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

Objects of Affection: Jewelry by Robert Ebendorf from the Porter • Price Collection

The story of how a twig necklace led to decades of friendship and a comprehensive collection of works

By Rebecca E. Elliot

You could say that the story of this exhibition starts with a necklace made from twigs. In 1996, Joe Price was working in San Francisco, where his partner (now husband) Ron Porter frequently visited him. They had become interested in contemporary craft during the 1980s through visits to New York and had begun exploring galleries and museums in the Bay Area.

At the Susan Cummins Gallery in Mill Valley, California, Porter and Price saw The Opera Show, for which Cummins invited artists to interpret an opera of their choosing through jewelry. But instead of evoking a specific opera, Ebendorf presented Twig Necklace — a ruff of radiating twigs accented by gold spirals and pearls — provocatively suggesting that this adornment be worn to an opera.

For Ebendorf, this combination of precious and nonprecious materials was typical, but for Porter and Price — and the world at large — it was quite unusual. Porter and Price were fascinated, later describing it as “one of the defining moments of our experience with jewelry.” Yet, they did not purchase the necklace because they perceived it as needing to be worn by a woman to an event. It was only later that they would view jewelry as sculpture that could adorn a wall or simply be owned and admired.

Twig Necklace remained on their minds until two years later when Porter met Ebendorf at the Penland School of Craft Auction and asked about the necklace. He was delighted to learn that Ebendorf still had the necklace. Ebendorf was impressed by this collector who remembered his work from years ago. Not only did Porter and Price purchase the necklace soon after, but the conversation ignited a friendship that has lasted around 25 years and a collection of hundreds of pieces of jewelry. 

Building a collection

Prior to buying Twig Necklace, Porter and Price purchased a ring by Ebendorf from the Susan Cummins Gallery. After buying the necklace, they purchased other works by Ebendorf, but in the spring of 2009, their collecting of jewelry became more ambitious.

Robert Ebendorf (American, 1938- ), Twig Necklace, circa 1994, wood, pearl, 18k gold, steel, 14 1/8 X 13 1/4 x 1/2 in. Collection of The Mint Museum. Gift of Porter * Price Collection. 2019.93.28

At Ebendorf’s invitation, they visited the undergraduate and graduate jewelry and metal design programs at East Carolina University (ECU) in Greenville, North Carolina where Ebendorf taught from 1997 to 2016. After meeting Ebendorf’s faculty colleagues Linda Darty, Tim Lazure, and Mi-Sook Hur, and students (some of whom were setting up their thesis exhibitions), Porter and Price were impressed by the originality of the students’ work. After that visit, Porter and Price began collecting works by ECU faculty members and students, becoming an important source of friendship and support especially for the students and graduates at an early stage of their careers.

During that same trip in the spring of 2009, Porter and Price joined Ebendorf to view a retrospective of his work at the Imperial Arts Centre in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. This was the first time they had seen so many works from Ebendorf’s then 50-year career. They were blown away by his craftsmanship and range, which includes vessels, jewelry, drawings, and installations, extending from sleek, modernist silver objects of the 1950s and early 1960s to his innovative use of found 19th-century photographs on jewelry in the late 1960s, experiments with plastics and torn newspaper in the 1970s and 1980s, and provocative use of squirrel paws and crab claws in the 1990s. 

Porter and Price decided to build a comprehensive collection of Ebendorf’s work to include not only jewelry, objects, and drawings, but also archival materials such as exhibition catalogues and correspondence. As they built this collection (in addition to collections of contemporary ceramics, art in various media, and jewelry by artists not connected to ECU), Porter and Price became more involved with museums, including The Mint Museum. Their goal of preserving Ebendorf’s and the other ECU artists’ work to benefit artists, scholars, and the public aligned with the Mint’s goal of acquiring jewelry by regional, national, and international artists.

In 2019 the museum acquired the Porter • Price Collection as part gift, part purchase (with subsequent gifts in 2022 and 2024) along with the gift of the Robert W. Ebendorf Archive. The Porter • Price Collection comprises around 200 works by Ebendorf and approximately 100 objects by ECU faculty and graduates, while the archive comprises 13 cubic feet (about half the volume of a large refrigerator) of documents, audio-visual materials, and the hundreds of letters and collaged postcards exchanged between the artist and collectors.

Ebendorf gifted and sold works to Porter and Price that he had held back, such as his Colored Smoke Machine brooch (above) from his 1974 series of that name. This was inspired by the work of German jeweler Claus Bury, who was combining colored acrylic with gold on his own work of the time, and who visited Ebendorf that year when Ebendorf was a professor at the State University of New York at New Paltz. The series title, and this brooch’s form, were inspired by Bury’s fanciful drawings of Ebendorf’s house with colored smoke coming from the chimney, which Bury explained changed color according to the occupant’s moods. The brooch thus speaks to Ebendorf’s experimentation with materials and his friendships with international artists and represents one of the many stories told through the objects in the exhibition.

The exhibition Objects of Affection celebrates the oeuvre of Ebendorf, the work of his colleagues and former students at ECU and the friendships among the artists and collectors. It traces Ebendorf’s career since his first jewelry in the 1950s, concentrating on his work in the 21st century, and shows how he influenced his field by approaching materials and people the same way — connecting what was previously unrelated to create a new and compelling whole. This he did as a jeweler, metalsmith, collage artist, professor, teacher of workshops, and friend and mentor to many.

Objects of Affection is generously presented by Bank of America. Individual sponsorship is kindly provided by Posey and Mark Mealy, Jeffrey and Staci Mills, Emily and Bill Oliver, Beth and Drew Quartapella, Ches and Chrys Riley, and Ann and Michael Tarwater. 

Rebecca E. Elliot is assistant curator of Craft, Design, and Fashion and curator of this exhibition.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | IMAGES

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

About Shinichi Sawada

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

Ticket Information  

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

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About The Mint Museum    

Established in 1936 as North Carolina’s first art museum, The Mint Museum is a leading, innovative cultural institution and museum of international art and design. With two locations — Mint Museum Randolph in the heart of Eastover and Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts on South Tryon Street — the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community.  

Media contacts:   

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

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

For Immediate Release | IMAGES

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

WHAT: Party in the Park series kick-off 

WHEN: Sunday, March 24, 1–5 PM

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

COST: FREE, including museum admission

HIGHLIGHTS:

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

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

NEW THIS YEAR:

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

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

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

Party in the Park is generously presented by Principal Foundation.

THE MINT MUSEUM 

Established in 1936 as North Carolina’s first art museum, The Mint Museum is a leading, innovative cultural institution and museum of international art and design. With two locations — Mint Museum Randolph in the heart of Eastover and Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts — the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community.

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

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

 

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

For Immediate Release | IMAGES

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

OPENING WEEKEND: APRIL 27-28

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

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

EXHIBITION PROGRAMMING

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

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

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

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

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

THE MINT MUSEUM
Established in 1936 as North Carolina’s first art museum, The Mint Museum is a leading, innovative cultural institution and museum of international art and design. With two locations — Mint Museum Randolph in the heart of Eastover and Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts — the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community.

Mint Board Member Charlotte Wickham and Charlotte Ballet dancer Humberto Ramazzina will dance together at the 2024 Dancing With the Stars of Charlotte to support The Mint Museum and Charlotte Ballet.

‘Take more chances, dance more dances’

Mint Board Member Charlotte Wickham is stepping out to support The Mint Museum

By Michael J. Solender

After Charlotte Wickham relocated to Charlotte from New York City with her husband in 2008, she knew she wanted to get involved with supporting the arts and cultural community in Charlotte. While she couldn’t know it at the time, her enthusiasm for, and recognition of, how arts engagement impacts the development of children and young adults in her newly adopted community would lead her to dancing her heart out in support of The Mint Museum. 

Wickham, a Mint Museum Board of Trustees member, is one of six local community leaders paired with a professional dancer from the Charlotte Ballet in its annual Dancing with the Stars of Charlotte Gala. The event will take place March 2 at the Knight Theater to raise funds that support the Charlotte Ballet and the local leader’s charity of choice. Wickham has selected The Mint Museum and earmarked funds raised to support museum admission for Charlotte-area K-12 school children and post-secondary school students.

Cast your vote for Charlotte!

A passion for arts education

“I’ve always thought that arts and culture are an important part of learning for children,” Wickham says. “I grew up in Raleigh. My family often went to the ballet, the symphony, and to the museums. That was such a rich part of our life. Many studies show how art, dance, and music help develop children’s brains and help them to think in different and more critical and creative ways.”

Since 2020, Wickham’s role at the Mint is fueled by her passion for arts education and community engagement. She is a believer in exposure and access to the arts for all ages.

Wickham has seized upon the metaphor of taking positive steps and enthusiastically allowed herself to be “hotboxed” by her husband and a good friend into performing with the 2024 group of dancers to support The Mint Museum and the Charlotte Ballet.

“I believe life is often done best by embracing the places our steps take us,” she says in an email to friends. “This journey is going to be a bit different, and it makes the thought of participating that much more exciting.”

Different means physical for Wickham whose pre-dance assignment exercise routine has been primarily weekly Pilates classes.

Wickham is paired with Charlotte Ballet’s Humberto Ramazzina. The São Paulo, Brazil native began his formal dance training at age 8 and is in his fifth season with  Charlotte Ballet. The two share a love for salsa, contemporary and classical dance, though Wickham is keeping close to the vest the pair’s ultimate three-minute dance and music choice a surprise.

“I don’t want to give away too much and prefer to tap into what I know will be high energy from the audience at the gala performance.”

Choreographing support

Dance pairs receive support online at Charlotte Ballet’s Dancing with the Stars of Charlotte Gala site in the run up to the event with top vote-getter ($1 per vote) receiving the People’s Choice Award. Dancers who wow the judges with the “best moves” are awarded the Judge’s Choice recognition. Since 2013, Charlotte Ballet’s Dancing with the Stars of Charlotte Gala has raised more than $10 million including nearly $4.5 million for local charities. Funds raised via ticket sales per dance pair are divided equally between the pair’s designated charity and the Charlotte Ballet.

“That our [community] star dancers have the opportunity to generate financial support for charities of their choice has such tremendous impact for our city,” says Alysha Brown, Charlotte Ballet’s special events and volunteer manager. Brown coordinates all things Dancing with the Stars of Charlotte Gala for Charlotte Ballet and is the liaison between company dancers and their community dance partners.

“Historically we’ve had a variety of charities chosen for support alongside the ballet from housing nonprofits to other arts institutions in Charlotte. Charlotte Ballet is honored to play a role in this level of community development. The event is unlike any other in the city and shares an incredible amount of pure joy for those involved.”

In addition to identifying funds to support student access to The Mint Museum, Wickham is hopeful to encourage arts outreach beyond the walls of the museum buildings, especially into area hospitals. Her passion and enthusiasm for community collaboration aligns well with the goals of the Mint.

“Charlotte is one of our most dedicated board members,” says Todd Herman, president and CEO of The Mint Museum. “She is also an avid collector and incredibly involved in so many things that we do. I’m thrilled she shares one of the goals that our museum has, which is to collaborate with other arts organizations here in Charlotte. Her being part of Dancing with The Stars of Charlotte Gala fits her enthusiasm and her love for the arts. This event underscores the Mint’s role as a cultural hub partnering with organizations throughout the city and encouraging everyone in our community to embrace the arts.” 

For Wickham, expanding her reach to embrace and support arts impact in the community is meaningful and more than worth the extra effort. “Museums are places of culture and conversation where we can think deeply and be empathetic,” she says. “We need places where we can appreciate and learn from others.” 

Cast your vote for Charlotte!

Michael J. Solender is a Charlotte-based features writer. Reach him at michaeljsolender@gmail.com or through his website, michaeljwrites.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

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

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

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

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

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About The Mint Museum

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

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

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

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

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

Franklin Fifth Helena

‘A FANTASTICAL IMAGING OF THE INTERTWINED LIVES OF MOVIE ICON MARILYN MONROE AND HER PSYCHOANALYST DR. RALPH GREENSON’

By Jen Sudul Edwards

On November 4, 2022, Mint Museum Uptown opened a new major acquisition to the collection: Franklin Fifth Helena by Brooklyn-based artist Cynthia Talmadge.

An 8-by-11-foot room built within the gallery, the installation is comprised of sand-painted wall panels and a ceiling that create a fantastical imaging of the intertwined lives of the movie icon Marilyn Monroe and her psychoanalyst Dr. Ralph Greenson. The result is mesmerizing and surprising in every way: the sand — intricately mixed by hand and meticulously applied to the surface with fine paintbrushes— mimics the precise color studies of 19th-century Impressionists and Pointillists while utilizing a simple commercial material (Talmadge often buys her sand in bulk from wedding supply companies).

The recognizable objects layer and interact to create an imagined narrative about the relationship between Monroe and Greenson, who treated Monroe at the end of her life. While very specific in her references, Talmadge also explores the complicated ramifications of the cult of personality, the patient-doctor relationship, and how all of these affect the limited power and agency granted to women in this country.

Talmadge’s gallery, 56 Henry, arranged for outside donors to support the acquisition of the work by The Mint Museum, but the on-site build was extensive and complicated. The Mint’s architect-of-record, Aubrey Springer, oversaw the construction and permit process, which required additional lights and sprinkler systems to be installed to meet code, as well as extensive coordination with the Mint’s building staff, the Collections and Exhibitions team, 56 Henry, and Talmadge — who came to Charlotte for a week in October to help with the installation.

Learn more Talmadge and her fascinating and complicated process in the video below, generously underwritten by Aaron and Marie Ligon who are helping the Mint further build a competitive and compelling contemporary art collection.

Jen Sudul Edwards, PhD, is chief curator and curator of contemporary art.

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

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

For Immediate Release 

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

Ticket Information 

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

The Mint Museum  

Established in 1936 as North Carolina’s first art museum, The Mint Museum is a leading, innovative cultural institution and museum of international art and design. With two locations—Mint Museum Randolph in the heart of Eastover and Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts on South Tryon Street—the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community. 

Contact: 

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

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

2022 Coveted Couture Gala Auction Items

INSPIRATO CLUB MEMBERSHIP

$15,000 Starting Bid

• One complimentary year of Club Membership and ability to book anywhere within Inspirato’s luxury portfolio of exclusive vacation homes, resort and hotel partners, and one-of-a-kind experiences.
• Includes a Complimentary vacation from Inspirato’s Bonus Trip List for a 3–4-night stay at your choice of many luxury destinations. Airfare not included. After you have enjoyed your complimentary vacation, travel as little or as much as you like, paying nightly rates as you go. Amenities include personalized trip planning, daily housekeeping, and dedicated on-site concierge services during your stay. Membership benefits will begin on Saturday, April 30, 2022.

Generously donated by Ann and Michael Tarwater

ULTIMATE RACING PACKAGE

$10,000 Starting Bid

• Jimmie Johnson Racing Package includes four tickets to a 2022 IndyCar Series race or a IMSA Endurance Cup race (excludes the Indy 500). VIP access to the paddock, pit road, and meet-and-greet with seven-time NASCAR champion and current IndyCar Series driver Jimmie Johnson. Enjoy a high-speed ride in an IndyCar Experience race car (depending on racetrack and availability) and an autographed gift. Generously donated by Chandra and Jimmie Johnson.
• Indianapolis 500 Package: 2 grandstand tickets, credentials for garage area, and gift bag.

Generously donated by PNC Bank.

STEPHEN WILSON WORKS

$1,500 Starting Bid

• Butterfly Swarm, 2021 — 12-by-12 inch, mixed media
• Byzantine Purple Butterfly Tree Variation, 2020 – 12-by-12 inch, mixed media

Generously donated by Toshkova Fine Art Gallery + Advisor.

KRISTIN HEINRICH CLOSET EDIT

$500 Starting Bid

• A 3-hour closet edit with Kristin Heinrich, a Charlotte-based professional fashion stylist for women and men.
• Includes assessing wardrobe dilemmas and style goals, editing, organizing, and re-styling existing clothing and accessories, and de-cluttering by determining what is dated, unflattering or worn out. She will also arrange pulled together looks for all occasions mingling existing items with new purchases to make getting dressed fun!

Generously donated by Kristin Heinrich.

ANNA SUI AUTOGRAPHED COLLECTORS BOHO BARBIE

$300 Starting Bid

• Autographed Anna Sui collector’s item Boho Barbie to commemorate The Mint Museum’s 2022 exhibition The World of Anna Sui, presented by PNC Bank.

Generously donated by Anna Sui.

2022 COVETED COUTURE GALA PADDLE RAISE ITEMS

TRAVEL TO BARCELONA AND PARIS WITH THE MINT MUSEUM & SAPPHIRE CIRCLE

$50,000

• Trip for two to Barcelona and Paris in June 2023 with Todd A. Herman, PhD., Mint President & CEO. Enjoy exclusive access to Picasso museums and private collections. Including luxury hotel accommodations (excludes airfare).
•  Individual sponsorship recognition for Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds.
• Sapphire Circle Crown Society benefits and recognition for one year, including an invitation to the exclusive Diamond Circle Dinner.
• Named brick on Mint Museum Randolph’s front façade terrace.

GALLERY DINNER & DIAMOND CIRCLE

$15,000

• Cocktails & a sit-down dinner for 10 with Todd A. Herman, PhD in Mint Museum Uptown’s Craft + Design galleries
• Includes curator-lead tour of your choice
• Diamond Circle Crown Society benefits and recognition for one year, including an invitation to the exclusive Diamond Circle Dinner.
• Named brick on Mint Museum Randolph’s front façade terrace.

PRIVATE TOUR, RECEPTION & DIAMOND CIRCLE

$10,000

• Curator-led tour and reception with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres for 25
• Diamond Circle Crown Society benefits and recognition for one year, including an invitation to the exclusive Diamond Circle Dinner.
• Named brick on Mint Museum Randolph’s front façade terrace.

PRIORITY TRAVEL OPPORTUNITIES & PLATINUM PLUS CIRCLE

$7,500

• Priority invitation to all international and domestic travel opportunities with The Mint Museum.
• Platinum Plus Circle Crown Society benefits and recognition for one year.
• Named brick on Mint Museum Randolph’s front façade terrace.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND ACCESSIBILITY (DEIA) SUPPORT & PLATINUM CIRCLE

• Support the Mint’s DEIA initiatives including underwriting internships for college students.
• Platinum Circle Crown Society benefits and recognition for one year.
• Named brick on Mint Museum Randolph’s front façade terrace.

PRIVATE TOUR & GOLD CIRCLE

$2,500

• Private tour for up to 10 people for the exhibition or collection of your choice
• Gold Circle Crown Society benefits and recognition for one year.
• Named brick on Mint Museum Randolph’s front façade terrace.

CHILDREN’S STUDIO PROGRAMS & SILVER CIRCLE

$1,200

• Support Summer Crafts on the Lawn by contributing towards teaching instructors and art materials as well as enhanced seating opportunities on Mint Museum Randolph’s grounds.
• Silver Circle Crown Society benefits and recognition.

ART KITS & CHAMPION MEMBERSHIP

$500

• Support museum outreach by helping to provide materials for 150 free Mini Art Kits.
• Mint Champion membership benefits and recognition.

WILD WEDNESDAYS & SUPPORTER MEMBERSHIP

$250

• Underwrite costs of instructor fees, demonstrating artist honoraria, and materials for Wild Wednesday family nights at Mint Museum Randolph.
• Mint Supporter membership benefits and recognition.

The Mint Museum organizes the first-ever retrospective of works by Impressionist painter John Leslie Breck in its exhibition John Leslie Breck: American Impressionist

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Charlotte, North Carolina (July 16, 2021) — The Mint Museum is pleased to announce the premiere of John Leslie Breck: American Impressionist, an exhibition showcasing more than 70 works by one of the first American artists to introduce Impressionism to the United States. The exhibition — the first ever organized by a museum to be dedicated to works by John Leslie Breck — will run from September 18, 2021 through January 2, 2022 at The Mint Museum’s uptown Charlotte location (known as Mint Museum Uptown).

Drawn from public and private collections, as well as the acclaimed Terra Foundation collection of American art, many of the works have not been on public view in more than a century. In addition to Breck’s landscape-inspired works, the exhibition highlights his exploration of new styles and approaches to painting in the years before his early death at the age of 38. More than 10 related paintings by Breck’s French and American Impressionist colleagues, including Theodore Robinson, Willard Metcalf, and Lila Cabot Perry, are also featured in the exhibition.The exhibition, presented by Bank of America, is inspired by The Mint Museum’s acquisition of Breck’s canvas Suzanne Hoschedé-Monet Sewing. “I have been an admirer of John Leslie Breck’s beautiful, trailblazing paintings ever since my first encounter with his work at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in the late 1990s,” says Jonathan Stuhlman, senior curator of American art at The Mint Museum. “When we had the opportunity to acquire one for The Mint Museum in 2016, it was the perfect catalyst for the museum to begin organizing this exhibition — the first retrospective of his work since his death in 1899.”

“The importance of John Leslie Breck’s works and his introduction of French Impressionism to an American audience has largely gone unrecognized but is an important part of American art history,” says Todd A. Herman, PhD, president and CEO of The Mint Museum. “Through dedicated research and work by the staff at the Mint, Breck and his beautiful paintings will be brought back into the conversation of American art.”In addition, a 208-page, fully illustrated exhibition catalogue will be available when the exhibition opens in September. Stuhlman collaborated with leading Breck scholars Royal Leith and Jeffrey Brown to bring together Breck’s finest paintings, as well as to create the first ever monograph produced about the artist, which also includes contributions from Erica Hirshler, PhD, and Katherine Bourguignon, PhD. After debuting at The Mint Museum, John Leslie Breck: American Impressionist will travel to the Dixon Gallery and Gardens in Memphis, Tennessee in the winter of 2022 and the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, Iowa in the spring of 2022.

“Bank of America believes the arts are fundamental to a culturally healthy community,” shared President of Bank of America Charlotte Kieth Cockrell. “We are pleased to support The Mint Museum in hosting the Breck exhibit to showcase his talent, encourage appreciation of Impressionism and inspire future artists.”

John Leslie Breck: American Impressionist is generously presented by Bank of America, with additional support provided by The Mr. and Mrs. Raymond J. Horowitz Foundation for the Arts and the Mint Museum Auxiliary. Individual support provided by Charlie and Susan Murray in honor of Welborn and Patty Alexander, and Mary and Dick Payne.

Ticket Information

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

The Mint Museum

Established in 1936 as North Carolina’s first art museum, The Mint Museum is a leading, innovative cultural institution and museum of international art and design. With two locations — Mint Museum Randolph in the heart of Eastover and Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts — the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community.

Bank of America

Bank of America is one of the world’s leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 66 million consumer and small business clients with approximately 4,300 retail financial centers, including approximately 2,700 lending centers, 2,600 financial centers with a Consumer Investment Financial Solutions Advisor and approximately 2,400 business centers; approximately 17,000 ATMs; and award-winning digital banking with approximately 40 million active users, including approximately 31 million mobile users. Bank of America is a global leader in wealth management, corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry leading support to approximately 3 million small business households through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations across the United States, its territories and approximately 35 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.Contact: Caroline Portillo, Senior Director of Marketing & Communications at The Mint Museum
caroline.portillo@mintmuseum.org | 704.488.6874 (c)

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

Kay Sage was one of the few American artists to be closely involved with the French Surrealist movement. “Ring of Iron, Ring of Wool” was completed at the height of her career and incorporates all of the hallmarks of her signature style: a haunting, desolate landscape; beautifully-rendered yet enigmatic forms; and sophisticated variations in tone and color. The title is thought to be a reference to the traditional gifts for a couple’s sixth and seventh anniversaries. 1947 marked the sixth anniversary of Sage and Tanguy’s move to Woodbury, Connecticut and the seventh of their marriage.

Credit: Kay Sage (American, 1898-1963). “Ring of Iron, Ring of Wool,” 1947, oil on canvas. Museum purchase: The Katherine and Thomas Belk Acquisition Fund. 2016.8. © 2016 Estate of Kay Sage / Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York.

The Mint Museum from Home is Presented By Chase.

Suzanne Hoschedé-Monet Sewing, was created in 1888 by American artist John Leslie Breck. Breck was born in 1860, grew up near Boston, and trained in Germany, Belgium, and France. In 1887, he and seven of his colleagues visited the village of Giverny which lies approximately 40 miles northwest of Paris where the French Impressionist painter Claude Monet had settled in 1883. 

Suzanne Hoschedé-Monet Sewing was painted in the summer of 1888, not long after Breck had converted to Impressionism. In the painting, Suzanne sits in dappled sunlight under a leafy tree and in front of a field of golden hay. Breck’s skill at capturing the play of light and shadow is on full display. A canvas by Monet, completed at the same time, features his stepdaughter Blanche at work at her easel and in the distance, Suzanne, who peers over Breck’s shoulder as he, too, works on a painting.   

See this painting and 70 others by John Leslie Breck in the exhibition John Leslie Breck: American Impressionist on view at Mint Museum Uptown through January 2, 2022.

Credit: John Leslie Breck (American, 1860-99). “Suzanne Hoschedé-Monet Sewing,” 1888, oil on canvas. Gift of the Mint Museum Auxiliary and courtesy Heather James Fine Art. 2016.25

The Mint Museum from Home is Presented By Chase.

Leah Leitson Ceramics: Then and Now

Delhom Service League Studio Visit

Join the Delhom Service League as they Leah Leitson, ceramic artist and educator based in Asheville NC. She discusses her career in ceramics from her first interest as a studio potter to her current role as Professor of Ceramics at Warren Wilson College. For more information about Leah, you can visit her website at www.leahleitson.com.

Leah Leitson Ceramics: Then and Now

Delhom Service League Studio Visit

Join the Delhom Service League as they Leah Leitson, ceramic artist and educator based in Asheville NC. She discusses her career in ceramics from her first interest as a studio potter to her current role as Professor of Ceramics at Warren Wilson College. For more information about Leah, you can visit her website at www.leahleitson.com.

The Mint Museum’s new four-story installation Foragers offers a transcendent experience while celebrating the tradition of women as makers and providers

Foragers is part of a larger exhibition In Vivid Color that opens Oct. 16 at Mint Museum Uptown. In Vivid Color brings together four innovative contemporary artists—Wheat, Gisela Colon, Spencer Finch, and Jennifer Steinkamp—who create works celebrating the power of color and its ability to permeate the space around us. Their work is juxtaposed with a selection of paintings and works on paper, drawn primarily from The Mint Museum’s permanent collection, which showcase artists’ more traditional exploration of color.

The magnitude and brilliance of Foragers turns the typical museum experience on its head and creates a transcendent space of contemplation and beauty at a time when a weary public craves an escape—and a spacious, social-distancing-friendly one at that. While standard admission rates apply to the museum’s Level 3 and Level 4 galleries, access to Mint Museum Uptown’s atrium and the Foragers installation is free.

“This gorgeous work will transform Mint Museum Uptown’s atrium space with color and light, making it a must-see destination in Charlotte,” says Todd A. Herman, Ph.D., President and CEO of The Mint Museum.Summer Wheat’s installation was commissioned by The Mint Museum. The installation and purchase of Foragers was funded by the Wells Fargo Foundation Women Artists Fund, which aims to address and rebalance gender representation in museum collections.

“The Wells Fargo Foundation Women Artists Fund is designed to address and help reconcile the imbalance of female representation in museum collections,” says Jay Everette, Wells Fargo’s senior vice president of philanthropy and corporate social responsibility.

“Just 11 percent of all acquisitions and 14 percent of exhibitions at 26 prominent American museums over the past decade were of work by female artists. According to a joint investigation by In Other Words and artnet News, a total of 260,470 works have entered museums’ permanent collections since 2008. Only 29,247 were by women.”

Foragers celebrates North Carolina’s creativity and industry—those named and anonymous.

About Summer Wheat

Contemporary artist Summer Wheat (b. 1977, Oklahoma City, Okla.) lives and works in Brooklyn, New York City. She received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Central Oklahoma and a Master of Fine Arts from Savannah College of Art and Design. She is known for being an innovator, constantly blurring boundaries between traditional art forms and mediums. Consider the way she pushes acrylic paint through fine wire mesh to create large-scale paintings, like her With Side, With Shoulder, part of the Mint’s permanent collection and on view in the Mint’s new exhibition New Days, New Works.

Wheat has had solo exhibitions with lauded institutions, galleries and museums across the nation, including the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City (2020); KMAC Museum, Louisville (2019); Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles (2018); Smack Mellon, New York (2018); Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle (2017); and Oklahoma Contemporary, Oklahoma City (2016).

Wheat will also have her first solo exhibition with SOCO Gallery in Charlotte—entitled Lather, Rinse, Repeat—September 16 through November 6, 2020. The exhibition will feature ve large-scale paintings and two “pebble seats” focusing on the theme of bathing and grooming. The theme, drawn on throughout art history, frequently depicts idyllic figures and scenery, but in Wheat’s work, the women portrayed are imperfect and defy traditional notions of beauty. Wheat will have a solo exhibition with Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles in 2021.

Additional museum exhibitions include Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston (2013–14); deCordova Museum and Sculpture Park (2013); and Torrance Art Museum (2013). Wheat received the 2016 New York NADA Artadia Award and the 2019 Northern Trust Purchase Prize at EXPO Chicago. Wheat’s work is in the permanent collections of the Dallas Museum of Art, Texas; de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA; Peréz Art Museum Miami; The Henry Art Gallery at the University of Washington, Seattle; The Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC and the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky.

About The Mint Museum

Established in 1936 as North Carolina’s first art museum, The Mint Museum is a leading, innovative cultural institution and museum of international art and design. With two locations—Mint Museum Randolph in the heart of Eastover and Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts on South Tryon Street—the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community.

‘I need time and space to make work, but my inspiration most often comes from messes and mistakes.’

Asheville-based fiber artist Nava Lubelski transforms textiles with embroidery that pierces through splashes of stain and color. She fills tears and holes with delicate lace stitching that result in abstract creations. Her piece Chance of Flurries, 2011 is part of the permanent collection at The Mint Museum.

Studio location: Asheville, North Carolina

Nava Lubelski at home with her 7-year-old son.

Who are artists that inspire you and your work?

Lee Bontecou, Louise Bourgeois, Rina Bannerjee, Ghada Amer, Bruce Naumann, Lee Krasner, Tom Friedman, Helen Frankenthaler, and Sarah Sze.

What is your favorite piece or artwork that you created and why?

I’m fond of Day Dreams, 2008. I feel like the simplified color palette highlights the juxtaposition between luscious, detailed stitching and wild, organic splatters. I also am proud of the piece in the Mint Museum collection, Chance of Flurries, 2011.  

Nava Lubelski (American, 1968–). Chance of Flurries, 2011, acrylic paint and hand stitching on canvas. Museum Purchase: Funds provided by Mike and Betsy Blair in memory of Catherine Schiff Blair. 2016.31

How does your environment influence your art?

I respond to both chaos and calm. I need time and space to make work, but my inspiration most often comes from messes and mistakes. 

The yellow is”Tidying Up, 2020,” acrylic paint, hand-stitched thread and manufactured trimming on canvas.

 Are you finding new inspiration for your art during this shift of perspective in the world?

I’m finding it hard to focus on my usual work right now, with a kid at home full-time, and have been playing with more immediate projects, mailing out impromptu handmade books and working on drawings. Luckily, I am an imperfectionist, so I just believe in trying hard and seeing what happens, but it doesn’t have to go a certain way.

What positive perspective changes in society would you like to see come from the pandemic?

I hope we all can learn to see the value in slowing down. I think people are already seeing clearly that things are not and have not been working well for all of us.

What does your daily routine look like now? Have any recommendations for stress relievers to settle after another day done?

My husband has closed his office, so my work space right now is filled with a lot of additional equipment and in turn I’ve sprawled out into the living room. My afternoons tend to be busy with family/dog walks in the woods. Mornings are when I can catch some alone time. I enjoy lying in the dark and seeing what comes. I’m not someone who fears insomnia. I appreciate the quiet and the dark, and the chance to feel what I’m feeling and hear my own thoughts, though they aren’t always pleasant. 

“The Deadly Ooh Business, 2020,” acrylic paint, hand-stitched thread, yarn and wire on canvas.

What’s you cooking these days?

I like cobbling together Indian-type meals. I’m not good at following recipes, but I’m pretty good at winging it.

What are you currently reading?

At the moment it’s mostly news, although I read Red Clocks not too long ago. Most of my reading stamina lately seems to be used up by reading Fablehaven to my son.

What is your favorite music choice?

What is your favorite podcast?

The Mint Museum From Home is Sponsored by Chase.

‘Comics, graphic novels, and literature in general have always been a voice and vehicle’

A longtime teacher and supporter of the Mint Museum, artist Wolly McNair creates stories through his illustrations. McNair’s “Black Hornet” and “of Peace of War” illustrations were featured as part of the 2019 Never Abandon Imagination: : The Fantastical Art of Tony DiTerlizzi exhibition at Mint Museum Randolph. He’s also has been an active instructor with The Mint Museum’s Grier Heights Community Youth Arts Program since 2009.

Wolly McNair is a Charlotte-based illustrator. His illustrations, “Black Hornet” and “of Peace of War,” were part of the Mint Museum Randolph exhibit, “Never Abandon Imagination: The Fantastical Art of Tony DiTerlizzi.”

McNair found a love for drawing as a child, and received ample encouragement from his family. He created a business to include character design, story-boarding, animation, writing and illustrating for local and national companies. He self-publishes through his brand GOrilla Bred Publishing and currently is working on a couple of his own “intellectual properties.”

“One is a sorta of ‘what if’ story called Super Bastard. Every aspect of the name plays into the DNA of the story. It deals with the idea of power meeting endless power. What happens when the voiceless finally gain a voice and can enact real change by any means chosen. No more asking,” McNair says. “Using super heroes allows it to be entertaining while having a message and not become preachy. I think comics, graphic novels, and literature in general has always been a voice and vehicle to that can place people from different walks of life in the shoes of those they least relate to. See the stories and life of others, be it fantasy or reality.”

If that wasn’t enough, he’s also reworking his graphic novel Fairy Tale Knights that he wrote for his daughter after realizing there weren’t many comic books featuring Black characters. He also is working on a follow-up to his single-issue comic King Supreme. “It is more of a traditional comic in aesthetic feel, but nontraditional in some of its subject matter and content.” McNair shares more about his art and how art is a catalyst for change.

An illustration from the follow-up to “King Supreme,” one of McNair’s latest projects.

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Tell us about the type of art you create.

My work is normally illustration based, but I often work both digital and traditional combining paint, markers, watercolor with digital colors to add texture. On a day-to-day basis, though, I work digital. Professionally I illustrate graphic novels, create worlds for character settings, concepts for characters in film, gaming, and comics.

My more gallery-based work is often larger in scale, and I typically do work that has lots of varied symbolism in it. Some things are literal, while other elements have a reason or meaning for placement. I often do several pieces in a small series with a central, connecting theme. Because I work in a character-driven world, and the world itself is but a stage full of characters, most of my gallery work also has a heavy character-driven base to it. 

Algorithms of B3AR by Wolly McNair

What do you want your art to say to America today, and what conversations do you hope it may spark?

The same as I would have probably wanted 10 years ago, and not just to America, but to the world. That we as a people (Black people or whatever term is considered appropriate) have a varied voice, have a beautiful hidden and forgotten history, and a terrible covered-up and watered-down history, and have influenced culture since there was such a thing. I want people to stop, maybe admire, maybe question, maybe reflect, maybe actually see … then ask questions, listen. Each piece, each series of pieces, all speak to different things, and I rarely completely explain my work cause lots of it is self explanatory, but I also want people to gather their own honest thoughts and start the conversation from there. 

How do race, place, and your environment influence your art?

Race and environment have an influence because both are a part of who and where I am, have been, or plan to be. As the world changes or stays the same, so do the reflections in my art. But the history is always shared as I learn and grow, coming from the background I grew up in, that places a roll in detail, the way I may position elements of a piece, or what I may decide to speak on. Not only I am influenced by these things, I also try to use these elements of who I am and where I am from to influence others in a creative and positive way. 

Are you finding new inspiration for your art during these current events?

Current events are actually the same events, just a different timeline. Many of the things happening have happened so many times before. Some of the “changes” are good to see, but mirror things of the past. I have hope that it will ultimately play out differently, and we are not right back here again. I still create, but I don’t want to create only as a result of another life lost, a continued struggle, racism or classism — I have over 400 years of history to use for that type of influence. I can, and do, create from that space without needing more of it. This doesn’t mean the fight is given up, it just means these events — good and bad — shouldn’t have to keep repeating. I’d rather get inspiration from seeing and knowing my kids won’t have to go through this and can live a happy life. Seeing them smile, not cry, not be afraid, not have to be strong would be so much more inspirational.

What positive perspective changes in society would you like to see evolve from the protests, pandemic and social struggles of now?

I just want to see a power shift. Power to the people. We already have a positive perspective or we wouldn’t keep getting up everyday, but I understand that those in true power have to come to an understanding, or no longer hold those positions, for the change to actually come and stay intact. I have seen people who only viewed life from where they sit come to realizations from my own personal conversations, and that was good to see.

More allies. I just want to see things handled better, artists of color given fair chances to speak and be properly compensated, voices amplified, corruption called out, and the people standing for each other instead of over each other. 

lOckS by Wolly McNair.

How do you believe art can be a positive influence on kids?

Art helps kids find a voice. I teach kids to use it to express even if they don’t want to actually say the words out loud yet. Art helped me to write, and writing helped to add to my art and the stories I wanted to tell. Art allows an escape as well. It opens up the mind, and it teaches discipline for many — patience and perseverance. Most importantly, it allows expression. I simply think it is needed, maybe not for every child, but it can be a lifesaver or game changer for many. Even in simply teaching kids how art can be used daily, and the options that are out there, at an early age can help them figure out the path that works for them, and test options as they grow. 

What are you reading, watching, and listening to these days?

I’m not reading much, other than the autobiography of Malcom X. I am listening to James Baldwin a lot lately, and Fred Hampton speeches, and Malcom debates and speeches. I go back to them from time to time. I have a stack of comic books and graphic novels that I haven’t read for mixed reasons, in part due to things I’m currently working on and not wanting to have any other creative elements that aren’t mine creep in.I listen to a lot of instrumental music, including Future Garage/Wave stuff — Nipsey Hussle, Lil baby. I listen to a wide range of things as I work based on where I want my mind to be. My son also creates his own music, so I listen in on it. My daughter is learning piano, so I listen to her. She’s self-teaching at age 9. They prove to me what is possible. I guess I am creating things that hopefully will aid others in the future more than anything.If I do watch anything, it’s the TV show Goodtimes, documentaries, an anime, or Property Brothers or something about buying or renovating houses. It is a different world for a few minutes per day.

Who are you following on social media right now, and why?

I follow a few people of course, but I honestly just float through looking at random things and seeing what catches my eye. There are tons of dope artists out there doing cool things.

The Mint Museum From Home is Sponsored by Chase.

Studio location: Belmont, NC

“Sugar House,” 2011, Acrylic paint, glitter, lottery tickets, puzzle pieces on canvas, 6’ x 16’

“Elegy LXXIII,” 2020, Acrylic on shaped canvas, 67 1/2” x 83 1/4”

The Mint Museum From Home is Sponsored by Chase.

Artist Sheila Gallagher finds inspiration for her artwork in everything she sees.

‘I think the pandemic has really provoked me into asking serious questions about my art practice and more generally what the world needs artists to be.’

Artist, and mom to a high school senior, Sheila Gallagher is an associate professor of fine art at Boston College where she teaches courses on drawing, painting and contemporary art practice. While sheltering at home, she continues to sketch and work in her studio, is relishing a more leisurely schedule, and also tackling a few domestic projects like making curtains. Her artwork, Ghost Orchid Plastic Nebulae, is part of the permanent collection at the Mint.

Studio location: Boston, Massachusetts

Describe the artwork you create and medium you use.

I am an interdisciplinary/hybrid artist and I use any material necessary. I make paintings out of smoke, plastic trash, live flowers … anything. I also make videos and do live drawing performances.

Who are artists that inspire you and your work?

Oh so many! My new art crush is Formafantasma that uses lidar technology to make visually riveting animations that explore life from the perspective of a forest. I am always inspired by the work of artists like Doris Salcedo, Sister Corita, Sarah Sze, and Sanford Biggers who have great minds and deep hearts and really understand form and materiality. And anyone really who knows how to draw: Leonardo, Rembrandt, and Gros. Even though he is unpopular, I think Hans Bellmar makes incredibly beautiful lines.

I also love the work of a little known self-taught Bahamian painter named Amos Ferguson. But if I could only have one piece of art to behold for the rest of my life it would be Stargazer, a small transclucent white marble statue of a female figure from approximately 4,000 BC that I saw at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, and think about all the time. Cultures come and go.

What is your favorite piece or artwork that you created and why?

I think it may very well be Ghost Orchid Plastic Nebulae, a large plastic painting that was commissioned by The Mint Museum and included in the Under Construction exhibition (now part of the permanent collection). I really had to wrestle it to the ground to get the composition to work, and I ended up really liking the psychedelic palette and all of the hidden images and words. I also think it might be one of my favorites because it probably has more hours of me in it than almost any other piece, and I have very fun memories of working with two saintly assistants, Claire and Rachel, who have great voices, and were always singing and willing to pull all nighters with me.

Sheila Gallagher (American). Ghost Orchid Plastic Nebula, 2018, melted plastic on armature. Museum purchase with funds provided by Wells Fargo. 2018.48

How does your environment influence your art?

Everything in my sight line influences my art. I am like a bower bird drawn to every shiny piece of trash. My house and studio are chock full of images and objects and books and small pieces of ephemera. Anything can be a material or mnemonic device. My teenage son has accused us of “drowning in meaningfulness” and likes to remind me that not everything can be special . But I wonder, why not? I don’t think I am quite a hoarder, but under the right wrong circumstances could definitely lean that way.

Tell us about your new morning routine, including when you start your day and how you spend the early hours.

I have to say, I am growing quite fond of my “shelter-in-place” mornings. Now that my son is finishing high school online, the mornings are much more leisurely. I usually wake up around 7:30 AM and listen to a book on tape for about 30 minutes. Then I go downstairs and get tea and toast and take them back to bed and read under the covers. I try not to look at the news before I meditate. At around 9 AM I start checking texts and emails and jumping all over the internet. When I feel myself going down an unproductive rabbit hole, I jump up and make the bed and a to-do list and try to get cracking.

Are you finding new inspiration for your art during this shift of perspective in the world?

I think the pandemic has really provoked me into asking serious questions about my art practice and more generally what the world needs artists to be. I am definitely going inward and trying to cultivate intuition and discernment, which I have to trust will ultimately manifest in artwork, Inshallah. For now it doesn’t feel right to plan a big exhibition, and I have put aside some large projects. Like a lot of artists I know, in this moment I feel drawn to a collective creativity while at the same time find myself more comfortable doing small and quiet solo things like sketching and making little collages in my sketchbook.

Tell us about your afternoon. Are you working from home, going to your studio?

With everyone working remotely, my house has never felt more crowded, and I feel very grateful to have a studio for escape and solitude. Most afternoons are a combo platter of studio and house. Everyday I do e-mails and draw and I try to stay connected with my art practice, teaching job and friends. Taking walks is the new going out for drinks.

I find I have a new found interest in domestic projects like making curtains, cooking soup, and organizing the laundry closet. My house has never been so clean. Now that Purell is an endangered product, we have started making artisanal hand sanitizer (called Mom’s Napalm) out of grain alcohol, witch hazel, eucalyptus oil, cloves and my secret ingredient: holy water from Saint Brigid’s Well in Ireland.

Gallagher created her own artisanal hand sanitizer while sheltering at home that her family named “Mom’s Napalm”

What positive perspective changes in society would you like to see come from the pandemic?

I believe something really positive will emerge out of this global experience of our shared vulnerability. There is a possibility for deep transformation where the world’s resources, scientific intelligence and good will are forever put at the service of the common good and protecting the most fragile amongst us. I was very moved by a An Imagined Letter from COVID-19 to Humans by Kristin Flyntz , which eloquently imagines a more earth-centeredb mindset.

Have any recommendations for stress relievers to settle after another day done?

After dinner we usually read and/or watch a show. I am really into the series the New Pope Stylin. Lately we have also been getting into making “God’s Eyes” out of yarn. Very easy and very therapeutic and a welcome break from the screen. I am also a big fan of online yoga classes.

Gallagher at her studio in front of a collection of yarn God’s eyes that she’s made for a friend’s shrine. “I highly recommend Gods eyes as excellent pandemic therapy,” she says.

What are you cooking? What’s your comfort food of choice?

Seafood soup and warm buttered toast, and hot tea with coconut cake, and red wine.

What are you currently reading?

Lots of poetry, too much news, Hyperallergic, Jerry Saltz, Richard Rohr, John Prendergast, and Akin by Emma O’Donoghue.

What is your favorite music choice?

These days I find myself drawn to chanting, and silly 80’s dance music.

What is your favorite podcast(s)?

I am more of a books -on-tape kind of gal. Right now I am listening to Kevin Barry read his new novel, Might Boat to Tangiers.

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 10 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. (more…)

Photo by Katrina Williams/Fifty Two Hundred Photo

‘I feel an impulse to be bolder, more direct,’ says artist Damian Stamer

Damian Stamer is a North Carolina native whose art is influenced by his Southern roots and rural landscapes. Though he’s painting the same subject matter, Stamer says he’s finding a different energy and urgency to work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Studio location: Nestled in the woods of northern Durham County, North Carolina

St. Marys Rd 8

How does your environment influence your art?

In a way, my environment is my art. I paint my everyday surroundings. These are the places of my childhood. They allow me to explore memory, with all its faults and fictions, and investigate the tension between personal and historical truth.

 

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

 

 

For Immediate Release | Images available here

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Exhibition Ticket Information 

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

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

For exhibition hours, visit mintmuseum.org.

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The Mint Museum 

Established in 1936 as North Carolina’s first art museum, The Mint Museum is a leading, innovative cultural institution and museum of international art and design. With two locations — Mint Museum Randolph in the heart of Eastover and Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts — the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community.

Bank of America 

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

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

Duke Energy

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

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

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

Contact: 

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

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

For more information or interview requests, contact:

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

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

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

Playing Pablo

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

By Jen Sudul Edwards, PhD 

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

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

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

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

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

Mural artists and locations 

ARKO and Dammit Wesley
Mint Museum Uptown 

Brand the Moth
Mint Museum Randolph

CHD:WCK!
Mint Museum Uptown 

HNin Nie
Optimist Hall

Emily Núñez
Queens University 

Kalin Reece
Elder Gallery 

Mike Wirth
Camp NorthEnd 

Frankie Zombie and 2Gzandcountin
Optimist Hall

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

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

For Immediate Release | Images here

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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THE MINT MUSEUM
Established in 1936 as North Carolina’s first art museum, The Mint Museum is a leading, innovative cultural institution and museum of international art and design. With two locations — Mint Museum Randolph in the heart of Eastover and Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts — the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community.<

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

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

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

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

Romanticizing the American Landscape

A conversation with artist Stacy Lynn Waddell about her work Landscape with Rainbow as the Sun Blasts the Sky (for R.S.D.) 1859/2022, part of the Mint’s collection.

In 2021, Art Papers published an article about a new series of works by Durham-based artist Stacy Lynn Waddell in which she examines the history of landscape through the work of 19th-century English American painter Thomas Cole and self-taught Black Pittsburgh-based sculptor Thaddeus Mosley. The Mint’s Chief Curator and Curator of Contemporary Art Jen Sudul Edwards, PhD, took notice. As an extension of the series influenced by Cole and Mosley, Waddell created Landscape with Rainbow as the Sun Blasts the Sky (for R.S.D.) 1859/2022: an homage to American artist Robert S. Duncanson’s 1859 painting Landscape with Rainbow, which is in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and was displayed in the United States Capitol Rotunda in 2021 in honor of the inauguration of President Joseph R. Biden.

Duncanson was one of the most important Black artists of the 19th century. This event brought significant national attention to Duncanson, who remains little known beyond art history circles. The Mint Museum is pleased to have acquired Waddell’s tribute to Duncanson: Landscape with Rainbow as the Sun Blasts the Sky (for R.S.D.) 1859/2022, which will be a part of an upcoming reinstallation of the American galleries at Mint Museum Uptown in 2023. Mint curators Jonathan Stuhlman, PhD, and Jennifer Sudul Edwards, PhD, caught up with Waddell to discuss her inspiration behind the work. Lightly edited for brevity and clarity by Michele Huggins.

Jonathan Stuhlman, PhD: We are doing a rotation in the Mint’s permanent collection galleries next summer, shifting focus from different approaches to portraiture to different approaches in landscape. I am really looking forward to including Landscape with Rainbow as Sun Blasts the Sky (for R.S.D.) 1859/2022 in that. There are earlier works in this series dedicated to Thomas Cole and Thaddeus Mosley. What made you decide to extend it beyond them to Duncanson and to this painting in particular?

Stacy Lynn Waddell: I was given an opportunity to show work in a four-page spread in the publication Art Papers. I thought it was a perfect opportunity to examine the core of the romantic idea of how we have come to be as a country. We know there are holes in all of that — it is moth-eaten— but thinking about Thomas Cole and Thaddeus Mosley was really about access. How do I reconfigure or have people take another look at some of Cole’s most important paintings by inserting Mosley and his works into the scene and drawing parallels between the lives of the two men as naturalists.

The other thing was to bring forward an interest in landscape. One of the things that I have thought a lot about, especially during 2020, was access. You couldn’t go places. Once we realized that outside was a safe space to convene, then I feel like the doors were blown off in terms of how people thought about being outside.

JS: Suddenly, everyone is an outdoorsman.

SLW: Everybody! So, I was thinking about that, too: how we do not necessarily consider the space
that we have. We do not consider our dependency upon nature and how we have disrespected that
relationship.

JS: Then you shift from the Cole/Mosley series to Duncanson. Was it because of his importance as the first and best-known Black American landscape painter?

SLW: Yes. When the painting was rededicated, I thought, “yeah, this is the moment.” Think of the biblical significance around a rainbow and the promise just this idea of a promise. Another thing that the pandemic did was push us to keenly focus on political discourse. To have this painting emerge during the inauguration as a kind of promise, it just struck me as something that seemed important.

Also, the fact that here is a Black man (Duncanson) at a time when Black people had no access. This painting was made in 1859, American slavery was still the order of the day, yet Duncanson was able to access and occupy spaces in America and abroad. I found that to be fascinating. It stood as an emblem of possibility for the onlooker and me as a Black woman from the South functioning as an artist.

JS: Duncanson’s painting, and the rainbow’s landing on the cabin in the wilderness, has been interpreted as symbolizing divine blessing on westward expansion, yet we were doing so at the expense of all the people who originally lived on the land. There is an irony there as he was a Black artist painting on the eve of the Civil War. Duncanson soon thereafter just got the heck out and went to England by way of Canada and left the country for several years. So, to me, it is a painting that is loaded with so many tensions and ironies. What led you to pick the tondo (circular) format for these works and the details in the way that you have done — piecing in the panels in the sky with the rounded swirl. To me, it calls to mind the arc of the rainbow, but I’d love to know more about how you landed on the bit of the picture you chose and the way that you put it together.

SLW: I started thinking about how I would intervene upon the original painting. What would make the most sense for me, someone who loves to appropriate. I do a lot of that in my art. I find photographs and other images that I take and insert a different meaning or myself into the work. Tondos are typically formats of paintings that we ascribe to religious works. The circle points to an internal way of connecting to something. My pieces are works on handmade paper made in India that is very irregular with deckled edges, but still round. So, you still fall into that place.

My drawings are created by burning paper. I am burning paper and then I am adding gilded (gold) material. I love surface texture. I thought, “why don’t you just reinterpret paintings in your materials that are all about surface interest?”

The paintings I am referencing in this also call attention to the environment. Gold leaf is tough on the environment. It is metal. It is gold pounded into sheets with a decorative pattern inlaid. All the alchemy and all the gathering of metals happen before I get the material to use it. So, when I’m using this material, I’m thinking about science, the environment, and the optical illusion of seeing a rainbow.

It is interesting to me to overlay a lot of our contemporary concerns onto a painting that was about an ironic look at a promise. What is it that we really stand for as a country? What is it? What direction are we really going in? It is natural for me to take what I do and lay it on top of something else and then hope that someone gathers something from it.

Hopefully, what the viewer can extract from looking at this series is going well beyond looking at a landscape and even beyond the Duncanson references. The materials may lead them back to some of the concerns: the environment, the landscape, their relationship to it, and what, if anything, are they doing to protect these spaces.

Jen Sudul Edwards, PhD: One of the things that I find so interesting about Duncanson is that with romanticism over the last 100 years, we have been much more critical about it as a practice, of it being nostalgic to avoid reality, whitewashing history to erase crimes against humanity that were going on at the time. You mention the irony that is embedded in Duncanson’s treatment of it, but I also find a kernel of a reminder in Duncanson, and in your series, that romanticism was also created because of a need for hope. Was that a consideration of your series, which was started during the pandemic and has the need for a rainbow at the end.

SLW: Artists are romantics, especially the idea of romanticism as a longing or looking at something lovingly or looking back at something and thinking that there is always hope. It is what we do every day in the making of the work. To be an artist, you are pulling things out of thin air with the hope that someone will come along and find interest in it — just to create a relationship with it through the eye and through the gut. But then also, to maybe buy it and show it and talk about it and write about it. I think that at the heart of all of us, we are all romantics.

I mean, for me, I grew up in the rural South. I ran through fields and grew up on a farm and have a clear relationship to the out of doors, to the land, to owning land. It is not a foreign idea for me to know that people can own land and own large parts of it. My great grandfather, Zollie Coffey Massenburg, owned hundreds of acres at a time when a Black man in rural North Carolina, did not. When he passed, his 14 children all got large plots of land, one of them being my maternal grandmother. When I pass an open field, immediately, there is something that is pricked in me about remembering, longing, and wanting that to be kept whole. No one’s going to buy this and build on it. If we could just have green spaces. The idea of romanticism is deeply embedded in me.

I think when people stand in front of work, there is a romantic gesture that is happening internally with whatever work they are looking at. You bond with it. You are creating a relationship. Whether you realize it or not, you are siphoning through your personal and psychic experiences. It is a romantic way of engaging with something.

So yes, I come to everything as a romantic, as someone who has a longing. I think my interest in appropriation is a romantic gesture to see something and want to make it not better, but to make conditions better and add my voice to that, to envision a better world. The only way that I know how to do that is just with the materials and things that I love working with.

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | IMAGES

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ticket Information  

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

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About The Mint Museum    

Established in 1936 as North Carolina’s first art museum, The Mint Museum is a leading, innovative cultural institution and museum of international art and design. With two locations—Mint Museum Randolph in the heart of Eastover and Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts on South Tryon Street—the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community. 

About Wells Fargo

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

Contact:   

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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About Cynthia Talmadge

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

The Mint Museum   

Established in 1936 as North Carolina’s first art museum, The Mint Museum is a leading, innovative cultural institution and museum of international art and design. With two locations—Mint Museum Randolph in the heart of Eastover and Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts on South Tryon Street—the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community. 

Contact:  

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

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

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

 

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

For Immediate Release | Images Here

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Mint Museum
Established in 1936 as North Carolina’s first art museum, The Mint Museum is a leading, innovative cultural institution and museum of international art and design. With two locations — Mint Museum Randolph
in the heart of Eastover and Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts — the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

For Immediate Release 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Mint Museum 

Established in 1936 as North Carolina’s first art museum, The Mint Museum is a leading, innovative cultural institution and museum of international art and design. With two locations — Mint Museum Randolph in the heart of Eastover and Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts — the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community. 

Media 

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

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

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

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

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

For Immediate Release

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

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

Assembling some of Picasso’s greatest landscape compositions in one traveling exhibition, Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds coincides with the 50th anniversary of the artist’s death. The dynamic grouping of works in the exhibition offers visitors an unparalleled window into the artist’s creative process, from his earliest days in art school (1896 when then artist was just 15 years old) to months before his passing in 1973.

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

Partnering cultural organizations working with the Mint to create a multilayered experience of innovative programming, include the Charlotte Symphony, Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, Theater Charlotte, JazzArts Charlotte, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, and Charlotte Ballet.

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

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

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

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

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The Mint Museum
Established in 1936 as North Carolina’s first art museum, The Mint Museum is a leading, innovative cultural institution and museum of international art and design. With two locations — Mint Museum Randolph in the heart of Eastover and Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts — the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community.

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

For Immediate Release | Images available here

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

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

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

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

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

The Mint Museum
Established in 1936 as North Carolina’s first art museum, The Mint Museum is a leading, innovative cultural institution and museum of international art and design. With two locations — Mint Museum Randolph in the heart of Eastover and Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts — the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community.

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

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

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

For Immediate Release | Images available here

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Mint Museum
Established in 1936 as North Carolina’s first art museum, The Mint Museum is a leading, innovative cultural institution and museum of international art and design. With two locations — Mint Museum Randolph in the heart of Eastover and Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts — the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community.

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

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

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

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

Rebecca Elliot, assistant curator of Craft, Design, and Fashion.

‘Art can be a source of joy for people, and I like to make those experiences happen’

Rebecca Elliot is one of the creative minds behind the new exhibition Craft in the Laboratory: The Science of Making Things and lead author of the catalogue by the same name.

Rebecca Elliot is the assistant curator of Craft, Design, and Fashion at The Mint Museum. Her journey with art has taken her around the globe, from her student days studying abroad in London and frequenting the British Museum, to her jobs at the Cranbrook Art Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and finally to the Mint in 2012, where she’s currently the assistant curator of craft, design and fashion. Here, Elliot shares a glimpse into her life inside the museum, from the glamorous (handling 18th-century men’s suits and thrifting with iconic fashion designer Anna Sui) to the decidedly unglamorous (copy editing and emails). — As told to Caroline Portillo. Lightly edited for brevity and clarity.

I grew up in central Ohio in a town called Delaware, Ohio, about 30 or 40 miles north of Columbus. I loved to read fiction and liked writing. I loved art, especially drawing. My sister and I — she’s three years older than me — would have coloring contests. I even tried to design clothes. I would play with my Barbies and have them do fashion shows. For me, it was more about Barbie having a job, a career, and wearing stylish outfits.

For undergrad, I went to Smith College, a women’s college in western Massachusetts. I took art history during my sophomore year, and then I spent my junior year studying abroad at University College London, where I took a lot of art history classes. UCL was close to the British Museum and I would often go after school. In London, I also visited the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, the Victoria & Albert Museum, and the Tate Gallery. It was really cool actually seeing the scale of the paintings and what the texture looked like, knowing what it felt like to stand in front of it, and noticing what other people did when they were there. That’s when I first started thinking about working with museums. The interface between the art and the public was interesting to me.

Here’s a snapshot of a recent day in my life. First, I helped Annie [Carlano, the Mint’s senior curator for craft, design, and fashion] lay out the jackets from two 18th-century gentlemen’s suits for a Zoom call with a curator from the V&A in London. Because I’m the copyeditor for all the Mint’s exhibition texts, my afternoon was spent answering emails and reviewing exhibition label proofs. I spent the evening on one of my hobbies: ushering for a show at Actor’s Theater. I enjoy theater, and ushering is a great way to help out and see a show for free.

I love thrifting and actually got to join fashion icon Anna Sui on a thrifting expedition. Anna was in Charlotte in November last year for the opening of The World of Anna Sui at Mint Museum Randolph. After lunch, we ventured to Sleepy Poet Antique Mall. I have admired Anna Sui’s style ever since her clothes started appearing in my favorite ’90s teen magazine, Sassy. I was thrilled when I got to join her entourage and go thrifting in Charlotte. I walked around with Anna and Vogue’s Senior Fashion News Editor Steff Yotka, observing which items they gravitated to and occasionally commenting about things that reminded me of Anna’s style. I was with them as Anna found and inspected a tablecloth — the three of us unfolded it together — and decided it was worth the $20 price. It’s fun to know that I was there when she found a small souvenir to take back and enjoy in her home.

Speaking of Sleepy Poet, I made a point to go there just before they moved out of their old location, knowing there would be bargains. Sure enough, I found a Heywood-Wakefield wood headboard and footboard, possibly mid-century modern, for $25. Whenever I’m thrifting or antiquing, I look for interesting mid-century modern items. I like old stuff, decorative stuff, fashion, and art.

When I’m visiting a museum, I nerd out. I look at the objects and the labels — how are they written? Would I do it the same way? I look at what objects are next to each other, how they play off each other. I look at what’s in the room, how the wall colors are, the pathway.

I love working at a museum because museums give people so many different kinds of experiences. Art can be a source of joy for people, and I like to make those experiences happen. Art can also be something that makes people uncomfortable, that makes them question and think about things they may not have before. We are facing many difficult issues, everything from the environment to social justice to politics. The work I do matters in those areas. We’re not trying to be political, but we are trying to make society better.

5 things to shout about at The Mint Museum

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

Wednesday Night Live: Rothko Becoming Rothko

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

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

Dance it out at Mint 2 Move

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

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

Coined in the South: 2022

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

Craft in the Laboratory: The Science of Making Things

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

www.theplaidpenguin.com www.lunahzon.com

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

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

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

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

This tall, elegantly proportioned earthenware vase is one of the great standouts in The Mint Museum’s Historical Decorative Arts Collection according to Curator of Decorative Arts, Brian Gallagher. It was created in 1892 at Rookwood Pottery in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1880 by Maria Longworth Nichols. Nichols had long desired to introduce an authentic Japanese style to her factory’s wares, when she hired china painter Kataro Shirayamadani, born in Kanazawa, Japan. Shirayamadani went on to become one of Rookwood’s most accomplished decorators, and Rookwood became one of the most commercially successful and artistically accomplished of all American art potteries.

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

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

Coined in the South: 2022 spotlights thought-provoking works by artists living in the Southeast

Charlotte, North Carolina (March 15, 2022) — The Mint Museum is pleased to present Coined in the South: 2022, on view March 26–July 3 at Mint Museum Uptown. The second installment of the juried biennial exhibition, created in collaboration with the Young Affiliates of the Mint (YAMs), features works by 41 artists selected from 375 artist submissions.

The name Coined in the South refers to both The Mint Museum’s origins as the first branch of the U.S. Mint, as well as the act of inventing. Many of the works selected for Coined in the South: 2022 reflect on personal narratives and cultural myths, power structures and pressures of society.

Jen Sudul Edwards, PhD, chief curator and curator of contemporary art at The Mint Museum, and Kaitlyn McElwee and Patwin Lawrence, Young Affiliate of the Mint members and Coined in South: 2022 co-chairs, worked together to plan and produce the exhibition.

“An array of mediums, some less conventional than others, make up the collective body of work that converges to become a mellifluent symphony of styles, perspectives, and approaches in the exhibition,” McElwee says.

Jurors for the 2022 exhibition are Hallie Ringle, curator of contemporary art at Birmingham Museum of Art: Lydia Thompson, mixed-media sculptor and professor of art and art history at UNC Charlotte; and Ken West, photographer and digital experience designer and winner of the inaugural Coined in the South People’s Choice Award. A $10,000 grand prize presented by Atrium Health Foundation and $5,000 YAMs Choice Award will be awarded at the preview celebration March 24. A $1,000 People’s Choice Award will be announced May 9 after the viewing public has an opportunity to cast their ballots. Awardees will speak at a panel discussion June 1 as part of the Mint’s Wednesday Night Live program series.

“With so much important, innovative, and nationally recognized art coming out of the South in recent years, YAMs-sponsored exhibitions like this one keep the Mint ahead of the curve. We are consistently showing this art in real time, as it is being made,” Sudul Edwards says. Coined in the South: 2022 is generously presented by Atrium Health Foundation and will be on view March 26–July 3 in the Level 4 Brand Galleries at Mint Museum Uptown.

Artists Selected for Coined in the South: 2022

ELIZABETH ALEXANDER WINSTON SALEM, NC

SUKENYA BEST RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

KAMAU BOSTIC TUPELO, MISSISSIPPI

S. ROSS BROWNE RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

ANNA BUCKNER BANNER ELK, NC

J.B. BURKE CHARLOTTE, NC

LIZA BUTTS BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA

CORNELIUS A. CAKLY COLUMBIA, SC

EMMANUELLE CHAMMAH ATLANTA, GEORGIA

NATALIE CHANEL ROCK HILL, SC

CORINNE COLARUSSO ATLANTA, GEORGIA

TAMECA COLE BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA

CARLA CONTRERAS SANDY SPRINGS, GEORGIA

MARGARET CURTIS TRYON, NC

LINDSY DAVIS NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

ANNA DEAN FORT MILL, SC

BRENT DEDAS COLUMBIA, SC

ERIN ETHRIDGE FLEETWOOD, NC

HOLLY FISCHER RALEIGH, NC

CYNTHIA FLAXMAN FRANK CHARLOTTE, NC

SOPHIE GLENN STARKVILLE, MISSISSIPPI

KING NOBUYOSHI GODWIN RALEIGH, NC

DONTÉ K. HAYES KENNESAW, GEORGIA

EMILY JAHR DAWSONVILLE, GEORGIA

CHLOE KAYLOR MOUNT HOLLY, NC

BRIANNA LITCHFIELD CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE

CHIEKO MURASUGI CHAPEL HILL, NC

MASELA NKOLO DULUTH, GEORGIA

MALIK J. NORMAN WAXHAW, NC

SERENA PERRONE ATLANTA, GEORGIA

KRISTIN ROTHROCK CHARLOTTE, NC

HANNAH SHABAN CHARLOTTE, NC

SHARON SHAPIRO CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA

RANDY SIMMONS PADUCAH, KENTUCKY

LIZ RUNDORFF SMITH TRAVELERS REST, SC

ANNE STAGG TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA

LEIGH SUGGS RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

SABA TAJ DURHAM, NC

CORNELL WATSON DURHAM, NC

AJANE’ WILLIAMS CHARLOTTE, NC

APRIL WRIGHT GERMANTOWN, TENNESSEE

Ticket Information

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

The Mint Museum

Established in 1936 as North Carolina’s first art museum, The Mint Museum is a leading, innovative cultural institution and museum of international art and design. With two locations — Mint Museum Randolph in the heart of Eastover and Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts — the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community.

Young Affiliates of the Mint (YAMs)

The Young Affiliates of the Mint (YAMs) is a diverse group of young professionals promoting and supporting The Mint Museum through cultural engagement, social leadership, and fundraising events. Established in 1990, the YAMs are the premier social arts organization for young professionals in Charlotte.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Mint Museum
Established in 1936 as North Carolina’s first art museum, The Mint Museum is a leading, innovative cultural institution and museum of international art and design. With two locations — Mint Museum Randolph in the heart of Eastover and Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts — the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

An intriguing installation created by the design group Formafantasma in its studio in the Netherlands, Autarchy explores the idea of how we might make functional vessels for the home from locally sourced, natural materials, while paying homage to the craft of baking and cooking. Autarchy is an outstanding example of the way in which designers and makers think and work like scientists, researching and experimenting with materials and formulas to create, solve problems, and achieve amazing results. This piece was made especially for The Mint Museum with the assistance of Mint staff and is on view in the Craft + Design permanent collection galleries at Mint Museum Uptown in the installation Craft in the Laboratory: The Science of Making Things.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesday Night Live Presents 

The QC GarMINT District 

Wednesday, March 2, 2022
Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts

Welcome to the QC GarMINT District, part of the Wednesday Night Live event series, presented by Bank of America. Tonight’s event highlights the Mint’s recognition of fashion designers’ work as art, and is a prelude to the December 2022 exhibition and catalogue Fashion Reimagined that celebrates 50 years of the Mint’s fashion collection. It also links Charlotte designers to the celebration of world culture and street fashion on view in The World of Anna Sui at Mint Museum Randolph through May 1.  

5:30-9 PM

Sounds by DJ Dammit Wesley and cash bar
in Robert Haywood Morrison Atrium 

Pop-up market in Level 5 expansion space
and Mint Museum Store 

7-8 PM

The QC GarMINT District runway fashion show
in Robert Haywood Morrison Atrium 

MEET THE DESIGNERS

TARA DAVIS is the founder of Flow by Tara Davis. Her designs are created with lifestyles of modern, eclectic women on her radar. Inspirations of architect and modern art transform her concepts into chic and sophisticated apparel. Through the aesthetic of style lines, color, and comfortable fabrics, Davis has defined the art of bold simplicity. The foundation of Flow by Tara Davis started with signature dresses and custom designs, evolving into desk-to-dinner styles, including separates, leather belts, and handbags along with her newest design venture in home décor. @flowbytaradavis

MEGAN ILENE is a fiber artist who makes clothes and created the zero- waste, biodegradable clothing brand Megan-Ilene. All materials used are completely biodegradable and many are organic (no pesticides are used to facilitate growing or harvesting). Dyes used are either natural or minimal- impact synthetic with a focus on low-immersion techniques to prevent water waste and are safe for city water reclamation. Patterns are either designed to prevent textile off-fall or any fiber waste is reconfigured, reused, or revitalized creating a closed loop, zero-waste system. Silhouettes are forgiving and functional, and are meant for myriad of body types, shapes, and genders. All items are made in North Carolina and produced by entities receiving a fair, livable wage. @megan.ilene

GORDON HOLLIDAY uses remnant textile and fibers to construct sustainable garments that tell stories about culture, history, and identity in the fashion industry. A Brooklyn Collective Artist in Residence, Holliday received his bachelor’s degree in fine arts with a concentration in photography and a minor in retail studies at UNC Greensboro. He currently is featured in the Waste Management Design Challenge and was published in “Forbes” for the work he has committed in the community. Holliday is an up-cycle designer, utilizing donated fabric/materials, remnant scraps, previously owned items, or thrifted clothing into new garments. RENEW REWORK ROOLĒ is a brand created by Holliday that documents how reconstructed garments reach their final form through up-cycling. His latest project, the Yasuke Collection ROOLE F/W 21, details the story about the first African samurai. Inspired by Japanese quilting techniques (Sashiko and Boro) 10 quilted kimonos were constructed out of donated and leftover materials. @roole.co

BREHON WILLIAMS is a native of Chesapeake, Virginia who currently resides in Charlotte. He graduated from The Art Institute with a bachelor’s degree and is currently working on a Master of Science degree. Initially a womenswear-only designer, Williams has expanded his portfolio to now include menswear. His bold, innovative, and forward-thinking aesthetic has allotted him the opportunity to participate in numerous shows across the United States. The award-winning designer has won numerous design competitions and has been featured in national and international publications, including Veer, New Pittsburgh Courier, Ink Magazine, and The Virginian Pilot.

GEGE GILZENE is the creative designer, lead designer, and owner of Gege J. Gilzene, LLC, a luxury women’s line for every event and a man’s casual, yet upscale, label designed and produced in Atlanta. His designer clothing line is composed of jaw-dropping statement pieces, and wardrobe staples with a hint of distinction. The collection’s masterful use of colors and silhouette, makes the G-three women and men the centerpiece of every event and stand out in a crowd. Every garment is carefully designed and crafted to exude the joie de vivre (to express a cheerful enjoyment of life, an exultation of spirit) and sexiness, while maintaining character, and class. gegegilzene.com 

THANK YOU 

The QC GarMINT District is coordinated in partnership with Davita Galloway, co-owner of DUPP&SWATT, and Charlotte-based stylist Jennifer Michelle, owner of J Model Executives. Charlotte influencer Ohavia Phillips will emcee the event, music provided by DJ Dammit Wesley, plus an additional performance by B&C Ballroom, and cash bar. Admission is free, but seating is first come, first served. 

POP-UP MARKET VENDORS

Level 5 Expansion Space

• Ann Home
• BornNaked Beauty
• Dannie’s Art
• Dark Matter
• Duck Lane Vintage
• Flows Grand
• Glitter Carnage
• Kiki Earrings
• Love Simple Co.
• Maisy Made
• Mo’s Art
• MeadowBleu
• Morgan L. Robinson
• Mudcloth Consign
• Pose it up, CLT
• Prettee Petals Boutique
• Public Interest CLT
• Shay B Shop
• Simply Unique
• Smoking Repeats and Luxury Add-ons
• T. Byrd’s Vintage
• Thrift with JT
• Thank You Mother Earth
• True Beauti Cosmetics
• Upcycle Arts
• Vintage Brats Boutique
• Zuleyma Creative Studio

Mint Museum Store

• The Art Spread
• Bonitos Hats
• Byrdiesnest Art Studio
• Cary Langhorne Caldwell
• Donna Pajama
• Flow by Tara Davis
• Janellemarie Accessories
• Joél Baang Art & Design Studio
• Light This Bitch Candle Co.
• Luca + B
• Pretty Pressed
• Succor Beauty
• Soultry Reads
• A Temple of the Moon

Marcus Amerman, a multimedia artist who is best known for his pictorial beadwork that combines Native American tradition with imagery from contemporary popular culture, designed and created these two cuff bracelets depicting the Dalai Lama and agents Mulder and Scully from the television hit series X Files. Amerman grew up in a family of artists and learned beading at age 10 from his Choctaw aunt who had married into the Hopi tribe. In 1982, he drew upon the multitude of cultural influences he had experienced to create his own style of beadwork.

The bracelets are on view in Craft + Design permanent collection galleries and the Craft in the Laboratory: The Science of Making Things.

The Mint Museum from Home is Presented By Chase.

Assistant Curator of Craft, Design, and Fashion, Rebecca Elliot offers insight on the sculpture Weathervane by artist-blacksmith Brent Kington, part of a series of sculptures inspired by the weathervanes of Kington’s youth in Kansas. With nothing but gravity holding the two parts together, Weathervane is able to spin, but also to pitch and roll slightly in a breeze or if touched. While the sculpture is meant to be enjoyed indoors rather than to gauge the wind’s direction on a farm, it alludes to nature with the two differently sized disks representing the sun and moon. 

Weathervane is on view in the Craft + Design permanent collection galleries as part of Craft in the Lab: The Science of Making Things.

The Mint Museum from Home is Presented By Chase.

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

‘Broken, but in one piece’

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

By Page Leggett

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

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

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

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

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

From coop to kitchen to studio

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

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

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

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

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

‘A place we can call home’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Evolution of an artist

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

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

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

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

‘My daughter ate it’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This story previously published in the Winter 2021 Inspired member magazine.

Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  

‘Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?”

By Rubie Britt-Height, director of community relations at The Mint Museum

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1963) was a major American icon whose life, though cut short far too soon, profoundly impacted the state of our country in the 1950s, 1960s, and today. He was an American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a federal holiday that marks the birth of this profoundly courageous leader who addressed the challenges existing in the United States relative to poverty, racism, and war.  

The Mint observes the official Martin Luther King Jr. holiday throughout the month of January with goals ongoing throughout the year to invoke dialogue and transformative programming, exhibitions, and equity for diverse artists, vendors, and staff. The museum is committed to its mission, vision, and strategic plan, of which diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) are a part.  

Throughout 2022, the Mint will provide members and guests opportunities to view and have dialogue about meaningful works of art, attend performing arts programming, read historical nuggets about artists of color, and recount through socially conscious works of art the ongoing challenges identified by Dr. King’s speeches, writings, and sermons that continue to illuminate “the dream still deferred” in many ways.  

Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech spoke metaphorically and strategically to an environment that blighted African Americans, with the hope of a transformed country of equity, equality, justice, and fairness. 

The Jim Crow Museum notes that “the civil rights movement reached its peak when 250,000 blacks and whites gathered at the Lincoln Memorial for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which included the demand for passage of meaningful civil rights laws when Dr. King, Jr. delivered his famous speech.”  Among those words, throughout his ministry are many other notable quotes that raise our consciousness and speak to courage, community, and commitment to a better America for all. 

Here are just a few of his thought-provoking and enlightened perspectives as one influenced by his Christian faith, Ghandi’s non-violence philosophy, and his commitment to balance the scale of humanity in America: 

“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.” 

“A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.” 

“Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.” 

“Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but it comes through continuous struggle.” 

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” 

“The time is always right to do what is right.” 

“We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.” 

We invite you view this curator video featuring Senior Curator of American art Jonathan Stuhlman, PhD, about the painting Selma by artist Barbra Pennington that focuses on the events that unfolded 55 years ago in Selma, Alabama. 

Q&A with legendary fashion icon André Leon Talley 

The curator of the Mint’s exhibition The Glamour and Romance of Oscar de la Renta and star of the fashion world spoke to the Mint’s director of public relations and publications in 2018 just before the opening of the exhibition. Following is the article that published in the Winter 2018 INSPIRED member magazine.

By Leigh Dyer  

CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW YOU GOT TO KNOW OSCAR DE LA RENTA? 

My first meeting with Oscar was in December 1975, when he and his first wife, the late Francoise de la Renta, invited me at the last minute to their table for two at the annual Met Costume Institute dinner. It was held in December in those days, and it was a very small, intimate society dinner and celebrity-filled. Diana Vreeland had spoken so highly of me to the de la Rentas that he simply made space for me at his already seated table. 

 WHAT WERE YOUR IMPRESSIONS OF HIM? 

My first impression and my lasting impression, was he was a great man of impeccability, elegance, well-groomed, and polite. He also had a wonderful charm and smile. His whole being simply exuded a natural nobility of goodness and sunshine, warmth, laughter, and generosity. All the real things that matter. I miss him every day and his second wife, Annette, was also a close friend of the first Mrs. de la Renta. They both love beauty and comfort, nothing over the top, as the late Bunny Mellon said, “nothing should be noticed.” 

 WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MEMORY OF HIM? 

 I loved watching Oscar dance and sing. He was the best dancer and did the best merengue. He was so soigné, even dancing. And swimming, in his native Dominican Republic. He also had a voice that was as rich and warm as his heart. He was kind, but he also had a wicked sense of humor, loved telling the anecdotal historical narrative of French high society in fashion-for example he went to some of the famous Paris society balls. And I loved him telling the narrative of those glamorous women. 

WHY DO YOU THINK HIS DESIGNS WERE SO SUCCESSFUL AT CONNECTING WITH THE PUBLIC AND POPULAR CULTURE? 

 His designs impact everyone, from the 8-year-old girl to the 80-year-old grand dame. I fondly remember a young girl being brought by her parents to de Young in San Francisco for the retrospective on Oscar, and she was so impressed by the pale pink tulle dress and hat and veil, inspired by Madame Bovary. It was actually a wedding dress in a Pierre Balmain collection in Paris, designed beautifully by Oscar. So romantic, so rich in romantic history. Oscar always wanted to make women beautiful; he didn’t care about being an artist, he wanted to make dresses that were worn and admired by the women who loved them. Embedded in every bow and every nuance of taffeta flourish, every flounce of velvet edged in sable and embroidery, was his sense of romance. The body of work from his beginnings at Lanvin Castillo to his early youth in Spain anchor him in the historical context of romantic and glamorous design. He loved so much to realize clothes that were exuberantly baroque in surface, yet weighted in elegant simplicity. 

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS HIS MOST IMPORTANT LEGACY IN THE FASHION WORLD? 

There are three designers I think of who have left a lasting mark in the realm of modern fashion that is romantic: Oscar de la Renta, Valentino, and Yves Saint Laurent. All three of these titans of talent, I know or knew personally. In the hands of each, a dress, a coat, or a suit became a poem! 

CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH LONGTIME MINT SUPPORTER MARIANNA SHERIDAN? 

I worked closely with Marianna and she was quiet, yet fiercely passionate about Oscar de la Renta. She loved the designer so much, she had a family home built in the Dominican Republic. I always looked forward to her e-mails with another glorious find. She frequently would seek my advice on if she should or should not acquire certain looks, but she was somehow drawn to the glorious pieces that always reflected the best of Oscar’s designs. Under her direction, the de la Renta archives became a wonderful resource, a literal goldmine of offerings in every category. We were friends, and I had a deep respect for her dedication and her work. She had a love of beauty, luxury, and elegance.  

WHAT ARE YOU HOPING THAT VISITORS TO THE EXHIBITION WILL COME AWAY WITH? 

I hope visitors wi11 take away a breathtaking sense of Oscar’s love of texture and fabric, color, and complex layerings of details of the world of couture conceits. Romantic ruffles and the glory of Spain’s culture in the arts, and flamenco, the bullring, and the idea of the warmth of the sun in Sevilla on a beautiful day is somehow in the very cut of the cloth. More than anything, he was a true romantic and loved life, and he showed that in his love of gardens, garden motifs, flowers. 

THIS EXHIBITION HAS COINCIDED WITH THE PREMIERE OF YOUR NEW DOCUMENTARY, “THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ANDRE.” 

I am proud the documentary opens at the same period this spring as the exhibit. Kate Novack, director, narrates brilliantly my humble beginnings in Durham, N.C. and how I soldiered through the “chiffon trenches” for decades to arrive at the heights of my career, landing at Vogue for nearly two decades. I am still aligned to Vogue as a contributing editor and consider Dame Anna Wintour a close friend. She has supported me throughout my career and I am blessed to have her [in my life]. The documentary received the Whistler prize last December at the Whistler Film Festival, as World Documentary. 

 It’s a great honor to curate this, my third exhibition since Oscar de la Renta died. I considered Oscar one of my close friends and I think of him every day as I do so many wonderful people who have passed away: Yves Saint Laurent, Diana Vreeland, Andy Warhol (who gave me my first job in fashion in 1975), and Azzedine Alaia. I am also proud of the books I published in collaboration with SCAD in Savannah, Georgia, published by Rizzoli, Little Black Dress and Oscar de la Renta: His Legendary World of Style. 

Artist Lydia Thompson at work in her home studio.

On the daily: 24 hours in the life of artist Lydia Thompson

By Liz Rothaus Bertrand

For Lydia Thompson, a working artist and professor of ceramics at UNC Charlotte, the past is always present. She is fascinated by “our abodes,” and how we interact with them. Inside these spaces, we carry our own stories, as well as those of former inhabitants and vestiges from our lives elsewhere. Thompson’s recent work focuses on issues such as forced displacement, gentrification, and what gets left behind when a home is abandoned. 

“You can see the emotions of a structure when it starts to deteriorate, especially when it’s been abandoned,” Thompson says. “You can see layers and layers of cultures that lived in there.” 

As Thompson wraps up a three-year term as UNC Charlotte’s chairperson of the department of art and art history, she’s also looking toward the future. After spending much of her career in leadership positions at universities throughout the United States, she is eager to return to a schedule with more time for teaching, studio work, and leading community workshops. 

“I really love working with the community,” she says, “because the artwork just sits in the gallery and I want to bring it alive.”  

While her weekdays have been mostly filled with administrative duties she finds time for studio work on the weekend. Take a look at a typical Saturday for the renowned ceramic artist, filled with her sketchbook, the kiln, and some thought provoking documentaries. 

Lightly edited for brevity and clarity.

5 AM: I wake up and start my day with some personal reading. The books I’m reading are always centered around projects I’m working on. Books I’ve recently read include Feeding the Ghosts by Fred D’Aguiar, Root Shock by Mindy Thompson Fullilove, and The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson.

6 AM: I check emails, maybe look at Instagram, and have two cups of coffee, followed by a full breakfast of pancakes or eggs. I reserve the yogurt and oatmeal for Monday through Friday. I keep a sketchbook nearby at all times. Because I don’t have a lot of time to work in the studio, I’m always making lists.

7:30 AM: I head down to my basement studio — I am happy to finally have a dedicated studio space — and open the kiln. Even though I know what the result is going to be, I love the anticipation. The excitement of seeing a fired piece never goes away. 

Because slabs are heavy, I work on them while I have the most energy of the day. I spend a couple of hours focused rolling out and flipping slabs. I use a template and make a cardboard model before I actually cut anything out to be sure it’s going to work when I put it together.  

While working, I usually put on the television show “Columbo” or listen to a podcast. I feel like detective Columbo is the underdog who is misunderstood. I think of myself and my career in terms of being misunderstood sometimes. People see me and never think I’m the director or the person in the leadership role at UNC Charlotte because I’m an African American woman. They’re always surprised when they find out who I am. 

I also enjoy listening to podcasts. I love Brené Brown’s “Unlocking Us,” and “Business of HYPE,” with host Jeff Staple. 

9:30 AM: If I have slabs set up, I start building the interior structure and putting the walls together. I start busting up things, making rubble so I can dip all of it in glaze and put it in the piece.  

11:30 AM: It’s time to glaze. I look at the wooden bases and check the inventory of what needs to be done before setting up. I usually glaze my pieces three or four times. 

Noon: I take a lunch break, which is usually leftovers — homemade pizza, maybe a salad or a tuna sandwich — and enjoy time in my backyard with a quick stretch and check on the garden my fiancé planted. We have green beans, tomatoes, cucumber, squash, lettuce, and green peppers.

1:30 PM: Back to the studio. I set up the piece a little more and then do some glazing. This takes time and can be tedious because I put masking tape where I want another color to appear. But it gives me the result I’m after. I glaze for an hour and a half and then let it dry.

2 PM: I get another cup of coffee that I don’t really need.

3 PM: I’m always working on two or three pieces at the same time, so it’s helpful to review where I am with projects. I go back to my sketchbook and then I repeat the cycle I began at the start of the day, except for the slab rolling. 

Studio time is so important. It’s dedicated time to work and to review work you’ve done, especially the work that wasn’t successful. Even though you want to throw it in the trash, you’ve got to look at it and say, “Why did this not work?”

6 PM: It’s time to get dinner ready. We try to eat healthy, and I walk every day after dinner and sometimes in the morning, too. I also stretch. It helps to keep your body in tune, especially if you’re doing ceramics.

7:30 PM: My fiancé and I unwind watching movies, but I’m sketching all the time — at night, when I’m in bed or while I’m looking at the TV. I look through the sketches and pull out the ones I think will work. 

We like to watch suspense, thriller, love stories, and futuristic movies. I love documentaries. With the Black Lives Matter movement in focus, I’ve been watching documentaries, such as Black Wall Street, Amend, Coded Bias, and I Am Not Your Negro about African American history. They’re tear jerkers for me because this is reality. I think we’ve come really far, but the only way we can change certain mentalities is to start when people are very young. It’s hard to understand unless you actually walk in someone else’s shoes. I just don’t want people’s eyes to roll when we continue to have these conversations because it really has impacted lives. The way you treat a certain group of people still has an impact on their life and where they are in this country. There’s just no way around it.

9:30 PM: I go to bed fairly early. By 9:30 or 10 o’clock, I’m out. I’m done. 

Liz Rothaus Bertrand is a writer and editor based in Charlotte who is passionate about the arts.  

Beauford Delaney was one of the most highly regarded Black artists working with abstraction in the 1940s and ’50s. Senior Curator of American Art at The Mint Museum Jonathan Stuhlman, PhD, discusses Delaney’s captivating untitled painting from 1959. Its energy, life and gorgeous palette of dashingly applied yellows, pinks, blues, and greens, are among key factors that distinguished it from other works by Delaney. 

The Mint Museum from Home is Presented By Chase.

The Birth of Venus, after Botticelli (Pictures of Junk), from 2008 by the American artist Vik Muniz is a play on the 15th-century Renaissance masterpiece Birth of Venus by Botticelli. To create his image, Muniz and assistants assembled thousands of pieces of recyclables on a warehouse floor and photographed the assembly from a high platform. Muniz’s images are a critical reflection on the vast waste created throughout the world and its ability to be recycled into compelling, beautiful objects.

The Birth of Venus, after Botticelli (Pictures of Junk) is on view in the contemporary galleries on Level 4 at Mint Museum Uptown.

The Mint Museum from Home is Presented By Chase.

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

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

For Immediate Release 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ticket Information 

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

About The Mint Museum  

Established in 1936 as North Carolina’s first art museum, The Mint Museum is a leading, innovative cultural institution and museum of international art and design. With two locations—Mint Museum Randolph in the heart of Eastover and Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts on South Tryon Street—the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community. 

Contact: 

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

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

Mint Museum Senior Curator of American Art, Jonathan Stuhlman, PhD, discusses Mary Cassatt’s Baby Charles Looking Over His Mother’s Shoulder (No. 3). Painted at the turn of the 20th century, this is a striking image of the artist’s best-known subject: the intimate relationship between mothers and children. It is even more noteworthy for its combination of distinctive features: the unusual pose of the sitters, the use of a mirror to reveal the face of the mother whose back is turned to the viewer, the tightly-compressed space of the composition, and the expansive use of the color. These qualities distinguish it from many other treatments of the subject by the artist.

The Mint Museum from Home is Presented By Chase.

Jen Sudul Edwards, PhD, chief curator and curator of contemporary art shares insight on Transporter, a sculpture by the New York City artist E.V. Day. In this work, Day’s undergraduate studies of nudes and objects in still life collide with her study of architecture and the psychology of space. She explodes those artistic concerns with gender theory that relates both to women and queer culture which was coming into its own in the 1980s and ’90s when Day started her Exploded Couture series.

The Mint Museum from Home is Presented By Chase.

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

For Immediate Release 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ticket Information

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

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About The Mint Museum 

Established in 1936 as North Carolina’s first art museum, The Mint Museum is a leading, innovative cultural institution and museum of international art and design. With two locations—Mint Museum Randolph in the heart of Eastover and Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts on South Tryon Street—the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community. 

PNC Bank

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

Anna Sui

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

The Fashion and Textile Museum

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

Contact: 

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

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

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

For Immediate Release 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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About The Mint Museum 

Established in 1936 as North Carolina’s first art museum, The Mint Museum is a leading, innovative cultural institution and museum of international art and design. With two locations—Mint Museum Randolph in the heart of Eastover and Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts on South Tryon Street—the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community. 

Contact: 

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

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

Four uptown Charlotte cultural institutions partner to launch new event series Wednesday Night Live

For Immediate Release 

Charlotte, North Carolina (October 25, 2021) — The four institutions that comprise the Levine Center for the Arts in uptown Charlotte — The Mint Museum, The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, and the Knight Theater — are partnering to launch a new weekly event series known as Wednesday Night Live. Presented by Bank of America, Wednesday Night Live will include free admission to the three museums between 5-9 p.m. every Wednesday, as well as live entertainment or programming at one of the four institutions each week. The special programming, which will rotate among the partners, includes everything from Brazilian dance performances to spoken-word artists to film screenings. The first Wednesday Night Live will be October 27 at Mint Museum Uptown, as the Youth Orchestras of Charlotte perform a series of Halloween-themed nocturnes — a nod to the Impressionist nocturnes on view in the Mint’s John Leslie Breck: American Impressionist exhibition, currently on view.

While cross-collaborations and after-hour programs are not new to these cultural institutions, the idea of Wednesday Night Live grew out of a desire to further solidify partnerships between four of the city’s key arts institutions and to rebuild engagement within the heart of uptown Charlotte, an area hit particularly hard by the economic impact of Covid-19. The concept was developed in conversations with Bank of America and the chief executives of each institution: Todd D. Smith of the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art; Todd A. Herman of The Mint Museum, David. R. Taylor of the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, and Tom Gabbard of Blumenthal Performing Arts Center and the Knight Theater.

All organizations will follow CDC guidelines, as well as state and local regulations, with regard to Covid-19 protocols. In accordance, all attendees of indoor events must wear a mask. “We believe in the power of the arts to help communities thrive and to create greater cultural understanding,” said Kieth Cockrell, president of Bank of America Charlotte. “Extending the hours and offering complimentary admission on Wednesday nights offers our community even more access to the city’s best art and programming.”

Wednesday Night Live 2021 Schedule
October 27: The Mint Museum and the Youth Orchestras of Charlotte present a series of Halloweenthemed nocturnes — a nod to the Impressionist nocturnes on view in the Mint’s John Leslie Breck: American Impressionist exhibition, currently on view. Cash bar.

November 3: The Mint Museum presents a performance and videos by Cherrie Yu, a fall 2021 McColl Center artist-in-residence, in collaboration with the McColl Center and the dance department at UNC Charlotte dance. Cash bar.

November 10: Bechtler Museum of Modern Art presents a Brazilian dance performance and drop-in tours of Isaac Julien: Lina Bo Bardi – A Marvellous Entanglement.

November 17: Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture presents an evening of Spoken Word featuring Boris “Bluz” Rogers that will include a writing workshop and a live performance from several esteemed poets and spoken word artists.

November 24: Head to the Knight Theater lobby as Blumenthal Performing Arts shows off some of its nerdiest content from its new Nerdy Night Out series. Enjoy a sampling of the Heroes Debate show, the Ladies Who Rocked History Show and the new Science for Comedians Show. Start off with a little Biology 101 with Professor Andrew Goff as he discusses the biology of hops and barley, and then get a taste of history with Jenny Kabool and Tiffany Bryant Jackson, as they share about the unknown women from the first Thanksgiving. Then round out the night with a fun-filled debate about which superhero would host the best Thanksgiving meal featuring Charlotte’s top local comedians.

December 1: The Mint Museum film showing of Sisters with Transistors, the remarkable story of electronic music’s female pioneers, composers who embraced machines and their liberating technologies to transform how we produce and listen to music today. Enjoy popcorn and a cash bar.

December 8: The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art features music and performances and drop-in tours of all exhibitions.

December 15: Join Blumenthal Performing Arts for outdoor, holiday cheer at the Knight Theater Plaza and on Levine Avenue of the Arts. The evening will include Christmas carols performed by a local traditional choir, a local trap choir, and a few Blumenthal Performing Arts Acoustic Grace alumni performers. Stroll along Levine Avenue and do some “reverse caroling,” where you visit different performance stations, rather than have carolers ring your doorbell. Make the experience complete with a cup of apple cider or hot chocolate.

December 22: No programming. Free admission 5-9 p.m. at the three museums.

December 29: Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture will celebrate Ujamaa (or cooperative economics), the fourth principle of Kwanzaa, with a candle-making workshop, an African dance class, and an informational session about the history and traditions of Kwanzaa. The Gantt will also feature local artisans and an array of hand-crafted treasures for sale during the evening.

For 2022 programming, visit mintmuseum.org, bechtler.org, ganttcenter.org, or blumenthalarts.org

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About the Wednesday Night Live Partners

Bechtler Museum of Modern Art
The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art is the only museum in the Southern United States exclusively dedicated to European and American Modern Art and its legacies. Capturing a remarkable era of art history from the collection of the Zürich-based Bechtler family, the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art collection includes works by some of the most important and influential figures of modernism, including Alexander Calder, Le Corbusier, Edgar Degas, Max Ernst, Alberto Giacometti, Barbara Hepworth, Jasper Johns, Paul Klee, Alfred
Manessier, Joan Miró, Kenneth Noland, Pablo Picasso, Bridget Riley, Nicolas de Staël, Andy Warhol and a wealth of other 20th-century notables. The museum, designed by Swiss architect Mario Botta, prominently features the Niki de Saint Phalle’s iconic Le Grand Oiseau de Feu sur l’Arche on its entrance plaza. Located in the heart of Uptown, the Bechtler is a light-filled community space created to inspire and engage firsttime visitors and long-term supporters alike.

Blumenthal Performing Arts
Blumenthal Performing Arts serves the Carolinas as a leading cultural, entertainment and education provider. For more information, call 704.372.1000 or visit BlumenthalArts.org. Blumenthal Performing Arts receives operating support from the North Carolina Arts Council. Blumenthal Performing Arts is also supported by PNC Bank, sponsor of the PNC Broadway Lights.

Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture
The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture is a multidisciplinary arts institution located in the heart of Charlotte, North Carolina. Founded in 1974, the Gantt Center’s mission is to present, preserve, and celebrate excellence in the art, history, and culture of African-Americans and those of African descent through visual and literary arts, dance, music, film, educational programs, theatre productions, and community outreach. The Gantt Center features fine art exhibitions from around the world and is home to the nationally celebrated John and Vivian Hewitt Collection of African-American Art, which was generously donated by Bank of America, and is accessible online. Named for Charlotte civic leader and former mayor Harvey Bernard Gantt, the Gantt Center is housed in an iconic, award-winning structure designed by architect Philip Freelon, co-designer of the Smithsonian National Museum for African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). For more information about the Gantt Center, visit ganttcenter.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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 welcomes all to be inspired and transformed through the power of art and creativity. mintmuseum.org

Media contacts

Bechtler Museum of Modern Art
Hillary Hardwick, Deputy Director for Marketing and Communications
hillary.hardwick@bechtler.org | 704.353.9204 (o)

Lauren Bunch, Assistant Director for Marketing
lauren.bunch@bechtler.org | 704.353.9208 (o)

Blumenthal Performing Arts
Stephanie Dowds, Director of Programming
sdowds@blumenthalarts.org

Danny Knaub, Vice President of Marketing
danny.knaub@blumenthalarts.org

Rebecca Bereiter, Communications and Creative Content Producer
rbereiter@blumenthalarts.org

Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture
Bonita Buford, Chief Operating Officer
704.547.3700

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

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

Jonathan Stuhlman, PhD, senior curator of American art at The Mint Museum, discusses the color, light and shadow, and inspiration behind artist John Leslie Breck’s painting “Suzanne Hoschedé-Monet Sewing.” It is one of fewer than a dozen paintings of Breck to be held in a public collection. John Leslie Breck was instrumental in introducing Impressionism to America. The exhibition “John Leslile Breck: American Impressionist” is on view at The Mint Museum’s uptown location through January 2, 2022. The exhibition includes this painting, as well as more than 70 other paintings by Breck.

The Mint Museum from Home is Presented By Chase.

Suzanne Hoschedé-Monet Sewing, was created in 1888 by American artist John Leslie Breck. Breck was born in 1860, grew up near Boston, and trained in Germany, Belgium, and France. In 1887, he and seven of his colleagues visited the village of Giverny which lies approximately 40 miles northwest of Paris where the French Impressionist painter Claude Monet had settled in 1883. 

Suzanne Hoschedé-Monet Sewing was painted in the summer of 1888, not long after Breck had converted to Impressionism. In the painting, Suzanne sits in dappled sunlight under a leafy tree and in front of a field of golden hay. Breck’s skill at capturing the play of light and shadow is on full display. A canvas by Monet, completed at the same time, features his stepdaughter Blanche at work at her easel and in the distance, Suzanne, who peers over Breck’s shoulder as he, too, works on a painting.   

See this painting and 70 others by John Leslie Breck in the exhibition John Leslie Breck: American Impressionist on view at Mint Museum Uptown through January 2, 2022.

Credit: John Leslie Breck (American, 1860-99). “Suzanne Hoschedé-Monet Sewing,” 1888, oil on canvas. Gift of the Mint Museum Auxiliary and courtesy Heather James Fine Art. 2016.25

The Mint Museum from Home is Presented By Chase.

Virgil Ortiz was born there and lives in Cochiti. Coming from a place where clay and life are synonymous, Ortiz did not know that making things out of clay was art until he was a teenager. The earliest Cochiti hand-built clay figures may have been inspired by circus performers or other itinerant entertainers, since the characters are usually depicted in an active state with an open mouth, suggesting singing. Those early figures were much smaller in size than Ortiz’s sculpture, but the way he made and decorated this form is consistent with the way historic objects, including those made by his mother and grandmother, were made. This figure was made with clay that Virgil Ortiz collected on Cochiti Pueblo land, and it has a characteristic cream and black body.

Credit: Virgil Ortiz (American, 1969-). “Siamese Twins,” 1997, clay, stain, and slip. Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice. 2002.124.1. (c) Virgil Ortiz Creations 1997.

The Mint Museum from Home is Presented By Chase.

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

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

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

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

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

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The Mint Museum

Established in 1936 as North Carolina’s first art museum, The Mint Museum is a leading, innovative cultural institution and museum of international art and design. With two locations — Mint Museum Randolph in the heart of Eastover and Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts — the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community.

Contact:

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

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

The Mint Museum renames its planned giving program The Dwelle-McBryde Society in honor of longtime supporter Neill McBryde’s commitment to the museum

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Charlotte, North Carolina (July 20, 2021) — The Mint Museum’s planned giving program, The Dwelle Society, is being renamed The Dwelle-McBryde Society in honor of Charlotte attorney Neill McBryde’s steadfast support of the museum.

McBryde was recognized as one of the top 45 estate planning lawyers in the U.S. by Town & Country magazine in the course of his career, and was named in Best Lawyers in America, Trusts and Estates, 1983-2021; Litigation & Controversy – Tax, 1983-2021; Tax Law 1983-2021. He also was a leader in the Charlotte-based Moore & Van Allen law firm for decades. A champion of legacy giving, he understands the value of planned giving programs for the long-term sustainability of institutions and nonprofits, whether The Mint Museum or his beloved Myers Park Presbyterian Church and its outreach ministries. This honor also marks the occasion of McBryde’s retirement from the practice of law at the end of 2021, after many years of dedicated service to his clients, the firm, and the community.McBryde was a driving force behind the establishment of the Mint’s Dwelle Society in 1996. In 2010, he was a founding member of the Mint’s Crown Society, an annual giving circle comprised of museum patrons contributing $1,200 or more to The Mint Museum’s Annual Fund. He also served on the Mint’s board of trustees for multiple terms, once as board chair, as well as on numerous committees, and is now a member of The Mint Museum’s advisory board. In addition, his wife Peggy McBryde served as the publicity committee chair for the 1997 Antiques Show and co-chaired the Antiques Show committee in 1998, and has held multiple committee leadership roles with the Mint Museum Auxiliary.

The Mint Museum’s planned giving program was originally named for Mary Myers Dwelle, who in 1933 began to raise funds to relocate the Charlotte Mint building to house the first art museum in North Carolina. Her pioneering efforts inspired the establishment of the Dwelle Society, now the Dwelle-McBryde Society, which recognizes the generosity of donors who make a planned gift or bequest to The Mint Museum.

“This renaming and the generous gifts in honor of Neill McBryde have invigorated our planned giving program at the Mint,” says Todd A. Herman, PhD, president and CEO at The Mint Museum. “We are optimistic that Neill’s stature in the community and commitment to lifelong giving will serve as a catalyst for growth.”

Moore & Van Allen has been a longtime corporate supporter of The Mint Museum and has sponsored many exhibitions, ranging from Portals to the Past: British Ceramics 1675-1825 (currently on view at Mint Museum Randolph) to The Glamour & Romance of Oscar de la Renta in 2018, and most recently Classic Black: The Basalt Sculpture of Wedgwood and His Contemporaries in 2020.

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The Mint Museum

Established in 1936 as North Carolina’s first art museum, The Mint Museum is a leading, innovative cultural institution and museum of international art and design. With two locations — Mint Museum Randolph in the heart of Eastover and Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts — the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community.

Moore & Van Allen

Moore & Van Allen PLLC (www.mvalaw.com), founded in 1950, has more than 330 attorneys serving clients in over 60 areas of focus. The attorneys at Moore & Van Allen provide sophisticated legal services within nationally recognized Litigation, Corporate, Financial Services, Intellectual Property, Bankruptcy, Wealth, Trust and Estate, and Commercial Real Estate law practices for international banks and financial services companies, domestic and global manufacturers, retailers, individuals, and healthcare and technology organizations. The firm is ranked in the prestigious “Am Law 200” list, and U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers have recognized Moore & Van Allen in their 2021 “Best Law Firms” rankings, both regionally and nationally.

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

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

The Mint Museum organizes the first-ever retrospective of works by Impressionist painter John Leslie Breck in its exhibition John Leslie Breck: American Impressionist

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Charlotte, North Carolina (July 16, 2021) — The Mint Museum is pleased to announce the premiere of John Leslie Breck: American Impressionist, an exhibition showcasing more than 70 works by one of the first American artists to introduce Impressionism to the United States. The exhibition — the first ever organized by a museum to be dedicated to works by John Leslie Breck — will run from September 18, 2021 through January 2, 2022 at The Mint Museum’s uptown Charlotte location (known as Mint Museum Uptown).

Drawn from public and private collections, as well as the acclaimed Terra Foundation collection of American art, many of the works have not been on public view in more than a century. In addition to Breck’s landscape-inspired works, the exhibition highlights his exploration of new styles and approaches to painting in the years before his early death at the age of 38. More than 10 related paintings by Breck’s French and American Impressionist colleagues, including Theodore Robinson, Willard Metcalf, and Lila Cabot Perry, are also featured in the exhibition.The exhibition, presented by Bank of America, is inspired by The Mint Museum’s acquisition of Breck’s canvas Suzanne Hoschedé-Monet Sewing. “I have been an admirer of John Leslie Breck’s beautiful, trailblazing paintings ever since my first encounter with his work at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in the late 1990s,” says Jonathan Stuhlman, senior curator of American art at The Mint Museum. “When we had the opportunity to acquire one for The Mint Museum in 2016, it was the perfect catalyst for the museum to begin organizing this exhibition — the first retrospective of his work since his death in 1899.”

“The importance of John Leslie Breck’s works and his introduction of French Impressionism to an American audience has largely gone unrecognized but is an important part of American art history,” says Todd A. Herman, PhD, president and CEO of The Mint Museum. “Through dedicated research and work by the staff at the Mint, Breck and his beautiful paintings will be brought back into the conversation of American art.”In addition, a 208-page, fully illustrated exhibition catalogue will be available when the exhibition opens in September. Stuhlman collaborated with leading Breck scholars Royal Leith and Jeffrey Brown to bring together Breck’s finest paintings, as well as to create the first ever monograph produced about the artist, which also includes contributions from Erica Hirshler, PhD, and Katherine Bourguignon, PhD. After debuting at The Mint Museum, John Leslie Breck: American Impressionist will travel to the Dixon Gallery and Gardens in Memphis, Tennessee in the winter of 2022 and the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, Iowa in the spring of 2022.

“Bank of America believes the arts are fundamental to a culturally healthy community,” shared President of Bank of America Charlotte Kieth Cockrell. “We are pleased to support The Mint Museum in hosting the Breck exhibit to showcase his talent, encourage appreciation of Impressionism and inspire future artists.”

John Leslie Breck: American Impressionist is generously presented by Bank of America, with additional support provided by The Mr. and Mrs. Raymond J. Horowitz Foundation for the Arts and the Mint Museum Auxiliary. Individual support provided by Charlie and Susan Murray in honor of Welborn and Patty Alexander, and Mary and Dick Payne.

Ticket Information

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

The Mint Museum

Established in 1936 as North Carolina’s first art museum, The Mint Museum is a leading, innovative cultural institution and museum of international art and design. With two locations — Mint Museum Randolph in the heart of Eastover and Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts — the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community.

Bank of America

Bank of America is one of the world’s leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 66 million consumer and small business clients with approximately 4,300 retail financial centers, including approximately 2,700 lending centers, 2,600 financial centers with a Consumer Investment Financial Solutions Advisor and approximately 2,400 business centers; approximately 17,000 ATMs; and award-winning digital banking with approximately 40 million active users, including approximately 31 million mobile users. Bank of America is a global leader in wealth management, corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry leading support to approximately 3 million small business households through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations across the United States, its territories and approximately 35 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.Contact: Caroline Portillo, Senior Director of Marketing & Communications at The Mint Museum
caroline.portillo@mintmuseum.org | 704.488.6874 (c)

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

Bertil Vallien is recognized as the pioneer of the sand-casting technique, in which molten glass is poured into a firm sand mold. Much like the cire perdue or lost wax technique, the delicate nature of the mold material prevents more than one sculpture from being produced. Thus, Vallien’s sand-cast sculptures are unique works of art.

One of the most prominent vessel themes in his stoneware sculptures of the late 1970’s, the boat became a hallmark of Vallien’s later sand-cast sculptures (1984-88). Vallien’s boats are containers for messages and metaphors for man’s existence. They explore universal themes, like the journey of life and the unknown destination.

The Mint Museum from Home is Presented By Chase.

Show your pride with these rainbow-themed items from the Mint Museum Store

Rainbow & raindrops Kit throw Blanket

Cozy up in any space with this machine washable 50″x60″ rainbow throw. $130.

Rainbow Catch-all

Keep your small treasures safe at night with a cute catch all that shows off your pride 24/7. $8.

Unicorn and Rainbow Magnetic Lapel Pin

These luxury-quality 22-karat gold gilt lapel pins are decked with vivid cloisonné colors and have a magnetic backing. They are Delicate enough for your favorite tops but with magnetic strength that allows them to be worn on even heavy-weight denim. $14.

Wide Calf Pride Knee Sock

Pride only happens once per year, but your own personal pride is an everyday thing that you carry wherever you go. These STRETCH-IT Team Pride Wide Calf Socks are the perfect pair to wear to Pride this year. Tell people who you are, and show them that you support the ongoing fight for equality. $12.

Liberty Rainbow Puzzle

Artist Naomi Devil combines whimsy and a masterful painting technique in this playful puzzle celebrating difference, beauty, and freedom. This 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle is thoughtfully commissioned and beautifully designed to offer a screen-free, relaxing way to practice contemplative mindfulness or share a gentle cooperative activity with friends and family. $24.

Great Gays Heat Activated Mug

What do Walt Whitman, Oscar Wilde, and Andy Warhol have in common? If you’re thinking, “They were all gay,” you’re only half right. They’re also all included in this amazing Great Gays Out of the Closet Mug. When the mug is empty, it shows fourteen closet doors. But when you pour in a hot beverage, 14 of the world’s most famous gay men proudly emerge. $16.

The Future is Equal Mug

Show your optimism for the future with a mug that says it all. $16.

You are Magic Socks

These cotton crew socks are made from the softest cotton with long combed fibers for a luxurious hand feel. Most importantly, they are made following the highest ethical, labor, and environmental standards. $12.

Rainbow Pride Mason Jar Candies

Celebrate your pride all year round with handmade fruit punch flavored candy from Hammond’s! Hammond’s Candies are handmade with the finest locally sourced ingredients for superior quality flavor for over 100 years. $14.

Wooden Bead Rainbow Necklace

Colorful wooden bead necklace that makes a perfect gift for that artsy person in your life. Wear it as a piece of jewelry or incorporate it into your home as a bright decoration. $22.

Want to see more?

Visit our online store to see the ever-growing collection of pride themed items.

Coming together for another discussion surrounding works of art in the Mint’s permanent collection is Jon Stulhman, PhD, senior curator of American art, and Rubie R. Britt-Height, director of community relations at the Mint.

This series is a part of video series that examines and compares works of art currently installed in the Mint’s Contemporary Gallery at Mint Museum Uptown.

Watch the first two videos in this series using the buttons below:

The Mint Museum to Display Masterpiece by Mary Cassatt in American Galleries

Charlotte, North Carolina (June 10, 2021) — The Mint Museum is delighted to announce that it will display in its American galleries Baby Charles Looking Over His Mother’s Shoulder (No. 3), a stunning work by iconic American Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt, as a long-term loan from the Thomas H. and Diane DeMell Jacobsen Ph.D. Foundation.

The Foundation purchased the piece from The Brooklyn Museum, as well as Thomas Cole’s The Arch of Nero (deaccessioned by the Newark Museum of Art), on May 19 at Sotheby’s, and immediately offered to lend the Cassatt to The Mint Museum and the Cole to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.Cassatt was the only American artist to exhibit with the French Impressionists, and Baby Charles Looking Over His Mother’s Shoulder (No. 3) is a classic example of her mature work. An intimate   portrait of a mother and her child — whose unique  composition,  with  the  mother’s  back  to  the viewer — allowed Cassatt to demonstrate her strength as a colorist as well as a creator of innovative compositions. The Cassatt will go on view in July at The Mint Museum’s uptown Charlotte location, known as Mint Museum Uptown, as part of annual rotations in the American art galleries.

“We have had the pleasure of working with Dr. Jacobsen and her Foundation for a number of years,” says Jonathan Stuhlman, PhD, the museum’s senior curator of American art. “Dr. Jacobsen is a champion of American art, striving to acquire the finest paintings and sculptures by a diverse range of artists who worked from this country’s earliest years to the present day. The Mint does not currently own a painting by Cassatt, and the loan of this fabulous painting will allow us to tell more fully the story of American Impressionism, as well as to highlight the important contributions of female artists  to the story of American art.”

The Thomas H. and  Diane DeMell Jacobsen Ph.D.  Foundation’s  close relationship with The  Mint Museum is also evident its participation in the museum’s upcoming exhibition John Leslie Breck: American Impressionist, a retrospective featuring 70 of Breck’s finest works, which will be on view from September 18, 2021 to January 2, 2022 at Mint Museum Uptown. In 1887, Breck was one of the founders  of the American art colony at Giverny and was among the earliest American artists to embrace the Impressionist style. He was also one of the first to exhibit his Impressionist paintings in America and helped to popularize the style during his years working in the Boston area in the 1890s. The exhibition, inspired by The Mint Museum’s 2016 acquisition of Breck’s canvas Suzanne Hoschedé-Monet Sewing, features a number of works that haven’t been on public view in more than a century.“We are excited to be able to share this exquisite painting by Mary Cassatt with our community,” says Todd A. Herman, PhD, president and CEO of The Mint Museum. “Dr. Jacobsen and her Foundation believe great art should be shared and have enriched our American galleries by lending a number of unforgettable works. Baby Charles Looking Over His Mother’s Shoulder (No. 3) will become a must-see piece in our galleries.”

The planned donation of the Jacobsen Foundation’s collection The Art of Seating: 200 Years of American Design will also be displayed at The Mint Museum in the near future, after it concludes its tour of 28 institutions across the country. And alongside the Dixon Gallery and Gardens in Memphis, The Mint Museum is co-organizing an exhibition of over 100 highlights from the Foundation’s collection of American art. After its debut in Charlotte in fall 2022, the exhibition will travel to four additional venues and be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue of the collection.

The Mint Museum

Established in 1936 as North Carolina’s first art museum, The Mint Museum is a leading, innovative cultural institution and museum of international art and design. With two locations — Mint Museum Randolph in the heart of Eastover and Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts — the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community.Contact:

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

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

Kay Sage was one of the few American artists to be closely involved with the French Surrealist movement. “Ring of Iron, Ring of Wool” was completed at the height of her career and incorporates all of the hallmarks of her signature style: a haunting, desolate landscape; beautifully-rendered yet enigmatic forms; and sophisticated variations in tone and color. The title is thought to be a reference to the traditional gifts for a couple’s sixth and seventh anniversaries. 1947 marked the sixth anniversary of Sage and Tanguy’s move to Woodbury, Connecticut and the seventh of their marriage.

Credit: Kay Sage (American, 1898-1963). “Ring of Iron, Ring of Wool,” 1947, oil on canvas. Museum purchase: The Katherine and Thomas Belk Acquisition Fund. 2016.8. © 2016 Estate of Kay Sage / Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York.

The Mint Museum from Home is Presented By Chase.

The sculpture “Beloved” is from a body of work by the artist Beth Cavener, that, somewhat autobiographical, captures intense psychological states of the human condition, in anthropomorphic forms, usually feral mammals. These life-size portrayals function as a sort of camouflage for her own feelings, or her observations of other people going through some sort of inner turmoil.

The Mint Museum from Home is Presented By Chase.

Yann Gerstberger creates murals, sculptures, and textile tapestries from his home in Mexico City. In Flowerbed Gerstberger uses inspiration from his world travels, both in person and electronically, to create imagery of lush rainforest and desert flora and fauna.

The Mint Museum from Home is Presented By Chase.

Local artists and artist collectives are expanding opportunities to create and experience art in Charlotte

By Liz Rothaus Bertrand 

The Mint Museum’s exhibition It Takes a Village: Charlotte Artist Collectives puts local artists and the organizations that nurture them in the spotlight. Opening June 12 at Mint Museum Randolph, the exhibition will feature individual and collaborative pieces by artists who are part of three of Charlotte’s innovative artist collectives: BlkMrktClt, Brand the Moth, and Goodyear Arts.

Curated by the Mint’s chief curator and curator of contemporary art, Jen Sudul Edwards, PhD, sees the exhibition as a wonderful way to showcase the collaboration of local artists who are producing intriguing and inspired works of art. “One of the things I’ve found really wonderful about this city is the number of collectives that were created for artists to support each other. I rarely have encountered that in the other places I’ve lived.”

Building artist communities

Collectives build something special for artists, says Todd Stewart, a member of the artist-led residency program Goodyear Arts. “There’s a reciprocal relationship within an art community, creating and seeing things,” he says. “Personally, I feel like I get more than I give.”

For Stewart, a trained sculptor who also explores painting in his mixed-media creations, working as an artist can be lonely. He says collectives really help to push past the feeling of isolation, even if you’re not actively collaborating with the artists around you. “That to me is just a huge boost of energy … seeing what these folks are up to really propels me forward,” he says.

The wide spectrum of artists—visual, performing and literary—and creative work at Goodyear Arts helps draw diverse audiences to events, most of which are free and offered in an accessible location. This expands relationships and exposure for other artists, too.Having the opportunity to show their work in a museum the caliber of the Mint is an exciting for collective members, Stewart says, with the potential to reach people who don’t yet know them and what they contribute to the community.

People often think of art coming from “meccas” like Los Angeles, New York, or London, Stewart says, “but Charlotte is building this creative capital, too. It’s rewarding putting your buckets down where you’re at and creating where you are,” he says.

Artists collectives depend on public and private support to continue their work. Goodyear Arts, for example, turns donated space into art galleries and studios. This kind of partnership is key to building opportunities for artists to create.

The fruits of such collaborations can already be seen around Charlotte through various public art initiatives.

What public art brings to the city

Besides beautifying and enriching the city’s landscape, public art like murals serve important social functions. Art inspires conversation and brings different communities together, says painter Sam Guzzie, partner and director of programming for Brand the Moth.

Last summer, Brand the Moth and BlKMrktClt were two of the key groups leading local artists in creating the Black Lives Matter mural on Tryon Street. The iconic project involved 20 different artists, who were each able to put their own distinctive mark on this collaboration.

Bringing community members into the creative process is important, too. For example, Brand the Moth’s 16th Street Bridge Mural was directly inspired by conversations with homeless residents at the nearby Men’s Shelter of Charlotte, who then volunteered side-by-side with Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department officers, and others to revitalize the area. Such efforts help create community dialogue over the paintbrush, says Hannah Fairweather, partner and director of curation at Brand the Moth.Another unique collaboration took place at the McGill Rose Garden, where the Brand the Moth created a mural with UMAR, a nonprofit that promotes community inclusion for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Efforts like these strengthen community bonds and allow people all over the city to experience the arts. For some people, seeing or participating in a public art initiative may be the only chance they have to experience art. “Often public art is the gateway into that world for them,” Fairweather says.

Visitors to The Mint Museum can gain an appreciation for the role artist collectives play in our community through this exhibition. “It’s really something to be proud of and to invest in,” Sudul Edwards says.Liz Rothaus Bertrand is a Charlotte-based freelance writer who has a love of the arts in all its forms.

This story was originally published in the January, 2021 issue of Inspired, the Mint’s biannual member magazine.

The Mint’s community relations director recognized as an icon of the Latino community

By Rafael Prieto 

The Comité de Fiestas Patrias y Tradiciones de Charlotte (CFPTC) recognized Rubie R. Britt-Height, director of community relations at The Mint Museum, as an Icon of the Latino community, for her contribution to culture and the preservation of the Hispanic heritage.

“For years, we have wanted to cherish Rubie’s support to the local Hispanic artistic talent and the presence of the Afro Caribbean rhythms on the Charlotte Region,” says Rafael Prieto, co-founder of CFPTC.

The award was presented in person to Britt-Height by Charlotte’s Patriotic Celebrations and Traditions Committee on June 25 at CFPTC’s Third Encounter of Directors, Founders, and Volunteers on the Artesan Gelato Ice Cream place in Matthews. The award recognizes her initiative Mint to  Move, created in 2012, which represents the spirit of Afro-Latino culture through music and dance by Africans in the Caribbean and the rest of Hispanic America.

“We intended to honor Rubie in the Third Afrolatinos-Black History Month commemoration, held at Johnson C. Smith University on February 27, 2020, but imponderable circumstances prevented it,” Prieto says. The Third Encounter of Directors, Founders, and Volunteers was a perfect event to recognize Britt-Height. Representatives of many Hispanic nationalities affiliated with Fiestas Patrias applauded her work and accomplishments.

Thanks to the intervention of Britt-Height, the idea of preserving the beautiful and meaningful Colombian tradition of Candles’ Day became a reality. With the help of artist Edwin Gil, CFPTC proposed the commemoration be held at the Mint after the Colombian painter closed his gallery. Since 2016, Fiestas Patrias, Soy Latino Como Tu (SLT), Colombian American Foundation (COAMFO), Lideres Colombianos en Charlotte (LCC), and Manolo’s Bakery have been proactive partners of Candles’ Day.

Britt-Height created the event’s motto, “celebrate the LIGHT in CommUNITY, Family, Oneness, Sharing, Faith & Love for All of Humankind, based on a Colombian tradition.”

Manolo Betancur, from Manolo’s Bakery, and owner of Artesan Gelato, provided the appetizers and pastries for the CFPTC Third Encounter of Directors, Founders, and Volunteers.

Nacho Carbonell views his creations as living beings and in doing so, he captures the life-force and expressive qualities of the wood that was chosen to create this work of art.

Wood Branches, Diversity N. 17 is on view at Mint Museum Uptown.

The Mint Museum from Home is Presented By Chase.

The Mint Museum to showcase work of 25 local artists, three artist collectives in upcoming exhibition It Takes a Village

Charlotte, North Carolina (May 21, 2021) — In celebration of the vibrant, grassroots art happening throughout Charlotte, The Mint Museum has organized It Takes a Village: Charlotte’s Artist Collectives, an exhibition presenting works of art from three of the city’s innovative artist collectives: Goodyear Arts, BlkMrktClt, and Brand the Moth. The exhibition runs June 12- September 12 at Mint Museum Randolph.

About the collectives

Goodyear Arts is an artist-led residency program that supports visual, performing, and literary artists annually by providing time, space, money, and community in which to create. Alumni have formed a collective and continue using free studio space and volunteering their time to support the organization. goodyeararts.com

BlkMrktClt was created to provide a safe creative environment for artists of color. The organization, located at Camp North End, focuses on developing emerging artists and creating a more diverse and robust community. blkmrktclt.com

Brand the Moth uses public art programs and projects as a vehicle to spark creativity and connection, provide a trusting space for artists to grow, offer educational opportunities for professionals, and produce projects which reflect and empower the community around them.  brandthemoth.com

The Mint Museum

Established in 1936 as North Carolina’s first art museum, The Mint Museum is a leading, innovative cultural institution and museum of international art and design. With two locations — Mint Museum Randolph in the heart of Eastover and Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts — the Mint boasts one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community.

Contact:

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

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

Funding for this exhibition is provided by ASC and NCAC. A special thank you to our media sponsor Charlotte is Creative.

Coming together for another discussion surrounding works of art in the Mint’s permanent collection is Jon Stulhman, PhD, senior curator of American art, and Rubie R. Britt-Height, director of community relations at the Mint.

This series is a part of new video series that examines and compares works of art currently installed in the Mint’s Contemporary Gallery at Mint Museum Uptown.

Watch the first video in this series here: https://mintmuseum.com/gallery-chat-with-curator-and-community-part-1/

Brian Gallagher, curator of decorative arts, tells us about this peculiar object found at Mint Museum Randolph.

A monteith was used to cool wine glasses, which were suspended upside down into iced water. The glass stems rested in the monteith’s notches. This particular monteith and stand were made for Thomas Lamb (1753–1813), a Boston shipping merchant who was very active in the early years of the American China trade.

The Mint Museum From Home is Presented By Chase.

Celebrating Mexican artists for Cinco de Mayo

Get to know Zuleyma Castrejon Salinas

Haga clic aquí para leer la traducción al español.

Zuleyma Castrejon Salinas is a teaching artist living and practicing in the Queen City. She has experience teaching art at all life stages from child to senior adult. Her practice is very versatile and she likes to explore anything and everything from painting to jewelry making and everything in between.Tell us a bit about your background

I was born in Huitzuco, Guerrero, Mexico to a young mother and father. I spent my first couple of years living there with my mother. My father made his way to the U.S when I was 1 year old to help provide for us, since we were scarce on money and resources.Early artistic roots

Because mom and I didn’t speak English, and mom didn’t know how to drive, we passed our time walking to the nearby Family Dollar. From a young age, Mom and dad always bought me coloring books, puzzles, crayons, watercolor paints, and notebook paper.Observe. Bridge. Respond. Art (OBRA)

Early in college, I joined a Latinx-led art collective called OBRA collective. We are an art collective made up of Latinx and ally artists that create art that celebrates our heritage and raises awareness about issues that the immigrant community faces.As an art collective, we:

• Lead community workshops
• Plan and execute art exhibitions
• Collaborate with different partners, including the city of Charlotte
• Listen and respond to the needs of our communityOBRA collective tapestry mural

This is one of our largest projects. We partnered with the city of Charlotte and the community of East charlotte to design and create a mural that was representative of the people of East charlotte. You can see the mural at the intersection of Monroe and Idlewild roads. The people of East Charlotte come from many parts of the world. These countries were represented through their fauna, flora, and traditional textile patterns.Photography

These two photographic series were both inspired by my parents. I am forever grateful for all of their sacrifices because I wouldn’t be where I am without them.

Celebrando Artistas Mexicanos Por El 5 de Mayo

Llegar a saber Zuleyma Castrejon Salinas

Soy un artista docente que vive y ejerce en la Cuidad Reina. Tengo experiencia enseñando arte en todas las etapas de la vida, desde niño hasta adulto mayor. Mi práctica es muy versátil y me gusta explorar cualquier cosa, desde la pintura hasta la fabricación de joyas y todo lo demás.¿DE DONDE SOY?

Nací en Huitzuco, Guerrero, México a unos padres jóvenes. Pasé mis primeros años viviendo allí con mi madre. Mi padre se dirigió a los EE. UU. Cuando yo tenía 1 año para ayudar a mantenernos, ya que éramos escasos de dinero y recursos.Primeras raíces artísticas

Debido a que mamá y yo no hablamos inglés y mamá no sabía conducir, pasamos nuestro tiempo caminando hacia el family dollar cercano. Desde temprana edad, mamá y papá siempre me compraron libros para colorear, rompecabezas, crayones, pinturas de acuarela y papel para cuadernos.Observe. Bridge. Respond. Art (OBRA)

Temprano en la universidad me uni a una colectiva de arte latinx llamada obra colectiva. Somos una colectiva de arte hecha de artistas latinx y aliados que crean arte que celebra nuestra herencia y que sensibiliza los temas que enfrenta la comunidad inmigrante.COMO COLECTIVA NOSOTROS:

• OFRECEMOS TALLERES COMUNITARIOS
• PLANIFICAMOS Y EJECUTAMOS EXPOSICIONES DE ARTE
• COLABORAMOS CON DIFERENTES SOCIOS, INCLUYENDO LA CIUDAD DE CHARLOTTE
• ESCUCHAMOS Y RESPONDEMOS A LAS NECESIDADES DE NUESTRA COMUNIDADTapestry mural

Este es uno de nuestros mayores proyectos. Nos asociamos con la ciudad de charlotte y la comunidad de east charlotte para diseñar y crear un mural representante de la comunidad de east Charlotte. Puedes ver el mural en la interseccion de Monroe Road Y Idlewild Road.

La gente de east charlotte proviene de muchas partes del mundo. Estos países estuvieron representados a través de su fauna, flora y patrones de textiles tradicionales.Arte Personal

Mi arte refleja mucho mi cultura y herencia mexicana a través de sus imágenes y colores brillantes y atrevidos. La mayor parte de mi arte está muy influenciado e inspirado por mi experiencia como mujer mexicana.

One year after Covid-19 shutdowns began, Silent Streets: Art in the Time of Pandemic reflects how it shaped a societal shift  

By Liz Rothaus Bertrand  

When the world came to a halt in early spring 2020, so did museums everywhere. Doors closed, shipments stopped, planned exhibitions were put on hold. Then cities across the nation erupted in protest, as communities faced a reckoning with long-term injustices and systemic racism. The concurrent events posed a challenge: How could the Mint best serve the community through the crisis and uprising, while also facing financial uncertainty and logistical challenges caused by the pandemic?  

“This gave us [an] opportunity,” says Jen Sudul Edwards, PhD, the Mint’s chief curator and curator of contemporary art. “Instead of showing an exhibition that seemed incongruous with the times, we were able to construct something that reflected the times.”  

Silent Streets: Art in the Time of Pandemic opened April 21 at Mint Museum Uptown. The Mint commissioned new works by three North Carolina artists—Amy Bagwell, Antoine Williams, and Stacy Lynn Waddell. Their task: create works of art that respond to something that has happened since the pandemic began and reflects some change in their practice.  

CAPTURING A MOMENT WE’RE STILL EXPERIENCING  

As poet and mixed-media artist Amy Bagwell reflects on the past year, she lands on one overriding sensation: dissonance. Bagwell, who also teaches English at Central Piedmont Community College, watched her students grapple with both the dire consequences of COVID-19 and racial injustice. And yet she also heard people deny the virus’s existence and claim the protests were unjustified.  

“That dissonance is terrifying,” Bagwell says. “Absurd in a painful way.”  

Poetry she wrote during the Covid-19 pandemic inspired the three large-scale collages she created for Silent Streets. “As artists we’re trying to document this moment of multiple vexations,” Bagwell says, “but it will be an interim document because we’ll be going through this during and after the show. We don’t yet have the benefit of distance.”  

CONFRONTING SYSTEMIC RACISM  

Greensboro-based artist Antoine Williams says 2020 was shaping up to be a great year—but ended up being one of the worst. The pandemic upended his personal and professional lives while exposing, once again, systemic racism across the nation.  

An assistant professor of art at Guilford College, Williams says his work is influenced by critical race theory. For Silent Streets, his mixed-media work looks at the uprisings and their meaning. He explores the objectification of Black labor and culture, and the absurdity of public shock when Black people speak up against injustice.  

Creating during this challenging time has been cathartic, Williams says. “It’s a way of me shouting at the universe … or to feel like I’m contributing to this conversation.”  

RECLAIMING SYMBOLS OF POWER  

Artist Stacy Lynn Waddell of Durham often takes tools and uses them in new ways, redefining how we communicate. She has used branding irons on paper and acid to paint, among other experimental techniques.  

For Silent Streets, Waddell explores themes like representation and inclusion in symbols of power. Working alongside a master quilter, she used homemade textiles to create flags. By using a technique from a domestic realm and bringing it to a public sphere, she envisioned a way to reclaim symbols such as flags that are often weaponized, and explored how they could be redesigned to be more inclusive.  

“I think we’ll look back on this years later [and say] ‘This was an opportunity, even in all the bleak, difficult, sad lolling out of all of it,” Waddell says. “It’s still been an opportunity.”  

OTHER PANDEMIC-BORN PERSPECTIVES  

These three commissions form the core of the exhibition, but Silent Streets also features a wide spectrum of artists’ works during the pandemic. The exhibition also includes photo highlights from Diary of a Pandemic, a collaboration between Magnum Photos and National Geographic that features images taken by stranded photojournalists around the world in 2020.  

In the Pandemic Comics part of the exhibition, the focus is on how syndicated comic strips such as “Pearls Before Swine,” “Liō,” and “Tank McNamara” changed course suddenly as COVID-19 upended our lives. Silent Streets will also features As the Boundary Pulls Us Apart, a video and soundscape projection created by Charlotte artists Matt Steele and Ben Geller. 

Liz Rothaus Bertrand is a Charlotte-based freelance writer who has a love of the arts in all its forms.

This story was originally published in the January, 2021 issue of Inspired, the Mint’s biannual member magazine.

Some of our favorite photos from Coveted Couture Gala: A Little Night Magic

Our annual Gala fundraiser was virtual this year, but that did not stop the party. These guest went above and beyond to set their tables, get dressed, and support the Mint’s mission of serving the community. Here are some of our favorite photos from the night.

Rebecca Elliot, assistant curator or craft, design, and fashion, shows us a necklace constructed of crab claws by Robert Ebendorf on view at Mint Museum Uptown.

Robert Ebendorf created his “Lost Souls Found Spirits” series of necklaces during a period of introspection and recovery while going through a divorce. He collected the crab claws during walks on the beach; on other pieces in the series, he incorporated found squirrel paws and bird heads. Ebendorf often uses found objects on his jewelry, an act he describes as making order out of chaos. However, the materials of “Lost Souls Found Spirits” are especially startling: claws, nails, and beaks, once lacerating, then dead, now live on as jewelry.

The Mint Museum From Home is Presented By Chase.

Embrace the blossoms of spring with new items from the Mint Museum Store

Sarah Cavender Metalworks Jewelry

All of Sarah Cavender’s Jewelry is handcrafted by local artisans under her supervision. Each piece is unique, and every aspect of its creation is hand done. Her pieces are light and airy, beautiful, and extremely special.

Passion Flower Necklace: $180. Hummingbird Brooch: $130.

White Dali Flower Chiffon Scarf

The sister scarf to our black Salvador Dali inspired scarf, this tone-on-tone scarf has charming wool flowers melting off white chiffon. This scarf is handmade and felted by artisans in Nepal and is a Fair Trade piece. $68.

Gilded Frame Cuff

Miss Ellie beautifully captures the elegance of a regal garden in this hammered cuff. It is cast in pewter and electroplated in 10 karat gold. An antique patina is hand-applied to bring out the unique features and contains small cream pearls. This is proudly handcrafted in New York City. $108.

Bird Cage Necklace

This incredibly special necklace from Miss Ellie features a bird cage with crystal rhinestones, an antique gold finish and a tiny white bird swinging on its perch – complete with a cage door that opens. This piece is proudly handcrafted in NYC. $88.

Van Gogh Starry Night Scarf

Inspired by Van Gogh’s Starry Night painting, this scarf has a Merino wool night sky motif felted over silk chiffon. This scarf is handmade and felted by artisans in Nepal and is a Fair Trade piece. $68.

Double Dogwood Necklace

Turn heads with this stunning hand sculpted statement piece from the studio of Sarah Cavender Metalworks in Alabama. This showstopper features dogwood blooms (the North Carolina state flower), leaves, and twisted “branches” with a tubular mesh chain. There are oxidized brass meshes with hand painted mixed metal lacquered details. $240.

Papaya Scarf

A bright and tropical display of papayas displayed across a felted white background. This scarf is handmade and felted by artisans in Nepal and is a Fair Trade piece. $60

Passion Flower on Wide Scalloped Chain Necklace

Embrace spring with this beautiful hand-crafted necklace from the studio of Sarah Cavender Metalworks in Alabama. This enchanting passion flower bloom necklace, with an equally special scalloped mesh chain, is sure to dazzle and impress anyone! This necklace is like a sculpture you can wear! It is made of oxidized brass meshes with hand painted mixed metal lacquered details. $180.

Monet Inspired Water Lily Scarf

Inspired by Monet’s Water Lilies painting, this Merino wool and silk chiffon scarf is full of color, art and texture. This scarf is handmade and felted by artisans in Nepal and is a Fair Trade piece. $68.

Pansy Petal Drop Earrings

This delicate pair of drop earrings feature a beautifully handcrafted metal mesh pansy blossom and are proudly made by Sarah Cavender Metalworks in Alabama. They are made of oxidized brass meshes with hand painted mixed metal lacquered details with a small stone center accent and a hypoallergenic titanium post. $104.

Bright Felted Rings Scarf

Beautiful colors interlocked together with a ring design. Bring some color to your world! This scarf is handmade and felted by artisans in Nepal and is a Fair Trade piece. $62.

“The Poetry of Science” by Carlos Estévez – Curators’ Pick

Cuban artist Carlos Estévez uses his art to explore the relationship between the natural world and the one made by human ingenuity. Jen Sudul Edwards, PhD, chief curator and curator of contemporary art at the Mint, gives a close look at this newly accuisitioned work of art in the Mint’s permanent collection. On view at Mint Museum Uptown.

The Mint Museum From Home is Presented By Chase.

Gallery Chat with Curator and Community, Part 1

Jon Stulhman,PhD, senior curator for american, modern, and contemporary art, and Rubie R. Britt-Height, director of community relations at the Mint, look at two pieces of contemporary art in the museum’s collection. This video is a part of new video series that examines and compares works of art currently installed in the Mint’s Contemporary Gallery at Mint Museum Uptown.

Black Stacked Circles by Ibrahim Said – Curators’ Pick

Annie Carlano, Curator of Craft, Design, & Fashion, shares one of her favorite works in The Mint Museum’s Collection. Black Stacked Circles by Ibrahim Said is an intricately carved ceramic sculpture on view at Mint Museum Uptown.

The Mint Museum From Home is Presented By Chase.

Looking Back on 10 Years of Mint Museum Uptown

From famous fashion soirees to NBA takeovers, some of the Queen City’s biggest events have been held at Mint Museum Uptown.

By Ellen Show, Archivist

September 25, 2010

The Metamorphosis Gala celebrated the opening of Mint Museum Uptown. Partygoers were serenaded by an opera diva from the grand staircase.

April 29, 2011

The Mint Museum Auxiliary’s Room to Bloom celebration kicked off with the Art of Style gala at Mint Museum Uptown with guest of honor, Oscar de la Renta. The event included a runway show of the designer’s fall 2011 fashion line, and a display of more than 30 de la Renta pieces owned by Charlotteans, as well as items from the Mint’s Fashion Collection.

July 13 & 14, 2012

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright visited The Mint Museum in conjunction with the Read My Pins: The Madeleine Albright Collection exhibition.  The weekend included an exhibition walk-thru, VIP reception, an education program for college students, “A Conversation With Madeleine Albright” program that packed Mint Museum Uptown ’s James B. Duke auditorium, plus a book-signing by Albright.

September 3–6, 2012

Mint Museum Uptown hosted events related to the Democratic National Convention and launched its “Vote for Art” campaign that allowed guests to vote for their favorite work of art from six candidates on display. Even Queen Charlotte cast her ballot! Voting continued through November and the top three pieces were purchased by the museum.

February 18, 2013

Motoi Yamamoto created Floating Garden, a saltwork on the floor of the Robert Haywood Morrison Atrium. During a community dismantling ceremony on March 3, 2013, the piece was removed from the floor by participants who were invited to return the salt to the sea.

May 6–20, 2013

Charlotte-based artist John W. Love, Jr., performed his interdisciplinary work FECUND, which combined a residency, interactive installation, and one-man performance.

June 19, 2014

Redesigned Charlotte Hornets basketball uniforms were unveiled in Mint Museum Uptown’s Robert Haywood Morrison Atrium.

October 22, 2016

The Year of the Woman kicked off with the opening of two exhibitions at Mint Museum Uptown: Fired Up: Women in Glass and Women of Abstract Expressionism on the 80th anniversary of the opening of The Mint Museum.

October 28, 2017

Devolar y Detonar (Reveal and Detonate) made its debut in the United States at The Mint Museum, featuring the work of over 40 contemporary Mexican photographers, and was the central exhibition in a community-wide initiative celebrating Mexican photography titled In Focus/Enfoque. Other participating organizations include the McColl Center for Art + Innovation, the Light Factory, the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, and LaCa Projects.

February 2019

When Charlotte hosted the NBA All-Star Weekend, Mint Museum Uptown became the home for Nike and Jordan Brand events. A fully enclosed basketball court was built in the Robert Haywood Morrison Atrium, and a temporary gallery of Nike shoes was also on display.

Mint Música & Poesía Café

This event will premiere at 7 PM on March 31.

Mint Música & Poesía Café features talented poets, dancers, and musicians from the Charlotte area. Special guests: Singer Joseph Gallo, and poets Irania Patterson and Kurma Murrain.

This biannual event conveys renowned artists and rising stars. Listen to the voice of the classics through our guest artists or be inspired by new lyrics and verses. Mint Música & Poesía Café celebrates Women’s History Month, and it is also tied with the current Latin American exhibitions at the Mint.

The Mint Museum’s upcoming Silent Streets: Art in the Time of Pandemic puts spotlight on works created in isolation by local, regional and international artists

Charlotte, North Carolina (March 26, 2021) — When the city streets fell quiet in March 2020 due to Covid-19, followed by social justice reckoning across the country, people and communities were changed. The Mint Museum’s newest exhibition, Silent Streets: Art in the Time of Pandemic, opening April 17 at Mint Museum Uptown, showcases thought-provoking works of art by regional, national, and international artists. From collage and comic strips to abstract painting, video and photography, the exhibition installations illuminate discord while also providing solace and insight in challenging times.

At the core of the show, which is presented by Fifth Third Bank, are commissioned pieces by North Carolina artists Amy Bagwell of Charlotte, Stacy Lynn Waddell of Durham, and Antoine Williams of Greensboro. Each artist created works during isolation that reflect how the pandemic and events of 2020 affected their worlds.

“In March 2020, we found ourselves looking at a depleted exhibition schedule, between pandemic-related shipping delays and budget cuts,” says Jen Sudul Edwards, PhD, chief curator and curator of contemporary art at the Mint. “The Mint’s President and CEO Todd Herman said, ‘Why don’t we reallocate those remaining spaces and funds directly to artists?’ I selected these three artists, confident we could do remote studio visits and it would still be a successful collaboration. By April, artists around the world were creating profoundly powerful and poignant work responding to all that was going on, and I realized the show could go beyond three North Carolina voices and become an international chorus.”

Bagwell, a poet and mixed-media artist, who has more than 20 public murals throughout Charlotte, produced three large-scale collages inspired by poetry she wrote during the pandemic. Mixed-media work by Williams addresses social injustice, systemic racism, and the objectification of Black labor and culture. And Waddell, working alongside a master quilter, used textiles to create flags that explore themes of representation and inclusion in symbols of power.

Also included in the exhibition is As the Boundary Pulls Us Apart, a short film by Charlotte-based artists Matthew Steele and Ben Gellar. The digital project enabled the two artists to collaborate and volley ideas from separate spaces, ultimately creating a piece that embodies a spirit of unity while being apart.Additional installations include Diary of a Pandemic and Pandemic Comics. Through a collaboration between Magnum Photos and National Geographic, Diary of a Pandemic showcases images taken by photojournalists around the world stranded during the pandemic. Pandemic Comics highlights syndicated comics—La Cucaracha, Liō, Curtis, Pearls Before Swine, and Tank McNamara—that suddenly changed course, as long-planned strips were replaced with ones that related directly to the pandemic.

The one work that predates the pandemic—Gregory Crewdson’s Funerary Back Lot (2018-19) from his An Eclipse of Moths Series—eerily relays an aura of isolation and quiet destitution that feels consistent with the pandemic times, reminding us that these are human states, not temporary or conditional ones.

“Artists are often the first to respond and react to societal forces and create work that manages to encapsulate abstract concepts of emotion,” says Todd A. Herman, PhD, president and CEO at The Mint Museum. “I am excited to see the result of their efforts and to celebrate the necessary role that creatives play in healing communities.”

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.

Fifth Third Bank

Fifth Third Bancorp is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio and the indirect parent company of Fifth Third Bank, National Association, a federally chartered institution. As of September 30, 2020, Fifth Third had $202 billion in assets and operated 1,122 full-service banking centers and 2,414 ATMs with Fifth Third branding in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Florida, Tennessee, West Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. In total, Fifth Third provides its customers with access to approximately 52,000 fee-free ATMs across the United States. Fifth Third operates four main businesses: Commercial Banking, Branch Banking, Consumer Lending and Wealth & Asset Management. Fifth Third is among the largest money managers in the Midwest and, as of September 30, 2020, had $422 billion in assets under care, of which it managed $53 billion for individuals, corporations and not-for-profit organizations through its Trust and Registered Investment Advisory businesses. Investor information and press releases can be viewed at www.53.com. Fifth Third’s common stock is traded on the Nasdaq® Global Select Market under the symbol “FITB.” Fifth Third Bank was established in 1858. Deposit and Credit products are offered by Fifth Third Bank. Member FDIC.

Contact:

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

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

Download the PDF of this press release here.