Saturday, September 21 | 5:30p - 9:30p
$125 per person
Onsite at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum, 800 Riverview Drive, Winona, MN
TIcket sales are now closed for the gala.
Returning for a third consecutive year, the Minnesota Marine Art Museum’s For The Love of Water Gala & Art Auction has evolved into the signature fall art event in Southeastern Minnesota. Our purpose is simple, to gather friends, family, fans and partners to celebrate and support the Minnesota Marine Art Museum and its mission - creating meaningful art experiences inspired by water.
This year, our Gala returns to the shoreline of the Upper Mississippi River on the stunning six-acre riverside site of the Minnesota Marine Art Museum.
Experience MMAM like you never have before. Guests will enjoy an elegant, seasonal cocktail riverside reception (spirited and spirit-free) featuring La Crosse Distilling Co., a seated, seasonal four-course farm-to-table meal from Heirloom Seasonal Bistro served in the museum’s stunning atrium, and a chance to bid on original artwork by the artists we have grown to adore and support. Proceeds raised go to support the artists and MMAM’s annual fund, the Anchor Campaign.
Location + Parking
The event will take place on the grounds of the Minnesota Marine Art Museum, with the cocktail hour along the Riverwalk, and the seated dinner inside the museum’s atrium. In case of inclement weather, the cocktail hour will be moved inside. Parking is available onsite.
Gala Evening Schedule
5:30p: Arrival and Riverside cocktail reception, presented by LaCrosse Distilling Co., with musical guests, the Winona Symphony Orchestra.
6:30p: Seated Meal in the museum Atrium, presented by Heirloom Seasonal Bistro, with musical guests, Ray Dretske Quartet, featuring vocalist Daren Saner.
7:30p: Live Auction
8:30p: Social Hour and Art Auction
Event Attire
Come dressed to the nines in your coastal cocktail attire.
Menu
The farm-to-table meal will be curated by Heirloom Seasonal Bistro, featuring four courses, each inspired by a regional farm operating in the Driftless region, featuring Featherstone Farms (Rushford, Minnesota), Blue Fruit Farms (Wiscoy Valley, Minnesota), Frickson Family Farm (Dakota, Minnesota) and Sacred Blossom Farm (Gilmanton, Wisconsin). Hand-crafted spirits paired perfectly with every course by La Crosse Distilling Co.. Flowers and decor by Kait Gerts, Bring The Joy.
Fall Carrot Crostini : Featherstone fall carrots 2 ways, honey whipped goat cheese, sage pesto, sourdough toast, toasted pistachios (Nut free when omitting pistachios) (passed appetizers during cocktail hour).
Poached Chilean Sea Bass: Imported Sea Bass poached in Sacred Blossom tea, tabbouleh salad, red pepper hummus, tea butter. Vegetarian option: replace fish with seared tofu. (Seated in the MMAM Atrium)
Smoked and Braised Beef Short Rib: Frickson Family Farm short rib, butternut squash risotto cake, demi, Aronia wojapi. Vegetarian option: replace beef with roasted exotic mushrooms. (Seated in the MMAM Atrium)
Blueberry Tartlet: Hand Formed tartlet, Blue Fruit Farms blueberry compote, almond whip. (Seated in the MMAM Atrium).
Note: As we are working from a small offsite kitchen, we are unable to make changes to the menu. We hope to be able to offer more accommodations in the future. Thank you for your understanding.
Tables
You will be assigned a table with the guests that you purchased tickets with. If you have specific seating inquiries, please contact Director of Development, Katrice Sisson.
For The Love of Water Art Auction
As a nonprofit museum, dedicated to sparking wonder and creating a more connected and compassionate world, for all, by creating meaningful art experiences that explore our relationship with water, the annual For The Love of Water Art Auction is a signature part of our evening. All artworks are available for online bidding, opening September 10, prior to the Gala, and will close at midnight on September 30. Artworks will be onsite and on display during the Gala, the one chance for you to see these incredibly inspiring artworks with you own eyes, outdoor riverside.
Anchor Campaign
Your support goes toward the Minnesota Marine Art Museum’s annual fund, the Anchor Campaign. Our mission-driven work, creating meaningful art experiences that explore our relationship to water, is defined by four critical pillars. Every dollar contributed helps make this imperative work possible -
Artistic Excellence. MMAM brings renowned artworks and scholarship by the most celebrated and ambitious artists and curators of our time to the Upper Mississippi River region. Our work depends on succcessful collaborations with world-class museums and collections like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and the New York Historical Society, art galleries that support artists we work with, like Pace Gallery, Lehman Maupin, and Sheery Leedy Contemporary, and publishing houses that invest in both the authors and illustrators we love, like Lerner Publishing, the University of Minnesota Press, and Penguin Random House, to name a few.
Community Arts Access. We make our mission-based work more accessible to more people. Hallmark efforts like the Minnesota Marine Art Musuem’s Seasonal Saturdays, Free Student Thursdays, Spark! Toddler Tuesdays and Art For Every Child help us remove barriers that make art accessible to all ages and abilities, further sparking wonder, connection and compassion, for all.
Clean Water and Climate Stewardship. Your support allows the Museum to use most energy efficient equipment available on the market (from those air exchangers keeping our artwork protected to the led lights we use to create those magical gallery moments) leverage carbon free energy sources, and care for our six-acre riverside gardens that are slowing erosion and providing habitat for pollinators and essential riparian critters. With your support, the Museum annual releases 66,000 fewer pounds of greenhouse gasses each year, aiming to keep our waters cooler, cleaner and more habitable for generations to come.
Unable to attend? Consider supporting MMAM with a donation to the Anchor Campaign.