Minneapolis Institute of Art

TheMinneapolis Institute of Art(Mia) is anartsmuseum located inMinneapolis,Minnesota,United States. Home to more than 90,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of world history, Mia is one of the largest art museums in the United States. Its permanent collection spans about 20,000 years and represents the world's diverse cultures across six continents. The museum has seven curatorial areas: Arts of Africa & the Americas; Contemporary Art; Decorative Arts, Textiles & Sculpture; Asian Art; Paintings; Photography and New Media; and Prints and Drawings.

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Mia viewed from the north
Location within Minneapolis–Saint Paul
Interactive fullscreen map
Established	1883(1883)
Location	2400 Third Avenue South Minneapolis,Minnesota
Coordinates	44°57′31″N93°16′27″W
Collection size	90,000+
Visitors	591,069 (2022)
Director	Katherine Luber
Public transit access	metrotransitBus: 11B, 11C, 17, 18
Website	artsmia.org

Mia is one of thelargestarts educators in Minnesota. More than a half-million people visit the museum each year, and a hundred thousand more are reached through the museum's Art Adventure program for elementary schoolchildren. The museum has a free general admission policy, as well as public programs, classes for children and adults, and interactive media programs.

History

Illustration depicts an (unrealized) design of the building

The Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts was established in 1883 to bring the arts into the life of the community. This group, made up of business and professional leaders, organized art exhibits throughout the decade. In 1889, the Society, now known as the Minneapolis Institute of Art, moved into its first permanent space, inside the newly builtMinneapolis Public Library.

The institute received gifts from Clinton Morrison andWilliam Hood Dunwoody,among others, for its building fund. In 1911, Morrison donated the land, formerly occupied by his family's Villa Rosa mansion, in memory of his father,Dorilus Morrison,contingent on the institute's raising the $500,000 needed for the building. A few days later, the institute received a letter from Dunwoody, who got the ball rolling: "Put me down for $100,000." A fundraising dinner a few days later brought in $335,500, donated in 90 minutes.

The new museum, designed by the firm ofMcKim, Mead and White,opened in 1915. The building came to be recognized as one of the finest examples of theBeaux-Artsarchitectural stylein Minnesota. The art historianBevis Hillierorganized the exhibitionArt Decoat the museum, presented from July to September 1971, which caused a resurgence of interest in this style of art. The building was originally meant to be the first of several sections, but only the front piece was built. Several additions have been built to other plans, including a 1974 addition byKenzo Tange.An expansion designed by the 2012Driehaus PrizewinnerMichael Graveswas completed in June 2006. Before the latest expansion, just 4 percent of the museum's nearly 100,000 objects could be on view at the same time; now that figure is 5 percent.Target Corporation,for which the new wing is named, was the biggest donor, with a lead gift of more than $10 million.

In 2015, the institute rebranded itself, dropping the final "s" from its name, to become the Minneapolis Institute of Art and encouraging the use of the nickname Mia instead of theacronymMIA.

Kaywin Feldmanbecame director and president of the institute in 2008. During her tenure, attendance doubled, digital access was emphasized, and social justice and equity programs were adopted. In December 2018, she was named to be the next director of theNational Gallery of Arttook that office in March 2019.

In October 2019,Katherine Luber,formerly of theSan Antonio Museum of Art,was named as the new director and president of Mia.

In January 2024, Robert Cozzolino, a curator who had garnered praise for spotlighting underrepresented artists, was fired. This decision prompted accusations that the museum has become “a toxic environment for people of color” under Luber's leadership. Over 450 members of the city’s art community, includingDavid LynchandDyani White Hawk,signed an open letter of support in response to the Cozzolino's firing.

Collection

Galleries with items from the East Asia Collection

The museum features an encyclopedic collection of approximately 80,000 objectsspanning 5,000 years of world history. Its collection includespaintings,photographs,printsanddrawings,textiles, architecture, anddecorative arts.There are collections ofAfrican art,art from Oceania and the Americas, and an especially strong collection ofAsian art,called "one of the finest and most comprehensive Asian art collections in the country".The Asian collection includesChinese architecture,jades,bronzes,andceramics.

The institute owns thePurcell-Cutts House,just east ofLake of the Isles.The house was designed byPurcell & Elmslieand is a masterpiece ofPrairie Schoolarchitecture. It was donated to the museum by Anson B. Cutts Jr., the son of its second owner. The house is available for tours on the second weekend of each month.

Services

Tables setup for event in gallery

In order to encourage private collecting and assist in the acquisition of important works of art, the museum has created "affinity groups" aligned with the seven curatorial areas of the museum. The groups schedule lectures,symposia,and travel for members.

The museum features a regular series ofexhibitionsthat bring in traveling collections from other museums for display. Local business partners fund many of these exhibitions, and some feature the artists leading public tours through the exhibition.

The museum houses theMinnesota Artists Exhibition Program,an artist-controlled program devoted to the exhibition of works by artists who live in Minnesota.

The Museum Library contains more than 60,000 volumes on art and art history. The library is open to the public.

Outdoor exhibits

The institute has a number of exhibits outside the building.A pair of Chinese lions sit on either side of the 24th Street entrance. They were a gift from Ella Pillsbury Crosby in 1998. Because a museum curator determined that it would be too difficult to export 18th-century statues, new ones were carved in China in the 18th century style.

The bronze statueThe Fighter of the Spirit,byErnst Barlachstands near the 24th Street entrance. The statue shows a winged man holding a sword vertically, tip up, and standing on the back of a snarling beast. The statue was commissioned by theUniversity of Kieland was originally placed in front of its church (Holy Spirit Church). The statue did not fit with the ideals of the rulingNational Socialistparty; it was vandalized and condemned asdegenerate art.As a result, the statue was removed and cut into four pieces, in preparation for melting down. However, the pieces were hidden on a farm and didn't resurface until 1946. The statue was repaired and placed in front of theChurch of St. Nicholas(the Holy Spirit Church having been destroyed during the war).Two copies of the statue were made at this time; the MIA acquired one copy in 1959; the other is in front of theGethsemane Churchin Berlin.

The Chinese Garden, which can be seen from inside the café, containsTaihu stones.These stones are said to represent the mountains of theBuddhistandTaoistimmortals.The garden was a gift of Ruth andBruce Dayton.

Target Park, which sits behind the museum, contains several contemporary statues, including an untitled work in bronze (c. 1968) byPietro Consagra,Sambain African granite (1993) byRichard Erdman,andL'arbre de viein stainless steel and pigment (20th century), designed by Jean Willy Mestach and manufactured by Michael Chowen.There is also a granite and steel pavilion entitledLabyrinth(1993) by John Willenbecher. There are wide lines cut into the steel roof of the pavilion so that when the viewer stands inside, the labyrinth can be viewed by looking up.

To celebrate its 100th anniversary, the institute purchased a sculpture by the Polish artistIgor Mitoraj(1944–2014).Eros Bendato Screpolato,1999, is one of a series of bronze "bandaged heads" produced by Mitoraj. Similar Mitoraj sculptures can be found at other public sites, including Market Square inKraków,Poland, and Citygarden in downtown St. Louis, Missouri.

Management

Finances

Woodlands Shirt, c. 1720-1750

The William Hood Dunwoody Fund, endowed with one million dollars when Dunwoody died in 1914, has been used to purchase thousands of works.Bruce Dayton, a life trustee of the institute since 1942, insisted that money raised in the $100 million fund-raising campaign for the Target wing, which opened in 2006, be split evenly between the building and the acquisitions endowment. That fund, now at $91 million, has allowed the institute to buy a rare early 18th-century Native American painted buckskin shirt and a nine-foot-long topographicalView of Venicemade byJacopo de' Barbariin 1500, among other recent purchases.In 2009, the value of the museum's $145 million endowment had fallen 21 percent from January 2008. The endowment typically provides nearly one-fifth of operating revenues. Contributions from individuals, corporations and foundations account for a quarter of revenues,Almost half of the museum's operating money comes from the "park-museum fund," a century-oldHennepin Countytax dating to 1911 that provides public support in exchange for free admission. That fund, which has risen steadily in recent years, provided the museum $12.6 million in the fiscal year of 2010. In 2011, the museum's annual budget was at $24.6 million, and endowment income was a total $4.3 million.

In August 2016, the institute announced a $6 million bequest to fund the Gale Asian Art Initiative, which is designed to highlight the museum's holdings in Asian art, estimated at 16,800 objects. The bequest was made by Alfred P. Gale, an heir to thePillsburyflour fortune. The first exhibition of the initiative will beInk Unbound: Paintings by Liu Dan.Liu Dan, a contemporary Chinese artist has been asked to create an ink painting based on a painting in the museum's collection. Dan choseSt. Paul and St. Barnabas at Lystra,a 17th-century painting by the Dutch artistWillem de Poorter.

In popular culture

Scenes from the 1982 filmThe Personalswere filmed in the museum, andChuck Close's "Frank" andMax Beckmann's "Blind Man's Buff" were featured.

Restitution claims

In 2008, the museum restitutedFernand Leger’s “Smoke Over Rooftops” to the heirs of Jewish collectorAlphonse Kannwhose collection had been looted by Nazis. The painting had passed through theBuchholz Galleryin New York in 1951.

In April 2024, the ItalianMinistry of Cultureordered a ban on loans to the museum due to a legal dispute regarding the provenance of the Stabiae Doriforo, a Roman-era copy of the ancient Greek sculptureTheDoryphorosof Polykleitos,which Italy said was looted fromStabiaeand was subsequently bought by the museum from a private dealer in 1986.

Selected objects & paintings

• 
  Imperial Portrait of a Prince, China, Qing dynasty
• 
  Ceremonial vessel, central Thailand, c. 1000-300 BCE,
• 
  Pair of winged dragons, China, Warring States period
• 
  Henri Matisse,Les trois baigneuses (Three Bathers),1907
• 
  El Greco,Cleansing of the Temple,1571
• 
  Ceramic Bowl Fish, Mimbres, c. 1050-1150
• 
  Jean Siméon Chardin,The Attributes of Art,1766
• 
  Joan Miró,Les cartes espagnoles(The Spanish Playing Cards), 1920
• 
  Vincent van Gogh,Olive Trees Saint-Rémy,November 1889
• 
  Rembrandt'sLucretia,1666
• 
  Ainu attush robe, Hokkaido, Japan, 19th
• 
  Paul Gauguin,Under the Pandanus II,1891
• 
  Fernand Léger,Le compotier (Table and Fruit),1910–11

See also

• List of largest art museums
• List of most-visited museums in the United States

External links

• Official website
• Virtual tour of the Minneapolis Institute of Artprovided byGoogle Arts & Culture