New Look Weekend at MMAM Jan. 30 – Feb. 1 | Arts & Entertainment

The Minnesota Marine Art Museum (MMAM) invites the public to celebrate the launch of its 2026 theme, “Making Waves,” with the New Look Weekend, a dynamic three-day celebration featuring a Friday night party, artist-led programs, and the opening of three new exhibitions. Taking place from Friday, January 30, through Sunday, February 1, 2026, New Look Weekend marks a bold new chapter for the museum with immersive experiences that bring together art, music, craft, and storytelling inspired by water. 

The weekend’s centerpiece is the New Look Preview Party: New Year, New Look on Friday, January 30, from 6:30-10 p.m., an after-hours celebration designed to kick off 2026 in style. Guests will enjoy early access to the exhibitions “Splish, Splash, Story: Selections from The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Water | Craft,” and “Robert Gonzalez: Mystical Waters,” alongside artist conversations, food and drinks for purchase, and a late-night dance party. The evening features Glacial Spatial, a world-premiere immersive sound performance by Trever Hagen and Josh Berg, created in collaboration with the Winona Symphony Orchestra and curated in partnership with Liquid Music. Designed for the Winona Ice Festival, the performance reimagines shifting ice flows through spatial sound, inviting guests to move through frozen sonic landscapes within the galleries. The celebration continues after hours with an official afterparty at Two Fathoms Brewing Company. 

The New Look Weekend continues on Saturday with hands-on and in-depth artist programs. On the morning of Saturday, January 31, “Water | Craft” exhibiting artist Nicole McLaughlin offers a live demonstration in the museum’s atrium, providing an intimate window into her ceramic, fiber, and mixed-media practice. That afternoon, visitors can attend a special lecture and conversation with exhibiting artist Robert Gonzalez, who will discuss themes of immanence, transcendence, and artistic process as seen in the newly opened exhibition, “Robert Gonzalez: Mystical Waters.” 

The weekend concludes on Sunday, February 1, with a curator-led talk by Isabel Ruiz Cano, Associate Curator at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. Presented within the “Splish, Splash, Story: Selections from The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art” gallery, the talk traces more than a century of illustration history and explores how artists and authors have depicted water as both subject and symbol in picture book art. 

Together, the New Look Weekend offers visitors multiple ways to engage with MMAM’s new exhibitions and its 2026 theme, blending celebration, scholarship, and immersive performance in a single, museum-wide experience. 

MMAM’s New Look Weekend is presented in partnership with Big River Guides, The Current, Hotel 44 North, La Crosse Distilling Co., Liquid Music, Minnesota Humanities Center, Minnesota State Arts Board, Minnesota Public Radio, Recreation Alliance of Minnesota, Two Fathoms Brewing Company, Visit Winona, Winona Ice Festival, Winona Post, Winona Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Public Radio, and the Red Balloon Bookshop. 

For tickets, schedules, and full event details, visit mmam.org.