Founded in 1922, the Friends of the Institute is a volunteer organization of members of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts dedicated to supporting, enhancing and sustaining the collections, programs and influence of the MIA. Today, the Friends of the Institute is one of the nation’s largest and most active art-museum volunteer organizations.
Friends support the museum in many ways, by providing free public lectures, buses to bring schoolchildren to the museum for docent tours, artwork for the permanent collection, and funding for innovative children’s art education programs. Two major fundraisers, Art in Bloom and Art Perchance, make this support possible.
Art Adventure is a wonderful volunteer program that I have been involved with for the past 10 years!
We bring art to the classroom and get the students involved in discussion and discovery about the selected pieces of art that are currently on display at the MIA. Best of all for 7 weeks you are the Art Adventure hero in the classroom and bring art to life for the students who really enjoy this time. Art Adventure is just one of the many programs created by the Friends of the Institute. Thank you FRIENDS! - Sue Thompson (Art Adventure Lady)