Every third Thursday of the month, The Minneapolis Institute of Art hosts an audience engagement event appropriately titled, Third Thursday. Each month the museum stays open late and develops special thematic programming based off exhibitions hung in their halls. August’s Third Thursday featured an interactive project, Codex on a String created by current MCAD MFA candidate Julie Benda.
Codex on a String is a slight adaptation of Julie’s project, On a String, the garlands, which she calls “heartstrings”, investigate the intentions and rituals used to brace or sustain one’s heart. Created to uplift and harmonize the environment around, Benda chose colors, shapes and whimsical designs that remind her of a place she holds dear to her heart, transforming any space they occupy, into a colorful active space of lightness and play.
This is the second event of a partnership between MCAD’s MFA department and Mia’s Audience Engagement department that brings student work into the museum through programming outside the scope of a traditional gallery setting. Proceeding Benda was Preston Drum with his Share What You See, Third Thursday event in June and Katie Lupton will showcase in September with her project, The Pressery.
For more of Benda’s work
