Practicing Art Law: A Conversation with Mikka Gee Conway

The University of Minnesota Law School is proud to host its first-ever Art Law Series, featuring speakers who will share their knowledge and experience of some of the many ways in which law intersects with the fine arts.  

For the first of what will be four events scheduled throughout the academic year, join your fellow students, faculty, and staff for a lunchtime conversation with Mikka Gee Conway (’11), who currently serves as general counsel for the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California. Ms. Conway will discuss her career pathway, ranging from her early training and work at institutions including the Minneapolis Institute of Art, to the post- law school positions she has held counseling the Getty, the National Gallery of Art, and since 2025, Norton Simon.  

Current students, faculty, and staff with an interest in law and the arts are highly encouraged to attend to hear more about some of the current legal issues facing museums and nonprofits; career options for students interested in representing artists or arts organizations; and what law school courses might be good preparation for such careers.

Boxed sandwiches from Surdyk's Catering will be provided for those who register by Tuesday, October 13. Please select your lunch when you register for the event.

About Our Speaker

Mikka Gee Conway (J.D. ’11) is General Counsel of the Norton Simon Museum of Art at Pasadena, working on a wide range of legal issues facing museums and nonprofits, including intellectual property, cultural patrimony, the law of private foundations, employment and anti-discrimination law, privacy, and economic sanctions and export controls. She has taught intellectual property law at the UCLA Graduate School of Education, serves on the steering committee of the Legal Issues in Museum Administration conference, and is a frequent speaker on topics related to museums, law, and inclusion. 

Mikka holds degrees in art history from Stanford University and Williams College and a J.D. summa cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School. Before studying law, she was a curator and administrator at several major art museums; following law school she clerked for the Honorable David M. Ebel on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and worked in Washington D.C. as an associate in the tax group of a major law firm.