of the fun!

Click here for membership details or to sign up!

Three new works join the Mint’s Craft + Design collection

To commemorate the opening of Mint Museum Uptown in October 2010, the Mint commissioned ten works from ten of the world’s leading Craft + Design artists. Here are updates on the three latest works to be completed in what is known as Project Ten Ten Ten:

Kate Malone. British, 1959-
Mr. and Mrs. Tutti Atomic  2012
Stoneware
Project Ten Ten Ten commission. Museum Purchase: Founder’s Circle 2011 Annual Cause with additional funds provided by Suzu and David Neithercut, Libba and Mike Gaither, Carol and Shelton Gorelick, and Adrian Sassoon. 2012.13A-B
Photograph by Andrew Smart

After making their debut at Mint Museum Uptown in the acclaimed exhibition Fairytales, Fantasy, & Fear (3 March – 8 July 2012), Mr. and Mrs. Tutti Atomic are spending some quality time at Mint Museum Randolph. When commissioned to create work for Project Ten Ten Ten, Kate Malone envisioned two large-scale, brilliantly glazed pots as metaphors for people—a husband and wife team, with their own personalities, who would travel back and forth between the two Mint Museum locations. Malone comments: “So, I hear that Mr. Atomic and Mrs. Tutti are off on a trip to the other side of town. They love to travel and meet new folk, so knowing the collection there I am sure all the pots at Randolph will be getting down to fine parties when the doors are closed at night…Imagine all the pots from those cabinets escaped and animated and dancing through the night…pots, like people from all walks of time and life…what a hoot!”

Cristina Córdova. Puerto Rican (active United States), 1977-
Preludios y Partidas  2012
Ceramic, concrete, steel, resin
T12.71
Cristina Córdova with Preludios y Partidas in her studio (come to Mint Museum Uptown to see what it looks like in the gallery!)
Photograph courtesy of Cristina Córdova

Cristina Córdova’s figural sculpture, Preludios y Partidas, now commands a wall at one end of the ceramics gallery on Level 3 at Mint Museum Uptown. Of this subtle yet powerful psychological work, Córdova says: “In understanding this piece as a metaphorical topography, I wanted to use the title to hint as to what that corresponding psycho-emotional space would be. This landscape is one of transition and like the reference to the distillment of reason and logic from uncertainty and chaos, these figures are in the preliminary charged states (preludios) before a great action (partidas /departures). Although the floating concrete elements could hint of the residual vestiges of a previous reality, I am not thinking of it as further leading to an ending but to the beginning of a new cycle. Common to the human experience are profound shifts where the ground gives way and one is thrust into powerful periods of self-reflection, growth, and renewed vision; this is how this space looks in my mind right before the next grand launch.”

Ayala Serfaty. Israeli, 1962-
Joy of Transition  2012
Glass filaments in polymer membrane with light bulbs
Project Ten Ten Ten commission. Museum Purchase: Founders’ Circle 2011 Annual Cause.
DVD produced with additional funds from The Association of Israel’s Decorative Arts (AIDA).
Photograph courtesy of Ayala Serfaty

Ayala Serfaty’s evocative light sculpture, Joy of Transition, now adorns a corner of the Design Gallery on Level 3 of Mint Museum Uptown. Delicate, ethereal, and fragile, this sculpture is made from glass rods individually heated with a torch and formed into abstract shapes that evoke the natural world. The glass forms are sprayed with a polymer coating and lit from behind so that they glow from within. Joy of Transition is part of a series of light sculptures called SOMA—the Greek word for the human body, chosen to suggest the sculptures’ connection to living beings. The title has many possible interpretations, including the evolution of art, craft, and design, and the opening of the new building at Mint Museum Uptown.

Cynthia Moreno is new Assistant Director of Lifelong Learning

Cynthia Moreno, a career art museum educator who has collaborated with top museums around the country during nearly two decades as a museum education director, has joined The Mint Museum’s staff in the new position of Assistant Director of Lifelong Learning.

Moreno was previously Director of Education at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, which is Kentucky’s oldest and largest art museum, for 18 years. There she directed innovative programs for schools, families, youth, and adults. She successfully implemented grant projects funded by major organizations including the National Endowment for the Arts and the Wallace Fund, and initiated numerous community partnerships. She founded the Speed’s award-winning interactive gallery Art Sparks, which serves as a national model for engaging children and families in hands-on learning experiences. Working with colleagues at the High Museum in Atlanta and Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville, she guided extensive research at the Speed on family learning in art museums (see www.familiesinartmuseums.org for more information). She has an active record of presentations and publications and has served in leadership roles with professional associations including the American Alliance of Museums, the National Art Education Association, and Southeastern Museum Association.  Moreno has also been recognized by her peers as one of the outstanding art museum educators in the Southeastern United States. A Florida native, she received two B.A. degrees in Humanities and Mass Communications, and a M.A. in Art Education and Arts Administration from the University of South Florida.

“Cynthia Moreno’s extensive experience in museum programming, assessment, and planning will reap many benefits,” said Cheryl Palmer, the Mint’s Director of Learning and Engagement. “Cynthia’s leadership in innovative and creative interpretive efforts at the Speed Art Museum, and her successes with national grants and research, are impressive and inspiring. With Cynthia’s ideas and energy, I am confident that the Mint will be able to engage and serve even more families, students and adults.”

“I’m thrilled to be joining the Mint’s staff at such an exciting time of growth and expansion,” said Moreno. “The Mint Museum has a national profile for its strong collections and dynamic exhibitions.  Cheryl Palmer, the Mint’s Director of Learning and Engagement, is recognized as a leader in the field of museum education and community outreach.”

Moreno is part of a recent string of hires that are deepening the Mint’s expertise and helping it reach new populations. In recent weeks, the museum has also announced the hiring of Ana Lucia Divins in the newly-created position of Latino Community Education Liaison, and of Michele Leopold as the museum’s new Chief Registrar.

“We are pleased to see the Mint’s staff continue to acquire new expertise to match its leading, innovative collections, programming, and facilities,” said Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson, President & CEO of the Mint. “Cynthia’s extensive knowledge and experience will help the Mint become an even more valuable asset for people of all ages in Charlotte, the region, and the world.”

Michele Leopold to join the Mint’s staff in December

Following a six-month national search, Michele Leopold has been hired as the Mint’s new Chief Registrar, playing a key role in overseeing the museum’s collections and exhibitions.

“Michele will bring an extraordinary background to the Mint; we considered some of the top talents in the field from across the nation for this position, but she stood far and above other candidates,” said Kristen Watts, the Mint’s director of collections & exhibitions.

“My career has taken me to many fine institutions around the world, and I consider The Mint Museum to be one of those. I am excited to work with the museum’s outstanding collection and support its ambitious exhibition schedule,” said Leopold. “It is an honor to be a part of such a wonderful team of professionals.”

Leopold brings to the Mint over 20 years of experience in museum logistics, risk management, insurance knowledge, traveling exhibitions, and more. She has worked for institutions including the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.; the Atlanta History Center in Atlanta, Georgia; the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida; and the Huntington T. Block Insurance Agency in Washington, D.C., where she supervised a fine art team. Most recently, she joined the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2009 as one of its founding staff members. She helped oversee the planning, construction, and installation of the hall’s exhibitions for its inaugural 2010 opening and has continued to maintain and manage its collections and exhibitions since.

Leopold replaces Martha Mayberry, who retired in May after 36 years on the Mint’s staff. “We are thrilled to welcome someone of Michele’s caliber to The Mint Museum,” said Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson, President & CEO of the Mint. “We look forward to putting Michele’s many talents to work. Building, and caring for, our collections and exhibitions is paramount to everything we do and Michele will help lead this charge in her new role.”

Support the museum by purchasing unforgettable finds

Forget mall gifts – Mint Museum Shops offer a variety of one-of-a-kind finds. The holiday gift hunt is easy – just stop at one of the two convenient museum locations: Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts, 500 South Tryon Street, or Mint Museum Randolph, 2730 Randolph Road.

“The Mint Museum offer a memorable shopping experience, and gift-givers have the added benefit of knowing they are supporting a treasured local cultural institution with their purchases,” said Sandy Fisher, manager and buyer for retail operations at the Mint. Museum members receive 10 percent off all purchases over $10 at the Museum Shops.

Gift of membership:

Give a gift that lasts all year long – and provides two gifts for the price of one! For every gift membership to The Mint Museum purchased by a member of the public before December 31, the Mint will give another membership to a family identified by Thompson Child & Family Focus, a local organization serving families in need. (Read more about the Mint’s partnership with Thompson here). This will enable many families to participate in the Mint’s educational programming who may not have otherwise had the opportunity. Membership brings unlimited admission to both Mint locations all year long, plus free or discounted admission to many programs and classes, invitations to members-only events, discounts at local businesses and much more! Click here to purchase a gift membership.

Ana Lucia Divins is part of a broader museum-wide effort to increase outreach

The Mint Museum has created a new staff position, Latino Community Education Liaison, as part of a comprehensive effort to broaden and diversify its base of visitors and members, and expand its bilingual community engagement.

A well-known local arts leader, Ana Lucia Divins, has been hired and assumed  her new role at the Mint this month. She was born in Colombia and has lived in Charlotte since 2000. She is a gifted singer-songwriter, and a leader in Art Sí, Con A de Arte, and the Gil Project, among others. She also has extensive corporate experience in project management, communications, marketing, and business initiatives with Bank of America and Wachovia (now Wells Fargo). She led two important efforts for Crossroads Charlotte and the Community Building Initiative in 2011, developing outreach strategies and facilitating community dialogues. Divins holds a B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana of Cali, Colombia. She was selected for the 2008-2010 William C. Friday Fellowship for Human Relations, part of the Wildacres Leadership Initiative. She and her husband Brad have two children, Nicholas and Natalie Sofia.

The staff position and associated efforts are being funded by a generous grant from Duke Energy.

“We are pleased to welcome Ana Lucia Divins to our staff, and her hiring is just one of a series of efforts that cross all areas and departments of the museum,” said Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson, President & CEO of the Mint. “We are grateful for Duke Energy’s support which made this critical initiative possible.”

Cheryl Palmer, the Mint’s director of learning and engagement, said the effort fits into values the Mint has long been putting into practice. “We strive to be welcoming and accessible to our entire community, and this Latino initiative is just the latest evidence of that,” she said.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to continue strengthen the connections between The Mint Museum and the diverse Latino community,” said Divins. “I am looking forward to tackling this exciting work, from expanding connections with the community to leading the development of bilingual materials and programs within the museum.”

Prior to the Democratic National Convention in September, the Mint created bilingual versions of its visitor guides and general information cards. In September, Mint Museum Uptown hosted the Hola Charlotte 2012 cultural festival in cooperation with the Latin American Women’s Association and Norsan Media, which led nearly 2,000 people to visit the museum during the festival. This month, the museum launched a FREE monthly bilingual storytime at Mint Museum Randolph with local performing duo Criss, Cross, Mangosauce (of which Divins is a member). Many of the museum’s educational publications are routinely now translated into Spanish. And, in spring 2013, two of the special exhibitions at Mint Museum Uptown will be fully bilingual, with all text panels and labels translated into Spanish. Sociales: Débora Arango Arrives Today, which runs February 23-June 16 and is organized by Museo de Arte de Medellín (MAMM), Colombia, in collaboration with the Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA), Long Beach, California, for its U.S. tour; and F.O.O.D. (Food, Objects, Objectives, Design), which runs March 2 through July 7 and is organized by The Mint Museum with Food Cultura, Barcelona. Future efforts will also be aimed at strengthening the Mint’s Latin American art and design collections and initiating collaborations with community organizations around Latino art and artists.

For more information about the initiative or interviews with Ana Lucia Divins, please contact Public Relations Manager Leigh Dyer.

Mint contrata nueva posición que servirá de puente con la comunidad Latina
Ana Lucia Divins es parte de una amplia iniciativa para aumentar los esfuerzos de compromiso con la comunidad
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (29 de Octubre, 2012) – El museo Mint ha creado una nueva posición, Enlace con la Comunidad Hispana/Latina.  Esta iniciativa es parte de un esfuerzo significativo para expandir y diversificar la base de visitantes y miembros del museo, así como ampliar los programas comunitarios bilingües.

Ana Lucia Divins es una reconocida líder de las artes en la ciudad y ha sido contratada para asumir su nuevo cargo en el museo Mint a partir de este mes. Ella es de Colombia y ha vivido en Charlotte desde el año 2000. Es también una talentosa cantautora que ha liderado iniciativas artísticas con ArtSi, Con A de Arte, y Gil Project, entre otros. Ana Lucia combina su pasión por el arte con su experiencia corporativa en gerencia de proyectos, comunicaciones y mercadeo con Bank of America y Wachovia (ahora Wells Fargo). En el 2011, lideró dos esfuerzos de gran importancia para Crossroads Charlotte y Community Building Initiative, desarrollando estrategias de compromiso con la comunidad y facilitando diálogos.  Ana Lucia se graduó de la Pontificia Universidad Javeriana de Cali, Colombia con el título de Ingeniería Industrial.  Fue elegida para ser parte de un programa de aprendizaje de relaciones humanas William C. Friday Fellowship parte de la iniciativa de liderazgo Wildacres entre el 2008 y el 2010.  Ella y su esposo Brad tienen dos niños, Nicholas y Natalie Sofia.

Esta posición y los esfuerzos mencionados han sido posible gracias a una contribución (grant) generosa por parte de Duke Energy.

“Le damos la bienvenida a Ana Lucia Divins al museo, y su posición es solamente el principio de una serie de esfuerzos que involucrarán a todas las áreas y departamentos del museo” dice Dr. Katlhleen V. Jameson, Presidente y CEO del Mint. “Estamos muy agradecidos por el apoyo de Duke Energy, lo cual ha hecho posible esta importante iniciativa”.

Cheryl Palmer, la directora de aprendizaje y compromiso con la comunidad, dice que este esfuerzo está totalmente alineado con los valores que el Mint ha puesto en práctica por muchos años. “Nosotros nos esforzamos por ser accesibles y acogedores para toda la comunidad, y esta iniciativa Latina es una evidencia de lo mismo”, dice ella.

“Estoy muy agradecida por la oportunidad de continuar fortaleciendo las conexiones entre el museo Mint y la diversa comunidad Latina”, dice Divins. “Estoy lista para empezar a desempeñar este trabajo tan emocionante, desde expandir los enlaces en la comunidad hasta liderar el desarrollo de más materiales y programas bilingües en el museo”.

Antes de la Convención Nacional Democrática (DNC) en septiembre,  el Mint creó versiones bilingües de sus guías de visitantes y tarjetas de información en general. En septiembre, el museo Mint Uptown sirvió de sede para el festival cultural Hola Charlotte 2012 colaborando con la asociación de mujeres Latinoamericanas (LAWA) y Norsan Media, lo cual resultó en la visita de cerca de 2,000 personas al museo durante el festival. Este mes, el museo lanzó un programa mensual de hora de cuentos bilingües para familias, GRATIS, en el museo Mint de Randolph con el duo Criss Cross Mangosauce (del cual Divins hace parte). Muchas de las publicaciones educativas del museo  son traducidas al español como parte del proceso normal.

Y, en la primavera del 2013, dos exhibiciones especiales en el museo Mint de Uptown serán totalmente bilingües, con todos los textos, paneles y anuncios traducidos al español. Sociales: Débora Arango llega hoy, la cual se presentará entre el 23 de Febrero y el 16 de Junio y es organizada por el Museo de Arte de Medellín (MAMM), Colombia, en colaboración con el Museo de Arte Latino Americano (MOLAA), Long Beach, California, para su tour en los Estados Unidos; y F.O.O.D.  (Comida, objetos, objetivos y diseños por las siglas en inglés) que corre desde el 2 de Marzo al 7 de Julio y es organizada por el museo Mint en colaboración con Food Cultura, Barcelona. Esfuerzos en el futuro incluyen el incrementar la colección de arte y diseño Latino Americano del Mint de arte y diseños y estableciendo colaboraciones con organizaciones de la comunidad alrededor de artes y artistas Latinos.

Para mayor información sobre la iniciativa y entrevistas con Ana Lucia Divins, por favor contacte a la Gerente de Relaciones Públicas Leigh Dyer.

SOBRE EL MUSEO MINT

Como uno de los museos más antiguos de Carolina del Norte, con una de las colecciones más grandes del Sureste, el museo Mint ofrece a sus visitantes experiencias inspiradoras y transformadoras a través del arte y diseño internacional y programas educativos. El museo Mint es una organización de arte visual sin fines de lucro con dos localidades: museo Mint Uptown y museo Mint Randolph.

El museo Mint de Randoph está ubicado donde se encontraba la oficina original del United States Mint, el museo abrió sus puertas en 1936 en el vecindario del este de Charlotte como el primer museo de arte del estado.

Hoy, en la mitad de un bello parque, las galerías íntimas invitan a los visitantes a envolverse con el arte de vieja America, cerámicas y arte decorativo, moda, arte europeo y africano, entre otras colecciones.   Entre los recursos se incluye una biblioteca con más de 18.000 libros, un teatro para charlas y presentaciones, y una tienda en el museo que ofrece productos que complementa tanto las colecciones permanentes como las exhibiciones especiales.

El museo Mint de Uptown alberga una colección de artesanía y diseño, así como una excelente colección de arte americano, contemporáneo y europeo. Diseñado por Machado y Silvetti Associates, esta construcción de cinco pisos y 145.000 pies cuadrados, combina arquitectura inspiradora con exhibiciones de vanguardia  para ofrecer a los visitantes experiencias educativas y culturales inigualables.  Ubicado en el corazón de Charlotte, el museo Mint de Uptown es una parte integral del Levine Center for the Arts, un campo cultural que incluye el museo de arte moderno Bechtler, el Harvey B. Gantt Center de artes y cultural afro-americana, el teatro Knight, y el Duke Energy Center. El museo Mint de Uptown también incluye una serie de espacios para el visitante, incluyendo el Auditorio James B. Duke con capacidad para 240 personas, la galería de la familia Lewis, estudios de arte, un restaurante, y una tienda del museo. Para mayor información, visite el NUEVO mintmuseum.org.

Robert and Cortney Novogratz are the featured speakers in the Mint’s upcoming Contemporary Architecture + Design (CAD) series

Former Charlotteans Robert and Cortney Novogratz plan to visit Mint Museum Uptown in November for the latest installment of the Mint’s ongoing Contemporary Architecture + Design (CAD) series, which explores innovative perspectives and insightful stories on architecture + design, today and beyond. The husband-and-wife design team and authors, whose TV shows have included Bravo’s “9 by Design” and HGTV’s “Home by Novogratz,” juggle seven children and dozens of clients.

The public program is at 7 p.m. on November 15 and costs $5 for Mint members, $10 for non-members, and is free for students with valid ID. A light reception and book signing will follow their hour-long presentation. Copies of their newest book entitled “Home by Novogratz” (Artisan Books, $35, published October 9) will be available for purchase that evening. More information is available at www.mintmuseum.org/happenings.

“The Mint Museum could not be more honored to welcome Robert and Cortney back to Charlotte,” said Hillary Cooper, Director of Communications and Media Relations for the Mint, “Their funky, downtown-chic aesthetic, trademark brand of cool, and incomparable style is sure to enchant and inspire our entire community.”

Robert and Cortney Novogratz specialize in a seemingly effortless melding of vintage finds and modern touches known as “the Novogratz look.” In their new book, they break down their design process from start to finish, making it easy for anyone to breathe new life into a variety of spaces. The book provides an inside look at 20 of the design pair’s projects—including the homes of Ree Drummond (the “Pioneer Woman”), skateboarder Tony Hawk, and musician Suzanne Vega—complete with tips, tricks, and takeaway ideas and detailed budget breakdowns. From reviving a Brooklyn townhouse to creating a last-minute nursery, from building a family space in a suburban basement to overhauling a beachside surf shack, each completed job is presented step-by-step.

Parents of seven children (theirs has been called “the coolest family in the world” by The Times of London), Robert and Cortney have extensive, firsthand experience in creating solutions for active families, big and small. Whether it’s making space for triplets in a shared Manhattan bedroom or building the ultimate tree house for their own family, no challenge is too intimidating or idea too grand.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Robert and Cortney Novogratz and their seven children are known to millions worldwide through their unique design aesthetic and TV programs. Raised in Virginia and Georgia respectively, Robert and Cortney now make their home in New York City. Their children are Wolfgang (age 15), Bellamy and Tallulah (14), Breaker (11), Five and Holleder (7), and Major (3). Follow the family’s adventures at Twitter.com/TheNovogratz and Facebook.com/Novogratz. HGTV’s Home by Novogratz airs Saturdays at 7 p.m.

HOME BY NOVOGRATZ

By Robert and Cortney Novogratz with Elizabeth Novogratz

Foreword by Julia Roberts

Published by Artisan Books on October 9, 2012

Hardcover / $35.00 320 pages; More than 500 color photographs

ISBN: 978-1-57965-499-3

STAR Gallery exhibition opportunities illustrate the Mint’s efforts to engage the community and cultivate school partnerships.

Metrolina Regional Scholars Academy exhibiting student artists, their families, faculty, and administration enjoyed a reception in new the Uptown STAR Gallery October 11, 2012. The reception celebrated the opening of a K-8 student art exhibition at the STAR (Student Artist) Gallery at Mint Museum Uptown.

This exhibition opportunity illustrates the Mint’s efforts to engage with the community and cultivate school partnerships. A parent, Nilma Amin, noted:  “To have an opportunity to…go beyond the confines of the school community and in the presence of the City’s top art museum is a remarkable accomplishment and a memorable experience for the children!”

The Metrolina Regional Scholars Academy is a publicly funded charter school that serves K-8 students in a multi-county area around Charlotte.  Their Uptown STAR exhibition will be on display until November 4, 2012.

K-12 student works from Union County Public School’s Weddington Elementary, Middle, and High School are on display in the STAR Gallery at Mint Museum Randolph (generously supported by Harris Teeter).  This exhibition features several works inspired by the recent Mint exhibition, Hard Truths: The Art of Thornton Dial, and illustrates how the Mint connects its special exhibitions and collections to schools and the community.  This exhibition will be on display until November 4, 2012.

An Inspiring, Engaging, and Innovative Array of Shows

Following are highlights of the exhibition lineup at The Mint Museum for the coming year. High-resolution images for each exhibition are available upon request; email leigh.dyer@mintmuseum.org.

European Art, 1750-1900
Mint Museum Randolph
17 November 2012 – Ongoing

Following the closure on 28 October of Celebrating Queen Charlotte’s Coronation, the upcoming reinstallation of the Alexander Gallery at Mint Museum Randolph will feature an inspiring selection of fine and decorative European arts from The Mint Museum’s collection, created between the mid-eighteenth and early twentieth centuries. These paintings and objects trace the wide range of styles and subjects popular in Western Europe during the period. Familiar audience favorites, such as Allan Ramsey’s majestic portraits of Queen Charlotte and King George III and the elegantly decorated sedan chair, will remain on view, and will be joined by other highlights from the collection including pastoral French Barbizon landscapes and light-filled impressionist scenes by artists including Eugène-Louis Boudin and Henri Martin.

A number of fascinating juxtapositions will link the fine and decorative arts, including a case containing ceramics adorned with images of Queen Charlotte, the city’s namesake, installed near her portrait by Allan Ramsay, and a black basalt sculpture by Josiah Wedgwood displayed near a portrait of his cousin, Thomas Wedgwood. Other objects on view showcase a combination of fine and decorative traditions, such as miniatures integrating painting and jewelsmithing, and the stately sedan chair, which incorporates elements of architectural design, fine woodworking, painting, and upholstery. This installation also highlights the generosity of local collectors and patrons and their importance to the museum, as many of the objects on view were donated by area families over the past fifty years.

Throughout 2013, visitors can expect to see many other installations celebrating The Mint Museum’s permanent collection at Mint Museum Randolph, including unique displays of American Art Glass, African Art, and Contemporary Fashion. Some will include collection items that have never before been on public view. Details of these installations will be announced in the coming months.

Sociales: Débora Arango Arrives Today / Sociales: Débora Arango llega hoy
Mint Museum Uptown
23 February – 16 June 2013

The Medellín-born painter Débora Arango, who died in 2005 at the age of 98, was one of the pioneers of modern Colombian art. She is considered one of the most important and controversial modern artists of her time. Although her work is well regarded today in her native country, Arango had to fight against the conservative elite’s prejudice throughout her life due to the political and social context of her paintings about the non-official civil war of the 1940s and 1950s, la época de La Violencia (1946-1963). Today, these paintings constitute an important site of collective memory.

Her work displays a sharp, perceptive, and courageous attitude, as she presented any political event in Latin America as if they were sociales (society columns). Her work clearly does not make use of “political correctness” as a strategy of dissemination and permanence.

This is the first show by Arango in the United States. Arango did not consider herself liberal or revolutionary, but she was critical of the society of her time and believed that art should be involved with the real world. Arango referred to herself as an “expressionist” to describe her strong desire to interpret reality through her own uncensored personal sensitivity and sensibility. At the beginning of the 1940s, Arango started to produce works about social concerns exploring themes such as prostitution, poverty, women’s issues, historical events, violence, and injustice, for which she is also known today.

This exhibition includes the most emblematic works from every stage of her career and is accompanied by a scholarly bilingual catalogue with color illustrations. It is curated by Oscar Roldán, Chief Curator at Museo de Arte de Medellín, Colombia. Sociales: Débora Arango Arrives Today is organized by Museo de Arte de Medellín (MAMM), Colombia, in collaboration with the Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA), Long Beach, California, for its U.S. tour.

Learning and engagement programming for Sociales: Débora Arango llega hoy / Sociales: Débora Arango Arrives Today is generously underwritten by the Mint Museum Auxiliary.

F.O.O.D. (Food, Objects, Objectives, Design)
Mint Museum Uptown
2 March – 7 July 2013

F.O.O.D.  (Food, Objects, Objectives, Design) provides a thematic look at inventive modern and contemporary objects, handmade and mass produced, that have one of three objectives: to prepare, to cook, or to present food. It includes approximately 300 selections culled from the permanent collection of the Mint, loans, and new acquisitions. Artist Antoni Miralda of the research center FoodCultura, Barcelona, is co-curating and designing the installation.

The exhibition is organized into four sections. The first section, TABLE, is an intimate space with low light levels, and an abstracted dining table displaying various “invented” table settings such as plates, cutlery, glasswork, and centerpieces/candelabra by different makers and of different time periods.

KITCHEN is outfitted with “Über design” kitchen appliances and various levels of green production. Shelving installed in the kitchen holds objects made to prepare food, such as spice mills, cheese graters, ginger and garlic graters, bamboo steamers, mixing bowls, pots and pans, baking dishes, tagines, molds, and utensils. Ergonomic and green materials are also featured.

PANTRY is small and densely installed and features objects such as food and spice storage containers, mortars and pestles, tea tins, water bottles, noodle packages, chopsticks in paper, and grits packages,  as well as food advertising posters.

GARDEN is dramatically designed with objects in the shape of fruit and vegetables. Included in the exhibition will be a Resource Room, containing cookbooks and related books about sustainable food, gardening, health, and nutrition.

F.O.O.D. (Food, Objects, Objectives, Design) is organized by The Mint Museum with FoodCultura, Barcelona. It will be the first fully bilingual Mint-organized exhibition, with all text panels and object labels in both English and Spanish.

Return to the Sea: Saltworks by Motoi Yamamoto
Mint Museum Uptown
2 March – 26 May 2013

Motoi Yamamoto is an internationally renowned artist who calls his native Japan home. Yamamoto is known for working with salt, often in the form of temporary, intricate, large-scale installations. Salt, a traditional symbol for purification and mourning in Japanese culture, is used in funeral rituals and by sumo wrestlers before matches. It is frequently placed in small piles at the entrance to restaurants and other businesses to ward off evil spirits and to attract benevolent ones. Yamamoto forged a connection to the substance while mourning the death of his sister, at the age of twenty-four, from brain cancer, and began to create art out of salt in an effort to preserve his memories of her. His art radiates an intense beauty and tranquility, but also conveys something ineffable, painful, and endless.

“Drawing a labyrinth with salt is like following a trace of my memory. Memories seem to change and vanish as time goes by; however, what I seek is to capture a frozen moment that cannot be attained through pictures or writings,” Yamamoto has said. “What I look for at the end of the act of drawing could be a feeling of touching a precious memory.”

Motoi Yamamoto was born in Onomichi, Hiroshima in 1966 and received his B.A. from Kanazawa College of Art in 1995. He has exhibited his award-winning creations in such cities as Athens, Cologne, Jerusalem, Mexico City, Seoul, Tokyo, and Toulouse. He was awarded the Philip Morris Art Award in 2002 as well as the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant in 2003. The artist will travel to The Mint Museum in spring 2013 to create a site-specific salt installation in public spaces over the course of two weeks.

This exhibition is organized by the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, College of Charleston School of the Arts. The exhibition also features a series of recent drawings, photography, sketchbooks, a video about the artist, and a 170-page color catalogue documenting twelve years of the artist’s saltworks around the world. The catalogue includes essays by Mark Sloan, director and senior curator of the Halsey Institute, and Mark Kurlansky, author of the New York Times best seller Salt: A World History.

Learning and engagement programming for Return to the Sea: Saltworks by Motoi Yamamoto is generously underwritten by the Mint Museum Auxiliary.

Inventing the Modern World:  Decorative Arts at the World’s Fairs 1851-1939
Mint Museum Uptown
21 September 2013 – 19 January 2014

This groundbreaking international exhibition presents outstanding examples of glass, furniture, jewelry, ceramics, precious metalwork, and textiles displayed at the world’s fairs between The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations in London in 1851 and the New York World’s Fair in 1939. Many of these objects have never before left their respective institutions or countries.

World’s fairs were the most important vehicles for debuting advancements in modern living. Some fairs were broad in scope, displaying decorative arts alongside paintings, sculpture, industrial design and agricultural products; others concentrated on exhibiting decorative arts alone.  Both types of expositions functioned as showcases and marketplaces for design. Above all, they democratized design, exposing countless visitors and others to the latest artistic and technological achievements of their time.

Inventing the Modern World comprises approximately 200 objects shown at every major world’s fair from 1851 to 1939. Large and small in scale, these seminal objects are culled from private and public collections, primarily in America and Europe. Among the many lenders are the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MAK – Museum for Applied Arts/Contemporary Art, Vienna, Designmuseum Danmark, and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. A fully-illustrated scholarly catalogue accompanies the exhibition. This exhibition is co-organized by Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, and The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Major support for this exhibition was provided by Wells Fargo, the Windgate Charitable Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Learning and engagement programming for Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World’s Fairs 1851-1939 is generously underwritten by the Mint Museum Auxiliary.

Above image credit:

Motoi Yamamoto

Labyrinth, 2012

Salt

Courtesy of the artist

“The Weir Family, 1820-1920: Expanding the Traditions of American Art’ and ‘Reflections: Portraits by Beverly McIver’ both open October 20

Two new exhibitions celebrating nearly 200 years of American art from the early 19th century to present day are opening to the public at Mint Museum Uptown on Saturday, October 20, and will remain on view for the next three months.

“The Mint is pleased to continue offering Charlotte audiences a range of exhibitions celebrating art that is beautiful, inspiring, and historically significant,” said Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson, President & CEO of the Mint. “We look forward to our visitors engaging with these works and being transformed in ways that transcend the walls of our museum.”

The Weir Family, 1820-1920: Expanding the Traditions of American Art

The Weir Family, 1820-1920: Expanding the Traditions of American Art, organized by the Brigham Young University Museum of Art and on view through January 20, 2013, is the first major exhibition to collectively examine the paintings of American artists Robert Walter Weir and his two sons, John Ferguson Weir and Julian Alden Weir, and in doing so it traces the trajectory of American art across the 19th century and into the 20th.

“I am delighted to be able to bring such an important exhibition to the Mint,” said Jonathan Stuhlman, the Mint’s curator of American art. “This exhibition traces almost the entire history of American painting in the nineteenth century through the lens of a single family, and does so with beautifully-executed paintings containing engaging subject matter.”

Robert Weir was one of the first American artists to study in Italy, working there from 1824 until 1827. Upon his return to America, he became an associate at the recently-founded National Academy in New York in 1829 and, a few years later, an instructor at the United States Military Academy in West Point. He was renowned for his talent as a portraitist and a history painter and painted one of the murals in the Capitol rotunda in Washington, D.C. Robert’s first son, John, trained with his father and in Europe. He then taught at Yale University for 44 years and established the first academic art program at a university in the United States. John’s younger brother, Julian, was educated at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris from 1873 until 1877 and became one of the country’s leading Impressionist artists.

Mint members have the opportunity to preview the exhibition at a members-only First Look Friday on October 19 beginning at 6:30 p.m. The Mint will offer a number of lectures and other special events during the run of the exhibition, beginning with a Sunday Fun Day this Sunday, October 21 from 1-4 p.m. with activities celebrating the exhibition (FREE for children under 18; half-price admission for adults). On Tuesday October 30, David Park Curry, the Senior Curator of Decorative Arts, American painting and Sculpture at the Baltimore Art Museums, will visit for a FREE discussion of the life and career of James McNeill Whistler, who studied under Robert Walter Weir. A curator’s tour with Stuhlman will be November 14 at noon and is free after museum admission. A FREE concert featuring local handbell choirs, celebrating the 1866 painting The Christmas Bell by John Ferguson Weir and other holiday-themed works in the exhibition, will be December 18. And a FREE ArtFusion event with a lecture and other activities will be held January 15. For more information on these and other events, visit https://mintmuseumold.wpengine.com/happenings/.

The Weir Family, 1820-1920: Expanding the Traditions of American Art is organized by Weir expert Marian Wardle for the Brigham Young University Museum of Art. It is made possible through the generous support of the National Endowment for the Arts and foundation sponsor, the Henry Luce Foundation. Additional assistance has been provided by Jack and Mary Lois Wheatley and the Milton A. and Gloria G. Barlow Foundation. Presentation in Charlotte of The Weir Family is generously made possible by McColl Brothers Lockwood and McColl Partners, and the Mint Museum Auxiliary. A fully-illustrated hardcover catalogue is available in the Mint Museum Shops for $49.95.

Reflections: Portraits by Beverly McIver

Reflections: Portraits by Beverly McIver, on view through January 6, 2013, celebrates the last decade of work by a North Carolina native artist who is renowned for her expression-filled, emotive canvases that commemorate her life and the lives of those closest to her – in particular, her mother Ethel, who passed away in 2004, and her sister, Renee, who is mentally disabled.

“Beverly McIver’s vibrant colors and expressive brushstrokes give voice to matters of identity and personal integrity. Having left the security of a tenured faculty position to honor a promise made to her terminally-ill mother to care for her disabled sister, Renee, McIver tracks the complex emotions of despair, hope and resiliency,” said Curator Carla Hanzal. “This is a powerful show that speaks to difficult choices made by contemporary families.”

McIver is a significant presence in contemporary American art, examining racial, gender and social identities through her experiences as an African-American female artist. Her family history allowed her to contemplate and illustrate complicated emotions that arrive from depression, frustration, compassion, and joy. “All of my portraits are self-portraits,” McIver has said. “I use the faces of others who reflect my most inner being.”

McIver’s 2002 work Dora’s Dance is a candidate for acquisition by the Mint through the museum’s “Vote for Art” project, which allows museum visitors to cast ballots for their favorites from among six works of art. The winning work will be announced at the museum’s Ballot Ball on November 9.

A documentary about McIver, “Raising Renee,” will screen at the Mint for FREE on Tuesday, November 20. The artist herself will visit for a FREE discussion on Tuesday, November 27. For more details on these and other events, visit www.mintmuseum.org/happenings.

Reflections: Portraits by Beverly McIver is organized by the North Carolina Museum of Art. This exhibition is made possible, in part, by the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources; the North Carolina Museum of Art Foundation, Inc.; and the William R. Kenan Jr. Endowment for Educational Exhibitions. An illustrated softcover catalogue is available in the Mint Museum Shops for $15.

The Ballot Ball will celebrate the culmination of The Mint Museum’s groundbreaking ‘Vote for Art’ project

Thousands of visitors to Mint Museum Uptown have been casting ballots for their favorite works of art in “Vote for Art,” a project that invites the public to help the Mint build upon its permanent collection by participating in a one-of-a-kind election. And now, the project is building toward its culmination with the Ballot Ball, a gala bringing together three of the museum’s affiliate groups for the first time. The fundraising event is set for Friday, November 9 at the museum.

Tickets to the Ballot Ball are on sale for $200 per person; the gala chairs are Susan and John Cole, Simone McDowell, Laura and Stephen Philipson, and Kellie and Jeff Scott. Honorary chairs are the Honorable and Mrs. Anthony R. Foxx, Mr. and Mrs. James E. Rogers, Jr., and a diverse host committee consisting of passionate community leaders and arts supporters. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. and will include cocktails and last-chance voting; dinner; the announcement of the winning work of art; and dessert and dancing. All funds raised will benefit The Mint Museum.

Voters are choosing from among six works of art selected by a committee consisting of curators and members of the Mint Museum Auxiliary, Founders’ Circle, and Young Affiliates of the Mint. A special early voting period during the Democratic National Convention drew more than 9,000 votes; voting opened to the general public at the museum’s Community Day on September 29 and will remain open through the first 90 minutes of the Ballot Ball. Election Day, November 6, will be a free admission day from 10 a.m.-9 p.m. at Mint Museum Uptown so any interested voters can come to the museum to vote for art after they travel to the polls to vote for their candidates.

“Vote For Art is an exciting and dynamic way for the museum to engage the public with the work of some of the best contemporary artists of our time, while leaving a lasting legacy for generations to come,” said Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson, President & CEO of the Mint.

All six works are by contemporary artists from as far away as Denmark and Chile and as close as North Carolina, and three of the works represent the best current offerings from the field of craft and design, a particular focus for the Mint.

Voters must be inside the museum to cast a vote; no online voting is allowed, although an overview of the project is available on mintmuseum.org and visitors may use the website’s +INSPIRING button to show support for their favorites.

Only one ballot is permitted per visitor per day, but patrons can visit on multiple days if they wish to cast multiple votes for their favorite candidates. For non-members of the museum, admission must be paid for each visit unless it is during the museum’s scheduled free hours. And unlike the Board of Elections, the Mint does not require voters to be 18 – children are offered their own opportunities to cast ballots.

Click here for more information and images of the six works of art!

Museum recognized with multiple accolades from both critics and readers.

Creative Loafing has published its annual Best of Charlotte issue, and the Mint won many awards from both its critics and readers, including:

Best museum – staff pick (for Mint Museum Uptown, with a shout-out to Mint Museum Randolph too!)

Best museum – readers’ pick

Best art exhibit (group) for Fairytales, Fantasy, & Fear

Best art exhibit (established artist) for the recently-concluded Hard Truths: The Art of Thornton Dial

This follows our recent designation by Charlotte Magazine in May as the Best Museum (voters’ pick), for both Mint Museum Randolph and Mint Museum Uptown, in their annual Best of the Best awards. We also won Best Art Exhibit in the Past 12 Months for Romare Bearden: Southern Recollections.

Many thanks to the staffs of these publications and to their readers and voters for their support of the Mint!

Series brings FREE documentaries to film lovers.

Did you know that you can catch a FREE movie at the Mint each month? Film is a form of art that can be every bit as inspiring as the works in our galleries. Our lineup for the next few months includes documentaries related to themes in both our permanent collection and our special exhibitions. (All screenings occur at Mint Museum Uptown). Film lovers, mark your calendars:

Tuesday October 9, 6:30 p.m.: Airmen and Adversity: The story of the “Tuskegee Airmen,” African Americans who enlisted in the Air Force during World War II.  Veterans on camera relate their struggle to become an integral part of the Air Force.  A segregated unity, they were assigned to escort bombers piloted by whites; in 200 missions they never lost a bomber. This documentary is by Charlottean Steve Crump, who has also created documentaries about Charlotte-born artist Romare Bearden and many other subjects.

Tuesday, November 20, 6:30 p.m.: Raising Renee: The story of acclaimed artist Beverly McIver, a North Carolina native, and her promise to take her mentally disabled sister Renee when their mother dies – a promise that comes due just as Beverly’s career is taking off. The same themes that fuel the artist’s work – race, class, family, disability – propel this cinematic portrait. The film is by Academy Award nominees Jeanne Jordan and Steven Ascher. View it along with a visit to the special exhibition Reflections: Portraits by Beverly McIver, and come back on November 27 to meet artist Beverly McIver.

(December: No program)

Tuesday, January 29, 7 p.m.: Waste Land: This film follows artist Vik Muniz on a singularly ambitious project: going to the world’s largest garbage dump north of Rio de Janeiro, photographing its catadores, or trash pickers, and then collaborating with them to transform these photos into portraits created with recyclable materials. Winner of Audience Awards of Sundance and Berlin Film Festivals. View it along with a visit to the exhibition Vik Muniz: Garbage Matters, and don’t miss a visit to the Mint by Muniz himself on January 8.

Free admission for survivors in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month

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). In addition, survivors can receive 25 percent off a new Mint membership if purchased during your visit.

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.

Image:

BLANCHE LAZZELL. American, 1878-1956                               

Bouquet of Flowers  1914

oil on canvas

Museum purchase with funds provided by the Mint Museum Auxiliary. 2009.3

Pottery symposium, inspiring art classes, and much more!

Nationally noted critic Garth Clark will visit Mint Museum Randolph for a day-long symposium, Traditional Pottery: Back to the Future, on Tuesday October 16 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Clark, a prolific writer and advocate of ceramics, brings North Carolina and its potters a unique opportunity to exchange ideas with one of the field’s brightest thinkers.

The symposium is organized by the Delhom Service League, an affiliate group of The Mint Museum devoted to the support and study of ceramics. Admission is $25 or $20 for Mint members and includes lunch.

Clark, considered one of the nation’s leading critics, is South African by birth and has lived in the U.S. since the 1970s. He is a graduate of the Royal College of Art, London, and the recipient of several lifetime achievement awards. His book Shifting Paradigms in Contemporary Ceramics was recently published by Yale University Press.

The symposium featuring Clark is just one of the October highlights at the Mint, which offers a range of free and affordable events to bring inspiration and scholarship to the larger community.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

The Mint Museum plans to support Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October by offering free admission to anyone who is a breast cancer survivor. Visitors to either Mint location may simply notify the Guest Services Desk of their status at the time of their visit (no documentation is required).We honor 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.

Inspiring art classes for children, adults, and teens

The Mint’s lineup of fall art classes begins in October, and there is still room in the classes beginning as soon as October 2, so please be sure to peruse the full listings at mintmuseum.org/happenings/learning. A sampling of upcoming offerings:

ADULT CLASS: OCTOBER IN THE GLEN |Oct. 2, 9, & 16, 6 p.m. | RANDOLPH
Take inspiration from the long light filtered through the trees as autumn arrives in the Carolinas. Make plein air studies from observation and then develop the study of your choice into a finished work. Materials provided. Tuition is $125; members save $15.

TEEN CLASS: MUD WORK | Oct. 6, 20 (four Saturdays), 10 a.m. | UPTOWN
Be inspired by ceramic sculpture in the permanent collection, and then make your own sculptural forms using a combination of pinch, slab, coil, and wheel techniques. Classes continue Nov. 3 & 17. Ages 10-15. Tuition is $160; members save $20.

SPECIAL EDITION CLASSES FOR TEENS | Oct. 6 (three first Saturdays), 10 a.m. or 1 p.m. | UPTOWN
Journeyman classes, 10 a.m.- 1 p.m., are based on working from observation and explore a wide range of materials and techniques. Ages 13-15. Intermediate level. Personal Voice, 2-5 p.m., focuses on developing concepts and defining intent, emphasizing two-dimensional media. Ages 14-18. Intermediate and advanced level. Classes continue Nov. 3 & Dec. 1. Tuition is $125; members save $25.

ADULT CLASS: POLITICAL PUNDITS | Oct. 10, 13, 17, 10 a.m. | UPTOWN
Work with metal smith Allie Farlowe in this three-part metal fabrication class to create brooches that carry symbolic messages from the wearer to the world. Intermediate level. Tuition $90; members save $15.

Membership special

The Mint Museum has been celebrating its 75th anniversary all year long with membership discounts on the 22nd of every month.  The anniversary year comes to a close Oct. 22. From Oct. 16-22, save $7.50 on Individual, Dual and Family memberships, or save 75% on Sustainer and Benefactor memberships.  Memberships include free admission to both Mint Museum Uptown and Mint Museum Randolph, 10% off at Mint Museum Shops, Halcyon and American Roadside restaurants plus a special members rate at Flex + Fit, invitations to members-only events, and much more.  Regular membership prices are $60 for Individuals, $80 for Dual, $100 for Family, $250 for Sustainer, and $500 for Benefactor.  In-person purchase only; new members only.

An amazing array of happenings, from classes to nibbles, this month!

There’s so much to see and do in October, you can fill your calendar now! Some classes start SOON, so you should register as soon as possible. Keep scrolling and clicking for more inspiring options (or, visit mintmuseum.org/happenings for a complete list of upcoming events).

CLASSES COMING UP SOON – REGISTER NOW!

TEEN CLASS: MUD WORK | Oct. 6, 20, Nov. 3, 17, 10 a.m. | UPTOWN
Be inspired by ceramic sculpture in the permanent collection, and then make your own sculptural forms using a combination of pinch, slab, coil, and wheel techniques. Ages 10-15. Tuition is $160; members save $20.

SPECIAL EDITION CLASSES FOR TEENS | Oct. 6, Nov. 3, Dec. 1, 10 a.m. or 1 p.m. | UPTOWN
Journeyman classes, 10 a.m.- 1 p.m., are based on working from observation and explore a wide range of materials and techniques. Ages 13-15. Intermediate level. Personal voice, 2-5 p.m., focuses on developing concepts and defining intent, emphasizing two-dimensional media. Ages 14-18. Intermediate and advanced level. Tuition is $125; members save $25.

ADULT CLASS: POLITICAL PUNDITS | Oct. 10, 13, 17, 10 a.m. | UPTOWN
Work with metal smith Allie Farlowe in this three-part metal fabrication class to create brooches that carry symbolic messages from the wearer to the world. Intermediate level. Tuition $90; members save $15.

Our events offer a great value for everyone – some are free to all, some free or discounted to members! (Scroll all the way down for an amazing membership discount this month!)

FREE HAPPENINGS

FREE ADMISSION TUESDAYS | Oct. 2,9,16, 23, 30, 5 p.m. | UPTOWN/RANDOLPH
Both Mint Museum Randolph and Mint Museum Uptown are always FREE from 5-9 p.m. on Tuesdays!

SPECIAL ADMISSION: BREAST CANCER AWARENESS | All month | UPTOWN/RANDOLPH
In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, all breast cancer survivors receive free admission all month long. Simply tell the Guest Services Desk about your status at the time of your visit. (No documentation required.)

THE STORY BEHIND THE BOOK: JUDY GOLDMAN | Oct. 2, 7 p.m. | RANDOLPH
Charlotte author Judy Goldman reveals the story behind her latest book Losing My Sister, a memoir set in Charlotte. Brief reading with books available for purchase and signing.

MOVIE AND A MINT | Oct. 9, 6:30 p.m. | UPTOWN
Visit to view the documentary “Airmen and Adversity,” about the legendary Tuskeegee Airmen, by Charlotte documentary filmmaker Steve Crump.

CRISS, CROSS MANGOSAUCE AT THE MINT: BILINGUAL STORYTIME | Oct. 20, 10:30 a.m. | RANDOLPH
Ages 2-8, all ages welcome. Join the dynamic duo Criss, Cross Mangosauce for a fun and exciting bilingual music and storytime at the Mint.

ARTFUSION: JUNK | Oct. 23, 6-9 p.m. | UPTOWN
Discover the beauty of junk and create your own recycled masterpiece with environmental artist Bryant Holsenbeck. The series is supported in part with a generous contribution from the Friends of the Mint.

LECTURE: AMERICANS IN PARIS: JAMES MCNEILL WHISTLER |Oct. 30, 7 p.m. | UPTOWN
David Park Curry, Senior Curator of Decorative Arts, American Painting and Sculpture at the Baltimore Museum of Art, discusses the life and career of James McNeill Whistler.

FREE HAPPENINGS FOR MEMBERS
(Regular adult admission is $10 for non-members)

VOTE FOR ART: YOUR VIEW, YOUR VOTE | Through Nov. 9 | UPTOWN
Six specially-chosen works of art are on view; vote for your three favorites. The Mint will acquire the winner and add the work to its permanent collection! All ages are welcome to vote; one ballot per visit. Winners will be unveiled at the Ballot Ball on November 9. Presented by Founders’ Circle Ltd., Mint Museum Auxiliary, and Young Affiliates of the Mint. More info on the works of art and the Ballot Ball at the NEW mintmuseum.org.

SATURDAY ART SESSION: GEOMETRIC CLAY CREATIONS | Oct. 6, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. | RANDOLPH
We provide the art supplies, you provide the imagination! Studio art projects are inspired by the museum collections and are appropriate for the entire family.

MINT TO MOVE CULTURAL DANCE NIGHT | Oct. 12, 7 p.m. | UPTOWN
Celebrate our global community and the art of movement with music and salsa dancing. A collaboration with ArtSí Charlotte, a community initiative supporting Latino arts and Charlotte Latin dance. Mint to Move is a Let’s Move Museums and Gardens event. Admission $10 for non-members or $15 per non-member couple.

FIRST LOOK FRIDAY | Oct. 19, 6:30 p.m. | UPTOWN
An exclusive MEMBERS ONLY look at The Weir Family, 1820-1920: Expanding the Traditions of American Art and Reflections: Portraits by Beverly McIver with light refreshments, art activities, and docent-led tours. Members bring up to three guests for $10 each. See mintmuseum.org to RSVP.

OPENING DAY: THE WEIR FAMILY, 1820-1920: EXPANDING THE TRADITIONS OF AMERICAN ART | Oct. 20, 10 a.m. | UPTOWN
This exhibition, open through January 20, 2013, is the first major exhibition to examine collectively the paintings of the American artists Robert Walter Weir (1803-1899) and his two sons, John Ferguson Weir (1841-1926) and Julian Alden Weir (1851-1919). It is organized by the Brigham Young University Museum of Art and made possible through the generous support of the National Endowment for the Arts and foundation sponsor, the Henry Luce Foundation. Additional assistance has been provided by Jack and Mary Lois Wheatley and the Milton A. and Gloria G. Barlow Foundation. Presentation in Charlotte is generously made possible by McColl Brothers Lockwood and McColl Partners, and the Mint Museum Auxiliary.

OPENING DAY: REFLECTIONS: PORTRAITS BY BEVERLY MCIVER | Oct. 20, 10 a.m. |UPTOWN
Beverly McIver, a North Carolina native, is renowned for her emotive canvases that commemorate her life and the lives of those closest to her, in particular, her mother, Ethel, who passed away in 2004, and her sister, Renee, who is mentally disabled. This exhibition, open through January 6, 2013, is organized by the North Carolina Museum of Art and is made possible, in part, by the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources; the North Carolina Museum of Art Foundation, Inc.; and the William R. Kenan Jr. Endowment for Educational Exhibitions.

SUNDAY FUN DAY: AN AMERICAN STORY: THE WEIR FAMILY PAINTERS | Oct. 21, 1 p.m. UPTOWN
Enjoy family-friendly art projects, healthy living activities, artist demonstrations, and more! Sponsored by Carolinas Medical Center, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Mint Museum Auxiliary. FREE for children; adult non-members pay $5.

CURATOR’S TOUR: AGAINST THE GRAIN: WOOD IN ART, CRAFT, AND DESIGN | Oct. 24, noon | UPTOWN
Tour the exhibition with Curatorial Assistant Sarah Wolfe.

FINAL DAY: CELEBRATING QUEEN CHARLOTTE’S CORONATION | Oct. 28 | RANDOLPH

Last chance to see this exhibition of works of art from the Mint’s permanent collection celebrating our city’s namesake!

MORE VALUE FOR MEMBERS

FALL ENRICHMENT FORUM: PASSION FOR FASHION | Oct. 15, 7 p.m. | UPTOWN
Designer Trina Turk visits for this Mint Museum Auxiliary fundraiser. Tickets $100; see mintmuseumauxiliary.org for details.

TRADITIONAL POTTERY: BACK TO THE FUTURE | Oct. 16, 10 a.m. | RANDOLPH
A day-long symposium featuring noted critic Garth Clark, sponsored by the Delhom Service League. Registration is $25 (including lunch); members save $5.

TASTE OF THE MINT | Oct. 16, 4 p.m. | UPTOWN
Become a food expert for the day! Explore a food tasting tour with small plate and drink pairings at Halcyon, Flavors from the Earth and E2: Emeril’s Eatery, then receive a customized one-hour exploration of the Mint’s exhibitions! RSVP to kacy.harruff@mintmuseum.org or 704.337.2018. $40/person; members save $5.

CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN (CAD) SERIES: ULTERIOR ART | Oct. 18, 7 p.m. | UPTOWN
Exploring innovative perspectives and insightful stories on architecture + design, today and beyond. The son of a sculptor and a painter, Ian Cunningham is Design Director and Head of the Industrial Design and Prototyping Departments for the Rubbermaid Brand. Light reception follows. Costs $10; members save $5 (students free with valid ID).

CHILDREN’S CLASS: ART AROUND THE WORLD | Oct. 20, Nov. 17, Dec. 15, 10 a.m. (three Saturdays) | RANDOLPH
Discover the many ways different cultures around the world use line, shape, and color to create patterned designs. Ages 6-9. Costs $100; members save $25.

TEEN CLASS: BILINGUAL LANDSCAPE DRAWING | Oct. 23, 30, Nov. 13, 20, 5 p.m. | RANDOLPH
Work with artist Luz Aveleyra in this exploration of pencil, graphite, and watercolor techniques for rendering the landscape as subject matter. Ages 10-15. Tuition is $75; members save $15.

MINI MASTERS ART WORKSHOP: AWESOME ART MONSTERS | Oct. 24, 10:30 a.m. or 1:30 p.m.  | RANDOLPH
Young artists and their adult companions investigate art in a museum gallery, explore fun new art techniques in the classroom, and take home a unique creation. Choose between the morning or afternoon program. Juice will be served. Ages 3-5, accompanied by an adult. Costs $15; members save $5.

THE ART OF COLLECTING: THE CONE SISTERS AND MATISSE | Oct. 25, 6:30 p.m. | UPTOWN
A new series about education and advocacy around collecting. Features Dr. Sarah Schroth, senior curator at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Light reception follows. Cost is $10; members save $5; free for students with valid ID.

MEMBERSHIP SPECIAL | Oct. 16-22 | UPTOWN/RANDOLPH
The Mint Museum has been celebrating its 75th anniversary all year long with membership discounts on the 22nd of every month.  The anniversary year comes to a close Oct. 22. From Oct. 16-22, save $7.50 on Individual, Dual and Family memberships, or save 75% on Sustainer and Benefactor memberships.  Memberships include free admission to both Mint Museum Uptown and Mint Museum Randolph, 10% off at Mint Museum Shops, Halcyon and American Roadside restaurants and a special membership rate to Flex + Fit, invitations to members-only events, and much more.  Regular membership prices are $60 for Individuals, $80 for Dual, $100 for Family, $250 for Sustainer, and $500 for Benefactor.  In-person purchase only; new members only.

The Mint Museum Auxiliary is the lead sponsor for educational programs in 2012-13. Additional support provided by Belk, Inc.

Museum hosts VIPs throughout the week

The Democratic National Convention provided a big boost in visitation and revenue to the Mint, as the museum saw more than six times as many visitors as the same week last year, and enjoyed Museum Shop sales that more than tripled the levels of the same week a year ago.

Between special events and regular admissions, more than 11,000 people visited both Mint locations from September 1-7. The biggest day was CarolinaFest on Labor Day, when more than 3,100 people enjoyed free admission to Mint Museum Uptown.

The convention dates coincided with the launch of “Vote for Art,” a project allowing museum visitors to help contribute to the museum’s permanent collection by casting ballots for their favorites among six specially-chosen works of art on view throughout the museum. After votes are tallied, the museum plans to acquire the winning work or works of art.

“Early voting” ran from Sept. 1-7, while the general public voting period runs during October and early November. The winners will be announced at the Ballot Ball gala at Mint Museum Uptown on November 9.

Many delegates from the states of Illinois, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Hawaii, and Ohio voted during the delegate welcoming reception at the Mint on Sunday September 2, which also featured a marching band and national-champion cheerleader performances. Throughout the week, the Mint played host to an array of famous visitors, including governors, members of Congress, Cabinet secretaries, ambassadors, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Dr. Jill Biden, and celebrities including actress Jessica Alba, “CSI: NY” actor Hill Harper, singer Khalil, television personality Ty Pennington, and even “Queen Charlotte” herself!

The early votes have been tallied – and more than 4,500 were cast during the week, including more than 600 votes from children under 18! “Exit polling” has begun to indicate who some of the favorites are: “Before Midnight,” a representation of Cinderella’s carriage covered in tar by Italian artist Mattia Biagi; “Birth of Venus II,” a re-creation of Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus” made out of garbage by Brazilian artist Vik Muniz; and “Slice Chair Paper,” a chair assembled from sheets of paper by Danish artist Mathias Bengtsson, are some of the early leaders, but it’s still anybody’s race! Very close to them in the polls are the other three contenders: “Wood Branches” by Spanish artist Nacho Carbonell, “Dora’s Dance” by North Carolina native Beverly McIver, and “Porcupine Cabinet” by Sebastian Errazuriz of Chile.

If you want your chance to cast a “Vote for Art” ballot, come back to the museum for our FREE community day on Saturday, September 29! All visitors on that day will be offered ballots in a special kick-off of the general voting period.

If you have a favorite work, you can cast multiple votes by returning to the museum – one ballot per visitor per day.

So make your views count – visit the Mint and Vote for Art!

Special Guests                                 

During DNC week included:

Governor Neil Abercrombie                                HI

Congressman Xavier Becerra                             CA

Senator Robert Casey                                       PA

Congressman Jim Clyburn                                 SC

Congressman Gerry Connolly                            VA

Fmr. Governor Howard Dean                             VT

Fmr. Governor Michael Dukakis                         MA

Senator Al Franken                                           MN

Senator Kay Hagan                                           NC

Congressman Steny Hoyer                                 MD

Senator Daniel Inouye                                       HI

Senator John Kerry                                           MA

Congressman Dennis Kucinich                            OH

Congressman John Lewis                                   GA

Governor Dan Malloy                                         CT

Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi                            CA

Senator Harry Reid                                           NV

Congressman Jan Schakowsky                           IL

Senator Elizabeth Warren                                  MA

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse                             RI

Dr. Jill Biden (wife of Vice President Biden)

Madeline Albright, Former Secretary of State

Wesley Clark, General (Ret.)

Morgan Tsvangirai, Prime Minister of Zimbabwe

Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to the President

Hill Harper, Actor

Khalil, Singer

Jessica Alba, Actress

Jay Thomas, Actor

The Mint remains one of the only museums in the region with a public gallery dedicated to young artists.

The STAR Gallery, at Mint Museum Randolph, opened in 1985 to showcase local K-12 student works of art and has been integral to the Mint’s vision to become one of the most relevant and revered art museums in the country, with an unparalleled commitment to excellence, engagement, innovation, and inclusiveness. The Mint remains one of the only museums in the region with a public gallery dedicated to young artists. Annually, there are eight to ten student exhibitions on view  which run for six weeks, respectively, comprising works of art from approximately 700 students from both local public and private schools. Approximately 13,500 students have been touched by this program and have had works of art displayed since the gallery’s inception.

The STAR Gallery offers a way to promote and connect visitors to other exhibitions or collections in the museum. For instance, there is often either a technical or conceptual connection between the students’ work and the Mint’s permanent collection and special exhibitions, thereby offering additional value to the average museum visitor. The connection exhibited in the students’ work is often tied into their visit to the museum or participation in specialized educational programming by Mint staff. This early engagement with the arts helps encourage lifelong learning and love of art and design.

With the success of the STAR Gallery at Mint Museum Randolph, an additional STAR Gallery opened at Mint Museum Uptown in January 2012. The Uptown STAR Gallery has allowed the Mint to double its capacity to serve school-age children and expand upon current programming.

The Mint Museum is grateful to Harris Teeter for their generous support of Mint Museum Randolph’s STAR Gallery.

Please mark your calendars for the STAR Gallery exhibitions this fall!

Mint Museum Uptown STAR Gallery: Metrolina Regional Scholar’s AcademyOctober 2 – November 4, 2012

Mint Museum Randolph STAR Gallery: Weddington Middle School October 16-November 4, 2012

Local and regional partnerships this year will include:
Metrolina Regional Scholars Academy, Char-Meck Charter School
Weddington Middle School, Union County
Cannon School, Concord
McAlpine Elementary, CMS
Cox Mill Elementary, Cabarrus County
Mid-Carolina Region Scholastic Silver Key students
Gaston County Elementary and Secondary School students

Lend a Helping Hand. Re-link Your VIC Card
It’s easy to support local schools through Harris Teeter Together in Education, and please do not forget to re-link your VIC card to your child’s school this month.  Simply give the cashier your VIC card and your school’s Together in Education school code during checkout or visit harristeeter.com to link your VIC card.  Once you link your card, it will be linked to the school of your choice until May 31, 2013.  You can link your VIC card to up to five schools, and Harris Teeter will evenly distribute the funds to which your card is linked.  Harris Teeter Brand products qualify, including pharmacy prescriptions!  For a list of participating school codes or more information, visit harristeeter.com.

Facility is a hub showcasing Charlotte’s creativity and innovation to visitors during the Democratic National Convention

The Mint Museum is a participant in a FREE exhibition of creativity and innovation in the Charlotte region during the Democratic National Convention, Charlotte Creates @ Packard Place. The facility at 222 South Church Street will feature a variety of creative and innovative organizations in the sectors of arts + culture, technology + informatics, product design + development, social entrepreneurship, and energy + sustainability.

The Mint Museum will have a display in place overlooking the future site of the under-construction Romare Bearden Park at Third and Church streets during the hub’s hours of operation: Monday September 3 from noon-6 p.m., and Tuesday and Wednesday September 4 and 5 from 2-5 p.m. (The location near the park is fitting; Mint Museum Uptown has a permanent gallery devoted to the works of internationally renowned Charlotte-born artist Romare Bearden).

Home to more than 30,000 creative jobs, Charlotte-Mecklenburg has received a 31% higher ranking for creative vitality than the national average. Charlotte Creates is a joint initiative of the Charlotte Chamber, Arts & Science Council, and Innovation Institute that seeks to establish Charlotte as a world-class center of creativity and innovation. Charlotte Creates @ Packard Place will showcase Charlotte’s creative assets to raise Charlotte’s profile as an innovative center and contribute to its long-term economic growth.

About Packard Place

Packard Place is the hub of like-minded entrepreneurs sharing skills and business opportunities in Charlotte. Serving as a community center for entrepreneurial activity in the heart of the city, it allows access to technology, education, and hands-on assistance to help business partners and start-ups design, build, market, and deliver innovation and solutions. The mission of Packard Place is to develop fast-growth businesses and the professional community to drive them. Its focus and motto is to build community, entrepreneurialism, and innovation in Charlotte.

Watch this video to learn more about Charlotte Creates @ Packard Place: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccS-6_LiZx8

For other inquiries about Charlotte Creates @ Packard Place, contact Carmella Jarvi at 980-253-9170 or cjarvi@packardplace.us.

Volume released just in time for the Democratic National Convention is a work of art in itself

In a unique collaboration combining art and scholarship, The Mint Museum has published a new book in association with Yale University Press titled  One Work, which will be available for sale to museum visitors beginning with the Democratic National Convention activities on September 1. The volume, totaling 100 pages including photos, is devoted to the massive four-story work hanging in the atrium of Mint Museum Uptown, Mega Footprint Near the Hutch (May I Have This Dance?) by Sheila Hicks. It contains two pullout accordion folds with images of Mega Footprint on them and a hanging loop embedded into the cover, enabling readers to literally hang the book on their walls and enjoy the book itself as a work of art.

The book was designed by internationally renowned Amsterdam-based designer Irma Boom, who won the 2007 Gold Medal at the Leipzig Book Fair for “The Most Beautiful Book in the World” for designing Sheila Hicks: Weaving as Metaphor, published by Yale University Press. One Work includes a foreword by Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson, President & CEO of the Mint; an essay by Annie Carlano, director of Craft + Design; an afterword by Rodolfo Machado of Machado and Silvetti Associates, architects of Mint Museum Uptown; and photos by James Martin, Digital Media Manager at the Mint.

“In the field of art history it is rare to find publications dedicated to one singular work of art; books about iconic contemporary works are rarer still,” said Jameson. “At a time when The Mint Museum strives to lead in collecting the most innovative art being made in the world today, and especially with the eyes of the nation and world focusing upon Charlotte and our museum during the coming week, we are thrilled to celebrate Sheila Hicks’s Mega Footprint Near the Hutch (May I Have this Dance?) as a signature work of art for this institution.”

The book was the idea of Carlano, who was also instrumental in bringing Boom on board as designer. “This ‘one work’ is central to the discourse on how 21st century art and architecture can, with their rapport, transform a space and inspire individuals,” said Carlano. “Mega Footprint captivates us because it doesn’t look like anything we’ve ever seen before.”

The Mint acquired Mega Footprint Near the Hutch in fall 2011 through a generous gift from Target Corporation. The company originally commissioned the work for its Minneapolis headquarters, where it was first named May I Have This Dance? A redesign of the headquarters prompted a search for a permanent new home, and the Mint was among many of the nation’s largest and most important museums considered for the gift. Its distinctive tubes, made of linen thread wrapped around plumbers’ pipe insulating foam, were reconfigured for the atrium space of Mint Museum Uptown. Its new title referred to Charlotte’s “mega footprint” of growth near the “hutch,” used as a synonym for animal pen, and referring to Charlotte’s proximity to still-rural countryside. The newly reimagined work was unveiled concurrently with the opening of Sheila Hicks: 50 Years, a retrospective organized by The Addison Gallery of American Art that was on view at the Mint from October 2011 through January 2012. Hicks is considered one of the world’s leading contemporary artists and designers, known for her work with thread and textiles.

One Work is on sale for $40 at both Mint Museum Shop locations and is also being distributed internationally by Yale University Press. All proceeds from sales at Museum Shops benefit The Mint Museum. For more information or media review copies, contact Leigh Dyer at leigh.dyer@mintmuseum.org.

Click here and click on the second highlight image to see more about Mega Footprint Near the Hutch.

Exhibition examining trends in woodworking will greet visitors to the Democratic National Convention at Mint Museum Uptown

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (August 28, 2012) – Featuring more than 60 installations, sculptures, furniture, and objects, Against the Grain: Wood in Contemporary Art, Craft, and Design explores the most cutting-edge conceptual and technical trends in woodworking today. Organized by the Museum of Arts and Design, New York, and debuting September 1, 2012, at Mint Museum Uptown and running through January 27, 2013, the exhibition emphasizes the ways artists, designers, and craftspeople have incorporated modernist approaches and strategies into woodworking—deconstructing vessel shapes, playing on the relationship between function and form, and utilizing woodturning and furniture techniques in the creation of sculpture. The works, all created since 2000, challenge traditional applications of wood within the design and craft worlds, and exemplify the wide-ranging, frequently unexpected approaches to the medium by contemporary artists and designers. The exhibition will subsequently be on view at the Museum of Arts and Design from March through July, 2013.

“It is very important for the museum to present world-class special exhibitions to complement our internationally-regarded permanent collection during the Democratic National Convention,” said Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson, President & CEO of the Mint. “Against the Grain: Wood in Contemporary Art, Craft, and Design is a fascinating look at the way artists and designers use traditional woodworking techniques to create startlingly fresh work.  Organized by the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, in consultation with the Mint, we are honored to premiere the exhibition in Charlotte.  On behalf of the Mint, I express my gratitude to Moore & Van Allen PLLC and the Founders’ Circle for their generous support of Against the Grain.”

The exhibition features 57 artists and designers from around the world, including influential sculptors Ursula von Rydingsvard, Courtney Smith, and Martin Puryear, who will display one of his furniture pieces for the first time; installation artists Gary Carsley and Alison Elizabeth Taylor; designers Maarten Baas, Sebastian Errazuriz, and Pablo Reinoso; and studio wood artists Wendell Castle, Andrew Early, and Hunt Clark, among others.

“Against the Grain: Wood in Contemporary Art, Craft, and Design aligns beautifully with the Mint’s commitment to innovative 21st-century creative expression from a variety of cultural perspectives.  Moreover, the museum’s collection is very strong in both turned wood and studio furniture, most notably, the Jane and Arthur Mason Collection, as well as recent major acquisitions; Joseph Walsh’s Enignum from the Mint’s Project Ten Ten Ten series, and Silas Kopf’s Who’s Chicken, Now? will both be on view during the exhibition,” said Annie Carlano, the Mint’s Director of Craft + Design. “Beyond museum walls, Against the Grain has a particular connection to our community and region.  The American furniture industry is centered here, and until just a few months ago, the Furniture Society was based in Asheville. Designers and makers live amongst us.”

“Against the Grain is a complete immersion into the seemingly limitless world of contemporary woodworking, an imaginative experience where function is subsumed by fantastical forms and textures,” said Holly Hotchner, Nanette L. Laitman Director of the Museum of Arts and Design. “The creators featured in the exhibition exemplify the innovative practice that MAD is dedicated to supporting and bringing to the fore. Their work defies clear categorization and draws together traditionally disparate themes, ideas, and techniques into stunning and surprising works of art.”

Organized by MAD Curator Lowery Stokes Sims, Against the Grain is part of MAD’s ongoing “Materials & Process” series, dedicated to exploring contemporary innovations in traditional techniques and materials, and highlights the tremendous creative energy and fresh thinking that creators are bringing to wood today. “Wood is a ubiquitous material and a medium of basic function as well as tremendous versatility. In the last several decades, artists have truly begun to test its creative boundaries, expressing and expanding wood’s aesthetic and conceptual possibilities,” said Sims. “The artists featured in Against the Grain represent the forward-thinking approach that has spurred the medium’s renaissance.”

The featured works fall into seven thematic designations that encapsulate the breadth of creative production in wood. Many of the artists and designers are inspired by wood’s most natural state as trees, utilizing branches, logs, and planks and creating works that draw upon the wood’s grains, textures, and patterns. Others fuse a variety of wood elements together to create distinctly new visual forms, producing a more powerful experience than the individual parts might allow. Digital techniques have also transformed woodworking, allowing creators to manipulate materials and produce illusions that were previously impossible. The use of wood as a material to convey political and social content as well as humor and visual puns has also grown and been refined as artists experiment with the medium. Additionally, environmental issues will be woven throughout the exhibition as increased ecological consciousness is implicit in the work of all contemporary woodworkers.

Highlights from the exhibition include the following works:

• Mark Moskovitz’s fully-functional chest of drawers mimicking wood stockpiled for the winter exemplifies the type of camouflage and secret compartments that have long been an intriguing feature of furniture. His Facecord Chest, 2011, was inspired by the haphazard geometry of cordwood and the accidental poetry in its stacking.

• In Oddychająca, 2011, Ursula von Rydingsvard manipulates a field of flat 2-by-4 beams into an organic form that gently curves out into space.

• Designers Ian Spencer and Cairn Young are presenting their Roccapina V chair, 2012, a product of the Yard Sale Project, which produces furniture that combines computer-aided design and traditional construction techniques. The result is a richly patterned surface resembling a volumetric quilt.

• Alison Elizabeth Taylor’s installations of illusionistic marquetry, which recreate architectural elements of abandoned houses—including linoleum floors or painted and papered walls whose many layers have been worn away after years of water damage.

• Maarten Baas’ “smoked” version of a Marc Newson chair, which has been torched and rendered nonfunctional and yet maintains lyricism and elegance in its new sculptural form.

• A chest of drawers by artist Courtney Smith, whose functionality has been subverted by the insertion of arbitrary rectangles and boxes of plywood. The resulting sculpture challenges ideas of structural integrity and authorship as Smith intrudes on existing design elements.

• Ai Weiwei’s 2008 evocation of a cluster of grapes in his eccentric assembling of ten simple Qing Dynasty stools, rendering the group useless.

• Gary Carsley’s cabinet installation is part of an ongoing project of photographing parks and landscapes all over the world, printing them on vinyl, and then applying them to walls and IKEA furniture. He plays with our sense of space as the print blends the wall and furniture together into one landscape environment.

• Cameroon-born artist Barthélémy Toguo’s large-scale stamp, hewed out of a block of wood and engraved with “Who is the true terrorist?,” taps into the tradition of the woodblock-printed image and evokes the political paranoia infecting recent international relations.

• Chilean designer Sebastian Errazuriz, whose Porcupine Cabinet, 2011, is a candidate in the Mint’s “Vote for Art” project. It is one of six specially-chosen works by some of the world’s top artists and designers that will be on display throughout Mint Museum Uptown. Museum visitors will cast ballots for their three favorite works. Visitors to the museum during the Democratic National Convention will be offered ballots from September 1-7; voting opens to the general public October 1 through November 9.

MEDIA PREVIEW
All media are invited to preview the exhibition at Mint Museum Uptown from 3:30-5 p.m. on Thursday August 30 (curator’s tour and refreshments provided) or during a media drop-in from 3:30 – 5 p.m. on Friday August 31. In addition, admission is FREE to all members of the media throughout public operating hours during the Democratic National Convention (reservation required). See more information about operating hours at mintmuseum.org; email leigh.dyer@mintmuseum.org to RSVP.

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

Against the Grain: Wood in Contemporary Art, Craft, and Design is organized the Museum of Arts and Design and curated by Lowery Stokes Sims, Charles Bronfman International Curator at the Museum of Arts and Design, assisted by Elizabeth Edwards Kirrane, Assistant Curator at MAD and project manager for the exhibition. The exhibition has been curated at The Mint Museum by Annie Carlano, Director of Craft + Design. Against the Grain is made possible at The Mint Museum through generous support from Founders’ Circle Ltd. and Moore & Van Allen PLLC.

The exhibition tour includes The Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina (September 1, 2012 – January 27, 2013), Museum of Arts and Design, New York, New York (March – July, 2013), and other locations to be announced.

The catalogue, published by Monacelli Press, includes essays by Curator Lowery Stokes Sims, who writes on the conceptual framework of the exhibition; Assistant Curator Elizabeth Edwards Kirrane, who chronicles how history, environmental issues, and politics have predicated the use of various woods; and noted writer on art and craft Suzanne Ramljak, who will examine the enduring preoccupation with wood in human cultures. It is available in the Mint Museum Shops for $45.

ABOUT THE MUSEUM OF ARTS AND DESIGN

The Museum of Arts and Design explores the blur zone between art, design, and craft today. The Museum focuses on contemporary creativity and the ways in which artists and designers from around the world transform materials through processes ranging from the artisanal to digital. The Museum’s exhibition program explores and illuminates issues and ideas, highlights creativity and craftsmanship, and celebrates the limitless potential of materials and techniques when used by gifted and innovative artists. MAD’s permanent collection is global in scope and focuses on art, craft, and design from 1950 to the present day. At the center of the Museum’s mission is education. The Museum’s dynamic new facility features classrooms and studios for master classes, seminars, and workshops for students, families, and adults. Three open artist studios engage visitors in the creative processes of artists at work and enhance the exhibition programs. Lectures, films, performances, and symposia related to the Museum’s collection and topical subjects affecting the world of contemporary art, craft, and design are held in a renovated 144-seat auditorium.

For more information, please contact:

Sophie Henderson, Museum of Arts and Design, 212.299.7762, sophie.henderson@madmuseum.org,  or
Alina Sumajin, Resnicow Schroeder Associates, 212.671.5155, asumajin@resnicowschroeder.com.

Mint Museum Uptown to be closed to public Sunday Sept. 2, Tuesday September 4, and Wednesday September 5 for special events; open to the public all other days!

   The Mint Museum has announced its hours of operation during the Democratic National Convention week. Special events that take over the museum will close Mint Museum Uptown to the public for three days: Sunday September 2; Tuesday September 4; and Wednesday September 5. But there’s plenty of other time throughout the week for the public to enjoy the Mint’s spectacular lineup!

Highlights include the blockbuster new exhibition Against the Grain: Wood in Contemporary Art, Craft, and Design, which opens to the public for the first time at 10 a.m. on Saturday September 1; VantagePoint X / Vik Muniz: Garbage Matters, opening August 25; the launch of the museum’s Vote for Art project, which will invite DNC week visitors to view six specially-chosen works of art and vote for their three favorites (the museum will acquire the winning works of art after the general public voting period, running October 1-November 9); and the ongoing exhibitions Read My Pins: The Madeleine Albright Collection and Hard Truths: The Art of Thornton Dial.

Visitors should note that Mint Museum Randolph is observing normal hours of operation during the week (including being closed Labor Day Monday). At Mint Museum Uptown, visitors can enter FREE from 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. on Labor Day, September 3, as part of the CarolinaFest celebration, and many other days will include extended hours for the Museum Shop. See the chart below for details. Also please note that all public visitors will be required to enter from the side of the museum facing Levine Avenue for the Arts at street level (directional signage will point the way). Security staff will also be conducting bag checks, using metal-detecting wands, and observing guidelines similar to the TSA in airports restricting items that can be brought inside the museum (see below for details).

Hours are subject to change, so check back at mintmuseum.org before your visit for the latest updates! (Note: Members of the media are being offered complimentary admission all week during public hours of operation; contact Public Relations Manager Leigh Dyer at 704.337.2009 or leigh.dyer@mintmuseum.org to make a reservation).

Parking: The Levine Center for the Arts parking garage will be closed to non-monthly parkers during the week, but museum visitors are invited to park in The Green, 425 South Tryon Street, or to use public transportation.

Visitors should park in The Green’s garage due to special events this weekend

Due to special events taking place in uptown Charlotte this weekend, Saturday August 25 and Sunday August 26, the parking garage for Levine Center for the Arts will be closed to museum visitors and non-monthly parkers on both days. Part of South Tryon Street will be closed, so visitors should park in The Green‘s parking deck, utilizing the entrance off College Street. (The address for The Green is 425 South Tryon Street, but guests should use the address of the Charlotte Convention Center, 501 South College Street, to find The Green’s parking entrance facing the Convention Center).

Mint Museum Uptown will observe normal hours of operation, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. The museum is opening the new exhibition VantagePoint X / Vik Muniz: Garbage Matters on Saturday August 25. For more information, contact Guest Services at 704.337.2000.

Here is the information from the Charlotte Department of Transportation’s street closing advisory:

Pride Charlotte
The event is on Saturday, August 25 from 12:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and on Sunday, August 26 from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Tryon Street. Event organizers expect 25,000 attendees. Tryon Street between Fourth Street and Stonewall Street will be closed from Saturday, August 25 at 5:00 a.m. until Sunday, August 26 at 10:00 p.m. Levine Avenue of the Arts will also be closed. For more information call 704-333-0144 or email info@pridecharlotte.com.

Diplomat tells the stories behind “Read My Pins: The Madeleine Albright Collection”

Pioneering diplomat Madeleine Albright delighted hundreds of museum visitors throughout the weekend of July 13-14 during her visit in honor of the recent opening of Read My Pins: The Madeleine Albright Collection.
The weekend began Friday afternoon with a walk-through of the exhibition for members of the local and regional media, at which Secretary Albright stopped at nearly every case within the gallery to share her insights and recollections. Local jeweler Perry’s Fine, Antique and Estate Jewelry, which provided support for the exhibition, presented Secretary Albright with a spectacular 18-karat gold pin encrusted with 2.75 carats of diamonds, shaped in the crown inspired by Queen Charlotte and the city’s logo. The base of the crown was hand-engraved with “Albright” and set between an olive branch and a bundle of thirteen arrows.
Later that evening, Albright attended a members-only VIP reception at which many of the more than 300 attendees were treated to one-on-one conversations with Secretary Albright. She then thrilled the crowd with an impromptu question-and-answer session, sharing her insights into global diplomacy.
Saturday morning, Albright returned to the museum for an educational program featuring Youth Opportunity University, Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, Johnson C. Smith University, Queens University, international students, and community leaders.   After that, a sellout crowd packed into the auditorium for “A Conversation with Madeleine Albright,” and dozens more attendees filled satellite seating in the atrium. She then signed hundreds of copies of the book “Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat’s Jewel Box” and her recently-published “Prague Winter” (both on sale in the Mint Museum Shops).
Read My Pins: The Madeleine Albright Collection will remain on view through September 23 at Mint Museum Uptown. It is brought to The Mint Museum through the support of Perry’s Fine, Antique and Estate Jewelry. Exhibition organized by the Museum of Arts and Design. Generous support for this exhibition was provided by Bren Simon and for the exhibition catalogue by St. John Knits.

About Perry’s Fine, Antique and Estate Jewelry
Perry’s Fine, Antique and Estate Jewelry has been in business for over thirty-four years and has been established as one of the nation’s finest antique and estate jewelers. Ernest Perry, the company’s owner and president, has more than thirty-five years experience and expertise in fine, antique and estate jewelry. Perry’s consigns, buys, sells, and trades vintage, antique and estate jewelry, gold, coins, diamonds, silver, platinum, and much more. www.perrysjewelry.com

(Photo of Madeleine Albright with Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson, President & CEO of the Mint, by Wendy McCarty, Aphrodite Photography Inc.)

Visitors expected to pack the museum during convention week

UPDATE August 21, 2012: Please click this link to see hours of operation during the Democratic National Convention week for both locations of The Mint Museum!

The Charlotte Observer declared the Mint the most “coveted” venue in town during the Democratic National Convention, and bookings at both museum locations have followed suit! Museum staffers are hard at work finalizing the plans for the convention week, September 1-7, so keep a close eye on mintmuseum.org for updates as the week draws near. For now, here are some of the updates we can share:

• As previously announced, Mint Museum Uptown will host the delegations from Illinois, Hawaii, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Ohio during the official welcoming party on Sunday, September 2.
• Mint Museum Uptown will be open FREE on Labor Day, September 3, in conjunction with the CarolinaFest street festival to be held along Tryon Street in uptown Charlotte. The hours of the festival are 10 a.m. to 6:15 p.m.; the Mint will announce specific hours of operation closer to the date.
• Mint Museum Randolph has so far landed three DNC bookings (and more bookings may be added). Currently, plans call for keeping Mint Museum Randolph OPEN during normal operating hours throughout the week. Hours are subject to change, however, so check mintmuseum.org before planning your visit that week.
• As of this week, Mint Museum Uptown has 18 bookings during the DNC week, and bookings are still being accepted. In addition, Halcyon restaurant, which shares the museum’s second floor, has another six bookings so far. The museum will need to be closed to the public during certain times that week when events occupy the entire museum, but those hours are still being determined. They will be announced as soon as they are finalized. Also keep an eye out for updates regarding museum entrance access and parking (but keep in mind, use of public transportation to enter uptown is strongly encouraged).
• Just in time for the arrival of the delegates and the national media, Mint Museum Uptown is preparing to debut the blockbuster new exhibition Against the Grain: Wood in Contemporary Art, Craft, and Design, featuring the work of the world’s top contemporary artists and designers in the versatile medium of wood. Local and national media will be invited to a preview of the exhibition on Friday, August 31, and it will open to museum visitors on Saturday, September 1. The museum is expected to be open to the public that day (specific hours to be determined). Against the Grain: Wood in Contemporary Art, Craft, and Design will remain on view through January 27, 2013. It is brought to The Mint Museum through the support of Moore & Van Allen PLLC and Founders’ Circle Ltd.  The exhibition is organized by the Museum of Arts and Design and made possible, in part, by the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional support from Larry and Madeline Mohr.
• The Mint Museum is also launching its innovative new project, “Vote for Art,” during the DNC. Six of the world’s top contemporary works of art will be on display, and visitors can vote for their favorites. The museum will acquire the work or works with the most votes. All visitors during DNC week will be offered ballots and opportunities to cast votes; voting opens to the general public on October 1 and winners will be announced November 9. Click here for more information!

Spanish artist Nacho Carbonell is assembling one of six works set to become part of the Mint’s “Vote for Art: Your View, Your Vote” project

Photographers and reporters are invited to Mint Museum Uptown beginning Thursday, July 26 to capture internationally-acclaimed artist Nacho Carbonell in the atrium assembling his work Wood Branches, Diversity n. 17 (prototype), 2010. Carbonell will be assisted by Paloma Castaño Sanchez, an emerging fashion and textile artist. They are scheduled to complete the work by Monday July 30.

Reporters and photographers are welcome to visit to observe the assembly in progress, but must schedule appointments beforehand with Public Relations Manager Leigh Dyer at 704.337.2009 or Leigh.Dyer@mintmuseum.org. The artists will be working on Thursday July 26 from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., on Friday and Saturday July 27-28 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., and on Sunday July 29 from 1 – 5 p.m. (Click here for more information.)

Carbonell’s work is one of six to be featured in the Mint’s “Vote for Art” project, a one-of-a-kind election taking place within the walls of Mint Museum Uptown.

“Vote for Art” is aimed at educating the public on both the electoral process and the process of building a world-class collection for Charlotte and the region. Six specially-chosen works of art will be on view in the museum, and the public can cast votes on their three favorites. The museum will acquire the three winners and add them to its permanent collection. The other five works will be installed within the museum in coming weeks.

Voting opens on September 1 to coincide with the beginning of the Democratic National Convention – and to allow the DNC delegates the first opportunities to cast votes, as they do during the nation’s real-life electoral process. Mint Museum Uptown, which is normally closed to the public on Mondays, will be open FREE all day on September 3, Labor Day, to coincide with CarolinaFest, a day-long party for the Democratic National Convention visitors to be held along Tryon Street. All visitors to the museum through September 7 will be offered ballots and the opportunity to cast votes. Voting then closes after the DNC and reopens October 1, running through November 9.

Election Day, November 6, will be a free admission day from 10 a.m.-9 p.m. so any interested voters can come to the museum to vote for art after they travel to the polls to vote for their candidates (the museum is always open for free from 5-9 p.m. each Tuesday). And unlike the Board of Elections, the Mint does not require voters to be 18 – children will be offered their own opportunities to cast ballots.

A committee consisting of curators and representatives of three of the museum’s affiliate groups nominated the six works of art. The Founders’ Circle, Mint Museum Auxiliary, and Young Affiliates of the Mint will collaborate on the project’s culminating event, the Ballot Ball, on November 9. At that gala, to be held at Mint Museum Uptown, the winners will be unveiled. Ticket registration for the Ballot Ball will begin September 1.

The Mint is in the process of discussing sponsorship of the project with local and national corporations. Each sponsor will contribute a sum toward the purchase of the works, and will be recognized on a large banner in front of Mint Museum Uptown, which will appear prior to the DNC and remain on view through the Ballot Ball, allowing the corporations to receive a lucrative marketing opportunity in addition to contributing toward this philanthropic project. Sponsors will also be permanently recognized within the museum as the donors of the works of art. Those interested in becoming a sponsor can contact May Nixon at May.Nixon@mintmuseum.org.

During the project, voters must be inside the museum to cast a vote; no online voting will be allowed, although an overview of the project is available on mintmuseum.org and visitors may use the website’s +INSPIRING button to show support for their favorites.

Only one ballot will be permitted per visit, but patrons can make multiple visits throughout the run of the project if they wish to cast multiple votes for their favorite candidates. For non-members of the museum, admission must be paid for each visit unless it is during the museum’s scheduled free hours. (See a complete news release about “Vote for Art” and descriptions of all six works of art here: https://mintmuseumold.wpengine.com/news/vote-for-art-your-view-your-vote)

MORE INFORMATION

Nacho Carbonell. Spanish. 1980-

Wood Branches, Diversity n. 17 (prototype), 2010 (click to view image)

Metal armature, wood, branches, papier-mâché

On loan from Spazio Rossana Orlandi, Milan, Italy.

Extreme experimentation with materials and ideas is central to the work of Nacho Carbonell (known internationally as simply Nacho). The distinct gravel-, thorn-, or branch-covered surfaces of the combined desk forms in the Diversity series suggest a demographically diverse neighborhood and made Nacho the star of the 2010 Salone di Mobile in Milan. The chairs are handmade by a small team of assistants using laborious processes in Nacho’s studio in Eindhoven, The Netherlands; he is assembling Diversity n.17 inside Mint Museum Uptown himself. Nacho graduated from the Spanish University of Cardenal Herrera-CEU and the prestigious Design Academy, Eindhoven. He was nominated Designer of the Year in 2009 by the Design Museum, London, and designated as Designer of the Future by the Design Miami / Basel committee later that same year.

“With a reputation as an innovator in his use of various media, techniques, and as a provocateur par excellence, Nacho is one of the hottest young designers of the moment,” said Annie Carlano, the Mint’s director of craft and design.

High-resolution images of all six “Vote for Art” works are available on request.

The Mint Museum announces innovative project celebrating the democratic process, to coincide with the Democratic National Convention

The Mint Museum is inviting the public, and the tens of thousands of visitors preparing to travel to the city for the Democratic National Convention, to participate in a one-of-a-kind election taking place within the walls of Mint Museum Uptown.

“Vote for Art” is a project aimed at educating the public on both the electoral process and the process of building a world-class collection for Charlotte and the region. The Mint will put six specially-chosen works of art on view in the museum and allow the public to cast votes on their three favorites. The museum will acquire the winner or winners and add them to its permanent collection.

“Vote For Art is an exciting and dynamic way for the museum to engage the public with the work of some of the best contemporary artists of our time, while leaving a lasting legacy for generations to come,” said Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson, President & CEO of the Mint. “We welcome the community, nation, and world to join us in this innovative project.”

Voting opens on September 1 to coincide with the beginning of the Democratic National Convention (and with the opening of the Mint’s blockbuster new exhibition, Against the Grain: Wood in Contemporary Art, Craft, and Design). Mint Museum Uptown, which is normally closed to the public on Mondays, will be open FREE all day on September 3, Labor Day, to coincide with CarolinaFest, a day-long party for the Democratic National Convention visitors to be held along Tryon Street. All visitors to the museum through September 7 will be offered ballots and the opportunity to cast votes. Voting then closes after the DNC and reopens October 1, running through November 9. Election Day, November 6, will be a free admission day from 10 a.m.-9 p.m. so any interested voters can come to the museum to vote for art after they travel to the polls to vote for their candidates (the museum is always open for free from 5-9 p.m. each Tuesday). And unlike the Board of Elections, the Mint does not require voters to be 18 – children will be offered their own opportunities to cast ballots.

A committee consisting of curators and representatives of three of the museum’s affiliate groups nominated the six works of art from an original field of 12 being offered by top galleries and artists from around the world. All six works are by contemporary artists from as far away as Denmark and Chile and as close as North Carolina, and three of the works represent the best current offerings from the field of craft and design, a particular focus for the Mint. “The strength and reputation of our curatorial team is the reason we received so many significant selections,” said Annie Carlano, director of craft + design for the Mint. Curators Carla Hanzal and Brad Thomas, who oversee the museum’s modern and contemporary collections, joined Carlano in the nomination process.

The Founders’ Circle, Mint Museum Auxiliary, and Young Affiliates of the Mint also participated in the selection, and will collaborate on the project’s culminating event, the Ballot Ball, on November 9. At that gala, to be held at Mint Museum Uptown, the winners will be unveiled. Ticket registration for the Ballot Ball will begin September 1.

During the project, voters must be inside the museum to cast a vote; no online voting will be allowed, although an overview of the project is available on mintmuseum.org and visitors may use the website’s +INSPIRING button to show support for their favorites. “Would you marry someone just by seeing their picture?” asked Carlano. “Pictures can’t convey what the work really is.”

Only one ballot is permitted per visit, but patrons can make multiple visits throughout the run of the project if they wish to cast multiple votes for their favorite candidates. For non-members of the museum, admission must be paid for each visit unless it is during the museum’s scheduled free hours.

THE SIX CANDIDATES: AN OVERVIEW

(Follow links to see images, or click here for the Mint’s Vote for Art page:https://mintmuseumold.wpengine.com/art/projects/vote-for-art)

Vik Muniz. Brazilian, 1961-
The Birth of Venus, after Botticelli (Pictures of Junk), 2008
Digital chromogenic print
3 parts: 92 x 153 ¼ inches overall
On loan from Sikkema Jenkins Gallery

Art © Vik Muniz/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

Vik Muniz, born in Sao Paulo in 1961, has arguably become the most famous contemporary Brazilian artist. Muniz’s recreations of famous paintings are notable for their uncanny attention to detail and the non-traditional nature of the media he chooses. For the Pictures of Junk series, Muniz painstakingly gathers discarded objects such as tires, bolts, coils of wire, broken appliances, and soda cans, arranging them on a warehouse floor in piles and layers to create representations of iconic paintings by historical artists. After this labor-intensive process is complete, Muniz photographs the massive creation from a balcony above, thereby preserving the final appearance before the image is disassembled. The Birth of Venus, after Botticelli (Pictures of Junk), 2008, will be included in The Mint Museum’s exhibition, VantagePoint X/Vik Muniz: Garbage Matters, which will be on view August 25, 2012 through February 24, 2013 at Mint Museum Uptown. “This monumental triptych photograph, exemplary of Muniz’s style and methodology, would be a welcome addition to the Modern and Contemporary Art Collection, and its burgeoning photography collection,” said Carla Hanzal, curator for the Muniz exhibition.

Beverly McIver.  American, 1962-
Dora’s Dance, 2002
Oil on canvas
152 ½ x 122 inches
On loan from Craven Allen Art Gallery, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Attaining national recognition for her autobiographical paintings, Beverly McIver consistently examines racial, gender, and social identities through the lens of her own experiences as an African-American female artist.  A native of North Carolina who currently lives in Durham, McIver is renowned for her expression-filled, emotive canvases that commemorate her life and the lives of those closest to her — in particular, her mother, Ethel, who passed away in 2004, and her sister, Renee, who is mentally disabled.  Her solo exhibition, Reflections: Portraits by Beverly McIver, is on view at the North Carolina Museum of Art and will travel to The Mint Museum, where it will be presented October 20, 2012 – January 6, 2013. Among the portraits included in this exhibition is McIver’s masterful painting, Dora’s Dance, 2002.  “The addition of Dora’s Dance to the Mint’s Modern and Contemporary Collection would enable the Museum to increase its holdings of contemporary portraiture, as well as bolster its representation of nationally-recognized artists residing  within our state,” said Hanzal.

Mattia Biagi. Italian, 1974-
Before Midnight, 2012
Mixed media, tar
67 x 93 x 49 inches
On loan from Anna Kustera Gallery, New York City

Mattia Biagi attended the I.R.F.A., an Italian art and design school, and the illustrious Brera Academy of Art in Milan. He immigrated to Los Angeles in 2001 and became captivated by the La Brea Tar Pits and the idea of a primordial site in the midst of a bustling city. Since then, his tar-covered works transform discarded, everyday objects into interpretations of lost innocence. Dipped in the thick texture-rich substance, the underlying forms are fossilized in time and transport the viewer immediately back to childhood memories of fairytales. In the tar-and-fiberglass Before Midnight, the viewer re-lives the scene when the pumpkin has been turned into a carriage. One recalls the warning to be home before midnight, at which time the magical spell will be broken. The work was featured in the Mint’s exhibition Fairytales, Fantasy, & Fear, on view at Mint Museum Uptown from March 3 through July 8.  “Before Midnight, a tour de force of Biagi’s use of tar, would enable The Mint Museum to increase its holdings of works by internationally-acclaimed contemporary artists,” said Thomas.

Sebastian Errazuriz. Chilean, 1977-
Porcupine Cabinet, 2011
Lacquered wood, steel, and glass; 5/6
20 x 26 ¾ x 63 inches
On loan from Cristina Grajales Gallery, New York

Sebastian Errazuriz was born in Santiago de Chile; raised between that city and London; and completed his artistic studies in art, film, and design in Washington, Edinburgh, and Milan, ultimately earning an MFA from New York University. Featured in over 40 exhibitions in Asia, Europe, and the United States, Errazuriz’s objects demonstrate his belief that design can be a powerful way to impact our lives, through the dynamic interaction that his work demands. As Porcupine Cabinet opens before the viewer’s eye, it transforms from an elegant minimalist sculpture to an energetic anthropomorphic character. One knows that this is a cabinet — but much more, too. It is included in the upcoming exhibition Against the Grain: Wood in Contemporary Art, Craft, and Design, on view September 1, 2012 – January 27, 2013 at Mint Museum Uptown. With the acquisition of Porcupine Cabinet, the Mint would be the first American art museum to have a work by Sebastian Errazuriz in its collection. “Errazuriz is a cutting-edge, 21st-century designer whose innovative and inspired works align with the Mint’s goal of building the finest collection of contemporary international design in the world,” said Carlano.

Mathias Bengtsson. Danish, 1971-
Slice Chair Paper, 2010
Paper, 1/2
On loan from Industry Gallery, Washington, D.C.

Born in Copenhagen in 1971, Mathias Bengtsson earned a BA in furniture design from the Danish College of Design and an MA in furniture and industrial design from the Royal College of Art, London. He established his own studio in 2002, after collaborating with other designers and gaining international acclaim for his Slice chairs in 1998. Bengtsson’s Slice Chair Paper blurs the boundaries between design and sculpture by combining inspiration from futuristic technology and nature. Made entirely from paper glued together in layers, using no screws or fasteners, the paper chair resembles a topographic map or a cliff face eroded by wind and water. Because of the labor-intensive process, the designer has decided not to make any more paper chairs. “If acquired, this would be the only paper chair by Bengtsson in a museum collection anywhere in the world,” said Carlano.

Nacho Carbonell. Spanish. 1980-
Wood Branches, Diversity n. 17 (prototype), 2010
Metal armature, wood, branches, papier-mâché
On loan from Spazio Rossana Orlandi, Milan, Italy.

Extreme experimentation with materials and ideas is central to the work of Nacho Carbonell (known internationally as simply Nacho). The distinct gravel-, thorn-, or branch-covered surfaces of the combined desk forms in the Diversity series suggest a demographically diverse neighborhood. The chairs are handmade by a small team of assistants using laborious processes in Nacho’s studio in Eindhoven, The Netherlands; he will assemble Diversity n.17 in The Mint Museum’s atrium beginning July 25. Nacho graduated from the Spanish University of Cardenal Herrera-CEU and the prestigious Design Academy, Eindhoven. He was nominated Designer of the Year in 2009 by the Design Museum, London, and designated as Designer of the Future by the Design Miami / Basel committee later that same year. “With a reputation as an innovator in his use of various media, techniques, and as a provocateur par excellence, Nacho is one of the hottest young designers of the moment,” said Carlano.

Like sports, art captures emotion and spurs inspiration. Visit The Mint Museum during the run of the 30th Olympiad and be inspired.

In honor of the athletes worldwide competing in the 30^th Games of the Olympiad, the 2012 London Olympic Games, The Mint Museum will offer a 30 percent discount on admission from Friday, July 27 – Sunday, August 12 for anyone who brings a printout of this promotion or shows a copy on a mobile device. Visitors can also receive special discounts on new memberships, and members receive a special discount on Museum Shop merchandise!

DETAILS:

COUPON: Either bring a printout of this page, or show this promotion to The Mint Museum’s Guest Services staff on your mobile device.

ADMISSION DISCOUNT: Regular admission ($10) is discounted 30 percent, to $7; valid at both Mint Museum Randolph and Mint Museum Uptown from July 27-August 12, 2012.

MEMBERSHIPS: Become a member and support The Mint Museum today! From July 27 through August 12, receive $10 off a new membership when you show this coupon!

SHOP FOR INSPIRATION: MEMBERS SPECIAL – Receive an additional discount on Museum Shop merchandise! The regular member discount is 10 percent off purchases of $10 or more; all members who show this coupon can receive 15 percent off between July 27 and August 12!

Find art, news, or an event you like? Click the “Inspiring” button and create your own “MyMint” page

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 31, 2012) – The Mint Museum is doing more than unveiling a refreshed brand and complete new website – it is incorporating aspects of the most popular social media features into a one-of-a-kind tool.

Up in the top right-hand corner at the NEW mintmuseum.org is a colorful icon labeled “Inspiring.” Resembling the “Like” button on Facebook, it allows users to identify anything on the website they find inspiring by clicking it – a work of art, a bit of news, or an upcoming exhibition, lecture, film screening, or children’s program. The information is saved to each user’s own unique “MyMint” page – much like the popular site Pinterest, leading some Mint staffers to affectionately call the feature “Minterest.” And more importantly, users can continually check to see what other users are finding inspiring, stumbling across things they might not have seen otherwise. A page on the site will visually rank items based on the number of Inspiring clicks they’ve gotten – resembling the way Twitter tallies its trending topics.

The Mint worked with nationally acclaimed agency BooneOakley on its new branding, featuring a refreshed and updated museum logo, new and inspiring communications platform, and style guide for museum publications, and with local web-design firm BigNoise to execute the site. Funding for this project was made possible with generous support from a John S. and James L. Knight Foundation grant.

“We’re excited to launch not only because the site itself is inspiring, but also because the people who visit are inspiring; that’s what makes it so special,” said James Martin, the Mint’s digital communications manager. “Too often, users visit sites, find what they’re looking for, and simply go on their way. Now that we’ve helped them realize their own inspirations, and even save them to their own MyMint page, their visit becomes an epiphany –­ a moment in which they suddenly learn something new about the art and themselves.”

Logan Watts, BigNoise creative director, said the firm aimed to create a clean and well-designed site focused on art, the Mint’s upcoming happenings – and more. “We are excited to see how this helps the Mint and look forward to growing the Inspiring application to new levels of social interaction,” he said.

Claire Oakley of BooneOakley said the agency’s challenge was to freshen the Mint’s image for the future without abandoning its admired past. “Our insight: the Mint is not only a place where art hanging on a wall can still hang with you long after you’ve left the museum, it’s also a place where inspired artists share their inspiration with visitors who, in turn, share their inspiration with others. From this insight, we developed a new platform that both respected the history of the Mint and delivered on the experience of visiting it: ‘Sharing Inspiration Beyond the Wall.’”

Added Hillary Cooper, director of communications and media relations for the Mint: “The Mint Museum is an inspiring and transformative place for everyone to engage and awaken their senses through the experience of art. Today’s launch of our innovative new website enables us to share inspiration beyond our walls and introduce the world to our museum in compelling and exciting ways.”

In a special promotion accompanying the site’s launch, the museum is giving away free memberships to users of the site. Anyone who uses the Inspiring button to create a MyMint page during June is entered into a drawing for a one-year Mint family membership. Users must have a Facebook account to be able to use the Inspiring button and MyMint feature. In honor of the Mint’s 75^th anniversary year, one winner will be chosen for every 75 MyMint pages created (with a minimum of 10 memberships to be given away).

The launch of the new branding and website coincides with a transition of leadership on the Mint’s Board of Trustees from outgoing chair Richard T. “Stick” Williams of Duke Energy to chair-elect Jay Everette of Wells Fargo. It also follows the board’s recent adoption of a five-year strategic plan to bring the Mint into its next phase of national and international recognition. “This website is another step bringing the Mint closer to the goal of innovating and engaging the global community,” said Everette. “And inspiration is another core goal of the museum’s mission statement – a goal we have quite literally realized in the features of this website.”

The election of new board officers is scheduled for the board’s annual meeting, open to all museum members, at 5:30 p.m. on May 31 at Mint Museum Randolph. The meeting is to be followed by a community-wide celebration, Party in the Park, beginning at 6:30 p.m. and featuring live music and an outdoor screening of the movie “Hugo.” The museum will also open two new exhibitions, And the Bead Goes On, featuring elaborate beaded garments from the museum’s Fashion Collection along with contemporary runway fashions; and Heritage Gallery, a celebration of the Mint’s 75-year history as the state’s first art museum. The new exhibitions will be open from 5:30-9 p.m. on May 31 in special extended hours; admission to the celebration is $10 or $5 for members. (Rain cancels outdoor events).

MEDIA NOTE: The Mint Museum’s transition to its new site will be continuing throughout the day on May 31, and should be complete for all website visitors by June 1. Some online visitors during the day on May 31 may continue to see the old site for limited periods of time. Media members are invited to see a demo of the new site with representatives of the Mint and BigNoise at a media preview scheduled for 10:30 a.m. May 31 at Mint Museum Randolph; tours of the two new exhibitions will also be offered. RSVP to Leigh Dyer at leigh.dyer@mintmuseum.org to attend.

ABOUT KNIGHT FOUNDATION

Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. The foundation believes that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. For more, visit KnightFoundation.org.

Special veteran-themed programming planned as part of Blue Star Museums Initiative.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 23, 2012) – The Mint Museum and two of its uptown neighbors are joining Blue Star Museums, a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and more than 1,600 museums across America to offer free admission to all active duty military personnel, including active Reserve and National Guard, and their families from Memorial Day through Labor Day 2012.

All Blue Star Museums, including the Mint, Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, and Levine Museum of the New South, are offering free admission to all military ID holders and up to five family members. In addition, the Mint is offering free admission to any veteran with a Veterans Identification Card and up to five of their family members for the summer. The initiative applies to both Mint locations.

“We are happy to be able to offer ourselves as a resource to support military families and veterans this summer,” said Hillary Cooper, director of communications and media relations at The Mint Museum. “We are an ideal family-friendly attraction and this initiative offers a chance to deepen and broaden our community connections.”

The Mint recently acquired the work “Defiant Gardens” by Texas artist Dario Robleto, and the seven-foot-tall, five-foot-wide wreath-shaped sculpture has proven thought-provoking for veterans and military families because of its powerful themes of wartime memories. “Defiant Gardens” incorporates paper pulp made from American soldier’s letters, Victorian hair flowers braided by war widows, dried flowers from various battlefields, and even tiny carrier-pigeon message capsules among its materials. The work was added to the museum’s permanent collection through the generosity of the Mint Museum Auxiliary. The museum is inviting military families and veterans to experience the work along with its other collections and exhibitions, and plans to offer special programming incorporating “Defiant Gardens” later in the summer (details will be announced at a later date).

The Blue Star Museums initiative is just one part of the excitement going on this summer at the Mint. Spots are still open at the Mint’s Summer Art Camps, and new exhibition openings, educational programs, celebrations, and more will continue while school is out. For more information, visit mintmuseum.org.

National Blue Star Museums announcement

The Mint’s announcement follows a national announcement of the Blue Star Museums initiative in New York City on Tuesday. “Through Blue Star Museums, the arts community is extending a special invitation to military families to enjoy over 1,600 museums this summer,” said NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman. “This is both an opportunity to thank military families for their service and sacrifice, as well as a chance to create connections between museums and these families that will continue throughout the year. Especially for families with limited time together, those on a limited budget, and ones that have to relocate frequently, Blue Star Museums offers an opportunity to enjoy one another and become more fully integrated into a community.”

This year, more than 1,600 (and counting) museums in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and American Samoa are taking part in the initiative. Leadership support has been provided by MetLife Foundation through Blue Star Families.

FOLLOW: Blue Star Museums is on Twitter at @NEAarts, hashtag #bluestarmuse. To learn more about the White House’s Joining Forces initiative visit JoiningForces.gov and follow on Twitter @JoiningForces and on Facebook. Follow Blue Star Families on Twitter, @BlueStarFamily, and on Facebook.

ABOUT BLUE STAR MUSEUMS

Blue Star Museums is a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and more than 1,600 museums across America. The program runs from Memorial Day, May 28, 2012 through Labor Day, September 3, 2012. The free admission program is available to active-duty military and their family members (military ID holder and up to five family members). Active duty military include Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, and active duty National Guard and active duty Reserve members. Some special or limited-time museum exhibits may not be included in this free admission program. To see which museums are participating, visit www.arts.gov/bluestarmuseums.

ABOUT BLUE STAR FAMILIES

Blue Star Families is a national, nonprofit network of military families from all ranks and services, including guard and reserve, with a mission to support, connect and empower military families. In addition to morale and empowerment programs, Blue Star Families raises awareness of the challenges and strengths of military family life and works to make military life more sustainable through programs and partnerships like Operation Honor Cards, MilKidz Club and Blue Star Museums. Membership includes military spouses, children and parents as well as service members, veterans and the civilians who strongly support them. To learn more about Blue Star Families, visit www.bluestarfam.org.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS

The National Endowment for the Arts was established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. To date, the NEA has awarded more than $4 billion to support artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities. The NEA extends its work through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector. To join the discussion on how art works, visit the NEA at arts.gov.

This is the latest NEA program to bring quality arts programs to the military, veterans, and their families. Other NEA programs for the military have included Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience; Great American Voices Military Base Tour; and Shakespeare in American Communities Military Base Tour.

Charlotte’s premier cultural destination, Levine Center for the Arts, is celebrating the Association of Art Museum Directors’ (AAMD) Art Museum Day by offering free admission to museum visitors on Friday, May 18.

Charlotte’s premier cultural destination, Levine Center for the Arts, is celebrating the Association of Art Museum Directors’ (AAMD) Art Museum Day by offering free admission to museum visitors on Friday, May 18.

Three of the cultural institutions at the South Tryon Street campus, the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, and Mint Museum Uptown, are joining forces to offer visitors an unparalleled arts experience. The Mint Museum is also offering free admission at its other location, Mint Museum Randolph. (Normal admission is $8 each to the Bechtler and Gantt Center and $10 to the Mint. The Mint Museum offers a $3 discount to Gantt Center visitors and Bechtler Museum visitors showing their receipts to Mint Museum front desk staff within the same 48-hour period. The Bechtler Museum and the Gantt Center will offer a $2 discount to Mint Museum visitors showing their receipts to their respective front desk staff within the same 48-hour period).

Since 2010, the AAMD has encouraged art museums across the nation to participate in conjunction with the International Council of Museums’ (ICOM) International Museum Day, dedicated to promoting the value of museums in society. Over 100 AAMD member museums have participated each year. This year’s theme is “museums in a changing world.”

“Art Museum Day brings attention to the important role institutions such as the Bechtler, Mint, and Gantt Center play in maintaining Charlotte’s vibrant cultural life,” said Christopher Lawing, Vice President for Programming and Research at the Bechtler. “This special day of free admittance is a great way to introduce art museums to new audiences or welcome back those who we haven’t seen in a while.”

Visitors who are familiar with one or two of the institutions are encouraged to use the day to experience one they may not know as well.

“We are excited to join our partners on International Museum Day and will open our doors so visitors have the chance to celebrate the art, history, and culture of African-Americans and those of African descent,” said Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts + Culture President & CEO David Taylor. “We believe this is an excellent opportunity to recognize the important role that museums and cultural centers play in contemporary society. International Museum Day is a global celebration of the incredible collections and programs at museums and cultural centers around the world, and their commitment to public service and audience engagement.”

The museums are pleased to have an opportunity to highlight Charlotte’s emergence as a national leader on the arts scene. “The Levine Center for the Arts is a jewel in Charlotte’s cultural crown, and each resident of this region has reason to celebrate its presence here,” said Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson, President & CEO of The Mint Museum. “The Mint also welcomes visitors to experience both of our locations, including our beloved historic facility on Randolph Road, which was the state’s first art museum and is currently celebrating its 75^th anniversary year.”

Support your local museum’s annual fund

The Bechtler, Gantt Center, and Mint all rely on a combination of public and private fundraising to offer their world-class exhibitions and programming to the public. Annual fund drives enable the museums to offer benefits such as occasional free admission to visitors. If visitors are inspired during their free-day visits to these institutions, their leaders hope they will make a donation to enable the museums to share that same inspiration with others.

More information about supporting each museum can be found at bechtler.org (click on “Support”); ganttcenter.org (click on “Join & Support), and mintmuseum.org (click here: https://mintmuseumold.wpengine.com/annual-fund.html).

ABOUT LEVINE CENTER FOR THE ARTS

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

ABOUT THE 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 museum is located at Levine Center for the Arts, 420 South Tryon Street, Charlotte. Operating hours are Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Sunday 12 p.m. – 5 p.m.; closed Tuesdays. The museum is open until 9 p.m. the first and third Fridays of each month. Admission is $8 for adults; $6 for seniors, college students and educators; $4 for youth (11 to 14) and free for children (up to 10). For museum details visit www.bechtler.org.

ABOUT THE HARVEY B. GANTT CENTER FOR AFRICAN-AMERICAN ARTS + CULTURE

Founded in 1974, Charlotte’s Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture (formerly the Afro-American Cultural Center) exists to present, preserve and celebrate the art, history and culture of African-Americans and those of African descent through dance, music, visual and literary arts, film, educational programs, theatre productions, and community outreach. Named for Harvey B. Gantt, the prominent Charlotte architect and 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.  Please visit www.ganttcenter.org.

Artist to visit museum with acclaimed author Robert Goolrick prior to premiere of Charlotte Symphony�s Bolero Comes Alive; museum adopts new policy of opening all lectures free to college students

 Fans of visual art, multimedia art, film, dance, and symphony will all find something to love when The Mint Museum unveils the spotlight exhibition Matthew Weinstein, featuring four paintings and a short film by Brooklyn, N.Y.-based multimedia artist Matthew Weinstein.

The exhibition opens Saturday, April 28 and remains on view through August 19. It runs concurrently with Colorbind: The Emily and Zach Smith Collection, another spotlight exhibition paying tribute to beloved local patrons of both the Mint and Charlotte Symphony, on view April 28 through August 12.

Weinstein has achieved notoriety in the art world as the first artist to focus exclusively on 3D animation.  Beginning with a self-written dialogue or lyrics, Weinstein uses musical scores and written text to develop characters which he then renders by means of the animation program MAYA. Weinstein then casts actors to vocalize the dialogue, and musicians to create an auditory backdrop for the already visually-developed environments. Using precision airbrush techniques and single-hair paintbrushes, Weinstein also creates paintings, essentially abstractions of his animated worlds. These paintings accompany the digital installations and enable the artist to explore the often-tenuous boundary between the real and the virtual in contemporary culture.

The Mint-organized exhibition includes Weinstein’s short film Chariots of the Gods, which features a mechanized female koi, voiced by Tony Award-winning actress Natasha Richardson, who dangles from a golden chain in an empty restaurant.  While she seems to carelessly meander through her environment with a smiling disposition, she offers discourse on such weighty subjects as the future, devolution, technology, aliens, and the impossibility of progress.

“Matthew Weinstein’s video invites the viewer to enter a mesmerizing environment, which is entirely manufactured through computer animation. His unique ability to combine his many talents as screenwriter, director, and digital animator results in a video that is visually stunning as the narrator lulls the viewer to follow her epic tale,” said Carla Hanzal, the Mint’s curator of contemporary art. “Weinstein’s paintings, often inspired by the digital environments he creates, are seamlessly rendered. Their refined surfaces and rich detail coax one to take a closer look at the worlds he brings to fruition.”

On Thursday, May 3, 2012, Weinstein will participate in a special dialogue with Robert Goolrick, acclaimed author of the novel A Reliable Wife, at Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts, 500 South Tryon Street. After a viewing of Weinstein’s short film The Childhood of Bertolt Brecht (recommended for ages 13 and up), the artist and the author will discuss the importance and the role of narrative in art. This event is a cultural partnership between The Mint Museum and the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, which also celebrates the Symphony’s production of Bolero Comes Alive, featuring digital animation by Weinstein. After the lecture at 6:30 p.m., the museum will host a reception and opportunities to view both the Weinstein and Colorbind exhibitions (other galleries will be closed during the evening). The cost is $10 for Mint members and $20 for non-members. And in a recently-adopted policy, all college students with valid ID can be admitted free to this and all other lectures hosted by the Mint.

Any non-members who attend can receive a $10 discount off a new Mint membership. In addition, ticketholders to the Symphony’s May 4 Bolero Comes Alive performance can receive free admission and $10 off a new Mint Membership from May 3 through May 6, and Mint members can receive $10 off Bolero Comes Alive tickets by contacting the Charlotte Symphony Box Office at 704-972-2000. This cultural partnership is reminiscent of similar partnerships the Mint has joined in with Opera Carolina and North Carolina Dance Theatre. In January, the Mint unveiled a spotlight exhibition by artist Jun Kaneko, which remains on view through April 29, in conjunction with a Kaneko-designed production of the opera Madama Butterfly. And in March, the museum offered free admission to Sleeping Beauty ticketholders and Mint members received a ticket purchase discount to NCDT’s Sleeping Beauty performance in conjunction with the museum’s Fairytales, Fantasy, & Fear exhibition, which remains on view through July 8.

“Exploring innovative ways to maximize opportunities for Charlotte audiences through cultural partnerships continues to be a core value of the Mint, and we’re pleased to be able to further this goal through the work of an artist as talented as Matthew Weinstein,” said Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson, president & CEO of The Mint Museum. “As we have said before, thanks to this deepening spirit of collaboration, there’s never been a more exciting time to be a follower of the arts in Charlotte.”

Symphony premieres Bolero Comes Alive

At Bolero Comes Alive, a KnightSounds performance on May 4, the Charlotte Symphony will feature the world premiere of Weinstein’s latest digitally animated work of art. Weinstein’s commissioned piece is a 16-minute original animated video to be displayed on a screen suspended above the orchestra. The audience will experience the brilliant animation in sync with the hypnotic music of Ravel’s Bolero.

This is the first commissioned work under the leadership of Music Director Christopher Warren-Green. It will be performed during the Symphony’s new multi-sensory KnightSounds series, which is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and is becoming part of a new national model for the modern concert-going experience.

Warren-Green will lead the Charlotte Symphony in this exciting venture that represents a marriage of classical music, digital art, and modern dance. In order to make his non-human characters live on screen and appeal to a human audience, Weinstein works with actors, dancers and choreographers to capture human movement which he then applies to his animations. For this piece, he worked closely with a choreographer to translate his ideas into a modern dance.

“The application of digital animation to the frequently performed and well known Bolero exposes aspects of the work in a way that an aural performance alone cannot,” said Charlotte Symphony President and Executive Director Jonathan Martin.

Commissioning a piece of multimedia artwork is representative of the forward-thinking vision of the orchestra. As the commissioning agency, the Charlotte Symphony aims to give the work a continued existence in the orchestra world beyond the premiere. The Charlotte Symphony will license the work to other orchestras to help offset the cost of the commission. A post-concert street festival will follow the May 4 performance, featuring local food vendors, artisans and continued entertainment from the high-octane PROJECT Trio.

Since its inception in 2010, the KnightSounds series has been met with full houses and critical success. A tenet of the KnightSounds mission, multimedia is used to enhance and intensify the musical experience. The concerts are one hour in length and include a beverage and hors d’oeuvres in the ticket price, along with engaging pre- and post-concert activities.

Event list:

Saturday, April 28: Spotlight exhibitions Matthew Weinstein and Colorbind: The Emily and Zach Smith Collection go on public view at Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts, 500 South Tryon Street.

Thursday, May 3:  6:30 p.m. Matthew Weinstein and author Robert Goolrick community discussion and reception at Mint Museum Uptown. Visit www.mintmuseum.org for more information and to RSVP (required; hit “calendar”). $10 Mint members and Bolero Comes Alive ticket holders; $20 non-members; free to college students.

Friday, May 4: 5 p.m. Free admission to Mint Museum Uptown begins for all concert ticket holders, continuing through Sunday, May 6.

6:30 p.m. Pre-concert reception with Dean & Deluca hors d’oeuvres at the Knight Theater at Levine Center for the Arts, 430 South Tryon Street.

7:30 p.m. Charlotte Symphony KnightSounds Bolero Comes Alive concert premieres Weinstein work. Tickets to the KnightSounds performance and premiere are $39, available at 704.972.2000 or www.charlottesymphony.org.

8:30 p.m. Post-concert street festival outside the Knight Theater featuring vendors, artists and musical entertainment.

New college student ticket policy

While The Mint Museum frequently has offered free or discounted admission to college students to lectures and other special events, museum officials recently decided to officially open all lectures to college students with a valid student ID. This includes the May 3 Weinstein/Goolrick event and the Mint’s Contemporary Architecture + Design (CAD) series, bringing a lecture from influential graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister at 7 p.m. on May 24 (cost is $5 to Mint members and $10 to non-members).

This admission policy reflects the museum’s recently adopted mission statement which includes “engaging and inspiring all members of our global community.”

“A major initiative of The Mint Museum is to create innovative and engaging public programs relevant to our various communities — and one of our large communities is college and university students,” said Laura Everett, adult programs coordinator for the Mint. “The Mint Museum’s programming consistently features nationally and internationally renowned experts — offering students perspectives on the world which will only enrich their education.”

For more information on these and other upcoming events, visit mintmuseum.org and click “Calendar.”

Charlotte Symphony

Founded in 1932, the Charlotte Symphony aspires to serve the whole community through classical music that educates, entertains and enriches. The orchestra’s recently launched New American Orchestra Campaign will provide the financial stability for the Symphony to build a renewed and sustainable funding model. A non-traditional venture, the New American Orchestra Campaign seeks to address the immediate nature of the need through community-wide operating support. Through education, innovation and relentless passion, the Charlotte Symphony has served the community for 80 years and is a vital organization that fervently believes in the artistic enrichment of the human spirit.

Christopher Warren-Green

Music Director of the Charlotte Symphony and London Chamber orchestras, Christopher Warren-Green has formed an international career that has included appearances with the London Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and Principal Conductor of the Camerata Resident Orchestra of the Megaron Athens.Warren-Green has been personally invited to conduct on many occasions for the Royal Family in the last thirty years. In April 2011, Warren-Green conducted the London Chamber Orchestra during the marriage ceremony of HRH Prince William Duke of Cambridge and HRH Duchess of Cambridge at Westminster Abbey, which was televised to millions worldwide. Warren-Green is a regular on television and radio, and in summer 2008, he featured on the BBC’s high-profile television series ‘Maestro’. He has recorded extensively for Sony, Philips, Virgin EMI, Chandos and Deutsche Grammophon.

John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. The foundation believes that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. For more, visit KnightFoundation.org.

Levine Center for the Arts and Knight Theatre

The Levine Center for the Arts is one of Charlotte’s key cultural destinations, comprised of Bechtler Museum of Modern Arts, 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 Campaign for Cultural Facilities, the support of the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, and the generosity of the Leon Levine Foundation, one of the country’s largest and most impactful philanthropic organizations. Opened in 2010, the Knight Theater’s contemporary, flexible design of 1,150 seats provides for artistic grandeur in an intimate setting. The theater is the primary venue for the North Carolina Dance Theatre, and features performances by Opera Carolina and the Charlotte Symphony, as well as musical theater, popular music, touring productions, lectures and film.

Exhibition opens April 28, concurrent with Matthew Weinstein spotlight exhibition, and is one of four new shows adding to the Mint’s 2012 lineup

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (April 20, 2012) – The Mint Museum has added four new exhibitions to its lineup for 2012, beginning with one opening this month that pays tribute to two treasured patrons of the local arts community, Emily and Zach Smith.

Colorbind: The Emily and Zach Smith Collection will be on view at Mint Museum Uptown from April 28 through August 12, and runs concurrently with the previously-announced multimedia Matthew Weinstein spotlight exhibition on view April 28-August 19.  Colorbind consists of nearly two dozen paintings, lithographs, etchings, and drawings collected by the Smiths.

“Colorbind offers our visitors the opportunity to experience a selection of works by some of the most important modern and contemporary artists of the 20th and 21st centuries,” said Brad Thomas, the Mint’s curator of contemporary art. “More importantly, it offers an intimate glimpse into a private collection that informs and enlivens the everyday lives of Emily and Zach Smith, two of our region’s most important cultural supporters. We are extremely grateful to the Smiths for making this work available for display at the Mint for the benefit of our community.”

For over three decades, the Smiths have tirelessly dedicated themselves to improving the cultural infrastructure of this region. Through their patronage and extensive service on various boards including the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra,  The Mint Museum, Opera Carolina, and Penland School of Crafts, to name a few, their community investment has touched the lives of countless individuals.

This intimate display of works illuminates a decidedly more personal side of the couple’s relationship to art. One small landscape painting on view by North Carolina artist Claude Howell (1915 ­- 1997) was selected jointly even before their marriage. It was an auspicious beginning for lives that would be bound by a devotion to family, community, and the arts.

As for their own personal taste in visual art, the Smiths confess a shared love of color. Works by Pop artists Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and Wayne Thiebaud play alongside geometric abstractions by Peter Halley, Sol Lewitt, and Sean Scully –– vibrant color binding each creative voice into the collectors’ unified vision. This exhibition is organized by The Mint Museum.

“Colorbind and the other three exhibitions we are announcing today further the Mint’s role of serving the increasingly global community of Charlotte and beyond,” said Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson, President & CEO of the Mint. “From celebrating treasured local art collectors in the Smiths to tapping the unparalleled scope of our Fashion Collection to showcasing the unique and diverse viewpoints of renowned artists Vik Muniz and Beverly McIver, the Mint offers depth and range that is unmatched.”

Both Colorbind and Matthew Weinstein will be celebrated at a special event at 6:30 p.m. May 3 at Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts, 500 South Tryon Street. Weinstein, a multimedia artist, will appear with Robert Goolrick, acclaimed author of A Reliable Wife. After a viewing of Weinstein’s short film “The Childhood of Bertolt Brecht,” the artist and the author will discuss the importance of the role of narrative in art. The event costs $10 for Mint members; $20 for non-members; free to students with valid ID; and includes a reception immediately following. Pre-registration is required; visit mintmuseum.org and click “Calendar.”

And the Bead Goes On

26 May 2012 – 17 February 2013

Mint Museum Randolph

May brings the opening of the next exciting exhibition from the Mint’s nationally-renowned collection of fashion. The Mint has recently renamed its Historic Costume & Fashionable Dress collection the Fashion Collection.

And the Bead Goes On pays tribute to a form of ornamentation that has been used to enliven fashion designs since ancient times. Originally restricted to the wardrobes of aristocrats and made of precious materials, beads indicated wealth and status in numerous cultures throughout the globe. Sometimes beadwork was employed on garments to convey rank, spiritual significance, or protection of the wearer. Colorful and sparkling beads appeared on articles of clothing, ceremonial dress, ritual masks, and everyday objects.

And the Bead Goes On features 20^th– and 21^st-century women’s fashions, which display inventive beadwork embroidery. This seemingly modern surface decoration, the variety of bead materials and shapes, and the basic sewing techniques used to embellish the works on view were developed in Paris workshops in the 18th century. Talented designers and skillful artisans collaborate to achieve dazzling fashions that are comfortable and durable. Glass beads, metallic sequins, metal filigree beads, faux pearls, and faceted crystal rhinestones hand-sewn onto the cloth impart beauty, opulence, and artful originality.

Fashion was democratized in the 1960s, and previously exclusive beaded style became available to all. The fashion industry today, while still centered in Paris, includes major designers from India, Lebanon, and Nigeria, and elsewhere. And the Bead Goes On presents evening gowns, cocktail dresses, and ensembles from the museum’s Fashion Collection, complemented with exciting new works on loan from contemporary designers. Designer names featured in the exhibition include Halston, Bob Mackie, Giorgio Armani, Oscar de la Renta, and Alber Elbaz for Lanvin.

This exhibition, organized by The Mint Museum, will open at Mint Museum Randolph concurrently with the previously-announced Heritage Gallery, a look through the Mint’s 75-year history as the oldest art museum in North Carolina.

VantagePoint X: Vik Muniz

25 August 2012 – 24 February 2013

Mint Museum Uptown

Although Vik Muniz was born into poverty in Sao Paulo in 1961, he has arguably become the most famous contemporary Brazilian artist. His conceptual photographs are exhibited internationally, and he is represented in significant museum collections throughout the world. Beginning his art career in the mid-1980s after relocating to the U.S., Muniz established a studio in Brooklyn, where he creates large photographs that mimic recognizable images borrowed from the media or historical paintings.

Muniz’s recreations of famous paintings are notable for their uncanny attention to detail and the non-traditional nature of the media he chooses. Muniz painstakingly gathers such discarded objects as tires, bolts, coils of wire, broken appliances, and soda cans, arranging them on a warehouse floor in piles and layers to create representations of iconic paintings by historical artists. After this labor-intensive process is complete, Muniz photographs the massive creation from a balcony above, thereby preserving the final appearance before the image is disassembled.

Collectively, Muniz’s photographs bring to mind ideas of ecology, impermanence, and mortality. Muniz’s photographs, which intentionally incorporate discarded materials, implicate the viewer in a consumerist, transitory culture. His photographs fuse two important strands of postmodern photography—staging and appropriation. Staging, which is the creation of an image through choreographing all visual components of the photograph; and appropriation, which is borrowing imagery from a source of reference, in this case historically significant paintings from the Western tradition. The resulting photographs are both fascinating and disarming, and probe the function and traditions of visual representation. This exhibition is organized by The Mint Museum.

Reflections: Portraits by Beverly McIver

20 October 2012 – 6 January 2013

Mint Museum Uptown

McIver, a native of North Carolina, is renowned for her expression-filled, emotive canvases that commemorate her life and the lives of those closest to her — in particular, her mother, Ethel, who passed away in 2004, and her sister, Renee, who is mentally disabled. The exhibition celebrates the last decade of her work and highlights these two subjects, focusing solely on her self-portraits and on portraits of Renee and other family members.

McIver is widely acknowledged as a significant presence in contemporary American art, examining racial, gender, and social identities through the lens of her own experiences as an African American female artist. The history of her family allows McIver to contemplate and illustrate the complicated emotions that arise from these situations, including depression, frustration, tender compassion, and innocent joy.

Accompanied by an exhibition catalogue, Reflections includes numerous loans from the artist, private collections, and select museums. Organized by the North Carolina Museum of Art, this exhibition is made possible, in part, by the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources; the North Carolina Museum of Art Foundation, Inc.; and the William R. Kenan Jr. Endowment for Educational Exhibitions.

Support your local museum with gift shopping this Mother’s Day and Father’s Day

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (April 18, 2012) – Hunting for a memorable gift for Mother’s Day or Father’s Day this year is easy – just stop at one of the two convenient locations of the Mint Museum Shops for some gorgeous finds: at Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts, 500 South Tryon Street, or at Mint Museum Randolph, 2730 Randolph Road.

“The Charlotte area’s shoppers may sometimes forget how many one-of-a-kind gifts are available at the Mint Museum Shops, and how convenient the two shop locations are,” said Sandy Fisher, Museum Shops Manager. “Shoppers can have the double reward of purchasing gifts their loved ones will appreciate and supporting a treasured local cultural institution.”

Robleto visits April 10 for a FREE talk; internationally-renowned book designer Boom speaks April 12 as part of CAD series.

Mint Museum Uptown will host two speakers of national and international importance next week: Texas-based artist Dario Robleto and Amsterdam-based graphic designer Irma Boom.

Robleto will visit Tuesday, April 10 for a free event from 7-9 p.m. His seven-foot-tall, five-foot-wide wreath-shaped sculpture Defiant Gardens is the most recent gift to The Mint Museum’s permanent collection made possible through the generosity of the Mint Museum Auxiliary. The Mint Museum was home to Robleto’s first solo museum exhibition in 1999.

Robleto’s poetic work of art incorporates paper pulp made from American soldier’s letters, Victorian hair flowers braided by war widows, dried flowers from various battlefields, and even tiny carrier-pigeon message capsules, recycled and re-contextualized to evoke the power of memory and history in wartime. The 39-year-old artist plans to discuss Defiant Gardens, his distinctive way of working, and the inspiration and body of work that led to its creation.

“Dario Robleto is one of the most sought-after young American artists working today,” said Brad Thomas, curator of contemporary art at the Mint. “His conceptually-based, labor-intensive works convey an intimacy and elegance that reveals much about his own personal history and that of popular culture.”

Boom will visit on Thursday April 12 at 7 p.m. as part of the museum’s Contemporary Architecture + Design (CAD) series. The event costs $10 for non-members and $5 for members and includes a light reception (visit mintmuseum.org and click on “Calendar” to register). Boom, who specializes in book-making and incorporates the sense of touch into all of her books, won the 2007 Gold Medal at the Leipzig Book Fair for “The Most Beautiful Book in the World” for “Sheila Hicks: Weaving as Metaphor,” published by Yale University Press.

Boom is currently collaborating with Annie Carlano, the Mint’s director of craft + design, on a book about Hicks’ work Mega Footprint Near the Hutch, a monumental work recently installed in the atrium of Mint Museum Uptown thanks to a gift from Target Corp. Boom plans to share her work methods and perspective on contemporary book design. “Amsterdam is considered the center of contemporary design, and Irma Boom is considered the hottest book designer on the planet,” said Carlano.

Both events are being held at Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts, 500 South Tryon Street.

Gandy Dancer will be visible to light-rail passengers from the atrium lobby of the CATS Light Rail Facility on South Boulevard.

A new public art installation is joining the Charlotte Area Transit System’s light rail line this week. Gandy Dancer, a glass, bronze, and wood sculpture by Steve Linn, an American artist living in France, is being installed in the atrium lobby of the CATS Light Rail Facility at 3200 South Boulevard and will be visible to passengers riding the LYNX Blue Line as light rail cars go by outside its windows.

“We are grateful to have the opportunity to showcase Gandy Dancer at our CATS Light Rail Facility,” said Rocky Paiano, CATS General Manager of Rail Operations.  “The location of this sculpture creates a blended crossroads of the vast history of rail in this country to the future of mass transit in Charlotte.”

“The Mint Museum is pleased to once again share inspiration with the larger community beyond our own walls,” said Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson, President & CEO of The Mint Museum. “Gandy Dancer is a spectacular work and we look forward to the reactions and engagement of the community as it goes on public view.”

The sculpture, a gift to the museum from Daniel Greenberg and Susan Steinhauser, is a community outreach loan by The Mint Museum, which has loaned many of its works for public view throughout the region.  The term of the loan, made at no cost to CATS, is two years. Its installation was facilitated in collaboration with the CATS Art-in-Transit Program. This is the first time that CATS has displayed an artwork loaned by The Mint Museum.

Gandy Dancer commemorates the workers who built America’s railroads; its name comes from a slang term for the workers whose origin is unknown (though a common explanation suggests the motion of the workers implied dancing and their tools were said to be made by a company named Gandy). The sculpture depicts, in glass and bronze, five figures in different stages of motion that represent a single worker driving a railroad spike. The depiction has been compared with the stop-motion photographs of photographer Eadweard Muybridge (1830 – 1904). A handcar and track are rendered in wood. The use of glass to depict the gandy dancer adds a ghostly quality to the sculpture, suggesting the impact of past workers on infrastructure such as railroads that contemporary viewers encounter in their daily lives.

When installed, Gandy Dancer will create a visual dialogue about the history of railroad transportation in the United States. The sculpture, called “a wonderful combination of fact and fantasy” by Richard Maschal, arts critic for The Charlotte Observer, was previously loaned to the Charlotte Convention Center on South College Street in 2004. Donors Greenberg and Steinhauser, who live in California, have a strong relationship with The Mint Museum and have given several works of art in various media over the last 15 years.

 Steve Linn was born in Chicago and graduated from the University of Illinois with a B.S. in agriculture in 1965. As a sculptor, he worked primarily in wood and bronze until the early 1980s, when he added glass to his repertoire. He told the Los Angeles Times in 1992: “I like the danger, the possibility of risk glass poses. It challenges you.” Since 1993, he has maintained a studio in Claret, France. His work has been exhibited around the United States since 1969 and internationally since 1994, and was featured in the 1992 film “A League of Their Own.” He has taught at Smith College in Massachusetts; University of California, Santa Cruz; Pratt Institute in New York; and Centre European Recherche & Formation Arts du Verre in France.

Image caption:
Steve Linn. American, 1943-
Gandy Dancer   1986
Sandblasted glass, bronze, wood
7 x 19 x 7 feet (h x w x d)
Gift of Daniel Greenberg and Susan Steinhauser

Jameson is one of five 2012 Legacy honorees.

Charlotte, N.C. (March 8, 2012)– Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson, President & CEO of The Mint Museum, is one of five honorees in Leadership Charlotte’s 2012 Legacy Awards, Leadership Charlotte has announced.

The organization will celebrate the 2012 Legacy Awards honorees at its annual event on Thursday, April 26 at 7:30 a.m. at Time Warner Cable Arena. The Legacy Awards honor Charlotte leaders who create lasting change and measurable difference in our community.

Newcomer of the Year Award: Dr. Kathleen Jameson

The recipient of this award has lived in Charlotte five years or less and has actively sought opportunities to improve the quality of life in our community. As the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Mint Museum, Dr. Jameson has worked to increase community involvement in the arts through collaborations and programming initiatives. Last fall, more than 10,000 fifth graders toured the Romare Bearden exhibition through a partnership with the Arts and Science Council and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.

Community Service Award: YWCA of the Central Carolinas

The recipient of this award has enriched and improved the quality of life in our community through creativity and innovation in community service. YWCA of the Central Carolinas provides affordable housing for women, child care for working parents, and a membership-based health and fitness center. The organization also offers community events that provide a safe place to learn about and discuss the difficult topics of racism and women’s empowerment.

Lifetime Achievement Award: Bishop George Battle

The recipient of this award has demonstrated a commitment to serving the community and made significant contributions to the betterment of Charlotte. A former Chair of the Mecklenburg County Board of Education and staunch education advocate, Bishop Battle created the Greater Enrichment Program and founded the Charlotte Mecklenburg Alliance for Public Schools. He also co-founded Urban League of the Central Carolinas and has served on numerous corporate and non-profit boards.

Schley R. Lyons Circle of Excellence Award: Harry L. Jones, Sr.

The recipient of this award must be a graduate of Leadership Charlotte and demonstrate outstanding leadership qualities in keeping with the ideals of Leadership Charlotte. Jones began serving as the fourth County Manager of Mecklenburg County in October 2000. He is responsible for overseeing the County’s $1.3 billion budget, managing its 4,400 full-time employees, and serving more than 900,000 residents.

Unsung Hero Award: Lisa Quisenberry

The recipient of this award works quietly behind the scenes for the good of the community, demonstrating leadership through dedication and service to Charlotte. Quisenberry is co-founder of Hands On Charlotte, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2011. Under her leadership, Hands On Charlotte built collaborations with more than 150 partner agencies and schools; created volunteer opportunities for more than 7,000 individuals per year; established a premier program for corporate volunteer engagement; and presented signature programs including Hands On Charlotte Day, Martin Luther King Day Service Forum, and 9/11 Week of Service.

Media Contact: Elizabeth McKee 704.688.2888

About Leadership Charlotte

The mission of Leadership Charlotte is to develop and enhance volunteer community leadership by providing a diverse group of emerging and existing leaders with the opportunity to increase their community knowledge, civic network, and service to the community. For more information, visit leadershipcharlotte.org or call 704.688.2888.

Exhibition brings an up-close look at diplomat’s jewelry – and messages

CHARLOTTE, NC (February 9, 2012) – During her career in public service, Madeleine Albright famously used her jewelry to communicate diplomatic messages. From June 30 through September 23, 2012, The Mint Museum is scheduled to present the exhibition Read My Pins: The Madeleine Albright Collection, which reveals an intriguing story of American history and foreign policy as told through Secretary Albright’s jeweled pins.
“The Mint Museum is proud to bring this groundbreaking exhibition to Charlotte audiences at the same time the city is preparing to host one of the nation’s ultimate exercises of democracy, the Democratic National Convention,” said Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson, President & CEO of The Mint Museum. The convention runs September 3-6, 2012.
Secretary Albright visited The Mint Museum Thursday to tour the galleries and speak to reporters about the planned exhibition. “I am delighted this exhibit will be in Charlotte,” she told those in attendance, “and it’s especially neat that it will happen during the convention.” She is also scheduled to return to Charlotte July 13-14 for a series of events around the exhibition, including a private invitation-only event on July 13 and public events on July 14.
Organized by the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, the exhibition features more than 200 pieces of jewelry. The collection that Secretary Albright cultivated is distinctive and democratic — sometimes demure and understated, sometimes outlandish and outspoken — and spans more than a century of jewelry design and fascinating pieces from across the globe. The works on view are chosen for their symbolic value, and while some are fine antiques, many are costume jewelry. Together the pieces in this expressive collection explore the power of jewelry to communicate through a style and language of its own.
Jewelry became part of Albright’s diplomatic arsenal in 1994 when Saddam Hussein’s government-controlled press referred to Albright, who was at that time U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, as an “unparalleled serpent.” At her next meeting on the subject of Iraq, Albright wore a golden snake brooch, beginning a career-long practice of using jewelry to convey and reinforce diplomatic messages. Albright told reporters Thursday: “My pin collection….would not exist if it had not been for Saddam Hussein.”
“While President George H.W. Bush had been known for saying ‘Read my lips,’ I began urging colleagues and reporters to ‘Read my pins’,” Albright has said. Through this traveling exhibition and the accompanying book “Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat’s Jewel Box” (2009), which is on sale now in The Mint Museum Shops. Secretary Albright has given the world an opportunity to explore American history and foreign policy through the unique lens of jewelry.
Support
Read My Pins: The Madeleine Albright Collection was organized by the Museum of Arts and Design in New York. Generous support for the original exhibition was provided by Bren Simon and for the exhibition catalogue by St. John Knits. The Mint Museum is supported by the Arts & Science Council and North Carolina Arts Council.

Mint Museum President & CEO Kathleen V. Jameson announces the newly-created post, effective February 13.

CHARLOTTE, NC (February 6, 2012) –Mint Museum President &
CEO Kathleen V. Jameson has announced the hiring of Toni L. Freeman to the
newly-created post of Chief Operating Officer of The Mint Museum. She
will join the staff effective February 13.

“This hire represents the latest step in an exciting
period of growth for the museum,” Jameson said in a statement to the
Mint’s staff and board of trustees. “Toni is an entrepreneurial and
strategic thinker who can help continue our journey toward being an innovative
leader among art museums nationwide.”

Freeman joins the Mint from Mecklenburg Citizens for Public
Education (MeckEd), a local education fund. “I’m thrilled to be joining the
Mint during such an exciting period of expansion, and I look forward to working
with its staff and President & CEO Kathleen Jameson to help bring it to the
next level,” Freeman said.

Freeman will report to the President & CEO and will be a
critical member of the museum’s senior management team who participates in
long-range planning and overall management of the museum. She will oversee key
departments including finance, facilities management, information technology,
special events, and the museum shop. She will also manage the museum’s
risk-management program and serve as liaison for legal matters.

Freeman has held many leadership positions in philanthropy
and finance over more than 20 years of executive management experience.
Previously she served as the Director of Donor and Business Relations at
MeckEd. As the former Director of Project Research and Evaluation at The Duke
Endowment (1999-2008), Freeman was responsible for analyzing grant trends and
results. She was also previously Senior Vice President of Finance,
Administration, and Membership at the Charlotte Convention and Visitors Bureau
and Corporate Associate Vice President at SunHealth (Premier).

She is the president-elect of the Association of Junior
Leagues International and is a founding board member and past chair of the
Charlotte Women’s Impact Fund. She served as chair of Women Executives for
Community Services, which manages a scholarship program for nontraditional
students. She serves as a Trustee for the YWCA of the Central Carolinas.
Freeman was a board director of Hospice of Charlotte Region and Lincoln County,
NPower Charlotte Region, Teen Health Connection, and Habitat for Humanity.

Partnership between Knight Foundation and Arts & Science Council

Mystery, murder and intrigue unfold at the Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts and throughout Center City Charlotte beginning Jan. 31 with a story by an anonymous writer. The Lady of Charlotte follows the investigation of a murder at the Mint Museum Uptown.

The story, supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Arts & Science Council (ASC), will be told page-by-page at kiosks throughout Center City. Participants will begin the story at a kiosk at the corner of N. Tryon St. and 7th St.  Each page will then direct participants to the next location in Uptown to continue the story.

The two week event will begin at the kick off of ASC’s 2012 Make Your Mark campaign at the Mint Museum Uptown, Tuesday, Jan. 31 at 5:30 p.m.

Readers will be invited to “vote” on the likely suspect at http://www.Facebook.com/ASCCharlotte before the final chapter is read at a public event on Tuesday, Feb. 14. During that event, the mystery’s author and the story’s villain will be revealed. Those who correctly guess the identity of the story’s villain will be entered into a drawing for a year-long pass to the Mint Museum and a $100 CarolinaTix gift card.

“We are excited to partner with Knight Foundation for this innovative project that will bring the written word to Charlotte in an unexpected way,” ASC President Scott Provancher said.

“Knight Foundation, through its arts funding, looks to bring the arts to the people and the people to the arts,” said Susan Patterson, Knight’s Charlotte Program Director. “A walking mystery tour seems like just the right idea.”

Charlotte Center City Partners provided the kiosk locations.

The Mint Museum has hired Brad Thomas as its new curator of contemporary art effective January 23, Mint President & CEO Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson has announced.

 The Mint Museum has hired Brad Thomas as its new curator of contemporary art effective January 23, Mint President & CEO Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson has announced.

Thomas has served as the director and curator of the Van Every/Smith Galleries at Davidson College since 1999. The newly-created Mint position is a reflection of the opportunities brought by the opening of the Mint Museum Uptown building in fall 2010. “This is a tremendous step in strengthening the museum’s commitment to modern and contemporary art, which will be a strategic priority over the next five years and beyond,” Jameson said. “Brad brings great strengths to the museum, adding depth and further expertise.”

For Thomas, the move is a natural step after more than 20 years in the local arts community. “As an undergraduate art student at UNC Charlotte in the early 90s, I was acutely aware of the sometimes polarizing nature of the arts in this community,” Thomas said. “I am excited to join The Mint Museum and its talented team of curators at this critical juncture when the arts are now a unifying source of cultural pride and identity.”

During Thomas’ tenure at Davidson, he organized dozens of exhibitions and collaborative projects, including the international artists-in-residency project Force of Nature, which centered on site-specific installations by ten Japanese artists at seven American institutions. Thomas has also led initiatives to integrate visual art into the learning experience, most notably through the establishment of Davidson’s Campus Sculpture Program, which features major outdoor installations by Magdalena Abakanowicz, Antony Gormley, Joel Shapiro, and William Tucker. He also produced publications on Magdalena Abakanowicz, Ewan Gibbs, Herb Jackson, Robert Lazzarini, Reverend McKendree Robbins Long, and Joel Shapiro. His partnership with the College Writing Program in 2012 led to the release of Davidson Collects: 100 Writers Respond to Art, the first interdisciplinary book on Davidson College’s permanent art collection, which features 100 essays on selected works by undergraduate students from a wide variety of majors.

Thomas will work closely with Carla Hanzal, curator of modern and contemporary art, and the rest of the Mint’s curatorial staff.

The Mint Museum will once again break new ground by bringing together three exhibitions comprising the largest and most significant examination of Surrealism and Surrealist-inspired art ever presented in the Southeast.

– The Mint Museum will once again break new ground by bringing together three exhibitions comprising the largest and most significant examination of Surrealism and Surrealist-inspired art ever presented in the Southeast. Surrealism and Beyond opens to the public at Mint Museum Uptown on February 11 and runs through May 13.

Organized by The Mint Museum and overseen by Jonathan Stuhlman, the Mint’s curator of American art, the project consists of three fascinating shows examining the work of four artists: Double Solitaire: The Surreal Worlds of Kay Sage and Yves Tanguy; Seeing the World Within: Charles Seliger in the 1940s; and Gordon Onslow Ford: Voyager and Visionary.

“I am certain that the public will enjoy this rare opportunity to see more than 100 works of art by these four important painters. There is a remarkable synergy between these exhibitions, each of which reveals a different aspect of Surrealism and its impact on 20th century art,” said Stuhlman.

The project illustrates the Mint’s commitment to being a leader in scholarship and education on all forms of art and design. “Surrealism and Beyond is an undertaking many years in the making for the Mint and for its curator, Jonathan Stuhlman,” said Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson, President & CEO of The Mint Museum. “It is an exciting opportunity to introduce our audience to these important Surrealist artists and their works, some of which have never been exhibited before.”

Details on each exhibition:

Double Solitaire: The Surreal Worlds of Kay Sage and Yves Tanguy

Double Solitaire explores the exchange of ideas that informed the work of the important Surrealist artists Kay Sage (American, 1898-1963) and Yves Tanguy (French/American, 1900-1955) during their 15-year relationship. It is the first exhibition to examine Sage and Tanguy’s work from this perspective, the first significant exhibition of Tanguy’s art organized by an American museum since 1955, and the first major gathering of Sage’s paintings since 1977.

By intermingling Sage and Tanguy’s paintings, this exhibition of approximately 50 works of art tells the fascinating story of the couple’s complex personal and artistic relationship and, more importantly, elucidates the commonalities and ties between each artists’ work, which historically has been kept separate. Visitors will see firsthand the impact each artist had upon the other as they explored and developed their own unique visual languages. While many of the paintings in the exhibition are drawn from prominent public collections, a number of privately-held works will also be included—some of which have never before been exhibited, and some of which the artists dedicated to each other.

Double Solitaire: The Surreal Worlds of Kay Sage and Yves Tanguy is organized by The Mint Museum and Katonah Museum of Art, and has also been shown at the Davis Museum and Cultural Center at Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA (where it is running through January 22 before traveling to the Mint). It is made possible through support from the Mint Museum Auxiliary and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation. It is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue.

Seeing the World Within: Charles Seliger in the 1940s

This captivating exhibition focuses on the remarkable paintings and drawings created by the American artist Charles Seliger during the first decade of his career. Born in 1926, Seliger quickly acquired a strong working knowledge of early 20^th century modernism. But it was the fantastic imagery, inventive processes, and creative freedom of Surrealism that truly captured his attention and inspired him to develop his own mature aesthetic between 1942 and 1950. Although his work was rooted in the same basic principles and ideas as that of the Abstract Expressionists, many of whom he exhibited alongside in the 1940s, Seliger found a distinctly personal voice and artistic vocabulary. Because of this, he was given his first solo exhibition at Peggy Guggenheim’s “Art of this Century” gallery in 1945, when he was just 19. By the end of the decade, Seliger had narrowed his focus and further honed his style, resulting in an approach that defined his work until his death in 2009.

Seeing the World Within is the first exhibition to focus on the groundbreaking paintings Seliger created during the first decade of his career, and the first museum-organized exhibition of Seliger’s work in 30 years. It brings together approximately 35 of his best works from the 1940s, drawn from public and private collections as well as his estate.

Following its debut at the Mint, Seeing the World Within will travel to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy (June 9-September 16, 2012), and the Munson-Williams Proctor Art Institute, Utica, New York (October 20-January 20, 2013). (Please note that this part of Surrealism and Beyond closes at the Mint two weeks prior to the other exhibitions, on April 29, to facilitate its travel to Italy). This exhibition is made possible through support from the Mint Museum Auxiliary and awards from the Terra Foundation for American Art and The Dedalus Foundation, Inc., and is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue.

Gordon Onslow Ford: Voyager and Visionary

This is the first retrospective of the British-American Surrealist painter’s work organized by an American museum in more than 30 years. Featuring approximately 30 paintings by the artist, it is drawn entirely from his family’s collection. Many of the objects in the exhibition were either created specifically for Onslow Ford’s sister, Elisabeth, or were given to her for such special occasions as her birthdays. Because of the closeness and longevity of their relationship, the exhibition will offer visitors a look at the full range of Onslow Ford’s career – from early, more traditional canvases from the 1920s and 1930s, to his first experiments with Surrealism in the late 1930s and 1940s, to his later work from the 1950s forward, which took a more cosmic, symbolic approach to abstraction.

It is a particularly apt companion for the Sage and Tanguy and Seliger exhibitions, as it reveals another dimension of Surrealism and its impact, and features an artist who knew and worked alongside Sage and Tanguy in the 1930s and 1940s and who wrote a book on Tanguy’s artistic process in 1980. Gordon Onslow Ford: Voyager and Visionary is accompanied by a selection of ephemera and works by family-member artists who were inspirational to Onslow Ford early in his career.

This exhibition is exclusive to The Mint Museum and is made possible through support from the Mint Museum Auxiliary.

“Living billboard” performance to capture Bearden’s music-themed work

 An innovative ad campaign recently recognized in The New York Times continues this weekend with an appearance by three live musicians accompanying Charlotte-born artist Romare Bearden’s colorful music-themed work Back Porch Serenade.

The musicians will appear as a “living billboard” in front of an advertisement featuring Bearden’s work from 1-4 p.m. this Saturday, December 10, near the Enso Asian Bistro & Sushi Bar at the EpiCentre, the entertainment complex at the corner of College and Trade streets in uptown Charlotte. The performance is part of the “EpiCentre Spread the Cheer” holiday event, which begins at 11:30 a.m. and also features an appearance by Santa and a “private snowstorm.”

The “living billboard” follows other appearances by live musicians in front of Bearden’s artworks around Charlotte in October, a campaign conceived by Charlotte advertising agency BooneOakley. “Art can blend in, and sometimes goes unnoticed,” David Oakley, president and co-creative director of BooneOakley, told the Times. “But we’re trying to make it more part of the culture, and more three-dimensional and alive.” The Times highlighted the campaign as one of several around the nation that “bring art and artists to life.”

Saturday’s performance is aimed at promoting a special event, the Mint’s Community Homecoming Weekend coming up on January 7-8, which concludes the Romare Bearden: Southern Recollections exhibition. The FREE two-day event at Mint Museum Uptown includes live music, hands-on art activities and lots of memories. The museum will premiere excerpts from the groundbreaking Romare Bearden Memory Train, a documentary and video collage that celebrates the reflections of the community that inspired Bearden’s work. From now through that weekend, visitors to the exhibition can contribute to the video using kiosks, or the public can email video contributions anytime via smartphone by sending to the email address owuqk7s4zyar@m.youtube.com.

Artworks from renowned artist Jun Kaneko will be showcased at The Mint Museum Uptown and will transform the plaza in front of the museum landmark building.

 Renowned artist Jun Kaneko’s sculptures and drawings will be showcased in a boutique exhibition at The Mint Museum Uptown when Jun Kaneko: In The Round opens December 10.

The exhibition, in collaboration with Jun Kaneko Studio in Omaha, Nebraska, will include a selection of Kaneko’s signature Dango sculptures and framed drawings of costume designs for Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. And in January, the Mint will co-host special events around Opera Carolina’s production of Madama Butterfly, which will also feature Kaneko’s costume and set designs. The exhibition runs through April 28, 2012.

“This project marks an historic collaboration between The Mint Museum and Opera Carolina,” said Carla Hanzal, Curator of Contemporary Art. “By viewing Kaneko’s sculptures and costume renderings together, one can experience the continuity of form, pattern, and design between these two modes of expression and creation for the artist.”

The internationally acclaimed artist will give a public lecture at the museum on January 22, discussing the evolution of his sculptural work and his recent designs of costume and sets for operas. Additional public programs will include a curator’s tour, guided docent-led tours, an Asian-themed family drop-in event as part of one of the Mint’s Sunday Fun Days series, an adult art class, and a lecture on contemporary Japanese design. An invitation-only reception for The Mint Museum’s Crown Society and Opera Carolina’s Verdi Society is scheduled for January 18.

Jun Kaneko was born in Nagoya, Japan in 1942, and moved to the United States in 1963 to study ceramics at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles (now California Institute of the Arts). He later moved to Northern California and studied under pioneering ceramic sculptors Peter Voulkos and Jerry Rothman. Voulkos describes Kaneko’s sculptures as “an amazing synthesis of painting and sculpture…intellectual and playful, technical and innovative.” Kaneko is known for creating large-scale public installations, as well as being represented in major museum collections including the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, the Oakland Museum, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery, and Japan’s Wakayama Museum of Modern Art.

Opera Carolina’s production of Madama Butterfly performs over two weekends: January 21, and January 26 and 29 at the Belk Theater in the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center.  For ticket information, call 704.372.1000 or visit www.operacarolina.org.

“The collaboration between Opera Carolina and The Mint Museum is an exceptional opportunity for art lovers and opera lovers to come together and celebrate the creativity of master artist Jun Kaneko,” said James Meena, general director and principal conductor of Opera Carolina.  “We are so very grateful to Dr. Kathleen Jameson and the team at the Mint for helping us explore Kaneko’s transformation of his artwork into his exciting designs for Madama Butterfly.”

“We are thrilled by the opportunity to collaborate with an institution as respected as Opera Carolina, and to increase appreciation for a renowned artist by showcasing a variety of mediums of his work,” added Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson, President and CEO of The Mint Museum.

Mint Founding Family Member and Internationally Celebrated Pianist Dorothy Lewis-Griffith to Perform.

 As part of its year-long celebration of its 75^th anniversary, The Mint Museum is inviting the public to a free event on December 4 that brings a member of one of the museum’s founding families to the museum for a piano concert and celebrates two other aspects of the Mint’s storied history.

Internationally known pianist Dorothy Lewis-Griffith plans a performance at the heart of the program at the Mint Museum’s Randolph Road location – which holds a special connection to her family. Her late father-in-law, E.C. Griffith (1889-1973), donated the three-acre tract of Eastover land on which the museum now sits in 1933, paving the way for The Mint Museum to open three years later.  Her father-in-law went on to serve on the Mint’s original board of directors.

Lewis-Griffith, a High Point native, made her orchestral debut with the North Carolina Symphony at age 14. She has since given recitals and performed as a soloist with orchestras in major cities throughout the United States, China, Brazil, and several European countries. She has released recordings of piano music on iTunes and CD. Among the pieces she plans to perform is one called “Electric Church” by Robert Starer (1924-2001), who was inspired by a photo of a church taken by Lewis-Griffith’s daughter, Dorothy Griffith, and composed the piece in 1989 for an exhibition at the Hickory Museum of Art. Rounding out the program are favorites by Clementi, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Chopin, Debussy and Gershwin.

Lewis-Griffith said she is looking forward to helping to celebrate the museum’s anniversary. “I became a member of the Griffith family in 1959, after the old Mint was moved to Randolph Road, and I gave several recitals on the newly purchased Baldwin piano.  I will be performing on that same instrument on December 4, and I will be thinking of my cherished memories of E.C. Griffith, who we called Poppy.”

“The Mint Museum invites the greater Charlotte community to join us in this celebration of our anniversary as we look forward to our next 75 years of inspiring and engaging the next generation,” said Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson, President and CEO of The Mint Museum.

Also featured during the December 4 event will be a discussion by local historian Mike Sullivan titled “It’s All About the Gold.” It will explore the history of gold mining and the role it played in the development of Charlotte – including its selection as the location for the first branch of the United States Mint.  And following Lewis-Griffith’s performance, Brian Gallagher, Mint Curator of Decorative Arts, will lead a tour of A Thriving Tradition: 75 Years of Collecting North Carolina Pottery, the Mint’s newest exhibition showcasing treasures from the Mint’s permanent collection dating from its earliest days, as well as loans from local collectors.

Sheila Hicks: 50 Years bridges distinctions between artist and artisan

The Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts proudly presents  Sheila Hicks: 50 Years, an exhibition organized by The Addison Gallery of American Art, the art museum of Phillips Academy.This comprehensive exhibition, running 1 October 2011 through 29 January 2012, marks the first museum
retrospective devoted to this pioneering figure. Sheila Hicks is an artist who builds with color and thinks with line. From her earliest work of the late 1950s to the present, she has crossed the boundaries of painting, sculpture, design, drawing, and woven form, and has been a critical force in redefining the domains of contemporary art-making. While challenging the relationship of fine arts to commercial arts and studio practice to site-specific commissions, Hicks has,above all, re-imagined the profound, vital connection of artist to artisan.

Sheila Hicks: 50 Years addresses the artist’s conceptual, procedural, and material concerns via five distinct, though intimately related, fields of inquiry: bas reliefs and sculptures; small weavings and drawings; site commissions for public spaces; production textiles; and process works made of recuperated textiles, clothing, and other found objects.

Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson, President and CEO of The Mint Museum, has stated, “The Mint is honored to be the third and final venue for this exhibition, which fulfills the museum’s mission of bringing the most important international contemporary art and design to Charlotte and the region. Astonishingly original, the art of Sheila Hicks deifies
categorization as it engages our intellect and our senses in its exploration of line, form, texture, and color. Choosing thread as her medium, she was a trailblazer, forging the then unknown path of ‘cross over artist,’ straddling the fields of design, craft, and contemporary art. What I find particularly relevant for the Mint, is the artist’s long standing interest in the art of the ancient Americas and other world cultures, locating in them the visual vocabulary for a tremendously
contemporary language.”

Born in Hastings, Nebraska, Hicks received her BFA and MFA degrees from Yale (’57; ’59), studying painting with master teacher and theorist Josef Albers and history of art with George Kubler, a pivotal figure in the rediscovery of Mesoamerican art. Hicks’s self-described practice of “linear thinking” and “composing texture” reflects the Bauhaus
tradition of finding the expressive voices of different materials and the dynamic interactions of color. Equally, her work reflects her studies with Kubler, in particular the juxtapositions she first saw in his class of small Pre-Incaic weavings with the colossal structures of Machu Picchu.

From her earliest experiments with woven forms, Hicks has explored processes that skew the traditional grid, incorporating traditional and new materials or integrating found objects, even deconstructing her own works and reusing the elements to create any number of others. She has explored the role of the artist’s hand and the use of technologies to produce works that range from the size of a page to that of a football field.  In addition to her studio works and commissions, Hicks is noted internationally as a teacher and mentor of several generations of artists and designers.

Exhibition brings together 100 works from every stage of artist’s career

This fall, The Mint Museum presents a major retrospective of the work of Romare Bearden (1911-1988), widely regarded as one of
America’s most pre-eminent African American artists and foremost collagists, as well as a noted writer and musician. The exhibition Romare Bearden: Southern Recollections surveys 50 years of the artist’s work, from his early abstract paintings to the influential collages that dominated his later body of work. Opening on the centennial of Bearden’s birth, the exhibition will be on view at the Mint Museum Uptown (at Levine Center for the Arts, 500 South Tryon
Street) from 2 September 2011 – 8 January 2012.

“Romare Bearden broke new ground with his innovative collages and left a powerful legacy to generations of American artists,” said Curator of Contemporary Art and exhibition curator Carla Hanzal. “Given the long association between Bearden and the city of Charlotte, the Mint has a special interest in bringing this important career overview to the public.”

Romare Bearden: Southern Recollections will include approximately 100 works of art drawn from The Mint Museum’s extensive holdings, as well as national public and private collections. This exhibition examines how the South served as a source of inspiration throughout his career, a theme which has not been explored previously. Among the large thematic groupings will be selections from the Prevalence of Ritual series, which includes
many works referring to Bearden’s childhood home in North Carolina.

Born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Bearden lived there until the age of four. Although his family settled in New York, the artist’s brief childhood in the South and return visits to Charlotte made a noteworthy impact on his art. During these visits, Bearden absorbed stories and observations about the rituals of daily Southern life—the relentless toil of crop cultivation, women tending gardens and mixing herbal remedies, fish fries and other community gatherings, and religious activities. These experiences, which stood in stark contrast to the urban rhythm of his parents’ New York City household, left a lasting impression on him.

The exhibition’s loosely chronological structure traces critical themes in Bearden’s work such as music, religion, social change, and family, particularly informed by an African- American experience. The earliest group of works, from the 1940s, focuses on his memories of the rural South, painted in tempera on brown paper and characterized by strong colors, flattened perspective, and stylized, highly formal compositions. Works such as The Visitation (1941) and
Folk Musicians (1942) depict scenes of agrarian life yet also portray universal emotional bonds.

As Bearden developed his iconic collage technique in the mid-1960s, he made use of a wide ranges of art practices, both Western and non-Western. His use of collage, with its distortions, reversals, and Surrealistic blending of styles, enabled Bearden to convey the dreamlike quality of memory, and was, therefore, a perfect vehicle for recording of his memories of the South. After helping to found an artist’s group in support of civil rights in 1963, Bearden’s work became more overtly socially conscious. One of his most famous series, Prevalence of Ritual, concentrated mostly on southern African American life. Works like Baptism (1964) examined the changing nature of African Americans’ rights. Illustrating the movement of water being poured onto the subject being baptized, Bearden conveyed the temporal flux of society during the civil rights movement. In Carolina Reunion (1975), the subject matter is emblematic of the longing for a better life and the comforting familiarity of home embodied in the northern
migration of African Americans from the South during the early part of the 20th century.

Bearden returned to Mecklenburg County in the 1970s just as his career was beginning to gain momentum. This Southern homecoming proved bittersweet. Charlotte was undergoing urban renewal, and already traces of Bearden’s past had been erased. This nostalgic experience imbued Bearden with a greater sense of urgency to both celebrate and eulogize a lost way of life, a theme that would inform his artwork for the remainder of his days.

During the 1970s, Bearden developed a complex iconography that spoke to these new developments. Drawn to “journeying things”—trains and birds—his inclusion of these
recurring motifs implied a movement from one way of life to another. He increasingly used richer colors and more decorative patterns to mediate ideas about African American community and culture, as in Of the Blues: Carolina Shout (1974), Back Porch Serenade (1977), and
Sunset Limited (Mecklenburg County) (1978).

A fully illustrated catalogue will accompany the exhibition with contributions by Mary Lee Corlett, Jae Emerling, Glenda Gilmore, and Leslie King-Hammond. The exhibition will tour nationally following its debut at the Mint.

Romare Bearden: Southern Recollections is made possible with generous support from Duke Energy and Wells Fargo. Additional funding is provided by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Event marks closing week of landmark ceramics exhibition

A public symposium organized by the Mint Museum of Craft +Design will be part of a closing celebration for the inaugural exhibition, Contemporary British Studio
Ceramics: The Grainer Collection during its final week on view. Featuring innovative discussions by leading international art scholars and artists on important trends and developments in contemporary British ceramics, the Symposium will be held Thursday, 10 March, 3:00-7:00 p.m. at the Mint Museum
Uptown (at Levine Center for the Arts, 500 South Tryon Street) and is free with museum admission.

Drawn from the collection of Diane and Marc Grainer of suburban Washington, D.C., the landmark exhibition Contemporary British Studio Ceramics is the first to focus exclusively on this subject in the United States and Great Britain. The Symposium will feature talks by art scholar and critic Tanya Harrod
(keynote speaker); artist and scholar Julian Stair; artist Neil Brownsword; and Mint Museum Director of Craft + Design Annie Carlano. Following the talks, there will be a panel discussion moderated by Carlano featuring Harrod, Stair, and Brownsword, as well as Mint Museum Curator of Decorative Arts Brian
Gallagher and ceramic artist Kate Malone.

The schedule of events is: 1:00 p.m. – Exhibition walk-through and discussion with Diane and Marc Grainer in the Mint

Museum of Craft + Design special exhibition galleries 2:00 p.m. – Book signing by the authors of the exhibition catalogue in the Robert Haywood

Morrison Atrium
3:00 p.m. – Symposium begins in the James B. Duke Auditorium
4:30 p.m. – Break and reception hosted by The Founders’ Circle in the Atrium
5:30 p.m. – Symposium resumes; panel discussion begins
7:00 p.m. – Symposium ends

Keynote speaker Tanya Harrod is the principal essayist of the exhibition catalogue, Contemporary British Studio Ceramics: The Grainer Collection (Yale University Press: 2010), and Visiting Professor at the Royal College of Art in London. She is co-editor of the Journal of Modern Craft and author of the award-winning study, The Crafts in Britain in the Twentieth Century, and the forthcoming biography, Michael Cardew: A Life (both published by Yale University Press). Harrod will offer a survey of British
studio ceramics over the past 20 years with a focus on the “Englishness” of ceramic production.

Ceramic artist and scholar Julian Stair is the recipient of the 2004 European Achievement Award from the World Crafts Council and a regular contributor to craft journals and other prestigious publications. He holds a Ph.D. in Critical Writing on English Studio Pottery from the Royal College of Art
in London. Stair will be speaking on the topic of funerary ware, from urns to sarcophagi, related to his most recent work, which includes both thrown and hand-built vessels.

Born and raised near Stoke-on-Trent, ceramic artist Neil Brownsword began working at the Josiah Wedgwood factory at age 16. He studied ceramics at the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, and received his Ph.D. from Brunel University in London following the completion of his groundbreaking series, Collaging History. Brownsword will be speaking on the development of his contemporary ceramic
installation art in historically significant Stoke-on-Trent.

Annie Carlano is the Director of Craft + Design at The Mint Museum and the exhibition curator of Contemporary British Studio Ceramics: The Grainer Collection. She holds a bachelor’s degree in art history from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and a master’s degree in art history from Università degli Studi in Florence, Italy. An internationally recognized scholar, Carlano has published and lectured on textiles, fashion, and decorative arts. Her recent books include Sleeping Around: The Bed
from Antiquity to Now (University of Washington Press: 2006) and Contemporary British Studio Ceramics: The Grainer Collection. She will speak on the topic of collecting ceramics.

Brian Gallagher is the Curator of Decorative Arts at The Mint Museum and a graduate of the Bard Graduate Center in New York. Prior to joining the Mint, he served as Assistant Curator in the Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Gallagher is a member of the
Indemnity Panel for Domestic Exhibitions at the National Endowment for the Arts and serves as a board
member of the American Ceramic Circle.

Born in London, ceramicist Kate Malone studied at Bristol Polytechnic and the Royal College of Art. Known for her use of shapes inspired by natural forms and vivid crystalline glazes, this Barcelona-based artist is one of the most fearless innovators in the field of international studio ceramics. The Mint Museum of Craft + Design has commissioned Malone to create a ceramic work for the new Mint Museum Uptown as part of its Project Ten Ten Ten series. She will be the guest artist at the upcoming
10th Annual Mint Condition Gala sponsored by The Founders’ Circle.

New amenities let children draw inspiration from creative play

New programs and amenities geared towards younger visitors are making The Mint Museum a welcoming destination for children and families this winter.

The Lewis Family Gallery at the Mint Museum Uptown provides a creative outlet for children to play, explore, and learn about the Museum’s collections. Featuring actual works of art, the Family Gallery offers five activity zones and a soft-play Tot Spot area for crawlers and new walkers. Visitors can pose for pictures behind a wall of ornate gold frames in the Hall of Portraits or step into a Romare Bearden-inspired collage in the interactive Memories of Mecklenburg play house. Two art-making stations, Draw the Line and Imagination Station, allow children to experiment with mark-making and create artwork to take home, while the Inspired By station offers puzzle challenges for young minds. Geared towards children up to age 12, the Lewis Family Gallery is open during regular museum hours and is free with admission.

Beginning in January, families will be able to borrow an Art Pack at the “Mint for Families” station just outside the Lewis Family Gallery for an in-depth investigation of artwork in the permanent collection galleries. Art Packs are backpacks stocked with sketching, writing, and touchable activities and games geared toward school-aged children. Also available at the family station are ARTventure scavenger hunt postcards, which encourage children and their parents to explore a new theme in the Mint Museum Uptown
each month. Both of these projects are supported, in part, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Mint will also launch two new education series for families in 2011: Art Studio Saturdays and Sunday Fun Days. In Art Studio Saturdays, children and adults can create art projects as a family using materials and themes provided by the Museum. This drop-in series will be held monthly on second
Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Mint Museum Randolph and is free with museum admission. The Art Studio Saturdays winter/spring schedule is:

8 January – Painting Party!: Experiment with a variety of paints and materials to create a work of art, and see a masterpiece by Impressionist Mary Cassatt in the galleries.

12 February – Dragon Puppets: Use crayon resist, markers, and embellishments to construct a dramatic dragon puppet to celebrate Chinese New Year.

12 March – Native American Pottery: Explore ancient and contemporary pottery of the Americas and use hand-building techniques to construct a clay animal or vessel to take home.

9 April – Springtime Collage Cards: Celebrate the season by cutting, tearing, and layering handmade papers to create lovely collaged notecards, and visit the galleries to see how artists have depicted seasons throughout the ages.

14 May – Mexican Tin Art: Draw inspiration from the bold, contemporary Maya textiles on display, and design and emboss a colorful, metal folk art plate.

Debuting in January at the Mint Museum Uptown are Sunday Fun Days. This monthly, drop-in series features family-friendly activities, including performances, artist demonstrations, craft projects, family tours, and more. Sunday Fun Days will be held monthly on third Sundays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Mint Museum Uptown and are free with museum admission. The Sunday Fun Days winter/spring schedule is:

16 January – Glass Magic: Go on a family tour to view glass sculptures, make a sparkling sun catcher, and explore color and light at the Colorama Booth with Discovery Place ScienceReach specialists.

20 February – Art, Supersized: Add your touch to a supersized mural, search the galleries for large paintings, and play “giant games” with your family members.

20 March – Crafting Critters: Watch artist David Edgar morph recycled plastic into incredible sea creatures, take a guided “safari” in the galleries, and craft a critter to take home.

17 April – Earth Day Art: See a special “green” performance by the North Carolina Dance Theatre, watch a pottery demonstration by artist Greg Scott, craft a recycled creation, and go on an Earth Day family tour.

15 May – Wonders of Wood: Watch the wood shavings fly as artist Charles Farrar demonstrates the art of woodturning on a lathe, then go on a wood-themed scavenger hunt in the galleries and do a simple wood project.

All 2010-2011 education programs for children, youth, and teachers are supported in part by a generous grant from The Hearst Foundation, Inc.

Annual event relocates to the new Mint Museum Uptown

Emmy Award winner Farmer Jason will headline The Mint Museum’s Annual Children’s Holiday Party on Saturday, 11 December at 10:30 a.m. at the Mint Museum Uptown (500 South Tryon Street). This annual members-only event will feature entertainment by Farmer Jason and Art Vark (the Jr. Mints Kids Club mascot), refreshments, and family fun as a special holiday celebration for the Museum’s youngest supporters.

Internationally-acclaimed singer and songwriter Jason Ringenberg launched his musical career in the mid-1980s as the frontman of the award-winning punk rock/country band Jason and the Scorchers. In 2003, inspired by his young daughters, Ringenberg created his family music character Farmer Jason and released the album A Day at the Farm with Farmer Jason. With its themes of nature appreciation and ecology, the album earned rave reviews from national critics, as did his subsequent CD, Rockin’ in the Forest with Farmer Jason (2006). In 2009, Ringenberg partnered with Nashville Public Television to produce an educational video series called It’s a Farmer Jason!, which won an Emmy Award for Best Children’s Program Mid-South Region.

Exhibition marks ninth installment of VantagePoint contemporary art series

Speed, precision, and danger are key elements of the exhibition VantagePoint IX – Janet Biggs: Going to Extremes, on view 5 November 2010 – 29 May 2011 at the Mint Museum Uptown. From a kayaker navigating threatening Arctic waters to a NASCAR pit crew racing against the clock, Biggs’ video subjects tend to lead her to extremes.

Janet Biggs has been creating and exhibiting videos and video installations for nearly 20 years. Examining themes of speed, precision, personal discipline, gender roles, spectatorship, and calculated risk, her videos capture the athleticism of performance juxtaposed with danger. A common thread within her subjects is their willingness to undertake extraordinary risks—even brushes with death—in pursuit of the sublime.

The exhibition will present four single channel videos: Duet (2010), Fade to White (2010), Vanishing Point (2009), and Airs Above the Ground (2007).

Biggs’ latest work, Duet, brings her into new territory. Focusing on the world of NASCAR, the artist partnered with Joe Gibbs Racing to shoot footage showing how auto racing’s wild popularity and position within consumer culture create both drama and heroism. Rather than focusing exclusively on the drivers, Biggs presents the speed, precision, and agility of the pit crews and reveals their extreme grace under pressure. Juxtaposing the pit crew footage with scenes of the cars racing around the track, the video examines the relationships between power and precision, and chaos and control, which are central to the search for speed. Biggs also integrates sound and video footage of a violinist and vocalist performing The Flower Duet from the opera Lakmé by Léo Delibes. Duet will be screened for the first time as part of the exhibition. Commissioned from the artist, the video will remain in The Mint Museum’s permanent collection.

Fade to White follows the journey of Audun Tholfsen, a guide and crew member on the Nooderlicht, a schooner that took Biggs to the Arctic in 2009. The video reveals the myth of the solitary male explorer by focusing on Tholfsen’s trials as he navigates the ship, and sometimes a kayak, through threatening, iceberg-filled seas. Loss and change are implicit in the video’s title, which refers to an editing technique used to evoke death or transcendence. Biggs integrates the striking Arctic imagery with sound and video footage of countertenor John Kelly, whose age, androgyny, and mournful voice parallel the vanishing Arctic landscape and signal the waning of male dominance.

With its title taken from Richard Sarafian’s 1971 road movie, the video Vanishing Point looks at the ways in which an individual can vanish. Combining images of motorcycle speed record holder Leslie Porterfield on Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats with footage of Harlem’s Addicts Rehabilitation Center Gospel Choir performing a song written specifically for the video, Vanishing Point examines the struggle to maintain one’s identity, the role of those who witness that identity vanishing, and a search for freedom that can end in either destruction or transcendence.

Airs Above the Ground examines the performance of youth, equating age with pageantry and masquerade. An ethereal image of an inverted, weightless synchronized swimmer suspended in slow motion reveals the strenuous effort and dedication behind the appearance of youthful ease. The hyper-stylized gestures and affected costume of the athlete belie the power, agility, and strength required to make every action appear graceful. Biggs suggests that youth is bound by social constraints that set some individuals on a search for impossible perfection or transcendence.

Biggs will give a lecture discussing the inspiration behind her work on Thursday, 4 November at 7:00 p.m. at the Mint Museum Uptown. The lecture is free and open to the public.

VantagePoint IX – Janet Biggs: Going to Extremes is underwritten by the Goodrich Foundation and is supported, in part, by a Special Project Grant from the Arts & Science Council. VantagePoint is the Museum’s contemporary art series that emphasizes new developments in recent art practice. For more information call 704.337.2000.

Craft museum marks its move to the new Mint Museum Uptown with a farewell party

Charlotteans can enjoy their own “Night at the Museum” to bid farewell to the original location of the Mint Museum of Craft + Design. The Mint Museum will invite the public for a final walk-through of the craft museum’s original location (220 North Tryon Street) at a “Last Look Friday” event, before relocating its collections to the new Mint Museum Uptown scheduled to open in October 2010. Enjoy a night of live entertainment, art activities and refreshments in an empty museum on Friday, March 5, 6:00 – 10:00 p.m.

The celebration will honor the art collections and past exhibitions housed at the Mint Museum of Craft + Design, and provide a sneak preview of new additions at the Mint Museum Uptown. Guests of all ages can participate in do-it-yourself art activities from sculpture to interactive photography sessions, observe artist demonstrations and dance to live music by The Swingin’ Richards.

Prior to the celebration, guests can participate in the Last Look Friday Photography Contest by submitting photographs of the Mint Museum of Craft + Design. Photos will be judged by museum staff in the categories of “Most Artistic Image,” “Best Dressed Museum-Goers” or “Best Architectural Image,” with winners to be announced the evening of the event.  All submissions will be projected on a slideshow in the galleries. The public can submit photographs by uploading them to The Mint Museum’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/mintmuseum) or by e-mailing them to elizabeth.isenhour@mintmuseum.org. The deadline for submissions is March 4 at midnight.

The Mint Museum’s expansion project includes the construction of a five-story facility in uptown Charlotte and the reinstallation of the historic Mint Museum Randolph. When the expansion is complete, The Mint Museum’s total combined square footage will grow by more than 60 percent, allowing more opportunities to showcase works from the permanent collection and better accommodate significant traveling exhibitions. The new Mint Museum Uptown will house the collections from the Mint Museum of Craft + Design, as well as significant collections of American art, contemporary art, and a selection of European art from the Mint Museum Randolph.

Public invited to experience art, music, and film at the Mint Museum Uptown

The Mint Museum announces the 2010-11 program schedule for its First Fridays and Let’s Get Reel series.

First Fridays is an ongoing evening event series held the first Friday of every month at the new Mint Museum Uptown (500 South Tryon Street). Each First Friday centers on a different theme and features hands-on art activities for all ages, live entertainment, gallery tours, and refreshments. Admission is free for Mint members and $10 for non-members. The 2010-11 First Fridays schedule is:

5 November – MoveMint, 6:00-9:00 p.m.
3 December – EmbellishMint, 6:00-9:00 p.m.
7 January – EnjoyMint, 6:00-9:00 p.m.
4 February – EndearMint, 6:00-11:00 p.m.
4 March – StateMint, 6:00-9:00 p.m.
1 April – AdornMint, 6:00-11:00 p.m.
6 May – EmpowerMint, 6:00-9:00 p.m.
3 June – EleMint, 6:00-11:00 p.m.

Debuting in November, the Let’s Get Reel music and movies series will be held the second Tuesday of each month at the Mint Museum Uptown. Free live music starts at 6:00 p.m., followed by a movie screening at 7:00 p.m. Admission to the movie is free for Mint members and $5 for non-members.

Local, national, and international visitors take part in 24-hour celebration

The Mint Museum welcomed a record-breaking 17,000 visitors to its new facility in uptown Charlotte during its grand opening weekend on 1-3 October. The debut of the Mint Museum Uptown was accompanied by a 24-Hour Grand Opening celebration, featuring free admission, live entertainment, and art activities for all ages.

“The enthusiastic support and overwhelmingly positive feedback we received from members and guests made our opening weekend a tremendously rewarding experience to me and to the entire staff, who worked tirelessly to make this event such a success,” said Executive Director Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson. “Even more satisfying was observing the galleries full of diverse audiences experiencing the Mint’s collections in new ways, and seeing a subsequent spike in memberships over the weekend.”

The 24-Hour Grand Opening celebration kicked off on 1 October with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 5:00 p.m., followed by a variety of activities for all ages during the next 24 hours. Friday evening events included an inaugural First Friday celebration and a Takeover Friday party, featuring music and dancing into the wee hours. Saturday activities included a Pecha Kucha Night Charlotte, museum tours, films, artist demonstrations, a poetry slam, and art-making activities for children and families in the Lewis Family Gallery. Special partnerships with Komen Charlotte Race for the Cure and the Charlotte Area Bicycle Alliance allowed hundreds of people to walk, run, and bike to the Museum during opening weekend.

“After years of planning and fine-tuning the educational components of the new Mint, we were thrilled to see children and families diving into the interactive art stations in the Lewis Family Gallery,” said Director of Education Cheryl Palmer. “The excitement exhibited by our young patrons reinforces our belief that arts education is a critical need in the community.”

During the week preceding the grand opening, the Mint Museum Uptown held several “soft openings” for approximately 1,500 supporters, members, and community partners. Net sales from the Museum Shop during opening weekend totaled more than $10,000.

Designed by noted architectural firm Machado and Silvetti Associates of Boston, the Mint Museum Uptown was the final attraction to open in the Levine Center for the Arts, located in the heart of Charlotte’s business district. Housing the internationally-renowned Mint Museum of Craft + Design, as well as American and contemporary art and select works from the European art collection, the 145,000-square-foot facility includes two full floors of galleries, each featuring 12,000 square feet of permanent collection space and 6,000 square feet of changing exhibition space. A dramatic multi-story atrium, named for the late Robert Haywood Morrison in honor of his foundation’s generous gift to the Museum, serves as a central hub of activity and features a 60- by 60-foot glass curtain wall offering spectacular views of the urban landscape. The building also includes a café, the Lewis Family Gallery, painting and ceramics studios, classrooms, a 240-seat auditorium, a Special Events Pavilion with outdoor terrace, and an expanded street-level Museum Shop featuring crafts of the Carolinas and showcasing merchandise that complements both the permanent collection and special exhibitions.

Following the opening of the Mint Museum Uptown, the Mint Museum Randolph, located in the historic Eastover neighborhood, will reinstall its galleries dedicated to the art of the ancient Americas, decorative arts, and historic costume, among others.

Sculptor was in residence at McColl Center for Visual Art and exhibited at The Mint Museum in Charlotte

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has named Elizabeth Turk, an artist with ties to the Charlotte cultural community, as one of 23 new MacArthur Fellows for 2010. Turk, a sculptor known for transforming marble into intricate, seemingly weightless works of art, was a 2003 Artist-in-Residence at the McColl Center for Visual Art and presented her first solo museum exhibition VantagePoint III – Elizabeth Turk: The Collarsat The Mint Museum in 2004. Turk was recently in Charlotte to deliver Collar 21 to the Mint for presentation within the contemporary art galleries in the new Mint Museum Uptown, opening 1 October 2010.

“I cannot think of anyone more deserving of a MacArthur Fellowship than Elizabeth,” said Carla Hanzal, Curator of Contemporary Art at The Mint Museum. “Her ability to manipulate marble into such exquisite forms defies the medium’s rigid qualities and is nothing short of extraordinary. We are proud to share her impressive artwork with the public.”

“Elizabeth has a quiet, thoughtful, yet powerful sensibility,” said Suzanne Fetscher, President of McColl Center for Visual Art. “Her time with us was spent developing the concepts and execution for the “Collars.” At the time, she called our Center a “candy store” where artists can explore materials, tools and relationships with other artists and the community, which is our reason for being. It is wonderful to see our partnership with the Mint Museum reflected in this amazing recognition for Elizabeth.”

While her past artistic projects have involved works in metal, glass, and porcelain, as well as drawings, photography, and video, Turk has focused on marble in her major series of works. Inspired by the challenges the hard stone poses for an artist interested in rendering nature’s most delicate forms, she has achieved an extremely fine level of detail in an often-unforgiving substance. Employing a variety of electric grinders, files, and small dental tools with a dexterous touch, her technical virtuosity is on full display in “The Collars,” a series of sixteen painstakingly carved sculptures that explore a rich variety of organic and geometric patterns. The elaborate collars in this collection combine allusions to decorative motifs and the self-organizing systems of the natural world, drawing from lace-making and Elizabethan fashion as well as botanical, skeletal, and architectural structures. Continuing the theme of fragile, textile-like compositions with the strength and heft of stone, Turk creates a surprising sense of buoyancy and undulating movement in her recent series of marble ribbons suspended in midair. With these and other visually arresting feats of precision, Turk is pushing the physical limits of her material and reviving a classical medium for contemporary artistic exploration.

Turk will receive $500,000 in “no strings attached” support from the MacArthur Foundation over the next five years. All Fellows were selected for their creativity, originality, and potential to make important contributions in the future.

145,000-square-foot facility will increase museum’s space by more than 60 percent

–October 1st marks a transformative moment for The Mint Museum. The debut of the new Mint Museum Uptown – one year prior to the institution’s 75th anniversary – will bring together the Mint Museum of Art and the Mint Museum of Craft + Design under one roof, double the permanent collection on view, and hone the institution’s ability to attract and organize major traveling exhibitions.

“The debt-free completion of the Mint Museum Uptown and the Levine Center for the Arts during a time of economic upheaval is a testament to Charlotte’s unwavering commitment to the arts and its long tradition of philanthropy,” said Executive Director Dr. Kathleen V. Jameson. “The scope of this ambitious cultural project is going to transform the way Charlotte lives and catapult the Mint to national and international significance.”

Building and Collections: Designed by noted architectural firm Machado and Silvetti Associates of Boston, the Mint Museum Uptown is the final attraction to open in the Levine Center for the Arts, located in the heart of Charlotte’s business district. In addition to the Mint, this development includes the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, and the John S. and James L. Knight Theater, along with corporate and retail facilities.

The 145,000-square-foot, five-story Mint Museum Uptown includes two full floors of galleries, each featuring 12,000 square feet of permanent collection space and 6,000 square feet of changing exhibition space. A dramatic multi-story atrium, named for the late Robert Haywood Morrison in honor of his foundation’s generous gift to the Museum, will serve as a central hub of activity and features a 60- by 60-foot glass curtain wall offering spectacular views of the urban landscape. The building also includes a café, the Lewis Family Gallery, painting and ceramics studios, classrooms, a 240-seat auditorium, a Special Events Pavilion with outdoor terrace, and an expanded street-level Museum Shop featuring crafts of the Carolinas and showcasing merchandise that complements both the permanent collection and special exhibitions. These amenities and special features will provide venues for hosting public programs that reinforce the Museum’s commitment to making art and education inspiring and accessible to the entire community.

Expanding The Mint Museum was one of the top priorities laid out in a master Cultural Facilities Plan developed by the Arts & Science Council of Charlotte/Mecklenburg County in 2003. The Mint Museum Uptown will house the internationally-renowned Mint Museum of Craft + Design, as well as American and contemporary art and select works from the European art collection.

Following the opening of the Mint Museum Uptown, the Mint Museum Randolph, located in the historic Eastover neighborhood, will reinstall its galleries dedicated to the art of the ancient Americas, decorative arts, and historic costume, among others.

The opening of the new facility marks a pivotal chapter in the Mint’s history and in Charlotte’s continued emergence as a cultural destination. The cultural facilities campaign to create the Levine Center for the Arts and facilitate other uptown cultural improvements met its $83 million goal.

New Programs: The Lewis Family Gallery at the Mint Museum Uptown will serve as a family-friendly introduction to the museum, offering a variety of engaging hands-on activities and opportunities for imaginative play. The Robert Haywood Morrison Atrium and James B. Duke Auditorium will offer such new programs as the Get Reel film/live jazz series. Two studio classrooms will expand the number of painting, drawing, mixed media, and clay classes offered for teachers, children, teens, and adults. In addition to these spaces, there will be small classrooms on the two gallery levels for hands-on activities with tour groups.

Newly-Commissioned Artwork: Under an initiative titled Project Ten Ten Ten, four international craft and design artists have been invited to create works for the Mint Museum of Craft + Design: Danny Lane (United States), Ted Noten (The Netherlands), Joseph Walsh (Ireland), and Hildur Bjarnadǿttir (Iceland). Six additional works of art will soon be commissioned from Tom Joyce, Cristina Córdova (both United States), Tetsunori Kawana (Japan), Kate Malone (Great Britain), Susan Point (Canada), and Ayala Serfaty (Israel). Project Ten Ten Ten will catapult the Mint Museum of Craft + Design to the highest level of artistic excellence through this extraordinary site-specific work.

The Mint Museum of Art has commissioned American artist Ken Aptekar to create a new interpretation of its 18th-century Portrait of Queen Charlotte to hang in the Mint Museum Uptown. The artist references historic works, imbuing them with contemporary meaning and inviting new dialogue. Titled Charlotte’s Charlotte, Aptekar’s painting reinterprets the Mint’s coronation portrait. Based largely on community input, the artist has created six panels which examine the British Queen’s diverse interests, vulnerability as a young woman, and African ancestry.

24-Hour Grand Opening: The Mint Museum Uptown opens its doors to the public on Friday, October 1st, with a 24-Hour Grand Opening celebration. The festivities kick off with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 5:00 p.m., followed by a variety of activities for all ages during the next 24 hours. Events include a First Friday celebration from 5:30 to 9:00 p.m. (admission: members – free; non-members – $10) and a Takeover Friday party, featuring music and dancing into the wee hours (10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.; $10 admission). Other activities include a Pecha Kucha Night Charlotte, museum tours, films, artist demonstrations, a poetry slam with Q and the Concrete Generation, a live broadcast by Kiss Radio 95.1, and a special welcome for Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure participants on Saturday morning. Admission is free from 2:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Mint Museum Uptown and from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Mint Museum Randolph on Saturday, October 2nd, and free at both facilities from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 3rd.

Inaugural Exhibitions: New Visions: Contemporary Masterworks from the Bank of America Collection (1 October 2010 – 17 April 2011). The Mint Museum and Bank of America will collaborate to present an exhibition comprising more than 60 contemporary works. New Visions highlights the strengths of Bank of America’s postwar collection and reveals a wide variety of artistic philosophies, approaches, and movements that extend into the early 21st century. The exhibition will feature paintings, sculptures, and works on paper from such major artists as Milton Avery, Jennifer Bartlett, Roger Brown, John Chamberlain, Janet Fish, Helen Frankenthaler, Sam Gilliam, Elizabeth Murray, Louise Nevelson, Jules Olitski, Edward Ruscha, Miriam Schapiro, and Frank Stella.

“We are grateful to Bank of America for this extraordinary opportunity to bring together and share with the public major works by some of the most important artists of our time,” said Curator of Contemporary Art Carla Hanzal, exhibition organizer. “While many corporations boast large art collections, it is rare to see such a comprehensive collection of contemporary and modern art that is both dynamic and historically significant. This show exemplifies the excellence and regional diversity that Bank of America’s collection is uniquely suited to reveal.”

New Visions: Contemporary Masterworks from the Bank of America Collection is organized by The Mint Museum, Charlotte, N.C., and provided by Bank of America Art in our Communities™ program.

Contemporary British Studio Ceramics: The Grainer Collection (1 October 2010 –13 March 2011). Drawn from the collection of Diane and Marc Grainer of suburban Washington, D.C., this exhibition is the first comprehensive survey of contemporary British studio ceramics ever assembled. Comprised of functional and sculptural objects made between the 1980s and 2009, the show features work by 100 artists either born or residing in Great Britain, including established “contemporary classics” like Lucie Rie and cutting-edge ceramicists such as Julian Stair, Kate Malone, Neil Brownsword, and Grayson Perry.

Rooted in the materiality of clay, a hallmark of studio pottery, the collection chronicles the recent history of Contemporary British Studio Ceramics. The exhibition begins with an overview of the earlier 20th century masters, then moves to works that demonstrate the two different strains of influence that informed contemporary makers – from the historicism of Bernard Leach and his successors to the refugee modernism embodied by Rie.

“The most thrilling quality of the contemporary British studio ceramics field is that it remains free from a defining aesthetic and cannot be tied together by one common visual thread,” said Annie Carlano, Director of Craft + Design and curator of the exhibition. “There has never been a comprehensive exhibition on either side of the pond about these objects. Building on the Mint’s internationally recognized collection of historic English ceramics, this exhibition allows us to explore a wider wealth of riches and continue the story from art pottery to clay art today.”

Contemporary British Studio Ceramics: The Grainer Collection is organized by The Mint Museum and sponsored by Duke Energy. It will be accompanied by a lavishly illustrated scholarly catalogue published by Yale University Press, London.