“Theatre of Turmoil,” an exhibition presented by /m in 2024, featured reproductions of tumultuous art from the Baroque to the present. Image courtesy of /m
Winds of change are bringing fresh air to the Elizabeth Myers Mitchell Art Museum at St. John’s College. For the past three years, director Peter Nesbett has been nurturing a spirit of inquiry and viewer participation at the area’s only nationally accredited fine arts museum (also known as/named “/m”), curating off-beat shows that raise intriguing intellectual questions. “People who remember the Mitchell as it was might not know that we’ve been doing some unusual and interesting things,” Nesbett remarks.
What’s new is a heightened focus on engagement, rather than observation. “We want people who are visiting to step into an environment that is imaginative and all-encompassing,” Nesbett explains. To achieve that goal, the museum has moved from presenting what was once called Great Art to a more dynamic exchange of ideas.
A 2025 exhibition at /m presented a collection of gongshi (scholars’ rocks or viewing stones) from Washington’s National Bonsai & Penjing Museum. A banner seen in the background poses the question, “Can Nature make Art?” Image by Tony J Photography
“Art museums are evolving,” he observes. “They’re becoming more social, more inclusive. I see this as a good thing. So, one of the first things we did when I was hired was change the mission. Our new mission adopts the St. John’s culture of inquiry. It’s very much a reflection of how our students approach learning: by asking questions. The learning happens in the experience of the art, and the discussion of the questions it poses. It’s shifted away from an emphasis on individual artists toward artistic experiences.”
For each exhibition, /m provides a single question as a way of encouraging reflection. Posted on the museum’s website, wall text, and gallery handouts, the questions are a way to welcome visitors into a conversation. “These aren’t necessarily questions that are asked by the artists who made the works, but they are questions that tend to make us think about the broader condition of art and its place in society,” Nesbett says.
Tawheeda Sikder, a St. John’s student who works as a host in the museum, has seen firsthand how the approach impacts viewers. “Art often brings up deep-seated memories and evokes a range of emotions and questions, and people appreciate having the space and companionship to examine them,” she says. “They tend to start by asking factual questions or about the artist’s intended interpretation. As I answer, I share my own perspective as a fellow viewer, then invite them to offer their own. The process often leads to surprisingly insightful responses, and visitors leave feeling curious and energized.”
The current show at /m, entitled “Ken Friedman: 92 Events,” presents a series of instructions that prompt viewers to actually do something. “It’s an artwork that’s an invitation for emotional and intellectual collaboration,” as Nesbett puts it. Friedman tosses out offbeat challenges like “Make a monument” or “Call a bird” and asks for a reaction. In that spirit, Nesbett asked a dozen cultural workers in Maryland to pick one of the instructions and to act on it, and a section of the exhibition includes their responses in the form of sculptures, collages, posters, and performance videos.
As /m builds a stronger connection to St. John’s students, it’s also reaching out to a wider Annapolis audience. The presentation of video art is a recent innovation, with installation of a dedicated space in the museum’s new Videodrome. The addition was inspired by a 2023 exhibition that centered on video pioneers and posed the question of how editing manipulates an artwork.
A series of questions in “Ken Friedman: 92 Events” ask viewers to engage with the art. Image courtesy of /m.
“It was the first time that video had been shown at the museum, and the response was amazing,” Nesbett recalls. “We had seven or eight videos on loop, and people hung out or came back many times. So, we built on this strong interest and took over a small room in the museum exclusively for video.
“Jenny Cawood is the cinephile who’s now curating that space, which is open whenever the museum is open. The benches are purposely set at 90 degrees, so that people can converse during the screening. We’re planning some one-off showings, too. We know the Annapolis Film Festival has built a tremendous local audience for new work, so we can complement what they’re doing.”
As student host Sikder notes, there’s lots to explore in /m’s programming. “Spending time with the art, both on my own and in conversation with others, keeps the meaning of the same artwork evolving for me each day,” she says.
If that kind of cultural adventure sounds appealing, a visit to /m may be just what you’re looking for. Says Nesbett, “Our exhibitions are all built around persistent and timely questions of human experience. If those questions are of interest to you, then our exhibitions may be, too.”
“Ken Friedman: 92 Events” will be on display through April 5. To learn more about exhibitions at /m, the Elizabeth Myers Mitchell Art Museum at St. John’s College, visit sjc.edu/mitchell.
