Foot in the door at MIA

New Experiences make the winter doldrums go away.

This is "Bear." The  painting I  submited to the "Foot in the Door" exhibit. We decided that he would be easy to spot on a huge wall of art. His eyes should be like a spotlight.

On Saturday, Dan and I went to the Minneapolis Institute of Art to drop off my submission to an invitation to all Minnesota artists to display one small piece of art at the Foot in the Door exhibit. The FITD happens only once every 10 years. The curator of the show is a box that is one cubic foot square. If the piece of art cannot fit into the box it is eliminated. That is the only qualification for the art. You see the curator in the photo above.

I heard today that there were 4000 submissions and that on Sunday they had to turn away people who were still coming at 2:30 in the afternoon. The lines were 3 hours long and those people in line would not be able to make closing time at the museum. Amazing!

When we got there on Saturday about 11:30, we only had an hour wait. The people watching was fun. There was such a mix of ages and styles. It was fun looking at everyone's pieces. The whole process was very organized. By the time we got to submit my painting and Michelle's vase, it only took one minute and we were out of there. We thought things would go quicker but the line snaked around three times. We thought we would have some time to wander around the museum but the hour cut into the day's schedule and we had to boogie out of there. There is always lots to do when we get to the cities. ;-)

We will try to go up for the opening on Thursday, Feb. 19th. It should be quite a celebration with 4000 exhibit. But it might be easier to go on Saturday the 21st so we can get close enough to take photos. The last time they did this in 2000 there were 1700 submissions. Now I can put on my resume that I have exhibited at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Impressive!--right?!