Anoka-Ramsey Community College Art Faculty member, Laura Migliorino and two college alumni have created a collaborative project exhibited in:

Intersections, Women, Leadership, and the Power of Collaboration
Jan. 17 – Feb. 26, 2012
Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) Gallery (2501 Stevens Ave, Minneapolis)

An opening reception is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 20, 6 to 8 p.m.; and gallery talks will be offered Thursday, Feb. 2 at noon and Wednesday, Feb. 15, 6:30 p.m. 

Migliorino, and Anoka-Ramsey alumni Yumi Nagaoka (associate in arts, 2007, associate in fine arts in Theatre, 2010) and Mayu Nagaoka  (associate in arts, 2006, associate in fine arts in Art 2009) formed one of 14 teams of artists, composed of women art department chairs from the greater Twin Cities area and their students or alumni.

The resulting collaborations, also in the exhibit, opened up conversations about art and process, joined authorship, shifted points of view, converged cultures and encouraged exchanges across time and space.  

The collaborators represent eleven different colleges and universities, including: Anoka-Ramsey Community College, Carleton College, College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University, College of Visual Arts, Concordia University, Gustavus Adolphus College, Macalester College, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, St. Catherine University, St. Olaf College and the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

The collaborative project by Migliorino and the college alumni is titled Minnesota Butterfly, a series of seven photographs illustrating the metamorphosis of a traditional Japanese woman into a young man.

“The project was inspired by the opera Madame Butterfly and the play M Butterfly,” says Migliorino. “The subject explores the Japanese response to an opera written by an Italian where the person lacking a moral conscience is American. The collaborating artists are Japanese-American and Italian-American. The fluid gender identity in the play M Butterfly adds another layer to the project and reflects a generation that is more comfortable with nuanced gender roles.”

For more information about this event, visit www.mcad.edu. For more information about events at Anoka-Ramsey Community College, visit www.AnokaRamsey.edu.

These photos are examples of the collaborative project by Anoka-Ramsey Community College Art Faculty member, Laura Migliorino and college alumni Yumi Nagaoka and Mayu Nagaoka. The full exhibit will be on display in Intersections, Women, Leadership, and the Power of Collaboration, Jan. 17 – Feb. 26, 2012 at Minneapolis College of Art and Design.