Diversity and Discovery: Exploring the Unexpected Depth of Minneapolis Museums

Minneapolis boasts 55 area museums with collections spanning thousands of years of history, art, culture and performance art. From unexpected topics to diversity and depth of subjects, visitors to Minneapolis have a world of choice to satisfy their curiosity and fill their itineraries.

Some exhibit highlights currently at or coming soon to Minneapolis’ popular museums include:

Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia): Home to more than 90,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of world history, Mia is one of the largest art museums in the United States.

Mia recently debuted a new permanent collection: “Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room: The Alice S. Kandell Collection,” that includes more than 200 gilt-bronze sculptures, paintings, silk hangings and carpets that were created in Tibet between the 1300s and early 1900s. Minneapolis is home to over 5,000 Tibetans, the second largest population in the United States, outside of New York City. 

Through January, "O’ Powa O’ Meng" highlights the revolutionary work of Jody Folwell, a visionary potter from Kha’p’o Owingeh (Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico). Folwell has spent over five decades challenging and expanding Native art traditions while honoring her heritage. 

Coming in March 2025, the first solo exhibition of the intricate work of Yankton Dakota artist Mary Sully (Susan Mabel Deloria). Created between the 1920s and 1940s, Sully's highly distinctive works are informed by her Native American and settler ancestry.

Walker Art Center: This multidisciplinary contemporary art center has a world-wide reputation, more than 15,500 works in its collection and has one of the most photographed spots in town at its adjacent Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.

Jan. 16, the Walker will open the first solo museum exhibition of interdisciplinary Berlin-based artist Pan Daijing in the United States, on view through July 6, 2025. Pan Daijing: Sudden Places will transform the Walker’s Burnet Gallery into a dark landscape through a range of material and physical alterations, and features four major works, including two new paintings. 

Stanley Whitney: How High the Moon, the artist’s 50-year career retrospective and the first exhibition to explore and contextualize the full depth and range of his practice, reflects on Whitney’s diverse inspirations, including music, poetry, American quilts, and the history of art and architecture. It is on view through March 16, 2025.

Weisman Art Museum: The striking façade, designed by Frank Gehry, draws fans and the curious to this free University of Minnesota campus museum, and the 30,000 works in its collection keep them returning for more.

Weisman’s featured exhibition presents Kara Walker’s print portfolio, Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated), 2005, through Dec. 29. This suite of 15 large-scale prints considers experiences of racism and violence against African Americans that were absent or only alluded to in dominant historical representations of the Civil War. Shown with Walker’s series is a group of 13 original Harper’s Weekly engravings of the Civil War by nineteenth century American realist artist, Winslow Homer. 

Seeking for the Lost, on through Feb. 16, 2025, features portraiture by contemporary artist Christopher E. Harrison, and explores the unbreakable familial bonds expressed through ads in the Black-owned and operated St. Paul newspaper The Appeal, presents the post-Reconstruction goals of Minnesota’s Black press and shows how literacy informed the lives of Black Americans after the Civil War.

American Swedish Institute (ASI): Asi is a museum, a cultural education center, a café, a destination store, a historic mansion, and more.

ASI begins 2025 by hosting the work of acclaimed Swedish photographer Lars Tunbjörk — A View From The Side, from Jan. 11 to Feb. 9. Known for his warmth, humor, deep exploration of loneliness, and the search for meaning.   

Ann Wolf: The Art of Living will be on view Feb. 15-June 8, 2025, delving into the brilliance of internationally acclaimed Swedish artist Ann Wolff. This is the largest presentation of artworks by Wolff outside of Sweden.  

The first major solo exhibition outside of Sweden for Swedish artist, filmmaker and writer Salad Hilowle will be on view from June 21-Oct. 26, 2025. The Somalia-born artist uses video, photography, sculpture, textiles and performances to uncover and make visible the presence of African descendants within Swedish contexts, both past and present. 

The Museum of Russian Art (TMORA): TMORA promotes understanding of the art, people and culture of Muscovite Russia, the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union and its former republics through exhibitions, cultural presentations and educational programs. Its collection spans over 13,000 works of art, folk art and cultural artifacts.

TMORA’s unique collection of nesting dolls, the largest in this country, is on display through March 9, 2025, and includes some of the earliest dolls ever created and traces the development of the craft through the 20th century. 

Say No to War: Political Cartoons by Ukrainian and Russian Artists showcases antiwar political cartoons by renowned cartoonists from Ukraine and Russia created in response to the Russian aggression in Ukraine. The exhibition is ongoing.

More Notable Museums

• Bakken Museum: Located on the west shore of Bde Maka Ska, this museum explores the potential for science, tech and the humanities to make the world a better place.

• Mill City Museum: Built into what was once the world’s largest flour mill on the bank of the Mississippi River, the “worlds most explosive museum” highlights Minneapolis’ history as the world’s leading producer of flour for over 50 years and what the only waterfall on the river meant to the city.

• Hennepin History Museum: Formed in 1938 with the help of a Works Progress Administration (WPA) grant, the museum preserves and shares the area’s history from its pioneers to modern day. An exhibition running through Spring 2025 tells the story of Tibetans in Minnesota.

• Pavek Museum of Electronic Communication: With over 12,000 square feet of antique radios, televisions and broadcast equipment, the museum’s collection is one of the finest of its kind in the world. Educational programs, tours and repair courses are among the offerings.

• Paisley Park: No listing of Minneapolis museums would be complete without the former home and studios of international icon Prince. Art, music, fashion and culture are celebrated via tours, events, concerts and an annual Celebration event that honors the life and work of Prince.

Learn more about Minneapolis’ cultural scene and events here.

Weisman Museum photoby Lane Pelovsky