Brooklyn-based Summer Wheat is the artist behind Foragers, a monumental work of art spanning four stories, 96 windows, and 3,720 square feet in Mint Museum Uptown’s Robert Haywood Morrison Atrium. The public art installation will be on view through September 2022.
A myriad of vibrant panels that give the illusion of stained glass weave a story of women who labor to build the communities that form the spine of modern society. “In so many ways, Foragers is a monumental tribute to all those anonymous female makers and laborers who have made North Carolina the place that it is today: the Catawba clay workers, the Cherokee basket makers, the enslaved and freed African American fishers and farmers, the countless woodworkers, weavers, and quilters,” says Jen Sudul Edwards, PhD, the Mint’s chief curator and curator of contemporary art.
About the Artist
Contemporary artist Summer Wheat (b. 1977, Oklahoma City, Okla.) lives and works in Brooklyn, New York City. She received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Central Oklahoma and a Master of Fine Arts from Savannah College of Art and Design. She is known for being an innovator, constantly blurring boundaries between traditional art forms and mediums.
The Making of "Foragers" (2020) by Summer WheatThe Mint Museum
The Making of Foragers
Celebrating the power of women in art: The Mint Museum and Charlotte Symphony Orchestra (2020)The Mint Museum
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Mint Museum Uptown and the Mint's installation of Foragers, The Mint Museum partnered with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra to create a short film bridging visual and performing arts. The artistic collaboration featured Charlotte Symphony violinist Jenny Topilow, violist Alaina Rea, cellist Sarah Markle, and harpist Andrea Mumm Trammell, as they performed works by Arvo Pärt and Caroline Shaw in front of the stunning work of art.
A Conversation with Summer Wheat (2020)The Mint Museum
Summer Wheat, the artist behind Foragers, shares her inspiration and the evolution of the work with Jen Sudul Edwards, PhD, the Mint’s chief curator and curator of contemporary art.
Foragers Installation Timelapse (2020) by Summer WheatThe Mint Museum
Foragers installation timelapse
Summer Wheat’s installation was commissioned by The Mint Museum. The installation and purchase of Foragers was funded by the Wells Fargo Foundation Women Artists Fund, which aims to address and rebalance gender representation in museum collections.
A recent Artnet study showed that only 11 percent of all acquisitions were by female artists. The Wells Fargo Foundation Women Artist Fund, which funded the installation and acquisition of Foragers, was created to help reconcile the imbalance of female representation in museum collections, says Jay Everette, Wells Fargo’s senior vice president of philanthropy and corporate social responsibility.
