Spring Exhibits at /m at St. John’s College Challenge Convention in the Visual Arts
Ken Friedman: 92 Events open January 15 to April 5
Mute Passion Expressed: Filmworks of Ana Mendieta open January 15 to February 15
Admission free and open to the public
ANNAPOLIS, Md. [January 4, 2026] –/m (the Elizabeth Myers Mitchell Art Museum at St. John’s College) is pleased to announce its spring exhibit, Ken Friedman: 92 Events, open from January 15 to April 5. The ongoing video exhibition Mute Passion Expressed: Filmworks of Ana Mendieta will also be open from January 15 to February 15.
“Like a Great Book, art only stays alive if we keep it alive,” says /m’s director, Peter Nesbett. “And by that I mean, if we continue to think about it, talk about it, re-perform, replay, or recreate it. But Friedman takes this one step further in asking us to use his art to make our own.”
About Ken Friedman: 92 Events:
January 15–April 5, 2026
Main Gallery, /m, St. John’s College Annapolis
Opening Reception: Wednesday, January 14, 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. (The artist will be present.)
This exhibition surveys 60 years of instructional texts (a.k.a. “event scores”) by Ken Friedman, a U.S.-born artist and design theorist currently living in Sweden. In 1966, while a student at a Great Books college (Shimer College), Friedman became the youngest member of Fluxus, a loose international association of artists and musicians who championed collaboration, the democratization of art, and the dissolution of art into life. Joseph Beuys, John Cage, Yoko Ono, and Nam June Paik were all active with Fluxus.
The artworks Friedman are exhibiting at /m are deceptively simple. They consist of typed black text on white copy paper. They are meant to be read like scripts or musical scores—that is, they are intended to spur viewers to action. Some will complete the instructions in their minds; others in real life. One thing is for certain: Everyone will interpret them differently, and that is precisely the point. Friedman’s artworks remain alive through audience recreation. (If you choose to realize any of the artworks, please document your efforts with photographs or videos and send them to so we can share them on our Instagram account.)
The exhibition also includes a dozen new interpretations of the scores by Maryland-based cultural workers. We thank Austin Sposato with Chip Noland, David and Tara Gladden, Eric Leshinsky, Leslie Rose, Robert Haywood, Robert W. Madden, Roderick Mincher, Ruben Dobbs (filmed by Alison Harbaugh), Sammy Young, Tom Levine, and Wilfredo Valladares for their contributions.
One of the reasons /m is presenting this show is because Friedman challenges convention in the visual arts. In music and theater, we have a history of artists creating works for others to interpret and perform; in the visual arts, a single person is typically credited as the sole author and creator. And yet all visual art inherently involves some form of collaboration, both with artistic predecessors and with contemporary audiences. In considering Friedman’s works, one is bound to ask, “What indeed is authorship?”
Ken Friedman: 92 Events is sponsored by CovingtonAlsina, with additional support from Joy Chambers and Peter Bungay.
About Mute Passion Expressed: Filmworks of Ana Mendieta:
January 15 to February 15, 2026
In the Videodrome, /m, St. John’s College Annapolis
Jenny Cawood, /m’s Manager of Artistic Inquiry, writes, “This exhibition meets you where you are and then pushes you past that. It shines a fiery light on what it feels like to have an identity that is othered and exposes the consequences of ignoring evil on your doorstep. Most importantly, the two videos—Moffitt Building Piece (1973) and Anima, Silueta de Cohetes (1976)—force us to confront our complicity in certain situations: namely, those in which we let someone suffer without helping.” Thank you to the Estate of Ana Mendieta Collection, LLC, and Marian Goodman Gallery, as well as the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County.
Events at the Museum:
The museum will host educational events and tours. Visit sjc.edu/mitchell for a full list of upcoming events including registration information.
For more information on Mitchell Art Museum exhibits and programming, visit sjc.edu/mitchell or follow @sjcmitchell on Facebook and Instagram.
VISITING THE MITCHELL ART MUSEUM
The museum’s spring hours are Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Friday from 2 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Exhibitions are always free and wheelchair accessible. Parking is available on weekends in the Mellon Parking Lot (off St. John’s Street, north of Calvert Street) or in the Calvert Street Garage (one block away) at 19 St. John’s Street, and during the week at the Gott’s Court Garage (two-and-a-half blocks away) at 25 Calvert Street. The museum is located at the heart of campus in Mellon Hall, St. John’s College, 60 College Avenue, Annapolis, Maryland.
ABOUT THE MITCHELL ART MUSEUM (/m)
The only nationally accredited art museum in Anne Arundel County, the Elizabeth Myers Mitchell Art Museum at St. John’s College presents changing art exhibitions to the ever-curious. Our mission is to pose persistent and timely questions about the human experience through art and with extraordinary artists.
ABOUT ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE
In an age of political division and digital distraction, St. John’s College offers the education America needs. Through close reading of 200 great books across 3,000 years—from Plato to Toni Morrison, Augustine to Charles Darwin, Euclid to Albert Einstein—students wrestle with the deepest questions of law, justice, freedom, and human good. At a time when many institutions chase trends, St. John’s returns to first principles. The third-oldest college in America, with campuses in Annapolis, Maryland, and Santa Fe, New Mexico, St. John’s is a refuge for civic renewal, civil discourse, and intellectual courage. Learn more about our undergraduate, graduate, and lifelong learning programs at sjc.edu.
“St. John’s is a high-achieving angel hovering over the landscape of American higher education” —Los Angeles Times
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