Any University of Minnesota retiree who has been on the Twin Cities campus in Minneapolis knows about the shiny building on Washington Avenue that might blind you as you drive from the West Bank to the East Bank. The Weisman Art Museum (WAM) is renowned for its Frank Gehry architecture, but what do you know about what goes on within those irregularly shaped walls?

UMRA’s April 28 luncheon forum will feature WAM Director Alejandra Peña Gutiérrez. She joined the Weisman in November 2021 and was hired for her work in community. The tensions from the COVID-19 pandemic and the death of George Floyd were significant community factors as Peña Gutiérrez began her leadership. More recently, pushbacks on work related to diversity and equity have further challenged WAM as it incorporates community into its mission.

One example is the repatriation of thousands of Mimbres cultural belongings that came to the University following excavations in southern New Mexico conducted by U of M faculty and students from 1928 to 1931. WAM obtained a grant of nearly $240,000 to support a Truth and Reconciliation project that is informed, in part, by this ongoing repatriation process, and includes an indigenous-led advisory board. The goal is to foster deeper trust and rebuild relationships while working toward decolonization of museum practice.

A unique space in the cultural landscape 

In a November 2022 news release about the grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services, Director Peña Gutiérrez said, “University art museums like WAM occupy a unique space in the cultural landscape, situated simultaneously in the worlds of the arts and the academy. If we are to remain relevant as cultural institutions, we have a duty to develop practices that position museums as intentional actors in society, whose agency extends well beyond the museum walls, and even beyond the arts.”

Whether you did or didn’t know that WAM was much more than a pretty (or at least intriguing) collection of pictures on the wall, join us on April 24 to hear from Director Peña Gutiérrez. Her career started in Mexico City where she worked at various museums before she became director of the Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes and, later, deputy director general of the National Institute of Fine Arts. She moved to Puerto Rico to serve as the director of the Museo de Arte de Ponce from 2013 to 2021. 

Peña Gutiérrez has been a member of the Association of Art Museum Directors since 2014. She was also an active board member of the U.S. National Committee for the International Council of Museums from 2018 to 2024. Since 2023, she has been a member of the Minnesota Women’s Economic Roundtable. 

Go to the UMRA member portal to register and prepay (required) for this luncheon forum on Tuesday, April 28, at Midland Hills Country Club in Roseville. Reservations, payments, and cancellations (with refunds) are due April 18.

Please register and join us at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, April 28. 

—Julie Sweitzer, UMRA Program Committee