By Diane Richard I grew up on Butternut, the spongy white sandwich stuff that’s as far from artisanal bread as Tang (which I also grew up with) is from fresh-squeezed orange juice. So why did I just spend good hard cash to order flour from a local mill (thanks, Sunrise Flour Mill)? And why does  ...

By Tim Gihring In February 2007, a UNESCO official named Alain Godonou gave a speech in which he concluded, with some back-of-the-envelope math, that “90 to 95 percent of African heritage is to be found outside the continent in the major world museums.” Godonou is now the national director of museums in Benin, and his  ...

By Natalia Choi On the morning of the museum’s staff photo shoot, I wore my favorite bright yellow skirt. I joked with my boyfriend that it was my “yellow power” symbol, a way of drawing visibility to my Asian self so that I did not become invisible in the sea of whiteness. Growing up Asian  ...

By Diane Richard The Frankfurt Kitchen is an icon of modernist domestic architecture, a 75-square-foot ode to efficiency. It was designed in 1926, by Austrian architect Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, as an attempt to simplify the chores of cooking and cleaning up afterward, freeing women—whose chores they were and largely remain—to pursue their own economic and personal  ...

By Tim Gihring Erika Lee’s grandfather came to the United States from China in 1918, sailing into the harbor of San Francisco. He was 16, a farmer’s son. The Chinese Exclusion Act, which was designed to stop nearly all Chinese immigrants from entering the country, had been in place for 36 years. But he had  ...

By Alyssa Machida “Let’s begin by saying that we are living through a very dangerous time…. So any citizen of this country who figures himself as responsible—and particularly those of you who deal with the minds and hearts of young people—must be prepared to ‘go for broke.’ Or to put it another way, you must  ...

When the Minneapolis Institute of Art began planning its February Open House, it knew it would need some help. Mia began hosting Open Houses last year, on Friday nights, when the museum can welcome its community, families, and friends for an evening of free programs. The February event would celebrate Black History Month with music,  ...

By Jay Nuhring Remember the shiny brass furniture from the early 1980s? And the obsession consumers had with Spanish Oak cabinetry, burnt orange laminate countertops, and earth-tone shag carpet? They’re back! The year 2020 marks the beginning of a new decade in design, and rightly so—trends have about a 40-year cycle. Out with the cool  ...

Art in Bloom, Mia’s perennial fundraiser produced by the Friends of the Institute, is now celebrating spring in place, thanks to COVID-19. So why not enjoy it at home with a wedge of fresh lime? We’re talking, of course, about a gin and tonic. Few drinks announce the arrival of warmer months as briskly as  ...

By Jay Nuhring Spring is my favorite time of year for many reasons, the least of which are that my birthday is in late April and I love a good spring thunderstorm. The smell of earth after a hard rain makes me hopeful for warmer days. Here are some tips for shedding the winter doldrums  ...