August 22, 2019
Remembering Rondo is a landmark retrospective of Rose and Melvin Smith’s expansive careers in the arts. Currently living in Eagan, MN, Melvin R. and Rose J. Smith were residents of St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood for many years. The works in this exhibition are drawn from the artists’ Rondo series—a sprawling body of work that stands as…
June 7, 2019
In expanding the permanent collection, WAM aims to accession new works wisely and with the utmost intention. To our Senior Curator Diane Mullin, this means attentively developing our collections of work by Black and women–identifying contemporary artists, and works considered international art, Minnesota art, and video and other moving-image art. Opening in mid-July, a number of…
May 23, 2019
Melvin R. and Rose J. Smith are proud Minnesota artists. Currently living in Eagan, Minnesota, they were residents of St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood for many years—Rose for most of her life and Melvin from 1963 to 1968. The Smiths’ art consists of urban scenes and portraits that present realist, expressionist, and at times allegorical…
May 20, 2019
This July in the Edith Carlson Gallery, WAM opens State Your Intentions: New Works in the WAM Collection. The exhibition showcases not only notable recent additions to the collection but also the intentionality of WAM’s collecting practice. In 1981 when Lyndel King became the director and chief curator, she openly asserted her resolve to…
January 22, 2019
Jack Zipes, University of Minnesota professor emeritus of German and comparative literature, returned to campus Wednesday night to deliver a lecture in conjunction with WAM’s exhibition, The Wonderful World Before Disney. An acclaimed scholar of myth, folk, and fairy-tales, Zipes discussed the past and contemporary social and political roles of these stories, turning to his…
January 18, 2019
In March 2019, we expect an invasion—an invasion of a beautiful sort. The National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) will hold its annual conference, Claytopia, in Minneapolis from March 27 through 30. Several thousand ceramic artists will descend on us during that time, and at WAM we will be ready. Ceramic artist…
January 18, 2019
This spring WAM is excited to present Baggage Claims, an exhibit that examines the significance of the things we carry with us through the lens of luggage. Suitcases and crates symbolize the movement of people and belongings across the world, and they evoke the political and economic concerns that incite and result from this travel….
January 18, 2019
In 2017, the Weisman Art Museum received a collection of over 3,000 fairy-tale themed postcards from Jack Zipes, professor emeritus of German and comparative literature at the University of Minnesota. As one of the most prolific scholars of folk and fairy tales, he has been influential in highlighting their social and political role in…
January 18, 2019
ACT×4 When artist Marina Abramović famously declared The Artist Is Present, the immediate follow-up question that could be asked is: “present to what end?” Can we think of a physical presence of an artist in a gallery as having a goal? Presence is an action: performance is the most affordable form of making, the most…
December 21, 2018
To coincide with WAM’s ongoing exhibition, I Want to Make This Perfectly Clear, the WAM Collective recently hosted local artist and activist Leon Wang to lead a protest poster-making workshop. A special art form with the potential to be an extremely powerful method of protest, posters have a long history within political and performative activism….