2026 Mid-Career Project Grantee Juliane Shibata
This is a profile of a grantee artist and their commissioned public art project; it is not an open call for applications.
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- deadline unknown, verify at source
- Entry fee
- Free
- Award
- $10,000
- Location
- Como Park Zoo & Conservatory, Ordway Gardens, Saint Paul, Minnesota; Normandale Community College Gallery of Fine Arts, Bloomington, Minnesota
- Exhibition window
- Aug 16, 2026 → Oct 2, 2026
About
Overview
Juliane Shibata is the 2026 Mid-Career Project Grantee, awarded $10,000 by Forecast (supported by the McKnight Foundation) to create "Taking Shape," a collaborative large-scale ceramic public art installation in conjunction with the Japan America Society of Minnesota (JASM) for the 2026 Obon Festival. The project features over a thousand floral-shaped ceramic pieces made by over 45 community participants, most without prior art or ceramics experience.
Taking Shape Installation
- Location: Como Park Zoo & Conservatory, Ordway Gardens (indoor bonsai area), 1225 Estabrook Dr., Saint Paul, MN 55103
- Date: Sunday, August 16, 2026
- Time: 10:00 am–6:00 pm
- Access: Free to the general public from 10:00 am–2:00 pm; festival ticket required for 3:00 pm–6:00 pm viewing
Related Exhibition
- Location: Normandale Community College Gallery of Fine Arts, 9700 France Ave S., Bloomington, MN 55431
- Exhibition dates: August 24–October 2, 2026
- Opening Reception: Wednesday, September 16, 4:30 pm–7:00 pm
- 50th Anniversary of the Japanese Garden Celebration: Saturday, September 19, 12:00 pm–4:00 pm
- Gallery Contact: Brad Daniels, Director, [email protected]
Community Workshops
Since February, Juliane has led three pairs of workshops for community participants. In the first workshop, participants designed a stamp out of clay visually communicating an element of their heritage. After bisque firing, they used the stamps to transfer designs onto clay slabs and created cherry blossom-shaped installation components using cookie cutters.
Installation Experience
On August 16, the ceramic pieces will be displayed in an architectural installation where viewers are invited to reflect on identity and multiculturalism. Participants and the public are encouraged to touch, manipulate, and move some components, allowing the installation to evolve as an interactive work of art.
About the Artist
Juliane Shibata is a ceramic artist and educator based in Northfield, Minnesota. Her work is informed by the Japanese concept of mujō (mutability and impermanence) and the Pattern & Decoration movement. She holds an MFA from Bowling Green State University and has been a resident artist at multiple institutions including Oak Spring Garden Foundation, Art Omi, The Pottery Workshop in Jingdezhen, Starworks Center, and the University of Minnesota. Her installations have been commissioned by Abbott Northwestern Hospital and the Four Seasons Hotel Minneapolis.
Funding
- McKnight Foundation supports this project through Forecast's Professional Development Grants for mid-career artists in public art
- Juliane Shibata is a fiscal year 2026 recipient of a Creative Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board
- Award
- $10,000 Mid-Career Project Grant
- Entry fee
- Free to enter
- Theme
- A large-scale ceramic public art installation celebrating identity, heritage, and community participation through hundreds of floral-shaped ceramic pieces created collaboratively with the Japanese American Society of Minnesota.
- Contact
- [email protected]
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