Mia Announces Latest Exhibition, O’ Powa O’ Meng: The Art and Legacy of Jody Folwell

Opening September 14, Mia's latest exhibition focuses on Jody Follwell's influential Native American art, which intersects with Contemporary and American art.

The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia), in partnership with The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia, welcomes O’ Powa O’ Meng: The Art and Legacy of Jody Folwell as the museum’s latest exhibition, available for viewing from September 14, 2024 – January 26, 2025 in the Cargill Gallery. 

Jody Folwell is a contemporary potter from Kha’p’o Owingeh (Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico) who is widely considered among the most significant and influential clay artists of her generation. Folwell has revolutionized contemporary Pueblo pottery – and Native art more broadly – by pushing the boundaries of form, content and design. She is the first Pueblo artist to employ writing and designs as personal, political and social narratives on her pottery.

The iconic works showcased within “O’ Powa O’ Meng” (“I came here, I got here, I’m still going” in the artist’s Tewa language) span the breadth of Folwell’s groundbreaking career and demonstrate the arc of her artistic development. The exhibition centers Folwell’s practice and situates her within the intersecting artistic contexts of Kha’p’o Owingeh, Native American art, and Contemporary and American art more broadly. 

“Over the past five decades, Jody Folwell’s avant-garde innovations have inspired other artists and the public,” said Katie Luber, Nivin & Duncan MacMillan Director & President at Mia. “We are so excited to celebrate her career with the Twin Cities community through the opening of this latest exhibition.”