Where to find real, local art in the Twin Cities, from a Minneapolis gallery artist who see this question get asked this all the time.

If you're redecorating and want something on your walls that isn't mass-produced, Minneapolis has more going for it than most people realize. Between the studio buildings, the seasonal art fairs, and a genuinely active working-artist scene, you don't have to settle for whatever's on the shelf at a big box store. Here's where to actually look, and where you can find my own work in person.

Every marker above shows an artist site. Ever marker with a star is a building with 10 or more artists. 

Start With the Studio Buildings 

Minneapolis has a handful of former industrial buildings that got converted into working artist studios, and they're the single best way to see local art in its natural habitat; meeting the artist, seeing the process, not just the finished product on a sterile gallery wall. 

The Northrup King Building in Northeast Minneapolis is the one I know best, because it's where my own studio is. It's one of the largest artist communities in the country under one roof, with hundreds of working artists across multiple floors, covering everything from painting and ceramics to photography and sculpture. The building holds Open Studio Saturday year-round, and it's also open for special events like Art-A-Whirl®, the massive open-studio weekend that takes over Northeast Minneapolis every May. If you only do one "go look at local art" outing this year, that weekend is worth putting on the calendar. 

Other buildings worth knowing about in the same Northeast arts district include the California Building and the Casket Arts Building, between the three of them, you could spend an entire Saturday just wandering.

My focus is Minneapolis after sunset: nighttime cityscapes of the skyline, the Stone Arch Bridge, the river, First Avenue, and the other landmarks that make this city what it is. My work has also been featured at the Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport (Terminal 1) and the Minneapolis Convention Center, if you've seen a piece and wondered where it was from. 

You can browse my full Minneapolis collection here: Minneapolis Wall Art Gallery 

Whether you end up finding your piece at Art-A-Whirl, at a fair, or in my studio, Minneapolis has a real art scene worth supporting. Come say hi if you're in the Northrup King Building.