Meet Mia: Q&A with Bobby Rogers, Head of Design & Editorial
Meet Mia is a bimonthly series highlighting museum staff—the talented humans who help make Mia a community treasure. Watch for new Q&As in People & Culture. We begin with Bobby Rogers: photographer, creative director, and shaper of the museum’s look and feel as Mia’s Head of Design & Editorial.
February 7, 2025—Bobby Rogers investigates the revolutionary ideologies of Black culture through contemporary portrait photography. He’s been active as a visual artist in the Midwest for nearly a decade. Rogers is a prolific creative presence locally as the founder of The Bureau, a multidisciplinary art and design studio, and has worked previously with Juxtaposition Arts and at the Walker as their Head Photographer.
Nationally, his list of clientele includes Apple, The New York Times, David Zwirner, and others. Rogers has shown his work at Mia, the International Center of Photography, Public Functionary, and the Minnesota Museum of American Art. He’s also been featured in several publications, including Vice, Buzzfeed, HuffPost, Mashable, AJ+, and Juxtapoz.
What are your first memories of art?
When I was 6, I came across this painting that my mom created of a bowl of fruit. It blew my mind. I was like, what do you mean you made this? It was the first time I understood that humans make the things that are in the world—not only the paintings but all of the things that are in the paintings: the buildings, even growing the fruit. It made me want to be one of those humans.
How did you start down that path?
I lived in so many places around Minneapolis that I can’t remember them all. But a lot of my formative years were spent on 33rd and Chicago, and a block over was a church: Park Avenue United Methodist. I remember this vividly: Growing up, I used to say I’d either be an artist or a pastor because we were always going to Park Avenue. We’d go to church, my siblings and I played on the hockey team, and they had classes where you could make stuff like a working phone. If I wasn’t at Park Avenue, I spent the rest of my time drawing. Eventually, during my junior year a teacher of mine at South High said, “You should look into art school.”
You went to the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Did you know what you would do with your degree?
I knew I was good at art. And I knew I needed to make money. A lot of people there were leaning into, “I love this, and that’s why I’m doing this.” But my thinking was, if I could make money, I could do the things I want to do. That was my goal: to be the best, whatever that was. I declared my major as illustration, and it was full steam ahead, drawing all the time, 24/7. I’d be in the studio at MCAD drawing all day and then go back to my apartment—which was just a bed in a living room at one point—shower, go back to the studio, and draw all night.
What was your first job?
In high school, I worked for this program called Upward Bound Vision Quest, at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and in Duluth. I was in their mailroom, folding and packing letters. I was a letter folder.
My first real art job was a couple of years after college, with Charles R. Stinson Architecture and Design, way out in the suburbs. Charles Stinson was looking for a book designer for his second anthology. I didn’t have a car then, but I thought I’d get the job and then figure out how to get there—and I did. My second art job came a week later, working as a design supervisor at Juxtaposition Arts. So, within two weeks, I was completely doing art, spending half of my week in Wayzata and the other half in North Minneapolis.
What’s a favorite part of your job at Mia?
I came here from Target, where most of the campaigns I worked on might take six months before we could talk about them. But here, our project timelines range from several days to several months, so there’s an opportunity to get feedback immediately from the community. You see that immediate impact. Many artists dream about having that relationship between their work and community.
What’s your favorite restaurant on Eat Street?
Khun Nai Thai. It’s A-1 every time. Just thinking about it now, I might have to go get some.
If you could take one artwork from Mia home for a year, what would it be?
I’ve always loved The Carpet Merchant [Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1887, gallery 243], even before I knew it was at Mia. It was my phone background once. I really enjoy the composition, the level of detail, and this seemingly ordinary moment that probably happens in many cultures where people occupy a public square and build community around trade.
What’s the first piece of art you bought?
It was a trade, actually. I went to school with Greta Kotz, and she made this 3- or 4-foot charcoal drawing of a horse. It’s composed of a bunch of brushstrokes—the horse, the gravel underneath, the environment, all made with the same stroke technique. I saw it one day and thought it was a beautiful piece, and I said, “I’ll trade you whatever you want.”
What’s a guilty pleasure for you?
Phish Food ice cream by Ben & Jerry’s. Chocolate, caramel, marshmallow. It’s all the best flavors in the world.
Drake or Kendrick?
Kendrick definitely won. I listen to Drake because he’s able to rap from a hungry “grinding my whole life” perspective—like, he knew what I was going through because he, too, was going through it. But now that I have the perspective of life to layer on top of the circumstances, as an artist, I hold Kendrick to a high creative standard for being able to speak to this experience with an intersectional lens.
Would you rather get the new Taylor Swift album or a new Swiffer?
A new Swiffer may be higher on my hierarchy of needs. However, I recently found out Taylor Swift and I have much more in common than I thought, so I’d give the album a listen.
You have just one hour to visit Mia. Which pieces in the collection would you make sure to see?
I’d love to see Deana Lawson’s photographs, experience the serenity of the Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room, and beautifully observe the captivating images of Black life in the ’60s and ’70s by Ernest Cole in “The True America,” a recently opened exhibition at Mia. It’s on view through June 2025.