SOLD OUT: We Need To Talk: The Dollhouse

Join us for a special film screening and discussion

Friday, February 23

In collaboration with Flow Nonfiction, Mia is proud to host an artists reception and the premiere screening of “We Need to Talk: The Dollhouse,” February 23 at 6 p.m. Following the screening, the episode’s four featured women – Andrea Pierre, Junauda Petrus, Aisha Mgeni and Erin Sharkey – will be joined by local artist-dollmaker Phyllis Chatham in a salon-style discussion of today’s complicated issues affecting African-American women. This discussion will be moderated by former DNC Chair Candidate and Fox News Analyst Jehmu Greene.

6-6:30: Cocktails and Light Bites
6:30-7: Introduction and Premiere Screening of “We Need to Talk: The Dollhouse”
7-8:30: Salon-style Discussion

Tickets are free; advance registration recommended.

———————————————————————

Andrea Pierre is a Minneapolis resident, artist, and mother of two young girls with whom she regularly visits the Minneapolis Institute of Art. In a community room outside the formal exhibit space at Mia sits an ornate 19th century dollhouse, whose intricate scenes and decorations have long fascinated Andrea’s daughters.

Eventually, though, one of the girls noticed something. The only doll with her same skin color was hidden away back in the kitchen and posed as a servant, the single black doll in an otherwise all-white collection. Ms. Pierre saw this as a teachable moment – to talk about race, class, slavery, and the inequities intrinsic to our society.

Then one day soon after, with no fanfare or formal comment from the museum, the doll was no longer in the house. Its removal has sparked conversation among Andrea and her friends, and has raised bigger questions surrounding racial representation in art and history.

Now, creative studio Flow Nonfiction brings this discussion to life with We Need to Talk: The Dollhouse, a 22-minute short film capturing an unmoderated and uncensored discussion between Andrea and three of her peers who sat down to tackle this complicated subject.

What starts as a conversation about a doll quickly evolves into a much larger discussion about the issues facing Black women in America. The four discuss Sandra Bland, white Feminism and the Women’s March, confederate monuments, and taking a knee during the national anthem. Artists themselves, they discuss the marginalization of African and African-American artwork in American museums, and in the process illuminate a unique opportunity for institutions like Mia to correct the course.

Space is limited; register for free tickets here.  This event is currently at capacity.

This talk is generously funded in part by the McKnight Foundation. 

ABOUT JEHMU GREENE

Jehmu Greene is an evangelist for social good, an award-winning media and advocacy strategist, proud Texan and recent candidate for Chair of the Democratic National Committee. Heading into her eighth year as a Fox News Political Analyst, Jehmu unapologetically defends progressive values and policies on the network. She co-founded Define American with Jose Antonio Vargas, an initiative that uses media and culture to elevate the immigration reform conversation and is a founding board member of VoteRunLead. She previously served as president of WakaWaka, a global social enterprise working to bring solar power to people living without access to electricity; president of Rock the Vote, where under her leadership membership grew from 1,500 to over 1 million and young voter turnout had the highest increase ever recorded in between two presidential elections; president of the Women’s Media Center where she designed the Name It, Change It campaign to fight sexism against women candidates and trained progressive women to amplify their voices in the media; director of women’s outreach and Southern political director at the Democratic National Committee; National Director of Project Vote and Executive Director of Texas Young Democrats. She has worked on over twenty political campaigns at the local, state and national level and served as an advisor and national surrogate for Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign. Jehmu was appointed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the United States National Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO). She splits her time between New York City, Austin, and Twitter: @jehmu.