Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program

I have had the great pleasure to work with the Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program (MAEP) at the Minneapolis Institute of Art as both an artist and panelist. For about 30-years, artists have been invited to an annual meeting at the Minneapolis Institute of Art where they nominate and elect a seven-member artists panel. This panel reviews proposals from Minnesota artists and selects five exhibitions each year that are mounted in the institute’s dedicated galleries. It is a very democratized process entirely curated by artists, for artists and very likely the only program of its kind in a major museum in the United States. Recently, there was an upheaval in the program as the newly expanded museum adopted a more corporate approach to their administrative structure. In fact, the program lost its long-time coordinator and came close to self-destructing. Meetings were called within the artist community; a “Save the MAEP” committee formed and negotiations went back and forth between the museum and art workers. Surprise, Surprise! At the annual meeting last Saturday, I was nominated and then elected to the artists’ panel. I hope to help keep the program running as smoothly as possible through this transitional time. I’m Billy X. and I approved this message.

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