Permanent Collection

Mixed Blood Theatre is tackling another heady subject; this time it’s the space allotted to African and African-American artists by the whitewashed institution of fine art museums. In Permanent Collection, a new-on-the-job African-American museum director squares off with a white curator concerning the space made available to nonwhite artists. This new play by Philly playwright Thomas Gibbons is inspired by the true-life story of the Barnes Foundation, a suburban Philadelphia museum (currently embroiled in similar controversy) whose collection of impressionist masterpieces is smattered with African folk art. Gibbons and Mixed Blood challenge us to consider what we see when we enter a museum. Who gets to decide what is art? And how do their decisions reinforce a certain narrow view of the world? 1501 Fourth St. S., Minneapolis; 612-338-6131; www.mixedblood.com