Welcome to the Dragon Community: Noni Brynjolson

Noni Brynjolson is MSUM's new Assistant Professor of Art History. Noni teaches a wide variety of art history courses from prehistory up to the present and upper-level courses focusing on a specific history period.

Q: What drew you to MSUM?
A: I am originally from Winnipeg, Canada, close to this region. And I was in Indianapolis before this. Honestly, it was the chance to be closer to my family, closer to Winnipeg. When I saw the job posting, I immediately applied. It's three and a half hour drive instead of a 16 hour drive. So that was the first thing that sparked my interest in applying. But then getting to know the campus, my colleagues and meeting the students made me feel it was a good choice. I have loved it so far.

Q: What surprised you about MSUM?
A: How friendly people were. Friendly and welcoming, and it just seemed like a very inviting place.

Q: What's your favorite type of art?
A: My area is modern and contemporary art, and I focus especially on forms of community-based art. Artists who engage with different forms of activism, community organizing and community building. It can often look very different from the kind of art that people are used to. That's something that really interests me, public artworks that are long-term, educational and involve lots of collaborators.

Q: If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you want to go and why?
A: I would love to go to Iceland someday. I have family heritage, which is where my name comes from. I don't know anybody there, and I don't have any relative who lives there, but I do have some family connections. My family have visited before, and it just sounds incredible. The landscape seems so beautiful and magical.

Q: What's one thing people might not know about you?
A: I watch hockey and football. I watch Canadian football because my home team is the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Q: What's the most interesting thing your're working on right now?
A: I'm actually writing a book focusing on pedagogical art and activism. Artists who use various forms of teaching and learning in their artistic practices. Contemporary artists who are finding ways to create various forms of activism and thinking creatively about the actual form of activism that they're engaging with. How to reach a large audience and how to experiment with art strategies so that their message gets disseminated in a different way that maybe can have more of an impact.

Welcome to the Dragon Community, Noni!

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