Past Exhibits

The original drawings created for the book, “Five Bay Landscapes: Curious Explorations of the Great Lakes Basin” by Karen Lutsky and Sean Burkholder, are on exhibit through May 31, 2023 at the U of M Architecture & Landscape Architecture Library. A reception and book launch event takes place March 29, 5-7 p.m.

This exhibition at the Goldstein Museum of Design attempts to illustrate the intersection between anti-mainstream musicians and how they depict their music through promotional graphics, uniting sound with visual expression. Through materials from the University of Minnesota Libraries' Minnesota Underground Music Archive, affordable production methods, such as Risograph, screen print, Xerox, pen and ink illustration, and collage, are explored in detail, analyzing the aesthetic nuances that these techniques offer.

See student success in action! This multi-part exhibit explores how undergraduate students from a variety of academic disciplines use historical materials from the Wangensteen in their coursework and projects.

From the Collection of Glen S. Miranker Feb. 13 through May 5 Since his first appearance in 1887 during the 50th year of Queen Victoria’s reign, Sherlock Holmes has been nothing short of a literary juggernaut....

“The Art of Tiny Things” celebrates the tiny things in life! Explore miniature books, as well as art from the Andersen Horticultural Library’s collection, featuring tiny organisms that are often overlooked, including moss, fungi, lichen, insects, and more. “The Art of Tiny Things” is on display through Feb. 28, 2023.

Capturing Colors: The 5th Annual Flora & Fauna Illustrata Exhibition features scientifically-accurate, brightly-colored artwork by local artists depicting flowers, fruits, insects and other organisms living at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.

Let's take a look back at the Halloween @ Wangensteen 2022 pop up exhibit. See some spooky images from the collection and look back at the fun!

The Wangensteen Historical Library of Biology and Medicine will be showcasing some of the most famous images in the history of anatomy on November 18, 12-1:30pm.

Travel literature was one of the most popular genres in the late medieval and early modern periods. These were times of unprecedented travel, which coincided with the advent of the printing press in Europe. This exhibit will explore both the art of constructing a good travel narrative, based on real or imagined travel, and the artwork that often accompanied these literary works. This exhibit is open Oct. 20, 2022 through Jan. 27, 2023 at the Bell Gallery in the Wallin Center (ground floor) of Elmer L. Andersen Library.

“The Eyes See What the Heart Feels: From the Archives of Photographer & Painter Adger Cowans” takes a sweeping retrospective look at the life and work of photographer and painter Adger Cowans. Materials from his archives display key thematic moments from the late 1950s to the present including water studies, jazz portraits, Hollywood portraits, and street scenes. Also featured are a selection of paintings and the production archives of the autobiographical artists’ book published out of a collaboration between Cowans and 21st Editions that reveals the spiritual nature of this master photographer and painter. The exhibit is open Sept. 12, 2022 through Jan. 31, 2023 at Elmer L. Andersen Library.

“Drawn to Health: Bodies and Medicine in Popular Visual Culture” explores the historical and contemporary use of visual narratives to communicate about health, featuring collections held at both the Wangensteen Historical Library and the Children’s Literature Research Collections. Visit this exhibit now through December 29, 2022.

The Flora and Fauna Illustrata collection is the Andersen Horticultural Library's ongoing project to document all the species of plants, animals, insects, and fungi living at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum through scientifically accurate fine art. Visit the exhibit April 11 through August 12, 2022 at Elmer L. Andersen Library.

“Anatomy Illustrated: Scientific Images and the Body” showcases some of the most important examples of the Wangensteen Historical Library’s vast collection of historical anatomical illustrations. Central to the exhibit are three of the collection’s flap anatomies, reproduced and made larger so that viewers can interact with them. View this exhibit now through September 2022.

“Journey through Japan: Traditional woodblock prints from the Edo Period (1603-1868)” is on exhibit now through Aug. 12, 2022 at the Andersen Horticultural Library, located at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.

March 26 through August 12, 2022 at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. Birds have long captured the hearts of humans. Beyond their aesthetic and emotional appeal, birds also play incredibly important roles in their ecosystems. The images in this exhibit are scans of pages from the Andersen Horticultural Library’s rare book collection. Most are from John Gould’s Birds of Asia, a seven-volume set of books published in London between 1850 and 1883.

Local Minneapolis artist, Jeanie Ockuly, a.k.a. Blue Lady, invites us to parade in costumes made of sequins, jewels, paint, or mud to mock and/or revel in all of life that is beautiful and atrocious in order to let go, celebrate and heal. See the exhibit that runs through June 30, 2022 at Wilson Library.