At Mia, treasures from a founder of Microsoft

The Minneapolis Institute of Art has unveiled its plans for the 101st year of its existence, following the 100th birthday celebration now underway.

Staff at the museum said that if this is the year of celebrations and surprises, next year is one of partnerships, working with artists and schools to serve an ever-more diverse audience.

For example, the museum will be partnering with Centro, El Zocalo, an organization dedicated to the well-being of Latinos. They're going to work with a group of mothers and daughters to discuss issues affecting them, make art inspired by it and use those images to create a community mural.

Next year will also see major exhibitions involving big names.

One is "Seeing Nature: Landscape Masterworks from the Paul G. Allen Family Collection." Allen is the co-founder of Microsoft, and these are some 40 paintings drawn from his private collection, including works by Claude Monet, Gustav Klimt, Edward Hopper, Georgia O'Keeffe and David Hockney.

Next fall, the museum will feature a major exhibition, "Martin Luther and the Art of Reformation."

In 2017, Lutherans will celebrate the 500th anniversary of Luther's nailing his 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Church in Germany. Leading up to the anniversary, Germany is sending major artifacts and relics from Luther's era and life, including some extraordinary paintings and prints, objects wrought in silver and gold, and even the pulpit from the Wittenberg Church while the church undergoes a renovation.

But Mia's own anniversary party isn't finished yet. Next month, the museum will open a major show exploring the influence of the revolutionary French painter Eugene Delacroix on modern art. The exhibition will include 30 major works by Delacroix, as well as pieces by Degas, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Matisse, Renoir and Monet.