Community members share ‘A Peace of My Mind’ in multimedia exhibit
A new video by Minneapolis artist John Noltner features St. Olaf College and Northfield community members responding to the question “What does building an inclusive community mean to you?”
Portraits of each participant, along with their responses to the question, form a powerful eight-minute video. Participants included St. Olaf faculty, staff, and students, as well as Northfield community members. In addition to being available for viewing on campus, the exhibit was also displayed in the Northfield Arts Guild.
John Noltner is a Minneapolis-based photographer. One of his multimedia exhibits, A Peace of My Mind, features people sharing their thoughts on popular discussion topics. The goal is to help a polarized world rediscover the common humanity that connects us, his website notes.
Noltner brought this exhibit to St. Olaf this fall with the support of the Taylor Center for Equity and Inclusion and the Lutheran Center for Faith, Values, and Community. He invited students, faculty, and staff to share what their ideal vision of an inclusive world would look like, as well as their personal stories.
“It was particularly interesting being on St. Olaf’s campus as we led into this election cycle,” Noltner says. “I know that St. Olaf has a really great history of student participation in elections. And so you put those things together and it really all points towards a super engaged community, which is exactly where I love to be with A Peace of My Mind — a place where people are already doing really good work and then we can bring this set of tools and resources to sort of walk with them and help do that.”
Gum Mapuol Mabi Monydit ‘27 says he participated in this project because he believes in the importance of fostering an inclusive community not only in his immediate community but also on a global scale.
“My voice, my words can reach places where they can create real change, promoting peace and unity,” Monydit says. “By highlighting the need to move away from an ‘us and them’ mindset, it sends a powerful message about unity and empathy. Hence, projects like this serve as a reminder that inclusivity is essential for building strong and supportive environments where everyone feels valued and heard. Even small actions or shared messages can resonate widely and inspire positive change.”
“Projects like this serve as a reminder that inclusivity is essential for building strong and supportive environments where everyone feels valued and heard. Even small actions or shared messages can resonate widely and inspire positive change.”
— Gum Mapuol Mabi Monydit ’27
Anne Berry, the assistant director of multilingual student language support in the Academic Success Center, says her students were the reason she participated in the project.
“When the photo session was taking place and I could see people in the Tomson Hall Lantern, I kind of said to myself ‘Should I?’” Berry says. “I saw some of my students there, and as soon as I saw them participating, I just said ‘Yeah, I’m going too.’”
Assistant Director of Marketing Ruben Duffie says he was excited at the opportunity to engage with artistic work in this way.
“It was reassuring to know there are people who are looking for the similarities in all of us compared to the rest of the world pointing out our differences,” he says.
“It was reassuring to know there are people who are looking for the similarities in all of us compared to the rest of the world pointing out our differences.”
— Ruben Duffie
That was exactly what Noltner hoped St. Olaf students, faculty, and staff would take away from the project.
“It is small little bits of connection and it is the small human relationships that we have that go a long way toward creating this inclusive world,” he says.