Katie will tell us a bit about herself and update us on current life and plans at the museum. Katie Luber leads the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia), one of the country’s largest encyclopedic art museums, as its Nivin and Duncan MacMillan Director and President. From major exhibitions to bold acquisitions, she brings an entrepreneurial spirit to the business of engaging audiences. In 2022, she oversaw the exhibitions “Dressed by Nature: Textiles of Japan,” a dramatic reinterpretation of works from Mia’s permanent collection, and “Botticelli and the Renaissance: Masterworks from the Uffizi,” a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for local audiences to experience highlights of one of the world’s great art collections.

At Mia, Luber is building on a legacy of fostering equity and inclusion through art. With a commitment to mentorship, belonging, and breaking barriers, she is working to re-envision the museum for the 21st century and fulfill its promise of inspiring all people through the power of art. “What I love about art, especially in an encyclopedic museum, is the shared humanity of it,” she says. “Art transcends ideas of taste and affinity, and it allows us all to transcend what we’re born into and what society’s expectations of us might be.”

She has guided the museum toward a post-pandemic future of unprecedented access and deep connection. Growing audiences by gathering around the broadest representation of the human experience, the museum offers both inspiration and information, solace and discovery. Expanding its curatorial expertise into new areas, such as Latin American art, the museum asserts the value of encyclopedic collections while becoming more reflective of its community.

Luber previously led the San Antonio Museum of Art, where she transformed its relationship to the city, doubling attendance and tripling memberships while bringing diverse communities together. In 2018, Luber brought the major exhibition “Spain: 500 Years of Spanish Painting from the Museums of Madrid” to San Antonio (along with the king and queen of Spain), galvanizing the city’s relationship with its past during its 300th anniversary. In recognition of Luber’s work on this exhibition, in September 2021 she was granted the Order of Civil Merit, Curz de Oficial, by His Majesty King Felipe VI of Spain.

Luber’s own fascination with museums began with childhood visits in Houston—she is a fifth-generation Texan. She earned her BA in art history from Yale University, an MA from the University of Texas in Austin, and a PhD in art history from Bryn Mawr, where her dissertation focused on the paintings of German artist Albrecht Dürer. She was a Fulbright Scholar in residence at the Kunthistoriches Museum in Vienna and a research associate at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. She also served as a curator of Northern Renaissance and Baroque paintings at the Philadelphia Museum of Art from 1993 to 2002. She is an entrepreneur herself, having co-founded a spice company in Baltimore after completing her MBA at Johns Hopkins University. Luber is a member and former trustee of the Association of Art Museum Directors and currently serves on the boards of Meet Minneapolis and the French American Museum Exchange (FRAME).

*Our Menu:

Chicken Saltimbocca- chicken breast w/ sage and prosciutto with a savory chateau sauce

Mashed potatoes

Vegetable du jour

Caesar salad

Warm rolls and butter

Iced water and coffee

Assorted chocolates