The Carnegie Museum of the Keweenaw and riseUP invite the community to a reception on Nov. 2 to celebrate the opening of an exhibition honoring the community artist Mary Wright. Mary Wright, who passed away in 2021, is well known in the Western U.P. as the originator of the Grandma doors, the Heikinpäivä Mittens, and the Story Line project, which wrapped Tech’s Rozsa Center with fabric panels celebrating family members and mentors.
Wright is also the person behind the sunflower motif of the woman’s suffrage celebration coordinated by riseUP, Recognizing the Importance of Women's Suffrage Everywhere: Upper Peninsula. The suffrage sunflowers remain on display in Houghton (at the Carnegie and near the Hampton Inn) and in Hancock (at City Hall and St. Vinnie’s) as well as at other businesses and homes in the community. Wright was a founder of riseUP.
The Beaumier Center at Northern Michigan University put together an exhibition honoring Mary Wright’s art career and contributions which was on display in Marquette during the summer of 2023. A version of this exhibition is being installed in November at the Carnegie Museum of the Keweenaw in Houghton. The Houghton version of the exhibition will emphasize Wright’s projects that took place here, especially the Mittens, the Story Line, and Sunflowers across the U.P.
The reception will take place at the Carnegie Museum on Huron Street in Houghton on Nov. 2, 2023, at 5:30 p.m. All are welcome and refreshments will be served. We are still collecting artifacts from the Story Line to add to the collection—if you are willing to loan your Story Line panel to the museum for the duration of the exhibition (they will be returned!) please contact the museum, and thank you!
Questions about this event may be directed to Faith Morrison (of riseUP, fmorriso9@yahoo.com) or Elise Nelson (Carnegie Museum, elise.nelson@cityodoughton.com).