The Weisman Art Museum (WAM), the Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change (ICGC), and the Minnesota Design Center (MDC) invite University of Minnesota faculty, staff, and students to collaborate with the internationally renowned artist Wafaa Bilal and help reimagine the once-besieged library of th

Monique Verdin is a multidisciplinary artist who has been working with the complex interconnectedness of environment, economics, culture, climate, and change along the Gulf South for decades. She is one of two artists comprising the The Big River Continuum, an initiative that turns the Mississippi River in its entirety into a platform for creative collaboration.

We often talk about the problems of water or water issues, but one thing I have learned by spending time with the Collaborative is that water is not a problem. It takes the shape of the container that it’s in, and our culture is the container that gives meaning and shape to water and to our relationships with water, land, and one another.

—SHANAI MATTESON, THE WATER BAR AND PUBLIC STUDIO

This fall, WAM is proud to present Alexis Rockman: The Great Lakes Cycle. Organized by the Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM) in Michigan, the exhibition features an ambitious suite of paintings and works on paper by New York–based artist Alexis Rockman. In a state bound by Lake Superior and part of a region contiguous to Lake Michigan, Minnesotans are keenly aware of the importance, robustness, and fragility of these shining, open waters.