Minneapolis

This past weekend I was in a conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota! I hadn’t been before so I was really excited to explore the city. I didn’t get to St. Paul at all, which is unfortunate, but I didn’t have a ton of time there.

First of all, I loved the public transit. You could take the light rail to the airport and get around super easily that way. The bus system also was pretty sweet, buses came frequently and you could get anywhere the rail system didn’t that way. I was able to get around without hyper planning out every move, which is saying something. I loved it, I didn’t need or want to have a car and could get places quickly!

My first day I headed down to the Minneapolis Institute of Art. It wasn’t the most expansive collection, but there was a solid smattering of stuff. There were also so many recreations of rooms from different periods of time! To the point where it got a little confusing and I got all turned around. But I really liked their collection! There were a few small exhibits focusing on race or female artists or things like that.

After that I went to the sculpture garden, mostly to see the cherry on a spoon. That was a great picture, but there was also a large blue chicken I enjoyed. And from there I went to the Old Stone Bridge, which was unfortunately closed. But it was cool to see!

Then I made it to the Mill Street Museum. I ended up just going through the free spaces, not paying to go in, but that was enough for me. There was an exhibit on queer spaces that I enjoyed. And I also stopped by the House of Balls, a house next to a rail station where a sculptor set up his workshop and displayed his art. It was really weird and I loved it! The garden was the best spot, there were so many cool things there, including giant feet and wind chimes.

I also got into the skyway system for a little. It was odd, the section I was in had carpet and air conditioning. I knew it from 99 Percent Invisible that the skyways are designed to keep out homeless individuals and all that, and my experience there definitely lined up with that. It was so hard to find an entrance and the buildings close at odd times, etc etc.

I’m not sure if it’s just me getting out of a college town or what, but I loved Minneapolis! I hope I’m able to get back there at some point.