Artists nationwide are invited to submit original works to a juried exhibition titled "Allegories of a Better World," which will be held at the Minneapolis Institute of Art on June 28, 2026. The submission deadline is May 15, 2026. The exhibition is organized in conjunction with the premiere of the documentary film "The Making of America," directed by Monique Linder and produced by OMG Studios in partnership with the Minnesota Humanities Center. Submissions should explore themes such as virtue, moral courage, truth, justice, liberation, reconstruction, memory, history, and cultural healing. Selected works may also be featured in the film.
This exhibition matters because it connects contemporary visual art directly to a documentary that critically examines how Enlightenment-era systems of knowledge—including art, science, architecture, and cartography—shaped racial slavery, territorial extraction, and Indigenous dispossession in the United States. By inviting artists to respond to these historical themes, the project positions art as a tool for moral courage and collective healing, encouraging public engagement with difficult national histories. It also highlights the role of institutions like the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the Minnesota Humanities Center in fostering community dialogue through interdisciplinary programming.