Hennepin Gallery Reopens with Digital Exhibit Exploring Cultural Heritage

Via a December 2 e-announcement from Hennepin County:

A return to art! Hennepin Gallery reopens with digital exhibit exploring cultural heritage

Cultural heritage is explored in vivid color by two artists in Hennepin Gallery’s latest exhibit opening December 1, Principles of Posterity.

The Hennepin Gallery, closed due to COVID-19, is reopening with an online exhibit to share the two artists’ works and statements about their process and practice. View the online exhibit.

Both Mayumi Amada and Marlena Myles share their cultural heritage through a variety of materials, representing their sense of place, identity and home. The juxtaposition of personal perspectives in their artwork creates an open middle ground to consider commonalities.

The artists both present complex ideas and themes but do so in a way that invites audiences in with relatable materials and storytelling.

Artists’ statements

Mayumi Amada “I am Japanese – my cultural heritage informs my work. Living away from my home country and looking at it from a distance, I find many valuable characteristics in Japanese culture: In the ways of thinking, in the sense of value, and also in the arts, design, and in architecture."

Marlena Myles “I am a Native American (Dakota, Mohegan, Muscogee) digital artist located on my traditional homelands here in St Paul, Minnesota. I use my art to celebrate the language and culture of my Dakota people, as well as help the public understand and relate to the significance of our oral traditions, history and representation through Native Art.”

 

Online activities

To immerse audiences in their work more fully, Mayumi Amada and Marlena Myles have created interactive hands-on elements that visitors can engage with at home:

• Video workshops – Accompanying the artist’s work are accessible video workshops. Each artist provides a tutorial that uses paper and other materials found at home.
• Downloadable templates and coloring pages  

Forecast Public Art and Hennepin County Multicultural Arts Committee (HCMAC) Partnership

Forecast Public Art and HCMAC have partnered over the past 13 years to bring artwork from a variety of cultures to the Hennepin County Government Center. Forecast Public Art, a non-profit arts organization, activates, inspires and advocates for public art that advances justice, health, and human dignity.

The exhibit is sponsored by the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Department and Hennepin County Multicultural Arts Committee, and is a project of Hennepin County Communication and Engagement Services.

Look for more news on the Hennepin County website at hennepin.us/news.