The museum was built in 1993 with a major donation from Fredrich Weisman. It houses over 13,000 pieces of art from his personal collection, plus an extensive collection owned by the University Art Museum. The collection represents art from the first half of the twentieth century, including the world's largest collection of works by Marsden Hartley, Alfred H. Mauer, and B.J.O. Nordfeldt.
When the museum opened in January, 1994, Time Magazine described it: "The smallish museum concentrates on 20th century American art, and the exterior can be seen as a tough gleefully manic work of Cubist sculpture, or as a giant brushed-stainless steel popcorn kernel, or as a wizard's castle in some 23rd century fairy tale. Inside, where huge skylights bathe the galleries in sunlight, the feeling is serene but never static".
A short drive from downtown Minneapolis puts you back in the 1800's, in a river town on the Minnesota River. Set on an 87 acre site, this historical gem includes more than 40 original buildings from the area. Each of the homesteads represents different groups that settled in Minnesota-Czech, Danish, English, French, German, Irish, Norwegian, Polish and Scandinavian. In addition, Murphy's Landing includes 16 Native American burial mounds that are estimated to be more than 2,000 years old. Murphy's Landing is also reputed to be the site of the last Indian War in Minnesota between the Ojibwa and the Dakota. It's said that settlers sat on the bluff and watched the battle from less than 100 yards away.
Extra tickets for the Murphy's Landing trip: $35
Chicago has Second City - Minneapolis has Dudley Riggs. Approximately three million people have exposed themselves (sic) to Riggs during the last thirty-five years of performances. The troupe has given guest appearances on more than 400 college campuses in forty states, been on several USO tours in Europe, and had guest appearances in the Soviet Union. In 1992, National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" named the Brave New Workshop its resident satire company.
Extra tickets for this evening: $30
Sponsored by the University of Minnesota, the University of Wisconsin and the U.S. Department of Energy.
Questions/comments to: allan@mnhep1.hep.umn.edu (web), or
dpf96@mnhep1.hep.umn.edu (DPF).
The URL of this page is http://www.hep.umn.edu/dpf96/social.html
Last Updated: 11 August 1996