Studio work spanning nearly four decades, alongside objects and ephemera from St. Paul artist Seitu K. Jones’s extensive archive, is on view at the Minnesota Museum of American Art. The 75-year-old artist, environmentalist and activist opened his first solo museum exhibition, “The Smell of Earth: Seitu K. Jones Working in the Elements,” at the Minnesota Museum of American Art, running Oct. 22, 2026 through July 25, 2027.
The museum describes the show as the first major solo museum exhibition of Jones’s work, according to the Minnesota Museum of American Art, which says it pairs his less-examined studio work with objects and ephemera from his extensive archive. An opening reception was held Oct. 29 from 6 to 8 p.m., per the museum. As the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder reports, the exhibition draws from nearly four decades of Jones’s collected papers and artwork, including previously unseen sketches, works on paper and paintings.
Roots in Old Rondo and a Family That Loved the Land
Jones is a fourth-generation Minnesotan with roots in Old Rondo, the historically Black St. Paul neighborhood, according to the Spokesman-Recorder. His grandmother moved to Old Rondo more than a century ago and turned her backyard into a farm, as MinnPost reports. The Spokesman-Recorder notes he grew up in a large family that valued art, nature and community, spending weekends fishing with his father, uncles and grandfather.
Jones has said his family taught him to love himself, his family, the earth and community, per the Spokesman-Recorder’s reporting. He earned his undergraduate degree in landscape design from the University of Minnesota’s School of Agriculture, graduating in 1974, and went on to study environmental education and landscape design, according to the same outlet. MinnPost separately reports his graduate degree is in environmental history.
Collard Greens, Carved Basswood and a Life in Clay
Soil and plant life run through the show as literal material. MinnPost reports that collard greens appear in charcoal drawings, paintings and a sculptural form housed inside a hand-carved box made from Minnesota basswood. Jones works across clay, drawing, painting and sculpture, the Spokesman-Recorder notes, and the museum describes the works on view as spanning drawings, paintings, sculptures and design that honor African American culture, symbolism, history and ancestral knowledge.
That land-based practice extends beyond the gallery. Jones and his wife, poet Soyini Guyton, co-founded Frogtown Farm in 2013, according to Sahan Journal. The urban farm produced more than 10,000 pounds of food for local families and food shelves in 2025, Sahan Journal reports, describing it as a nonprofit food justice organization centered around a community farm.
Posters From the Black Arts Movement and a Family Portrait
Posters From the Black Arts Movement and a Family Portrait Among the archival material are posters Jones created for community organizations, events and political causes during the Black Arts Movement of the late 1960s and 1970s, per the Spokesman-Recorder. One poster, “Lift Every Voice and Sing: Social and Political Activity of Black Women in Minnesota,” was inspired by sculptor Augusta Savage and promoted a 1979 event at the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center. The show also includes a flyer from the Million Man March, tied to Minnesota organizer Harry “Spike” Moss, who served as the march’s national director of cultural affairs and was photographed by Donnie Paterson, according to the Spokesman-Recorder.
Jones also created the piece “Lift Every Voice and Sing: Social and Political Activity of Black Women in Minnesota,” the Spokesman-Recorder reports. The exhibition further includes an unfinished childhood portrait of Jones painted by his father, alongside self-portraits he made over the past decade exploring Black masculinity and African American men’s historical struggles, as well as broader works placing Black people in nature.
A Self-Portrait Practice Years in the Making
Jones’s self-portrait work has surfaced in smaller venues before this museum debut. A gallery exhibition titled “REAL POSITIONS” featured his self-portraits, according to mnartists.walkerart.org, including a 2019 triptych titled “Enslaved,” “Hands UP,” and “Great Migration,” and an earlier self-portrait, “Street Scene,” dated 2016.
The idea for the current museum show took shape years before its opening. Curator Alexandra Nicome said the concept emerged in 2021 while she and fellow curator Ego Ahaiwe Sowinski were processing Jones’s papers, according to the Spokesman-Recorder. Sahan Journal reports that Nicome and Ahaiwe Sowinski have worked with Jones since 2020 to organize and preserve much of his archive, and the museum says Jones worked closely with both curators to select the work on view.
More Than 40 Public Art Projects Across the Twin Cities
Beyond the gallery walls, Jones’s imprint on the Twin Cities is physical and widespread. The museum says he has completed more than 40 large-scale public art projects that shape the Twin Cities landscape, part of a practice that also includes communal Community Meal events meant to encourage dialogue among neighbors, per the museum.
Jones has said he hopes visitors to the exhibition come away understanding his worldview and the community that shaped him, according to the Spokesman-Recorder, which also reports he hopes the show will help create earlier opportunities for younger Black artists. The Spokesman-Recorder, which describes itself as having documented its communities for 92 years, published its account of the opening under the byline of reporter Aamira Redd.
