The Mint Museum unveils “Recent Acquisitions” exhibition

The Mint Museum proudly announces the opening of Recent Acquisitions, an exhibition showcasing more than 50 remarkable works of art acquired in the past year. This exhibition will be on view from March 14 to July 19, 2026, at Mint Museum Uptown.

The Mint Museum’s diverse collection spans centuries and disciplines, encompassing craft, design, fashion, African art, photography, decorative arts, contemporary, and American art. Each year, the collection continues to expand, thanks to the generosity of donors, grants, and gifts, guided by Mint curators who seek compelling works from around the globe.

The exhibition underscores the Mint Museum's commitment to collecting and showcasing diverse artistic voices and media, reflecting the evolving story of the collection.

Exhibition highlights

Among the featured works are:

Le Calle, La Calle Vieja by Judy Pfaff

A trailblazer since the 1970s, Pfaff’s exuberant assemblages blur the lines between sculpture, installation, and environment. Created in 1990, this piece reflects her collaborative process with local schoolchildren in Brooklyn, celebrating the beauty found in unexpected places.

Judy Pfaff (American, 1980–). La Calle, La Calle Vieja, 1990, enamel paint on plywood and steel, found objects. Courtesy the artist and Cristin Tierney Gallery. Photography courtesy Peter Mauney. 

#250 muddy creek by Ena Swansea

This painting captures the quiet beauty of Southern landscapes, emerging from Ena Swansea's reflections on nature’s reclamation of human-made environments. Originally from Charlotte and now based in New York City, Swansea, who began her career in film builds her paintings through an intricate layering of materials, including acrylic, oil paint, oil stick, pastel, and crayon. Her cinematic approach transforms urban scenes into poignant narratives.

Ena Swansea (American, 1966–). #250 muddy creek (detail), 2020–24, oil and acrylic on linen. Museum purchase: Funds provided by The Katherine McKay Belk Charitable Fund. 2025.60

A Century of Hair by Anne Lemanski

Anne Lemanski's sculptural series examines the evolving expectations placed on women throughout the 20th century through popular hairstyles. Each decade is memorialized through era-specific materials and visual languages pulled from popular culture, fashion, material culture, and craft traditions. Each piece serves as a meditation on resilience and identity, supported by a community of Mint patrons honoring the women who shaped their lives.

A Century of Hair by artist Anne Lemanski on view at Mint Museum Randolph. Museum purchase with funds provided by Ann D. Cousins; Laura Grace; Olga Faison; Lucy and Hooper Hardison; Julie Eiselt; and Gina Phillips.

So Chuy by Einar and Jamex de la Torre

The de la Torre Brothers’ vibrant work—creations of blown glass, molded resin, lenticular imagery, and found objects—remixes Mexican and American cultural iconography, exploring bicultural identity. The circular composition of So Chuy has layered meanings intended to invite viewers to engage with the complexity of the artists' cultural narratives. Drawing from the traditions and contradictions of both worlds, their work is playful, pointed, and deeply symbolic.

Einar and Jamex de la Torre (Mexican-American, 1963– and 1960– respectively). So Chuy (detail), 2025, concept rendering. Courtesy of the artists.

Deutsche Bucherei Leipzig IX by Candida Höfer

Candida Höfer’s photography records spaces of learning across Europe. In Deutsche Bucherei Leipzig IX, Höfer records the quiet empty space of one of the rooms of the German National Library in Leipzig, a branch that specifically offers eight distinctly differentiated rooms in which to read, recognizing the effect the environment has on even a private, personal experience like reading a book. This piece is a part of a significant gift from Bank of America's corporate photography collection.

Candida Höfer (German, 1944–). Deutsche Bucherei Leipzig IX, 1997, color coupler print. Gift of Bank of America. 2025.75.36 © 2026 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

Driftwood by Zoltan Sephesy

For decades, Zoltan Sepeshy was a popular instructor, and later director and president, at the Cranbrook Academy in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Most of his works depict scenes of everyday life in America, with a particular focus on the Midwest. In Driftwood, Sepeshy focuses the viewer’s attention on a summer beach scene by framing it with a hole in a piece of wood.

Zoltan Sepeshy (American, born in Hungary, 1898–1974). Driftwood, 1941, egg tempera on panel. Museum purchase: Funds provided by The Katherine McKay Belk Charitable Fund and an Anonymous Donor. 2025.54

ABOUT THE MINT MUSEUM

Established in 1936 as North Carolina’s first art museum, The Mint Museum is a leading, innovative cultural institution dedicated to international art and design. With two locations—Mint Museum Randolph in the heart of Eastover and Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts—the Mint houses one of the largest collections in the Southeast and is committed to engaging and inspiring members of the global community. mintmuseum.org.

For more information, contact:

Clayton Sealey, senior director of marketing and communicationsclayton.sealey@mintmuseum.org | 704.534.0186

Michele Huggins, associate director of marketing and communicationsmichele.huggins@mintmuseum.org | 704.564.0826