Invitation

In the Spirit of Martin

By heathercarroll January 15, 2018
Exhibitions, Uncategorized, Weisman Art Museum

Fifteen years ago this weekend, the anticipated exhibition In the Spirit of Martin: The Living Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. opened at the Weisman Art Museum with a full schedule of events. The purpose of the exhibition is clearly stated in the invitational brochure: “By juxtaposing accounts in Dr. King’s life with visual renderings of those events, In the Spirit of Martin speaks to the power of art to shape collective national memory.”

Although the exhibition was assembled by an outside curator, the local planning committee was comprised of over 38 individuals. Events associated with the exhibition included a preview party, choral performance, a community tribute to john powell, founder of the Institute on Race and Poverty, a talk with MLK’s friend and Pulitzer prize-winning author Roger Wilkins, Special MLK Day programs, Minneapolis Urban League’s documentary screening and a lecture by renowned artist Faith Ringold titled Art, Activism, and African-American Experience.

“Confrontation at the Bridge” by Jacob Lawrence, 1975. Included in WAM’s invitational brochure for the exhibition “In the Spirit of Martin”.

“Let Kingdom Come” by Paul Goodnight, 1992. Included in WAM’s invitational brochure for the exhibition “In the Spirit of Martin”.

“Peaceable Kingdon” by Malcah Zeldis, 1999. Included in WAM’s invitational brochure for the exhibition “In the Spirit of Martin”.

“In the Spirit of Martin was the first major museum exhibition to use the visual arts to explore the inspiring life and enduring legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Civil Rights leader, statesman, minister, and martyr, Martin Luther King is one of the most compelling figures in American history. An overview of the Civil Rights movement set the stage for the exhibition’s impressive range of artistic offerings. In the Spirit of Martin included paintings, works on paper, prints, sculpture, and mixed-media pieces by such artists as Elizabeth Catlett, Thornton Dial, L’Merchie Frazier, Jacob Lawrence, May Stevens, Charles White, and John Wilson. Some of the artworks cast Dr. King as a martyr and comment on violence in American society. These images convey the tremendous sense of outrage and loss caused by Dr. King’s death. Others examine his status as an icon of popular culture or a source of African American pride. Through its presentation of work in the visual arts, the exhibition demonstrates the extraordinary influence of Dr. King and speaks to the power of art to shape our collective national memory. A wide range of visual artists responded to Dr. King’s life and grappled with his message.”

~from Verve Editions

It wasn’t only visual artists that responded to the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. In the archives in an oversize box, there is a black spiral bound sketchbook that was used as comment book for this exhibition. Visitors–especially children–were so inspired by the exhibition that many took the time to share their own inspired thoughts and creations.
Here are just a few:

To quote Mary from Central Senior High, “This I learned and will hold in my mind to help me see, when other’s are blinded”.

—Heather Carroll is the processing archivist for the Weisman Art Museum‘s collection at the University of Minnesota Archives. This project was made possible by funds provided by the State of Minnesota from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund through the Minnesota Historical Society.

Remembering the Wellstones at WAM

By heathercarroll October 25, 2017
Exhibitions, Uncategorized, Weisman Art Museum

In honor of Wellstone Remembrance Day today, we share the exhibition postcard for Twelve Years and Thirteen Days: Remembering Paul and Sheila Wellstone, photographs by Terry Gydeson. The photographic series became a book of the same title:

Senator Paul Wellstone is remembered for his infectious enthusiasm and his ardent devotion to helping all people gain a voice in American politics. In a remarkable collection of more than seventy photographs, Twelve Years and Thirteen Days commemorates the Wellstones’s commitment to social and economic justice and will be an inspiration to those throughout the country who share their values.

To see a selection of the images included in the exhibition, visit Terry Gydesen’s website . The book can be found at the University of Minnesota Press or the UMN Libraries. To learn more about this exhibition and the WAM archives contact the University Archives.

Front of the exhibition postcard for “Twelve Years and Thirteen Days: Remembering Paul and Sheila Wellstone”

Reverse side of the exhibition postcard for “Twelve Years and Thirteen Days: Remembering Paul and Sheila Wellstone”

Put on your party hat…

By wilso952 November 12, 2012
Weisman Art Museum

This upcoming weekend marks the 19th anniversary of a big and important weekend in the history of WAM: the dedication and opening of the Frank Gehry designed Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum building. The building was dedicated on Thursday, November 18, 1993 with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Open Houses were held on the 19th and 21st for the University community and general public, respectively. A grand opening gala – with namesake Frederick R. Weisman and architect Frank Gehry in attendance – was held on Saturday evening, November 20th.

The September/October 1993 issue of Minnesota Magazine, a publication of the University of Minnesota Alumni Association, previewed the then new building in a feature article titled, “Both Sides Now.” Author Pamela Lavigne began her article: “Where once stood a sleepy little hill topped by a small parking lot on the Twin Cities campus, now there’s this… structure that causes the average viewer to exclaim, What the heck is that?!”

For just shy of 20 years, many visitors to the University of Minnesota have uttered the same question, and it is likely that no two visitors have shared the same reaction. Whether you are an art or architecture enthusiast, University student on assignment, or a community member on a casual weekend walk in search for a bathroom and/or drinking fountain, the building – and the contents within – provide many things to many people, which in itself deserves celebration. Throughout the years, WAM has always found an occasion to celebrate, and the archives contain the evidence of the museum’s many commemorations…

An invitation to The Weisman Art Museum’s 5th birthday party! on Saturday, November 21, 1998 was designed to be multi-functional, and served not only as an announcement, but also as an accessory. The invitation, when opened, revealed the details of the celebratory event: cocktails and appetizers, the opportunity to see the exhibitions The Great American Pop Art Store: Multiples of the Sixties and A Bountiful Beginning: The First Five Years of Gifts to the Weisman Art Museum, music, dinner in the Washington Ave. Bridge, and champagne, dessert, and dancing. It also informed attendees to “Wear your best silver.”

On the inset, instructions were provided that revealed the second function of the invitation:

Directions for wearing party hat:

Unfold invitation into circular shape (side without words faces out)

Adjust tabs to fit (cross tabs so that ends face inward)

Wear party hat to party November 21!

This year, WAM celebrated a little earlier than it’s official birthday date, when it held the first annual fundraiser gala at the end of October: The Big WAM Bash. In case you missed the Bash, the months of November and December are still full of party hat worthy events and programs: Weekends with the Weisguides, WAM Chatter, Be Dazzled. Now that the first snow of the season has fallen, put on your coat and hat (stocking or party), join the celebrations, and discover what the heck is going on at WAM.

You are Invited: IV

By wilso952 September 21, 2011
Exhibitions, University Gallery

Since we will be well over half a century late to the tea mentioned in the at-left invitation for University art professor Allen Downs, you are instead invited to review the archival resources that illuminate his exhibition of photography at the University Gallery, April 24-May 22, 1953…

From the MN Daily’s PDF Archives, The Ivory Tower April 27, 1953, “Downs Calls Photos ‘New Object’ in Art”

“Subject matter of the pictures varies from slum districts to Niagara Falls and nudes.

Downs, who came to the University in 1948, called his work ‘the fusion’ of documentation and abstraction. ‘A photograph is a new object, in spite of its authentic appearance as a document of past experience,’ he said.”

From the WAM Collection at the University Archives, Box 4: (the invitation) and photographs of the exhibit:

Cordially III

By wilso952 September 4, 2011
Exhibitions, University Art Museum

The University of Minnesota Art Museum cordially invited visitors to view the exhibitions, The Woodblock Prints of B.J.O. Nordfeldt and Emily Nordfeldt’s Legacy: Paintings, Drawings and Prints of B.J.O. Nordfeldt at a reception held Sunday, February 17, 1991, which included a gallery talk, woodblock printing demonstration, and tea, sherry and light refreshments.

A large collection of Nordfeldt’s works can be found in WAM’s permanent collection.

You are Invited…

By wilso952 June 20, 2011
Exhibitions, University Art Museum

Many events are organized in relation to exhibitions: openings, galas, previews, special lectures, concerts, etc. The WAM collection contains many invitations to such events in association with exhibitions past.

American Identities: Cabinet Card Portraits, 1870-1910, from The Doan Family Collection
Exhibited February 25-March 22, 1985 at the University Art Museum in Northrop Auditorium.

From a February 19, 1985 UM News Release (Digital Conservancy):

“The exhibition presents a selection of 55 Cabinet cards, primarily Midwestern in origin, collected by the Doan family of Fort Dodge, Iowa, over the past 20 years…

The “artist-photographers” who produced the portraits shifted around scenes and properties until the right “fit” for the subject was achieved… It was important to present subjects at their best in the chosen role, whether beau, debutante, successful merchant or farmer, war hero or proud parents. Even the most humble person took on an air of dignity in the photographer’s lens.”

Invitation

Contact Information