Mega Footprint Near the Hutch (May I Have This Dance?)

The Mint acquired "Mega Footprint Near the Hutch" in Fall 2011 through a generous gift from Target Corporation. The company originally commissioned the work for its Minneapolis headquarters, where it was first named "May I Have This Dance?"

A redesign of the headquarters prompted a search for a permanent new home, and the Mint was among many of the nation’s largest and most important museums considered for the gift. Its distinctive tubes, made of linen thread wrapped around plumbers’ pipe insulating foam, were reconfigured for the atrium space of Mint Museum Uptown.

Its new title referred to Charlotte’s “mega footprint” of growth near the “hutch,” used as a synonym for animal pen, and referring to Charlotte’s proximity to still-rural countryside.

The newly reimagined work was unveiled concurrently with the opening of Sheila Hicks: 50 Years, a retrospective organized by The Addison Gallery of American Art that was on view at the Mint from October 2011 through January 2012.

Hicks is considered one of the world’s leading contemporary artists and designers, known for her work with thread and textiles.