Big news! Tickets for the next taping of The Object LIVE! will be available starting January 7 on the Tickets page at artsmia.org. It's "The Object LOVE! Don't Go Breaking My Art!" with special guest musician jeremy messersmith, all about the gods in (and out of) love, from Orpheus and Eurydice to Eros and Psyche, with quizzes, music, and of course storytelling. Don't miss this special Valentine's edition of the podcast, recorded live at the Minneapolis Institute of Art auditorium on February 7 at 2PM.

And now, today's brand-new episode:

Swedish textile artist Helena Hernmarck became an international art star making monumental tapestries, an ancient art form she gave a modern Pop Art twist starting in the 1960s. Some 260 commissioned works in all, often for corporate settings. But as the corporate world changed, and her tapestries changed hands, at least two dozen have gone missing. Now, at 84, she's scrambling to track them down, a rollicking story of international intrigue, celebrity, and what it means when culture is lost—and found.

You can learn more about Hernmarck's art in the latest episode of Craft in America, airing December 19 on PBS.

Hernmarck has long had a unique connection to Minnesota, and you can see more than 20 of Hernmarck's tapestries in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art, a major repository of her work—including several rescued pieces.

And you can see more Scandinavian craft in Mia's current show "Crowning the North," featuring Norwegian silver.

Tickets will be available soon for The Object LOVE!, a very Valentine’s edition of our live taping of the podcast, happening February 7 at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, with quizzes, storytelling, and very special musical guest jeremy messersmith, all about the gods in (and out of) love!

It’s good to be the pope in the 1600s. But staying pope is not so easy, as the famous Barberini family finds out when one of their own takes up the tiara in 1623. As Rome fills up with their art, and dungeons fill up with their enemies, can they survive the forces of change threatening their worldview—and the forces of the occult threatening to kill the pope on Christmas Day?

You can read more about the art at Mia commissioned by the Barberini family, including Pope Urban VIII, here.

And of course you can see it all over Rome—in the Piazza Barberini, the Palazzo Barberini, etc. Look closely at St. Peter’s Basilica and you may see the curious Barberini family crest—a trio of bees—on fountains, frames, and even the altar. You can read about its symbolism here.

This third sold-out live show of The Object podcast was recorded October 30, 2025, at the Minneapolis Institute of Art with special guest Chan Poling of The Suburbs and New Standards. Quizzes, storytelling, and curator conversation all centered on F. Scott Fitzgerald and his near-miraculous creation of The Great Gatsby, inspired by the cover art and a girl he met sledding in St. Paul.

A big thank-you to Poling; Mia's Lori Williamson, who curated the "Gatsby at 100" exhibition; and the programs/AV team. You can see "Gatsby at 100" at Mia through March 22, 2026. And stay tuned to get your free tickets to the next edition of The Object LIVE! coming up on February 7.