Interview: Mint Museum Curator Jen Edwards on Photographer Ruben Natal-San Miguel and Running a Museum During Covid

“What makes an online exhibition unique?” I asked Jen Edwards, Chief Curator at The Mint Museum in Charlotte, NC, over Zoom one afternoon in early December. “It has to translate well,” she responded. “That’s why Ruben was so perfect.”

She’s referring to Ruben Natal-San Miguel, the photographer whose latest solo show Expanding the Pantheon: Women R Beautiful kicks off The Mint’s online exhibition offerings. Citing the images’ vibrant dynamism, she added, “There’s a bold color, there’s a dramatic feature, whether it’s the person’s face or something about the background. They’re really great as graphic images. And so that makes it perfect to translate online.”