Mint Museum of Art

For the majority of fy22, the Mint continued its core activities, including expanding its permanent collections through important acquisitions; launching new exhibitions comprising works from the permanent collections and on loan; engaging visitors of all ages and backgrounds through education and outreach initiatives; and implementing new communication strategies, technologies, and methods to reach and engage new audiences. Fy22 special exhibitions included: john leslie breck: american impressionist which opened in september 2021, was inspired by the Mint's 2016 acquisition of john leslie breck's canvas suzanne hosched-monet sewing. This show was the first ever retrospective of breck's beautiful impressionist paintings. This important exhibition included approximately 70 of breck's finest works, drawn from public and private collections. Many of the works in the exhibition had not been on public view in more than a century. Breck was one of the founders of the american Art colony at giverny and was among the earliest american artists to embrace the impressionist style. Between 1887 and 1888, he and a handful of his american colleagues began visiting the french village of giverny, where they met claude monet and subsequently explored the new approach to painting that monet had helped pioneer. When breck returned to america in 1892, he applied what he had learned to paintings of the new england landscape and frequently exhibited his work. After debuting at the Mint Museum, this exhibition traveled to the dixon gallery and gardens in the winter of 2022, and then to the figge Art Museum in the spring through august 2022.the world of anna sui organized by the fashion and textile Museum in london opened at Mint Museum randolph in november 2021. This exhibition has toured the globe from new york to shanghai, and the Mint was the last stop for the current international tour. The exhibition gives insights into anna sui's process, allowing the viewer to step inside her imagination and see it unfold. She reinvented pop-culture fashion with her signature rock-and-roll romantic label in the 1990s. The Mint was fortunate to have anna join us for the opening and closing celebrations for this exhibition.craft in the laboratory: the science of making things opened in february 2022, and is the first installation in the southeast to explore how craft artists and designers use science and math concepts when creating works of Art, revealing parallel approaches to problem-solving among these makers and professionals in stem fields (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). The acronym steam, which inserts "Art" among the four other fields, emphasizes how they all intersect and reflects educators and arts professionals' assertion of their equal importance in k-12 and college education. This exhibition also serves as a reinstallation of the Mint's craft + design galleries at Mint Museum uptown the first since 2010.finally, coined in the south opened in may 2022, in conjunction with the Mint's affiliate group - the young affiliates of the Mint (yams). This juried exhibition highlighted 41 artists from across the southeast. While this is only the second iteration of coined in the south, it is the fifth survey of southeastern contemporary artists organized by the yams. The show seeks to bridge the gap between the Museum, the gallery, and the studio to highlight the innovative and thought-provoking work produced by the creative innovators of the southeastern arts community. The show is not confined to any single aesthetic, theme or medium; design, ceramic, and fiber works are installed alongside paintings, digital media, and works on paper. These exhibitions served as a launching pad for thematic in-person programming. The Museum continued to successfully host community engagement programs to build on the deep relationships made with both partners and participants such as Mint to move, wild wednesdays, bi-lingual stories and music, wednesday night live, and Art 101. Additionally, we continued to distribute free Art kits - fun and easy activities, complete with supplies, to create Art at home. The monthly free Art kit corresponds to an exhibition on view or a piece from the Mint's permanent collection. Typically, about 500 kits are handed out to the public each month. Finally, we continued to host "party in the park" on the last sunday of each month at Mint Museum randolph. In fy22, over 4,000 visitors enjoyed free admission to the Museum, food trucks, and live music on the front terrace as part of the "party in the park" experience. The Mint is committed to making the arts part of the fabric of daily life and serving as a cultural destination through innovative exhibitions, programs, and outreach that stimulate new ways of thinking about the world. The Mint strives to serve as a transformational center for community engagement and inspiration.annually, the Mint partners with many organizations within the community to offer a broad array of programming that reaches as many community members as possible. Key partners include: charlotte mecklenburg schools, the latin american women's association, latin american coalition, Art s charlotte, circle de luz, harvey b. gantt center for african-american arts + culture, dances of india rumbao latin dance company, southeastern Museum conference, pbs affiliate wtvi charlotte, bechtler Museum of modern Art, mccoll center for visual Art, blumenthal performing arts center, charlotte ballet, opera carolina, charlotte symphony, charlotte mecklenburg library, universities and colleges, and others.mint staff members relate to their peers through various national groups, including the southeastern museums conference, the american alliance of museums, the college Art association, and the association of Art Museum curators.the Mint contributes annually to the regional economy through employment, sales, and taxes. Salaries and wages for Mint employees amounts to approximately $3.7m annually, while contract fees total approximately $2.2m. Paid taxes are approximately $496k, which include payroll, local, state, and federal taxes. The Mint's special events and shops revenue amounts to approximately $1.7m annually, and these efforts serve as important venues for local businesses (caterers, event planners, vendors) to partner and thrive. Finally, 1,700 annual volunteers offer a key resource, resulting in an annual cost savings of approximately $255k based upon the 2023 hourly volunteer rate of $29.95 per hour.