Joe Rosenthal's Pulitzer-winning photograph of Marines raising the flag over Iwo Jima is set to hang inside Mint Museum Uptown starting Dec. 12, part of a sweeping new exhibition built from a corporate photography gift that museum officials say will transform its collection. The show, called SNAP: Selections from Bank of America's Photography Gift to The Mint Museum, pulls from a donation that institution leaders describe as one of the most significant in the museum's history.
The exact scope of what visitors will see depends on which source you consult. According to the Mint Museum, SNAP presents a selection of 170 photographs, while as reported by the Charlotte Observer, the exhibition features nearly 200 historic and modern photographs. Either way, the show will occupy level four of the museum's Brand Gallery at Mint Museum Uptown, located at 500 S. Tryon St. in the Levine Center for the Arts, per the Observer's reporting.
A Collection Spanning 170 Years
SNAP spans more than 170 years of visual history, with works ranging from 1850s daguerreotypes to early-2000s contemporary masterworks, the museum notes. The exhibition features artists from four continents, and curators have organized the material into four thematic sections: Pioneers, Pranksters, History Takers, and Beauty Makers, according to the museum's own description of the show.
Beyond the Iwo Jima image, the exhibition includes Eadweard Muybridge's Animal Locomotion Portfolio, Plate No. 616, a work from the photographer's landmark 1887 study of motion. The Rosenthal photograph itself is listed with a negative date of 1945, the year the image was captured during World War II. Both works anchor an exhibition the museum says threads together more than a century and a half of photographic practice.
How the Gift Came Together
The donation traces back to Bank of America's corporate art holdings, built over several decades and including archives acquired from legacy financial institutions such as NCNB and LaSalle Bank. The bank's broader international collection includes more than 20,000 works by artists who represent significant figures in photography history. The initial cache of images arrived at the Mint in August 2025, the Observer reported, with a five-year agreement calling for Bank of America to transfer 200 photographs each year to the museum.
That arrangement is expected to nearly double the Mint's photography holdings to more than 2,000 works. To manage the influx, the museum formed a dedicated photography council co-chaired by Allen Blevins and Kelle Botkin, who helped secure the donation. Jen Sudul Edwards worked with the council to select the photographs that made it into SNAP, and the museum says it has also secured nearly 100 additional gifts from photography estates and donors as interest in the collection has grown.
What Museum Leaders Are Saying
Kieth Cockrell said the partnership strengthens Charlotte's cultural vitality and offers opportunities to learn and experience new perspectives. Todd Herman hailed the corporate gift as transformative, according to the Observer's account from around the time the donation was announced. Jen Sudul Edwards said the gift expands the Mint's photography holdings and creates opportunities to explore photography's history.
The museum has declined to disclose the exhibition's value, citing security reasons. Looking ahead, the Mint plans to establish a permanent rotating gallery dedicated to photography at Mint Uptown, which would host ongoing exhibitions, lectures, and public programs beyond SNAP's run. Museum officials describe the December opening as the public's first glimpse of what is ultimately a promised 1,000-piece donation from Bank of America, delivered in annual installments.
Following a Big Year of Exhibitions
SNAP arrives on the heels of other major shows at the Mint, which was founded in 1936 and is recognized as North Carolina's first art museum. The institution operates two campuses, Mint Museum Uptown and Mint Museum Randolph, the latter located at 2730 Randolph Road. Caravaggio, Revolution: Baroque Masterpieces from the Roberto Longhi Foundation closed at the museum last month, and the Mint also debuted the first traveling exhibition of Pablo Picasso landscapes back in 2023.
For now, the Mint has not said whether the December opening will proceed exactly as scheduled, and the museum's own photograph count differs from what was initially reported elsewhere. What's clear is that Charlotte is about to get sustained access to a corporate collection that institution leaders say will reshape how the city sees the history of the camera.
