Minnesota's Best Art Museums

The American Swedish Institute is a museum, cultural center, café, and store in a historic mansion in Minneapolis. Its galleries feature Scandinavian and Nordic art displays, its café (FIKA) offers superb Swedish fare (meatballs, salmon, and peerless grab-and-go pastries), and its store draws shoppers, especially at the holidays, in a riot of wool handknits.

The newest of the bunch, the CAT is a free museum about 10 miles north of the metro. Located right next door to Shoreview's beloved Churchill St. Restaurant, its sleek one-story building holds the founder’s collection, heavy in contemporary glass art, along with a library and space for traveling exhibitions. 

This is one to watch.

Is a museum a museum if it’s outdoors? Why not? 

A glorious 45-minute trip from the Twin Cities up the scenic St. Croix River Valley, this rural art center in Shafer, Minn, celebrates contemporary sculptures and land art on 50 acres. 

Artist-centered and full of surprises, it’s open year-round and offers community programming and artist residencies.

Since 1915, this landmark museum has displayed some of the finest art in human history — and, unwittingly, a few forgeries, too. You won’t find those at today’s Mia, which attracts art lovers of all stripes. 

African and Native American artwork? Check. One of the nation’s best collections of Asian art? Check. Plus, European and American masterworks by bold-faced names, along with trippy period rooms and contemporary art installations. 

With ever-rotating exhibitions, you will never dip your toe twice in the same Mia.

The first art museum in the Twin Cities, this gem in downtown St. Paul started as an art school and has morphed, moved, and evolved ever since. 

Now in its forever home in the historic Pioneer Endicott Building, the M is dedicated to bringing the community together around art. Most exhibitions are co-curated by local groups. 

The new wing — beaming with boundless pieces under a freshly restored Cass Gilbert stained glass vault — is breathtaking.

What started as a private collection of Impressionist art in Winona has developed into an impressive creative reservoir celebrating “Great art inspired by water.” 

Fitting, given the Minnesota Marine Art Museum's location right along the Mississippi River. A combination of historic and contemporary art floods the galleries (metaphorically!) with programs and activity. 

Worth the trip.

Housed in a beautifully renovated church in south Minneapolis, TMORA focuses on the arts of Russia, past and present. Standing against Putin’s aggression, it visibly wears its solidarity with Ukraine, while sticking to its mission of collecting, exploring, and uplifting art from Russia and its former Soviet republics.

A healthcare and cultural mecca, Rochester holds its own in southern Minnesota. While not a museum, per se, the distinctive metal-clad Rochester Art Center overlooking the Zumbro River hosts a variety of contemporary art exhibitions by local, regional, and national artists.

This University of Minnesota–Duluth campus museum offers a broad spectrum of art and hosts an annual student art show, lending it a contemporary edge. Those heading “Up North” and wanting some culture before, say, a canoe trip in the BWCA should consider dropping an oar here first.

From its water-spouting "Spoonbridge and Cherry" — the centerpiece of the city's most iconic sculpture garden — to interior spaces ablaze with mind-bending art and performances, the Walker is ground zero for creative locals as well as the black-garbed global jet set. 

Its sculpture park and chic restaurant are popular spots to see and be seen — and selfied. Plus, there’s a cinema, library, and free first Saturdays and Thursday nights to entice.

Starchitect Frank Gehry’s “crumpled can” on the U of M campus once caused eyebrows to arch. Today, it’s a beloved museum known familiarly as WAM. 

With free admission, a wonderful permanent collection, and thought-provoking seasonal exhibitions, this university-run museum is a beacon of creativity and activity.