Index of Articles and Essays

person walking through art exhibit Harriet Bart: Abracadabra and Other Forms of ProtectionFebruary 1 – November 29, 2020

On the centennial anniversary of women’s suffrage in the United States, WAM is proud to open the career survey exhibition Harriet Bart: Abracadabra and Other Forms of Protection.
Cloudy, water-based applications of purple, green and orange split the painting horizontally into thirds. A few think horizontal lines stretch across the painting. Focus on the Collection: The Past and Present of Helen Frankenthaler’s Cravat

Luminous swaths of green, yellow, and purple spread and seep through the surface of the canvas, capturing the attention of gallery visitors. The paint still looks alive with movement nearly fifty years after its deployment. The brilliant colors captivate viewers immediately, but after observing for a minute or two, one may be inclined to ask, “What is it?” Discerning the subject of Helen Frankenthaler’s 1973 painting, Cravat, is a challenging, perhaps even futile, task.
Member Highlight: Nayana Jha and Michael Cain Member Highlight: Nayana Jha and Michael Cain

Nayana and Michael are both intimately connected to WAM. Nayana’s late father, Dr. Prabhakara Jha, taught in the University of Minnesota’s Department of Comparative Literature, and she had her high school prom at the museum the year that the Frank Gehry-designed building opened! Michael, a lifelong pianist and music educator, will begin teaching at the University’s School of Music this spring. Among their many titles, Nayana and Michael became WAM members and donors in 2019, and Nayana recently joined our Colleagues Advisory Board.

 
A person with the WAM building on their head More is More: The Lyndel and Blaine King CollectionFebruary 29, 2020 – February 14, 2021

When my WAM colleagues asked if I would be willing to show the art collection my husband, Blaine, and I have built over the years, my first thought was that we just acquire things that give us pleasure, things we like to have around us. But that is what collecting is really all about. The exhibition, appropriately named More Is More (I am not a minimalist!), is eclectic and reflects our passions, interests, and travels during the past fifty years.
Elementary school students oberves objects cased in glass beside an educator. Educators in Action | Connecting Past and Present through Indigenous Art

Associate Professor and Director of the Multicultural Resource Center at St. Cloud State University, Iyekiyapiwiƞ Darlene St. Clair, a citizen of the Lower Sioux Community, has worked with pre-service teachers for the majority of her career in education. 

“As a scholar and as a teacher, I have some ambitions, and it’s to change the paradigms of all Minnesotans,”  St. Clair said. “So, I have this sort of modest ambition.”