MacKenzie “MAC” Mitzuk: “Nostalgic Escapism” | Rochester Art Center

MacKenzie “MAC” Mitzuk: “Nostalgic Escapism”
On View June 14 – October 5, 2025
Jurors: Kalianne Morrison, LaVanda Mireles, Zoe Cinel
Spotlight Tour: June 14 at 1pm
Rochester Art Center presents a solo exhibition of paintings and sculptures by artist MacKenzie “MAC” Mitzuk. Mitzuk’s exhibition proposal was selected through a juried process among a pool of applicants. This exhibition is sponsored by the MFA Program at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design as a part of an annual partnership, started in 2021.

MacKenzie “MAC” Mitzuk is an interdisciplinary artist who uses imagination as a form of nostalgic escapism from contemporary digital reality. Her practice includes painting, sculpture, illustration and installation. After graduating with a Bachelors of Science in Art Education from St. Cloud State University in 2019, and a Masters of Fine Art from Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 2023, MAC is now a dedicated K-12 Art Educator working at Northwest Metro (ISD 12 School District).

MAC grew up in the early 2000s, a time marked by deep cultural changes in the US education system. As a young student, she fully experienced the shift towards digitally-centered ways and tools for learning that are now commonly used in classrooms. As a child, she also noticed how digital technology was being incorporated into the everyday lives of friends and neighbors. Always a curious observer, she realized that the everyday experience with the increasingly wide-spread presence of digital technology within her own household was instead unique and unconventional. The artist refers to her childhood home as “a physical escape from an increasingly digital, modern reality”. Raised by a Baby Boomer father and Gen Xer mother who kept the household like a time capsule, she was exposed exclusively to media and aesthetics from the early 60s to the late 90s.

Growing up surrounded by old TV shows and movies, vintage furniture, clothing, and outdated technology, highly impacted MAC’S artistic practice. The artworks presented in this exhibition mirror her nonconformist upbringing, channeling a sense of nostalgia and escapism. In paintings like To The Treehouse! and in the series Tech Trash, little colorful creatures inhabit a fantastic world made of VHS cassettes, CRT monitors and walkman cassette players. In “Don’t miss your bus, and thank your bus driver” and the series “In It’s the 90s and you are in the Twin Cities, in the middle of a snow storm, waiting for the bus,” the artist revisits her childhood narratives, through the lens of nostalgia. In the artists’ words, her practice “I am constantly chasing that playful innocence that’s associated with being a kid, processing life. I grew up too fast from the world of make believe, and I am desperately trying to relearn how to play.”

Exhibition Page: https://www.rochesterartcenter.org/exhibition/nostalgic-escapism
Artist Instagram: www.instagram.com/meddlingmac

MCAD’s Master of Fine Arts in Visual Studies program is a community of makers, thinkers, researchers, and creative professionals working in a mentor-based, interdisciplinary environment. Our four-semester curriculum is designed to expand your thinking as you take advantage of the Twin Cities’ vibrant art and design scene. Students are invited to be strongly self-directed as they set personalized goals to guide each semester, as well as their overall time in the program.

About Rochester Art Center
Rochester Art Center is a museum of contemporary art located along the Zumbro River in the heart of historic downtown Rochester, MN. Founded in 1946, the Art Center hosts an ongoing schedule of exhibitions of work by local, regional, national, and international artists; dynamic educational programs for all ages; and an array of community partnerships and visitor engagement initiatives. Through world-class exhibitions and programs, the Art Center presents a welcoming, integrated, and diverse experience that encourages questioning, creativity, and critical thinking.

Open hours: Wednesday – Sunday, 11am – 4pm
Cost: $8 Adults, $5 Seniors, FREE for ages 21 & under, FREE for Members
Rochester Art Center is a Blue Star Museum and participates in the Museums4All program.