Many Minnesotans do not realize how artistically diverse the University campus is until they actually leave Minnesota. It is time for this to change.
The Minnesota Daily has chosen five major must-see museums/galleries in the Twin Cities that every individual, whether entering Minnesota for a short college experience or a purebred Minnesotan who has lived here for 60 years, should get to know before leaving Minnesota and going off to explore other areas of the world.
Weisman Art Museum
Time: Tuesday-Friday 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Thursday 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Place: 333 East River Road
Phone: (612) 625-9494
Cost: free
Info: http://hudson.acad.umn.edu
Located at the east end of the Washington Avenue Bridge on the East Bank campus, the Weisman combines a prestigious location with architectural ingenuity. With its towering peaks and reflective silver walls, the Weisman works as a sort of North Star on campus. When you are lost, walk towards the Weisman.
The Weisman has over 17,000 objects in its permanent collection. The museum’s mission continues to be the promotion of arts within the University. The Weisman’s intended audience is as wide as the river it overlooks, including just about anyone who has an interest in art. The Weisman is most well known for its collection of early 20th century American art. It is known to be the starting ground for artists, and its arrangement of pieces are meant to promote a more modern view on art and destroy the old stereotype of art as being only for the traditional elite.
The Walker Art Center
Times: Tuesday-Saturday 10 a.m.-5p.m, Thusdays 10 a.m.-9p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Place: 725 Vineland Place
Cost: $6 adults; $4 young adults 12-18, students with ID, seniors.
Phone: (612) 375-7622
Info: www.walkerart.org
The Walker Art Center brings together a vast range of modern artistic genres such as visual, performing, and media arts. By taking an objective look at artwork, the Walker Art Center leaves room for audiences to experience the art without judgments and imposing ideas. Walker programs examine the questions that shape and inspire us as individuals, cultures and communities.
Every Thursday, to the great benefit of students and art enthusiasts of all stripes, the Walker Art Center gives free admission to guests and offers a variety of interesting classes such as photography and dance.
Nash Gallery:
Time: Tuesday-Friday 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Thursday 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Saturday 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Place: 405 21st Ave. S.
Phone: (612) 624-7530
Cost: free
The newest part of the University is the Arts Quarter on the West Bank. As one of the only examples in the nation of a university choosing to have all its fine arts buildings located in one area, the Arts Quarter is a sight to see.
The Nash Gallery, located at the heart of the Arts Quarter, showcases many visiting artists from around the nation. The walls are used as part of the gallery to exhibit student works. The combination of the gallery and the art spaces spread throughout the gallery creates a whole world of artistic scenes that envelop the visitor and take them to a new world through the mind and senses of a variety of artists.
The Goldstein Museum of Design
Time: Monday-Friday 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Thursday 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday 1:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Place: 244 McNeal Hall
1985 Buford Avenue, St. Paul
Cost: Free
Info: http://goldstein.che.umn.edu, (612) 624-7434
The Goldstein is a smaller museum, but it is packed with a lot of interesting art. The museum’s emphasis is on collecting items created in the 19th and 20th centuries. It promotes observation and study of these objects within their social, cultural, aesthetic and historic contexts in hopes that students learn from the works, not only find intrinsic pleasure in the pieces.
Minnesota Institute of Arts
Time: Tuesday-Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Thursday 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Place: 2400 Third Avenue South
Cost: Free
Info: http://www.artsmia.org, (612) 870-3131
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts is dedicated to national leadership in bringing arts and people together to discover, enjoy, and understand the world’s diverse artistic heritage. Known for its variety of cultural collections, the institute houses more than 100,000 objects spanning 5,000 years of world history from all around the world.
The institute’s goal of helping individuals discover cultures is one reason why the institute has become an internationally recognized museum of great renown.
Minneapolis, is a breeding ground for diversity in people as well as art forms. For visitors and locals, Minnesota’s art scene is a truly unique and incredibly diverse culture in which all forms of art, as well as all kinds of people are welcome to share their style. From the worldly to the local, the extreme to the conservative, the novice to the professional, Minnesota has anything and everything to satisfy the visual sense.
