Art and Gardens at the fair

The Minnesota State Fair is home to a vast number of artistic displays and gardens for fair guests to view during the Great Minnesota Get-Together.

Fine Arts

The Minnesota State Fair’s Fine Arts Exhibition is the state’s largest juried art show. Winning artworks are displayed every day of the fair in the Fine Arts Center, along with the 2023 State Fair Commemorative Art by Minneapolis crop artist Liz Schreiber. The special exhibition, Studio: HERE, features a different studio artist at work each day of the fair. Be a Fine Arts Detective quiz rounds out the experience for children and adults, alike.

Learn more about our Fine Arts competition and the Fine Arts Center.

Commemorative Art

The commemorative art program selects an artist each year, and commissions them to create a piece that represents their interpretation of the State Fair.

The 2023 Official Commemorative Art created by Minneapolis crop artist Liz Schreiber, is the 19th in a series of artwork created annually by Minnesota artists for the Great Minnesota Get-Together. In past years, artists have included: Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher (2004), Mary GrandPré (2005), Nancy Carlson (2006), Michael Birawer (2007), Edie Abnet (2008), Leo Stans (2009), Deborah Voyda Rogers (2010), Steve Thomas (2011), Joe Heffron (2012), Marie Olofsdotter (2013), Emily L. Taylor (2014), Adam Turman (2015), Michael Sweere (2016), Ta-coumba Aiken (2017), Kristi Abbott (2018), R. J. Kern (2019), Kevin Cannon (2021) and Leslie Barlow (2022). Check out gallery of past artwork.

The original artwork will be on display in the Fine Arts Center during The Great Minnesota Get-Together.

Joyful World Mural Park

Featuring large-scale artworks painted live by Minnesota artists each day of the fair. Artists create murals that reflect the world they want to live in. Produced in partnership with Forecast Public Art and supported by the Minnesota State Fair Foundation.  Joyful World Mural Park is located South of the Grandstand, east of Grandstand Ramp. View a map.

This year’s artists:

• Philipo Dyauli is a self-taught painter, muralist, and father. He was born and raised in Tanzania and currently living in Minneapolis, MN. As a painter, he uses color and scale to illustrate the importance of people over material objects and to create a unique form of visual storytelling, transforming personal experiences into life-size paintings. His practice allows him to explore issues of identity and multiculturalism while reflecting on his life in East Africa and the United States. He believes public art has the power to inspire and share positive ideas throughout our community. Philipo has completed mural commissions across the Twin Cities: in the Northeast Arts District, Creative Enterprise Zone, and on Lake Street.
• Mia Vue Jennings is a Hmong-American artist based in the Twin Cities. She’s been creating art since she was 3 years old and has since then explored a variety of mediums with a current focus on digital art, murals, and street art. She often draws a lot of inspiration from her community, her Hmong heritage, spirituality, and integral parts of the human experience. Some of Mia’s most notable accomplishments span from winning a Scholastic Art and Writing Awards Gold Medal for her digital painting called “Kuv Niam (My Mom),” to illustrating for Minnesota Public Radio. She started doing large, fast-paced street art in 2022 at festivals, and through this, she found that she truly enjoys the communal aspect of making public art.
• Jordan M. Hamilton is a multi-disciplinary artist based in the Twin Cities. Bridging spirit aspirations & connections to earthly transformations & expressions – Jordan’s work reflects realities & explores cosmic & elemental energies through abstract & surrealist painting, iconography, sculpture, collage, adornment, puppetry, mixed media & music. Jordan has worked as a teaching artist since 2007 with various organizations & schools locally & internationally. His work has been featured in a number of exhibitions, streets & stages throughout the Twin Cities. Jordan is a founding member of the Power of Vision mural project, a member of the Million Artist Movement, Voice of Culture & a member of Creatives After Curfew mural collective. He is the creator of Ancestral Aspects Adornment.
• Juliette Perine Meyers is a painter, muralist, and mosaic artist based out of South Minneapolis. Juliette strongly values the representation of different identities and often incorporates her Chinese heritage or queer identity into the artwork. She likes to use symbols or motifs in the form of cultural mythology, or specific species of native flora and fauna. The majority of her work has been collaborative and rooted in uplifting community. She has worked with mosaic artist Lori Greene to create numerous mosaic murals and sculptures with the help of other assistants and community volunteers and helped form the activist-based mural collective, Creatives After Curfew, following the murder of George Floyd in 2020.

New in 2023! Future Projections’ Canopy/Calliope

The sounds of an olde-tyme calliope bounce to carnival rhythms while showers of fish, flowers and fantastical creatures light up the ground below and the leafy canopy above. Thisnew imaginative and immersive public art installation is presented by Future Projections. A fantasia of imagery and sound, Canopy/Calliope is designed to delight and enchant the senses through “light painting” and photo collages.

Future Projections is a live animation and projection art company founded by Minneapolis visual and performing artist Paul Herwig. Free with fair admission. Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday, Aug. 28, 29 & 30, at dusk or approximately 9 p.m. for 1 hour (weather permitting).

Giant Sing Along

Sing in a field of microphones karaoke-style! Visit the Giant Sing Along daily from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. North of Lee Ave. between Underwood & Cooper streets.Giant Sing Along is a public art project created by Daily tous les jours in co-production of the Minnesota State Fair and the Minnesota State Fair Foundation. Stop by for your chance to sing some hit tunes – view a list of this year’s songs here once available!

 

Art & Sculpture

View a list and map of all the sculptures and art the fair has to offer. Download here.

Gardens

View a list of all the beautiful gardens the fair has to offer. Download here.