Young artists, Mia exhibit, shine uncomfortable light on American racism

For the fourth year in a row the Minneapolis Institute of Art Mia brought together high schoolers to share their perspectives on physical condition and racial equity The art displayed at the opening on May ranged from vibrant paintings and photos to sculptures and video installations Through July th your art will invite others to confront their own experiences and how they might be similar or different to those you face yourself Virajita Singh Mia s chief diversity and inclusion officer disclosed to the students at the opening of the exhibition It ll open up conversations and dialogues It ll elicit feelings and emotions and inspire empathy These are the reasons why art museums exist The theme of this year s Teen Perspectives exhibit is Minneapolis as Monument a reflection of the fact that five years prior the murder of George Floyd led to racial reckonings within and outside the city Students participating in the event also gained inspiration from Giants Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys an exhibition at the Mia Bukata Hayes Chief Locality Wellbeing Officer at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota speaks to students at the opening of the Teen Perspectives exhibition at the Minneapolis Institute of Art Mia Credit MinnPost photo by Deanna Pistono Using art as a tool for communication is valuable in terms of creating new medical messages reported Bukata Hayes Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota s Chief Locality Robustness Officer Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota has been the sponsor for this particular project since its inception While Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota is also a sponsor of MinnPost s Race and Fitness Equity beat the organization does not weigh in on MinnPost s reporting and editorial decisions Lydia Nobrega a junior at Perpich Arts High School took a chance to memorialize those working at her school as giants Her piece in the Mia exhibit was two-fold For one part of her piece Nobrega painted a triptych three portraits of Morena Diaz a cleaner at Perpich Jimah David a shield officer at Perpich and George Terry Perpich s assistant principal Before creating these portraits disclosed Nobrega she d never painted anyone s portrait before Lydia Nobrega a junior at Perpich Arts High School poses with her three paintings of people working at her school From left to right the portraits depict George Terry the assistant principal Morena Diaz a maintenance worker and Jimah David a safeguard guard Credit MinnPost photo by Deanna Pistono The second part of Nobrega s piece was a video installation edited by Thomas Thro another participant at Perpich In these videos Diaz David and Terry share their stories via interviews with Nobrega In each interview revealed Nobrega she questioned around four to six questions about their own experiences essential moments of change in their lives what they would like to share with others and how they were impacted in the year of George Floyd s murder and the beginning of the COVID- society wellness emergency Nobrega described her piece as being about giving different people a chance to speak and share their stories a chance that numerous of those from marginalized communities including communities of color may not have They don t get that space They don t get that to show their story even though it is just as essential if not more pivotal than the people that get to speak over and over again stated Nobrega Everybody has an significant story and they deserve the respect to share it Related Students artists combat racism through upcoming exhibit at Mia Joseph Willie a junior at Osseo Senior High School changed his mind during the seven week venture about his piece First he wished to take several photos of people and draw around those photos but decided instead to focus on what he enjoys simple photography His piece is deliberately naturalistic four of his friends all young Black men standing together instead of having them all look into the camera and make poses and all that realistic instead of performative The inspiration behind the photo commented Willie is how people look at others and see them through lenses of ignorant stereotypes Joseph Willie a junior at Osseo Senior High School with his piece a naturalistic photograph of his four friends Credit MinnPost photo by Deanna Pistono I just want people to just be able to look at somebody and not have stereotypical thoughts or make comments about them just based on how they look Willie explained In his artist report displayed near the piece Willie challenges people to look past stereotypes while they look at his friends For example the report reads the second and fourth man from the left are wearing matching jackets which suggests they are part of a larger organization Teaching artists and others working with the students also displayed art at the Mia exhibit including Aiyana Beaulieu the studio assistant for the venture who was herself a learner participant in the project last year Beaulieu s piece Debwe which translates to she speaks the truth in Ojibwe features the figure of a Native woman with her back towards the viewer There are red handprints on the side of the piece as well as over the mouth of the woman which reference the missing and murdered Indigenous women in the United States Additionally the moccasins being pushed up out of the ground around the figure revealed Beaulieu are meant to honor the Indigenous casualties of boarding schools in North America and to show that the land remembers us The land knows everyone s story The land will unfailingly know the truth Artist and studio assistant Aiyana Beaulieu poses next to her piece Debwe which translated from Ojibwe means She speaks the truth Credit MinnPost photo by Deanna Pistono For the piece Beaulieu who is Ojibwe researched artforms from other Indigenous tribes including Dakota and Ojibwe florals Tlingit formline art Din also known as Navajo rug weaving and Seminole patchwork On the top of her ribbon skirt a skirt that Beaulieu describes as being worn by Native people from various tribes are three mirrors which provide the viewer with an opportunity to self-reflect I hope that people find that to be inspiring mentioned Beaulieu And I also hope it brings them whatever it requirements to if that means it brings up particular pain and they are processing that grief that the art helps them to heal Artist and art therapist Lissa Karpeh speaks to students at the Teen Perspectives exhibition Credit MinnPost photo by Deanna Pistono Another striking work was Resilient Tae Tae by Lissa Karpeh the art therapist and educator who worked with the students Resilient Tae Tae is a portrait of one of Karpeh s younger students Davontae whose determination to complete his artwork is such that Karpeh says she can t tell to put the markers back at all after art class is done I made that piece to pay homage to him who is a member of the next generation So he can see himself and he can see there s nothing wrong with being resilient There s nothing wrong with wanting the best for yourself mentioned Karpeh In her remarks to the group at the Mia exhibition s opening Karpeh wondered how Davontae confident and unafraid to be himself would be affected by the current political environment Everyday Giant by Kprecia Ambers one of the teaching artists in this year s Teen Perspectives campaign Per the artists description the Black figure represents resilience while the chess piece represents choice Credit MinnPost photo by Deanna Pistono Are people gonna continue to tell him to put the marker down she inquired Though the question of how young people in the United States from those as young as Davontae to those participating in the event as high schoolers will be impacted by this administration is pressing Karpeh urged the students to continue to raise their voices about the issues they care about Don t hesitate to talk about social justice commented Karpeh Don t hesitate to talk about the lens in which you come from Don t hesitate to bring your all into your artwork You do justice when you put all your feelings in your artwork so that us here who are looking at it we can look at it and in fact think outside the box The post Young artists Mia exhibit shine uncomfortable light on American racism appeared first on MinnPost