Who's the biggest collector of Minnesota art? The answer may surprise you

There is a huge Twin Cities institution that owns more work by Minnesota artists than any other.

No, it's not the Minneapolis Institute of Art or Walker Art Center. If you guessed the Minnesota Museum of American Art (aka the M) or the University of Minnesota's Weisman Art Museum, you'd be wrong, too.

It's the Minnesota Historical Society, which began collecting art shortly after its founding in 1849 — years before Minnesota was even a state. Its earliest known work is a painting of Fort Snelling.

Back then, visual images were a way to illustrate history. Before the camera was commonplace, the only way to get an image of St. Anthony Falls was to have it painted.

"Compared to all the other art-collecting institutions, we exclusively collect work that is by and about Minnesota," said curator Brian Szott. "All the other Minnesota museums have work by Minnesota artists work in the context of a greater mission. For the M, for example, it's American art."

Now the society is presenting the first major exhibition of art from its collection in more than 20 years. "Art Speaks," opening Saturday at the Minnesota History Center, includes more than 175 works by 109 artists — more than 50 of whom are still alive.

The show tells a story, about the growth and shifting nature of Minnesota artists.

The long list of artists represented includes many familiar contemporary names and some big hitters.

Fans of the late Siah Armajani can see "Portrait of Elva Walker," created by the internationally famed Iranian-born artist in 1968 after he worked with Walker on Sen. Eugene McCarthy's presidential campaign. Representative of his early work, with writing in Farsi and other design elements, he gave it to her as a gesture of friendship.

Then there's the mystical "Cabinet of Curiosities" (2000) by feminist artist Harriet Bart, commissioned by Ceridian Corp. for its headquarters near the airport. It includes artifacts from an archaeological survey conducted before construction started.

Another familiar contemporary name is Julie Buffalohead, the Native American Ponca artist known for incorporating animals as storytellers. The show includes an early work, 1997's "The Contrary."

The Historical Society can "go deeper in representation," Szott explained. "We have a number of artists who we focus on quite heavily, in terms of having some depth in their career. Whereas the Walker or Mia might have one work by one artist, we have a dozen."

Those include classic old-school Minnesota artists like Mike Lynch and Cameron Booth.

The show includes six Lynch sketches from around 1970, each depicting memory-laden Minnesota landscapes, boxcars, train cars and empty roads in small towns. Two framed pieces, "Abandoned Watchtower" and "North 17th Avenue and 2nd Street," are devoid of people. The society's Lynch archive includes several sketchbooks.

Similarly, the society owns about 70 works by Booth, the former U of M professor known as "the dean of Minnesota artists." Two paintings are in the show, including "Red Mine," a lush yet desolate industrial mining scene.

Not an art museum

Szott focused on acquisitions made in the past 15 years, giving the public a chance to see lesser-known work.

Organized into four themes — portraiture, landscapes, abstraction and contemporary voices — the exhibition feels something like a "Best of Minnesota" show.

It includes two portraits of Latino veterans by photographer Xavier Tavera, and the black-and-white photo "Frogtown Series #114, Basketball" by McKnight Distinguished Artist winner Wing Young Huie.

Another McKnight honoree, Jim Denomie, is represented by "Off the Reservation (or Minnesota Nice)," typical of his biting, hilarious commentary on America's colonial history and genocide of Indigenous people.

If it still seems surprising that the Minnesota Historical Society has such a vast collection, consider that the society doesn't typically put together art shows.

The collection is offered up in a variety of ways. It includes art in exhibitions to help illustrate a concept, such as in recent shows at the James J. Hill House, which is also owned by the society. It makes works available for research, especially in specialized areas like the Lynch Archive. Lastly, it lends art to sister organizations and museums across the United States.

In 2019, the Denomie painting went to the São Paolo Biennial in Brazil while a Booth painting is currently on loan to the Phoenix Art Museum.

Moving forward, the society wants to continue documenting artists who are responding to hot-topic issues such as climate change and racial equity.

"I have been here 21 years and this is the largest show I've worked on," admits Szott.

Art Speaks
When: Feb. 26-July 31. Open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Thu.-Sun.
Where: Minnesota History Center, 345 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul.
Admission: $8-$12, free for ages 5 and younger.

The collection by the numbers
The Minnesota Historical Society has a sizable number of works by certain artists from the state. A sampling:

116 by Tom Arndt
105 by Wanda Gág
70 by Cameron Booth
65 by Mike Lynch
33 by Clara Mairs