Michael Meilahn
“An ear of corn is the point of convergence for my dual careers in farming and art. Corn is not a typical subject in art. But for me, the lines, rows, numbers, higher prices, lower prices, color spectrums, mapping, information technology, air masses, and species have all combined to have unwittingly become a catalyst.”
– Mick Meilahn
Nationally known glass artist Michael (Mick) Meilahn is an influential first-generation contributor to the American Studio Glass Movement. This exhibition tracks his artist trajectory from the 1970s to the present day, spanning three galleries within the museum. Serving as his retrospective, at the core of the exhibition is an immersive multi-media installation, Primordial Shift that intertwines the artist’s investigation into crop production, genetic food modification, and the ancient history of corn.
Born into a Wisconsin fourth-generation farm family, Mick discovered glass blowing at the University of Wisconsin River Falls and then traveled to Europe to learn alongside German glass legend Erwin Eisch. Afterward, Mick spent a year in the Peace Corps in Bolivia working alongside indigenous cultures learning their agricultural traditions. Later he earned a Masters in Art at Illinois State University and then returned to the family farm to work the land, build a studio, and create with glass. Meilahn’s work has been exhibited and collected in museums across the United States and internationally.