MINNEAPOLIS — For the first time ever, there will be an art fair at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. It will be held over Mother's Day weekend and hosted by Homespun Events that also puts on the Minnehaha Falls Art Festival in July.
"We wanted to replicate that success and this was the first place we talked about just because we know an art fair makes sense here," said Homespun Events Owner Ben Cooney about the sculpture garden.
The event will take place May 11 and 12 and will include 150 talented artists, a variety of food trucks, botanical marketplace and beer garden — an idea Cooney says has been in the works for awhile now.
"People want to be out, interacting with one another, and we certainly saw that pent up demand after COVID-19 and that demand has just continued," said Cooney.
His announcement comes about the same time that the longtime and popular Uptown Art Fair announced it's canceling its August event on what would be its 60th year.
"It was a lot of ups and downs and full circle moments for days and days," said its director Jill Osiecki. "We didn’t come to it lightly."
She says simply downsizing or moving the event isn't an option for the fair that lines a large part of Hennepin Avenue. It will be under construction now for the next two years.
RELATED: 'Mirroring the spirit of Uptown,' art fair organizers pivot to new event over construction setbacks
"It's not just something you can do anywhere and really be the unique event that it is," said Osiecki.
The fair draws hundreds of thousands of people every year, but the construction has closed part of the street that hosts the hundreds of vendors. It also limits parking and business owners are worried about its impact.
Hennepin Avenue is one of south Minneapolis' busiest streets and this project is one of the biggest upgrades in decades.
Osiecki says planning is already underway for next year, since crews should be done rebuilding the stretch of road the fair takes up. In the meantime, she says they will hold pop-up events all summer across the area from art installations to competitions.
"This could be an opportunity to invent something very different and unique," said Osiecki. "We really want to come back bigger and stronger."
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