Minnesota Marine Art Museum

09/02/2026

We are looking forward to the Reflections on our Relationship with the Natural World [Third Thursday Author Event]! Learn more and find tickets to the event: https://mmam.org/calendar2/2026-third-thursday-sept-author

Join fellow University of Minnesota Press author Anna Farro Henderson and me on Thursday, September 17th, at Minnesota Marine Art Museum for conversations about living with a shifting climate.

09/01/2026

September's Third Thursday is right around the corner!

Join us on September 17, 5p - 8p, for an evening of conversation, connection, and community with award-winning authors Anna Farro Henderson and Tamara Dean!

Alongside local community voices, Henderson and Dean will be discussing climate, creativity, and collective action. This engaging program will explore how art, storytelling, and community can help us navigate climate anxiety and imagine meaningful change.

Henderson and Dean's acclaimed essay collections, "Core Samples: A Climate Scientist’s Experiments in Motherhood and Politics" and "Shelter and Storm: At Home in the Driftless", weave science, policy, and personal experience into powerful reflections on our relationship to the natural world and one another.

Community organizations will also host booths where guests can learn more about local climate issues, clean energy, healthy soils, and ways to get involved close to home.

Discover how turning toward each other may be the most powerful response to an uncertain future at September's Third Thursday event!

Learn more: https://mmam.org/calendar2/2026-third-thursday-sept-author

09/01/2026

Join us at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum next Tuesday, September 8th, from 10:30a - 12p, for our monthly program Toddler Tuesday!

Toddler Tuesday is for our littlest art lovers (age 1-5), and offers hands-on art activities, opportunities to connect with other families, free-play, storytelling, and a chance for toddlers and their grown-ups to explore the artworks in the galleries.

See you soon! 💙

08/31/2026

In "Internal Body I", Tanya Aguiñiga uses fiber and clay to reimagine the human body as a porous, relational form shaped by environment, labor, and community. Created using off-loom weaving techniques, knots, and braided rope, the work incorporates terracotta elements that appear embedded within the textile structure, suggesting internal organs held within a woven skin.

Aguiñiga often describes these works as portraits of the collective body, formed through familial bonds, migration histories, and shared systems of care. The hardened terracotta, made from clay sourced in both Mexico and the United States, introduces tensions between softness and rigidity, vulnerability and endurance, echoing the physical and emotional weight carried within the body.

The cascading fiber evokes river debris and organic accumulation, drawing a parallel between bodily systems and waterways. Through craft traditions rooted in Mesoamerican practices, the work frames the body as a site where land, labor, memory, and care converge.

[Tanya Aguiñiga, “Internal Body I” 2023 (detail), fiber, terracotta, and mixed media]

[Images by Bailey Bolton for MMAM: "Water | Craft"]

08/29/2026

Don’t miss your chance to experience “Myths and Legends of Minnesota: An Exhibition of the Minnesota Plein Air Collective” at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum!

Artists in this group exhibition aim to interpret legends, tall tales, folklore, or personal narratives through visual art created in direct engagement with Minnesota's natural environment and aquatic ecosystems.

The Minnesota Plein Air Collective is a collaboration between the Art of the Lakes Association, Outdoor Painters of Minnesota, and Red Wing Arts, the nonprofit organizers of Minnesota’s three premier annual plein air painting competitions in Battle Lake, Grand Marais, and Red Wing, Minnesota.

“Myths and Legends of Minnesota: An Exhibition of the Minnesota Plein Air Collective” is on view through September 13, 2026

[Images by Bailey Bolton for MMAM: “Myths and Legends of Minnesota: An Exhibition of the Minnesota Plein Air Collective”]

08/28/2026

“Spooky waters or spooky lakes are not really about ghosts or ghouls or anything haunted,” Rutherford told MPR News. “It's actually more about disasters, nature being spooky all by herself and humans interacting with nature, like diving or shipwrecks.”

Thank you MPR for the mention 💙

Geo Rutherford: "Spooky Waters of the World" is on view through February 14, 2027

An album release party at Paisley Park, a memorial screening of “9 to 5,” the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe’s first basketball court mural and a new Minnesota Marine Art Museum exhibition are among this week’s picks.

08/27/2026

This upcoming Saturday, August 29th, from 11a - 11:30a is our last Summer Saturday Public Tour for the season. Join us for one last 30-minute guided tour highlighting artworks that celebrate water’s influence on artists across time and place!

We'll see you there 💙

08/27/2026

Great drinks + Great food + Great art inspired by water = A perfect afternoon at MMAM!

For a limited time, enjoy mimosas ALL DAY LONG and a discounted drink menu! [21+]

And because great drinks deserve great food, we’ve got some delicious food specials waiting for you. This weekend’s food specials are House-made Bruschetta Plate & Marry-Me Beans with Garlic Toast

Grab your crew and make your weekend plans official!💙

The Waterbar Cafe + Provisions is open Thursday - Sunday, 10a - 4p

08/26/2026

This past weekend was a beautiful weekend here in Winona, Minnesota.

What made it even better was acclaimed plein air artist Bob Upton taught a two-day workshop that explored the expressive potential of gouache! Through live demonstrations, guided exercises, and individual feedback, Bob shared his approach to simplifying complex scenes and managing changing light.

Working at three different locations- the Trempeleau Wildlife Refuge, around the lakes of Winona, and Garvin Heights- participants spent their time enjoying nature, playing with gouache, and getting their hands dirty while painting beautiful landscapes!

A huge thank you to all the workshop participants and to Bob Upton for teaching!

Learn more about MMAM workshops: mmam.org/workshops

08/25/2026

We are happy to announce that the Minnesota Marine Art Museum has partnered with the “Museum for All” initiative and now provides free gallery admission to all families and individuals who receive SNAP benefits!

Just show your SNAP benefits card and photo ID to our friendly front desk! They would love to tell you all about the must-see exhibitions inside the museum.

Art is for everyone! 💙

The Minnesota Marine Art Museum is open Tuesday – Sunday, 10 AM – 5 PM (Closed Mondays)

Bring the family, or yourself, and have fun exploring great art inspired by water.

Learn more at mmam.org/reduced-waived-admission