Minnesota Museum of American Art

Minnesota Museum of American Art The M inspires understandings of identities, experiences, and complex truths through
art and creativity. mmaa.org

05/31/2026

"A lot people think that homosexuality, being gay, being q***r is new, and it's not."—Giiwedin

Welcome to "Q***ring Indigeneity" artist focus: GIIWEDIN

One of 16 artists featured in "Q***ring Indigeneity," Giiwedin (any pronouns) is an Anishinaabe Two-Spirit water protector and educator who uses social media to share about their culture, Indigenous and environmental issues, and Q***r Indigenous history and acceptance. He is an enrolled member of the St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin and grew up on the Leech Lake Reservation in northern Minnesota, home to the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. Giiwedin graduated from the University of Minnesota, Morris, with a BA in Biology and resisted the construction of the Line 3 Pipeline with their comrades in northern Minnesota. Their Instagram () has 214k followers, and they were GLAAD and Teen Vogue’s 20 under 20 honoree for LGBTQ+ changemakers in 2022.

Artist Statement

My art connects with the "Q***ring Indigeneity" exhibit because I’m Q***r and Indigenous. I identify as Two-Spirit and have known this since I was a kid. And ever since I was a kid, I drew mermaids and other water spirits that were integral to my people’s culture. Anishinaabe people are woodland people, but we are also the people of water. We migrated westward to the place where food grows on water, and I believe this influenced and influences my art. The materials I use are just pen and paper, simple tools available to anyone and the only tools I had access to as a kid. I hope my art instills a reverence for the water if that reverence is not already there in the viewer.

See Giiwedin's artwork in "Q***ring Indigeneity": https://mmaa.org/q***ring-indigeneity

Free admission. Open Thursday–Sunday, 10 am–4 pm.

***ringIndigeneity

Welcome to "Q***ring Indigeneity" artist focus: GIIWEDINOne of 16 artists featured in "Q***ring Indigeneity," Giiwedin (...
05/31/2026

Welcome to "Q***ring Indigeneity" artist focus: GIIWEDIN

One of 16 artists featured in "Q***ring Indigeneity," Giiwedin (any pronouns) is an Anishinaabe Two-Spirit water protector and educator who uses social media to share about their culture, Indigenous and environmental issues, and Q***r Indigenous history and acceptance. He is an enrolled member of the St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin and grew up on the Leech Lake Reservation in northern Minnesota, home to the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. Giiwedin graduated from the University of Minnesota, Morris, with a BA in Biology and resisted the construction of the Line 3 Pipeline with their comrades in northern Minnesota. Their Instagram () has 214k followers, and they were GLAAD and Teen Vogue’s 20 under 20 honoree for LGBTQ+ changemakers in 2022.

Artist Statement

My art connects with the "Q***ring Indigeneity" exhibit because I’m Q***r and Indigenous. I identify as Two-Spirit and have known this since I was a kid. And ever since I was a kid, I drew mermaids and other water spirits that were integral to my people’s culture. Anishinaabe people are woodland people, but we are also the people of water. We migrated westward to the place where food grows on water, and I believe this influenced and influences my art. The materials I use are just pen and paper, simple tools available to anyone and the only tools I had access to as a kid. I hope my art instills a reverence for the water if that reverence is not already there in the viewer.

See Giiwedin's artwork in "Q***ring Indigeneity": https://mmaa.org/q***ring-indigeneity

Free admission. Open Thursday–Sunday, 10 am–4 pm.

Art credits:

Giiwedin (St. Croix enrollee & Leech Lake Ojibwe)
Manoomin/Mandaamin as Two-Spirit Relatives, 2025
Ink on paper

Inspirations of Mooningwanekaaning, 2024
Ink on paper

Two-Spirit Reels, 2025
Find video at https://mmaa.org/q***ring-indigeneity

Portrait by Tj Turner (first generation descendant of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe)

***ringIndigeneity

Boosting this MPR story about Wakaŋ Tipi Center's opening on 5/29: https://ow.ly/f5ZL50Z5PvaWakaŋ Tipi translates to “dw...
05/30/2026

Boosting this MPR story about Wakaŋ Tipi Center's opening on 5/29: https://ow.ly/f5ZL50Z5Pva

Wakaŋ Tipi translates to “dwelling place of the sacred” in the Dakota language. Located along the Mississippi River in St. Paul, it's named after a cave set within the landscape where Dakota people gathered for ceremony. The new facility has interpretive displays about Dakota knowledge systems, surrounded by outdoor gardens to create, educate, gather, and hold ceremony.

Board member (and M director) Dr. Kate Beane said the center provides space for community to come together and reconnect with the land. "This is a site with many stories that are tied to both Dakota history as well as a wider Native presence,” she said.

Wakan Tipi Awanyankapi
MPR News

Heads up: Today, 5/30, is the last day to see Tia Keobounpheng's exhibition "Gullat" at the Weinstein Hammons Gallery. G...
05/30/2026

Heads up: Today, 5/30, is the last day to see Tia Keobounpheng's exhibition "Gullat" at the Weinstein Hammons Gallery. Go see it on your way to work, brunch, or to jump in the lake!

Keobounpheng's "Thread no. 4" was the M's 2022 Star Fair purchase. The M is the only museum that buys art from artists exhibiting in the State Fair's Fine Arts Building. Find out more here: https://mmaa.org/off-the-wall-the-ms-love-affair-with-the-minnesota-state-fair/

Tia Keobounpheng
Threads no. 4, 2022
Thread, colored pencil, and pencil on wood

Last call! "The Magical City: George Morrison's New York" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC, closes 5/31.https://ow...
05/29/2026

Last call! "The Magical City: George Morrison's New York" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC, closes 5/31.

https://ow.ly/JVEj50Z4T99

Need more Morrison in your life? We've got you. The M's galleries have 24 artworks by the Modernist Ojibwe artist.

Free admission. Open Thursday–Sunday, 10 am–4 pm.

Ready for June? So are we!
05/29/2026

Ready for June? So are we!

05/28/2026

Happy to highlight the featured artists in the M's first Volunteer Showcase: Carole Burkett,�Anastasia de Celle, Todd Hannert,�Joan Hillebrand Neumiller,�Suhaila Ihsanullah, Tianna Nguyen,�Mishal Mazin,�Dylan Paulsen,�Kyle Renell,�Ruby Sonnek,�Kate Stomberg, Toni Wilcox, Sara Wrolstad.

Thank you, M volunteers, for everything you do and create!

Plan your visit! Free admission. Open Thursday–Sunday, 10 am–4 pm.

Spreading the word:Art in the Minnesota Capitol: Call for ProposalsThe Capitol Art Exhibit Advisory Committee (CAEAC) is...
05/28/2026

Spreading the word:

Art in the Minnesota Capitol: Call for Proposals
The Capitol Art Exhibit Advisory Committee (CAEAC) is issuing a call for proposals for art exhibitions that will be on display in the 3rd floor exhibit gallery of the Minnesota State Capitol in the 2028 calendar year. Artists, culture bearers, and organizations are welcome to submit a proposal.

Application deadline is June 15, 2026

For more information: https://ow.ly/RzZA50Z4KKA

The M is delighted to welcome Valerie Clark as its assistant registrar. She arrives at the M after various art and histo...
05/27/2026

The M is delighted to welcome Valerie Clark as its assistant registrar. She arrives at the M after various art and historical institutions in Minnesota over the last nine years, documenting and caring for archival collections as well as securing funding for education and preservation projects.

Fun fact: This is Valerie's second turn at the M. After earning an MA in art history and museum studies at Case Western Reserve University in 2016, she played a role in setting up our current collections database.

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