Name: Disability Art Chats with Dean Millien
Start: 2026-07-30T18:00
End: 2026-07-30T19:30
Location: Online

Thu, Jul 30, 6:00–7:30 p.m.

Online

Free, registration or RSVP required

In this close-up detail of a larger installation, several aluminum foil sculptures of rats gather around a set of feline-looking paws in the top right of the image, suggesting a much larger foil animal looming just outside the frame. Though sculpted of silver foil that reflects the surroundings of a white platform and a pale gallery floor, the characters of the rats are remarkably lifelike—from their pointed noses to their tiny ears to their long thin curling tails—with the potential to scurry away at any moment. Dean Millien. The Cats and the Rats. 2026. Aluminum foil. Courtesy the artist. Photo: John Kim

Please join us for Disability Art Chats, a free online program that unearths fresh interpretations of works in MoMA’s collection and fosters community through creative discussion. Together, with MoMA facilitators and guest speakers, we learn from and about modern artistry through the lens of experiences and perspectives of disability. All are welcome; no specialized understanding of art, art history, or disability studies is needed.

In July we will be in conversation with Dean Millien, whose installation The Cats and the Rats is currently on view at MoMA PS1. Millien will share how he creates his aluminum foil sculptures, influenced by everything from childhood memories and city life to horror films. We’ll also discuss what it’s like to participate in a major survey show like MoMA PS1’s Greater New York 2026 and what’s next for the artist.

Dean Millien is a Brooklyn-born, self-taught sculptor known for aluminum foil animals and figures. Built using layering, compression, and hand-forming, the works move between miniature objects and larger-than-life sculptures. His work has been exhibited at the American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore; Summertime Gallery, Brooklyn; O’Flaherty’s, New York; and Canada Gallery, New York, among other venues, and is currently on view at MoMA PS1 as part of Greater New York 2026.

Registration is now open.

This program is offered free of charge. Advance registration is required. For more information or for assistance with registration, please email [email protected] or call Access Programs at (212) 408-6447.

Program Accessibility
Images and descriptions of works to be discussed will be sent to registered participants prior to the programs. Sessions will include verbal description, live captioning, ASL interpretation, and a virtual quiet room. You can request any additional accommodations and let us know how we can best support your full participation in this program in the registration form.

Major funding is provided by The Taft Foundation.

Additional support is provided by Sarah K. de Coizart, J.E. and Z.B. Butler Foundation, Allene Reuss Memorial Trust, Werner and Elaine Dannheisser Fund for Older Adults at MoMA in honor of Agnes Gund, Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, Megara Foundation, Elroy and Terry Krumholz Foundation, and the Annual Education Fund.

This event is part of Disability Art Chats.

Licensing

If you would like to reproduce an image of a work of art in MoMA’s collection, or an image of a MoMA publication or archival material (including installation views, checklists, and press releases), please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations).

MoMA licenses archival audio and select out of copyright film clips from our film collection. At this time, MoMA produced video cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. All requests to license archival audio or out of copyright film clips should be addressed to Scala Archives at [email protected]. Motion picture film stills cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. For access to motion picture film stills for research purposes, please contact the Film Study Center at [email protected]. For more information about film loans and our Circulating Film and Video Library, please visit https://www.moma.org/research/circulating-film.

If you would like to reproduce text from a MoMA publication, please email [email protected]. If you would like to publish text from MoMA’s archival materials, please fill out this permission form and send to [email protected].