For a city this size, the Twin Cities punches way above its weight on the visual arts. Two of the country’s great encyclopedic museums, a Frank Gehry building, a printmaking center, an entire warehouse full of working artist studios, and a deep bench of artist-run galleries that keep the contemporary scene alive between the institutions. Most of it is free.
One of the most important contemporary art museums in the country, sitting at the edge of downtown with the Sculpture Garden and Spoonbridge & Cherry across the way. Programming runs deep: dance, film, performance, lectures, and a permanent collection that reaches well beyond what you expect.
Read full entry →An encyclopedic museum on the scale you usually have to fly to see. Ninety thousand objects spanning five thousand years of art and design. Free admission, a Japanese tea room, period rooms moved over from Europe, and one of the country’s great photography collections. A genuinely civic gift.
Read full entry →A Frank Gehry building from 1993, all crumpled brushed-steel curves overlooking the Mississippi. The collection focuses on early twentieth-century American art and works on paper. Worth the visit just for the building, which photographs differently every time the sun moves.
Read full entry →A 33-room turn-of-the-century mansion attached to a modern Nordic cultural center. Rotating exhibitions on Scandinavian design, fika in the cafe, and a holiday season that draws people from across the metro. The combination of mansion and contemporary glass-walled wing is the appeal.
Read full entry →A small St. Paul museum focused on American art with deep ties to Minnesota artists. Free, walkable from the Saintly City’s Union Depot, and quietly excellent on the contemporary Minnesota and Indigenous art programming.
Read full entry →A small specialized museum housed in a former church, focused on Soviet-era and pre-revolutionary Russian art. The collection is unique in the United States and the rotating exhibitions are consistently worth the visit.
Read full entry →A museum built into the ruins of the largest flour mill in the world, which made Minneapolis what it is. The Flour Tower freight elevator ride is the standout, and the rooftop overlooks the Stone Arch Bridge and the falls.
Read full entry →The University of Minnesota’s natural history museum, with a beautiful 2018 building, a 120-seat planetarium, and dioramas painted by Francis Lee Jaques that are themselves works of art. Easy to spend a whole afternoon.
Read full entry →A science and invention museum on the west shore of Bde Maka Ska, focused on the history of electricity and medical technology. Permanent and rotating exhibits suit families and design-curious visitors. Celebrating its 50th year.
Read full entry →A county history museum in the 1919 Christian Mansion presenting in-house exhibits on Hennepin County life, with recent shows on housing, race, and Nicollet Avenue. Pay-as-you-can admission.
Read full entry →A 4,500-square-foot museum on the second floor of Landmark Center holding the Schubert Club keyboard collection alongside instruments from around the world. Interactive Music Makers Zone and the Gilman Ordway manuscript collection are open to the public.
Read full entry →A nine-story former seed company building converted to working artist studios. Hundreds of painters, printmakers, sculptors, and ceramicists with open hours on First Thursdays and the full open-studio chaos of Art-A-Whirl in May. The closest the metro gets to a vertical art district.
Read full entry →An artist-owned cooperative founded in 1993 in a six-story limestone warehouse on the National Register. Houses studio and exhibition space for around 23 mid-career artists, with periodic open studios and shows.
Read full entry →A small Kenwood gallery known nationally for its program of Indigenous artists and longtime Minnesota painters. Quiet, careful, and consistently the place where local serious art collectors are paying attention.
Read full entry →An artist-run gallery and gathering space at Northrup King with rotating exhibitions, performances, and a residency program. Programming centers BIPOC and queer artists across painting, sculpture, performance, and new media. Open Thursday evenings and Saturdays.
Read full entry →A small Lyn-Lake gallery that has been showing emerging Minnesota artists for over twenty years. Always free, always changing, the kind of place where you accidentally find a piece you want on your wall.
Read full entry →A printmaking studio and gallery that is both a working production space and a public-facing exhibition program. Free shows, the press equipment is visible through the gallery, and the prints are a great gift if you want something local that is not a t-shirt.
Read full entry →An artist-owned collective founded in 2007 in the Kickernick Building. Six-week exhibitions feature member-curated solo and group shows alongside artist talks and readings. Open Thursday through Saturday afternoons.
Read full entry →A contemporary gallery founded by Ryan Fontaine and Kristin Van Loon, now in its tenth season in Minneapolis with a second space in New York. Programming spans painting, sculpture, sound, and dance. Open Thursday through Sunday afternoons.
Read full entry →An artist-run cooperative serving Minnesota since 2002, now located in the California Building. Around twenty member artists rotate through monthly exhibitions of painting, printmaking, and mixed media. Open Saturdays and Sundays.
Read full entry →Formerly Kolman & Pryor, the gallery is now in its 15th year showcasing abstract and contemporary work by Minnesota artists. Hosts an annual Project Space Grant for emerging artists. Located on the third floor of Northrup King.
Read full entry →A contemporary gallery founded in 2021 by Rebecca Heidenberg and Gregory Smith, paired with a standalone cinema and an artist residency. Programming emphasizes intergenerational, female-identified, and under-recognized artists.
Read full entry →Founded in 1973 in a restored 1890s mansion just south of the Walker, Groveland focuses on contemporary representational painting, drawing, and prints by Midwestern artists. New exhibitions every six weeks.
Read full entry →A nonprofit gallery in the Ivy Arts Building hosting rotating member and juried exhibitions. Open during shows on Mondays and Thursdays in the early evening and Saturday afternoons.
Read full entry →A community photography center in the Ivy Arts Building offering darkroom access, education, and rotating photographic exhibitions. Public hours on Saturday and Sunday with weekday appointments.
Read full entry →The largest independent book arts facility in the country, housed in the Open Book building alongside The Loft and Milkweed Editions. Studios for letterpress, papermaking, and bindery sit next to a public gallery of contemporary book and paper work.
Read full entry →A member-owned cooperative in Lowertown St. Paul with a permanent member gallery, a small artist gift shop, and a monthly rotation of guest artists, group shows, and juried exhibitions.
Read full entry →The Minneapolis College of Art and Design main gallery presents student, alumni, and faculty exhibitions plus a senior thesis show twice a year. Open Monday through Saturday at the Stevens Avenue entrance.
Read full entry →A 5,000-square-foot exhibition space at the Regis Center for Art presenting curated shows of contemporary art alongside faculty and BFA student exhibitions. Open Tuesday through Saturday during the academic year.
Read full entry →A 2,000-square-foot space at the Regis Center for Art devoted to University of Minnesota student exhibitions and community partnerships. Programming runs alongside the Nash Gallery.
Read full entry →Macalester College’s gallery in the Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center hosting curated solo and group exhibitions of contemporary artists. Open Tuesday through Sunday during the academic year.
Read full entry →A city-run arts center with two galleries, the Atrium and the Inez Greenberg, programmed by Artistry. Exhibitions rotate through solo and juried shows by Minnesota artists. Galleries open daily during building hours.
Read full entry →A nonprofit center with rotating gallery exhibitions changing every four to six weeks. Shows draw from regional artists across painting, fiber, ceramics, and photography. Open Monday through Saturday.
Read full entry →A city-run community art center with two indoor gallery spaces and a rotating outdoor sculpture program along the Edina Promenade. Free exhibitions change throughout the year.
Read full entry →A regional arts center on Hopkins main street with rotating gallery exhibitions, the long-running Arts North International juried show, and a downtown public sculpture program.
Read full entry →A city-run art house with a new building opened in fall 2025, programming gallery shows, classes, and the Eagan Art Block community festival each September.
Read full entry →A nonprofit cooperative housed in the historic Robbinsdale library building. Eleven exhibits a year include two member shows and the statewide juried Extremely Minnesota show. Open Wednesday through Saturday.
Read full entry →A nonprofit gallery in the historic Banfill-Locke house along the Mississippi, with a small gift shop, rotating exhibitions, and artist studios. Open Tuesday through Saturday with free admission and parking.
Read full entry →A cross-river arts center with seven galleries, all free to the public. Year-round rotating exhibitions feature regional painters, printmakers, and photographers. Open Monday through Saturday.
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