Minneapolis Institute of Arts

The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) is a fine art museum that opened in 1915, after being founded by twenty-five citizens of Minneapolis in 1883. The original name of the museum was Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts. It is government funded so it does not charge for admission, with an exception for special exhibitions. The museum is located in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis and has almost 8-acres of what was formerly Morrison Park.  They also have a Museum Library that is open during the week.

There are eight curatorial areas within the museum. More than half a million people visit the museum each year, making Mia the largest arts educator in the state. The museum is open Tuesdays through Sundays with their Agra Culture Cafe open at the same time. Their Agra Culture Restaurant is open Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

There is a couple places off- site that may be of interest to museum visitors. In 1985, Anson B. Cutts, Jr. gave Mia the Purcell-Cutts house (The Edna S. Purcell House). It was a Prairie School style house that was designed by Architects William Gray Purcell and George Grant Elmslie in 1913. Tours of this restored home are available to the public the second weekend of each month. It is located at 2328 Lake Place in Minneapolis. Admission may apply. The Wells Fargo Center houses the rotating exhibitions devoted to aspects of Modernism. This is free to the public at the Wells Fargo Center during the week between 8 a.m.-6 p.m. The space is sixteen wall cases lined up along two-block-long corridors and five smaller wall cases set up on the skyway level, in the building.