Third Avenue entrance facade of the Minneapolis Institute of Art building with Mia brand signage; May-June 2016

Sustainability & Preservation

Explore how we’re honoring our commitments to responsible stewardship. From greening the museum to preserving and caring for the collection, Mia is dedicated to sustainable practices that’ll carry the museum into the future.

The Latest

100 Years After Receiving It, Mia Conserves a Late Gothic Manuscript

In 1921, the collector Herschel V. Jones gave Mia an antiphonary, a manuscript of sung portions of the Christian Mass and the Divine Office, known as antiphons, created in 1439. By 2020, it had become almost too fragile to open or move. Mia engaged St. Paul-based conservator Sherelyn Ogden, who made enhancements to ensure the antiphonary remains a viable object of display and study.

Conservation Connection: Minnesota Couple Brings Art Back to Life

A swan bust, about 10 feet tall, was once atop a much larger structure, an effigy of the Hindu goddess Kali that was carried during the annual Pooram Padayani festival. It was constructed in the 1800s from some rather delicate materials—paper, tiny mirrors, the wings of a coconut rhinoceros beetle—and was in rough shape when it was acquired by Mia in 2019. Before it could be displayed, the piece needed conservation.

Reunited in Gold: How Two Master Portraits Finally Came Together

In the 1800s, the portraits of the Marquis de Castelnau and Catherine Coustard were split apart. Catherine’s portrait has been at Mia for decades. When the portrait of the Marquis came to Mia in 2018, it seemed they would finally be reunited. But they weren’t quite ready.

Monet’s Grainstack Gets a Fresh Look in a New Frame

What do you notice when you look at a painting? You may ask yourself, is this frame the one the painting is supposed to be in? The Douglas and Mary Olson Frame Acquisition Fund, started in 1997, began as an effort to replace frames in Mia’s collection with historically accurate ones.

Supporting Bees—and Celebrating Them Through Art

From 2013 to 2022, Mia hosted several colonies of European honeybees on its roof. When it became clear that merely hosting the bees was not enough, Mia planted bee-friendly flowers to continue its support of the health of all bees.

Mia Is Greening the Museum—That’s Good for Art, Too

Back in 2008, a group of staffers at Mia, calling themselves the Green Team, began meeting to discuss potential reforms, ways that the museum could reduce its impact on the environment.

_{Third Avenue entrance facade of the Minneapolis Institute of Art building with Mia brand signage; May-June 2016}