Implementation of a traveling exhibit examining the expression of supernatural and otherworldly ideas in American art.

The Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts (dba Minneapolis Institute of Art, or Mia) respectfully requests an exhibition implementation grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to support "Supernatural America: The Paranormal in American Art." This exhibition, its accompanying publication and public programs will broadly examine the centrality of otherworldly concerns and the spectral imagination to American artists. Featuring approximately 170 objects from well-known artists as well as those never before exhibited in museums, the exhibition has been developed with input from a broad advisory group, including artists, academics, and community members. Objects will include paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, Spiritualist material culture, and video. "Supenatural America" is organized by Mia and will be shown at the Toledo Museum of Art and Speed Art Museum before its finale and closing presentation at Mia.

Production of a one-hour critical biography on the art and life of American artist James McNeill Whistler.

A painter, an etcher, and designer who brought attention to his work with his brilliant wit, contretemps with the press, showmanship and talent, James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) was an American-born artist whose contributions to art include landscape paintings that nudged 19th century art towards abstraction, portraits (such as the iconic "Whistler's Mother")that are known for their color harmony and restraint, and etchings which are to the 19th and 20th centuries as Rembrandt's were to the 17th. A serious reformer of contemporary art, Whistler was an independent artist whose focus on the aesthetic quality of art ("art for art's sake"), rather than any social, moral or ethical purpose, was contrary to the thinking of many in his day. We are requesting production support for a one-hour critical biography on the art and life of James McNeill Whistler.