Once Upon a Shore

Once Upon A Shore creates a water's edge meeting place where authors, illustrators, artists, and guests converge to share stories. From the pre-history of Dakota country, to dogs headed to a pow wow, this exhibition tells stories for visitors of all ages from an Indigenous perspective. The authors in Once Upon a Shore are also visual artists. Their work includes paintings, beadwork, photographs, and textiles. Also featured in the exhibition are digital and installation artists who tell stories with their imagery, or whose work is informed by literature. Literary works presented in the exhibition include children's books, fiction, history, poetry and a cookbook. 

The multidisciplinary artists of Once Upon A Shore are all members of Native Nations who have strong relationships to bodies of water. Dakota artists and writers make reference to the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers in their work, while Ojibwe artists and writers reference Lake Superior and other bodies of water in Minnesota. An artist from the Shinnecock people of Long Island considers the story of sands and shores familiar to us all. 

Artists and authors include Tashia Hart, Courtney M. Leonard, Cole Redhorse Taylor, Jonathan Thunder, and Minnesota’s Poet Laureate, Gwen Nell Westerman. 

MMAM 2025 Launch Party Friday January 24th, 2025, 7-10PM
Don't miss the Minnesota Marine Art Museum 2025 Launch Party - an evening of art and music as they kick off their 2025 exhibition schedule including Edward Burtynsky: Water, Shelly Mosman: Currents, and the book arts gallery exhibit Once Upon a Shore.
Tickets are $20, MMAM Members $15 

Image: Jonathan Thunder, Night Whistler's Mother.