Gallery exhibit seeks to further legitimize Magic's art & artists
by Callahan Jones
How sick is this? The Minnesota Marine Art Museum, located in Winona, MN, has announced they are hosting a Magic: The Gathering art exhibition from February 20th (2027) through August 22nd. Entitled Currents of Control - Blue in Magic: The Gathering this new, full art exhibit is working directly hand-in-hand with Wizards of the Coast in order to raise awareness both for Magic itself and the incredible artwork on every single card.
To help facilitate this exhibition, the museum has put out a public call for art which can be found here: https://mmam.org/call-for-art-blue-in-magic.
There's perhaps only one mind that this exhibition could have sprung from and that is Mike Linneman, known for his consistent advocacy for Magic art and artists alike. He also happens to be the Director of Development for MMAM. Small world, ey? I asked Mike why he thinks an exhibit like this is so important... he immediately jumped to how Magic makes art more accessible.
"... We visited art places, [we were] told to stand in line, told to not touch, not talk, and the joy of art wasn't the norm for all of us. In our little wizard world though, we love the art in our little game. Choosing which artworks you play in your deck makes a visiting experience to a museum not a temporary thing. You can interact with your art daily if you'd like through the game."
Ask any Magic player and they probably have a favorite Magic artist or piece of Magic art. It's hard to describe how rare this is in our day to day lives. Sure, many people you meet out and about may have a favorite book, a favorite movie, a favorite song that they are willing to interact with, critique or praise on its own merits. Not so for "art" - it somehow lives in a world of its own, contained inside museums and behind velvet ropes, as Mike said. Magic does so much to humanize incredible pieces and lets us hold them in our hands, naming and claiming the art that we love.
The years-long focus of Mike and others centers around the fact that "commercial" (i.e. commissioned, directed, etc.) art has a lower reputation in the generalized art world than it deserves. This exhibition aims to be an important step in changing that perception.
"... this isn't anonymous art making for a greeting card. Magic [artists] have incredible leeway and freedoms to bring their soul and perspective and cultural experiences into the game, and then have their name on the card," Mike told me.
"It's not just hired hands, and since Jesper Myrfors started in 1993, it never was. The fine art world doesn't know that. We had to organize collectors first on message boards, then build groups on social media, then write on collecting art itself, then have sales be visible, then sales prominent. We are at a ceiling point now where we need to move into galleries and museums to bring our niche of illustration into Art, deep with meaning infused with artists to be recognized as quality, recognized as significant. I did pop ups for years, but it wasn't enough. We have to break into a smaller museum first, then I hope we have copycats, repeat creations, and then it's a norm for Magic to be seen worldwide in elevated spaces."
People who do art for hire often get relegated with designations that attempt to denigrate the quality of work that they are doing. People may describe a painter as an "illustrator" instead of "artist" for a reason - it communicates that they are Working for Money Which Makes Their Art Lesser. Not so, I say.
Magic art is important. We all know this. It is, in many ways, the flesh on the bones of the game's incredible rules engine. The work of artists like Karl Kopinski ([[Mardu Heart-Piercer]] anyone?), Jeremy Jarvis and Magali Villeneuve drew me into the game and helped me connect deeper with its Characters and planes. Beyond making cards more recognizable and grokable (well, it used to at least), the place of Magic Art in the greater realm of fantasy work is unrivaled. I'm incredibly happy to see Mike & others continue to fight the good fight to have art from my favorite game (along with other commissioned art) viewed with the respect it deserves. Of course, I'm going to be a bit biased as well given that I am a decade-plus Blue mage at heart. The art just rules.
I was also curious as to why a (relatively) smaller museum, one with a seemingly niche focus, is going to be the home of what will be the first formal museum exhibit solely focused on Magic art.
"We are a marine art museum, different from a marine museum with boats and (not barbed) sextants. Already we're a bit different, examining what is marine art, and what it can be. That is ocean photography, sure, but also indigenous water stories, and now, examining the Blue color pie of Magic.
Also, [it's easier] because I work there. They don't need to hire 2-3 consultant curators. They can just walk into my office and ask me.
... It's also because it's more approachable and perhaps easier to start as the first pilot full Magic art exhibition because it is more contained, it is by nature, not in a city of 10 million people. We can execute all parts with quality, proving this can be done. Then a larger museum or institute can look at our playbook, unknown to them on subject matter, and expand the scholarship and curatorial vision to being the whole Magic experience, not just our focus on water and Blue."
Finally, I asked Mike if he had a dream piece for the exhibit - already having a hunch as to what it may be.
"Discover the Impossible would be a real treat. As you know, I am a huge fan of artworks that explain an entire Magic setting in one image. Mardu Heart-Piercer by Karl Kopinski explains all of Tarkir in one image, just as Discover the Impossible explains the concept of Neo Kamigawa with one image by Ryan Pancoast."
Nailed it.
The call for art will be open through June 30, 2026 and is open to anyone able to reach a FedEx location in order to ship traditional media. Any art selected will receive a $100 honorarium and free gallery admission.