Mia Announces “Built to Last: The Shogren-Meyer Collection of American Art”

Exhibition offers an inside look at how artists documented the realities of work and industry during the Great Depression

October 17, 2025

Minneapolis—The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) presents a compelling new exhibition that sheds fresh light on one of the most turbulent periods in American history. On view from January 17–June 14, 2026, “Built to Last: The Shogren-Meyer Collection of American Art” will bring together approximately 40 works created during the Great Depression and the run-up to World War II, capturing both the promise and perils of industrial progress in early 20th-century America.

The exhibition features selections from the personal collection of longtime Mia supporters Dan Shogren and Susan Meyer. Built over more than 25 years, their collection reflects their shared interest in the history of the Depression Era and is centered on paintings and photographs of American industry—particularly steel working, manufacturing, and agriculture—created during the 1930s and early 1940s.

“The Shogren-Meyer Collection presents a rare and nuanced portrait of industry during the Depression era,” said Spencer Wigmore, Mia’s Patrick and Aimee Butler Associate Curator of American Paintings. “These artworks offer a unique glimpse of the varied ways that artists responded to an era characterized by economic hardship, social unrest, and large-scale industrialization.”

Works by well-known figures such as Margaret Bourke-White, Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, and Ben Shahn are presented alongside important but often overlooked artists, including James Penney, Molly Luce, and Louise Pershing. Paintings and photographs in the exhibition range from federally funded New Deal projects to independent works and corporate commissions, including photo essays published in periodicals such as LIFE Magazine.

“Built to Last” includes industrial landscapes, agriculture, working life, and activist imagery. Many works in this exhibition resonate alongside present-day issues, including nostalgia for industrial manufacturing, debates about masculinity and work, social activism and protest, and government censorship or defunding of the arts. This show creates an opportunity to explore those topics through a historical lens.

“While rooted in a specific historical moment, these works feel strikingly relevant,” Wigmore said. “They reflect ongoing tensions around work, industry, and equity that continue to shape American life today.”

All works are on loan from the Shogren-Meyer Collection. To accommodate the breadth of the collection, a selection of approximately 10 objects will rotate midway through the exhibition’s run.

Exhibition Details

For more information on this and other upcoming exhibitions, visit www.artsmia.org.

###

About the Minneapolis Institute of Art

Home to more than 100,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of world history, the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) inspires wonder, spurs creativity, and nourishes the imagination. With extraordinary exhibitions and one of the finest art collections in the country—from all corners of the globe, from ancient to contemporary—Mia links the past to the present, enables global conversations, and offers an exceptional setting for inspiration. Learn more about Mia in our latest Impact Report.

General admission to Mia is always free, but some special exhibitions charge a nominal fee.

For more information, call + 1 612 870 3000 or visit www.artsmia.org. Everyone is welcome. Always.