Minneapolis Arts & Cultural Affairs

09/15/2026

On September 17, everyone is invited to celebrate the traditional Oromo Festival called Ayyaana Gubaa—the start of Oromo Spring. In Oromo culture, Gubaa has an important cultural and spiritual meaning. It marks the change from the darker winter season to the brighter birraa (fall season). This event is free and open to the public.

Date: Thursday, September 17, 2026
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Powderhorn Park, 3400 15th Ave South

This Cultural Districts Arts Fund activation is funded in part, by the City of Minneapolis Arts & Cultural Affairs Department.

09/14/2026

Cruise opens their next exhibition, Markers by Sa’dia Rehman’s Markers on September 18.

Sa’dia Rehman's featured artwork focuses on their family’s history along the Indus River. They show how people’s work changed and how families were forced to move after the Tarbela Dam was built. Their artwork uses different materials to explore shelter, care, and memories passed down through generations.

Date: Friday, Sept. 18
Time: 6 - 8 p.m.
Location: Cruise, 3008b Hennepin Ave
Learn more at https://www.cruisempls.com/sadia-rehman-004

This Arts & Culture Vibrant Storefronts is funded, in part, by the City of Minneapolis Arts & Cultural Affairs Department.

Centering familial history along the Indus River, Sa’dia Rehman traces the transfer of labor and the enduring impact of displacement following the construction of the Tarbela Dam. Their multimedia work attends to forms of shelter, care and memory across generations.

09/13/2026

There's something for everyone at the 2026 Open (Hot)House.

Join a fiery, festive evening of demonstrations, hands-on activities, music, fire performance, food and fun. Check out CFAC's latest gallery exhibition, featuring recent student work on display, and a fantastic exhibit in the gallery by Samael Leopold-Sullivan.

Date: September 16
Time: 6:30 to 9 p.m.
Location: Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center, 3749 Chicago Ave
Learn more at https://www.cafac.org/events/2026-fall-open-hothouse

During the event, you may learn more about how you can get involved through classes and activities going on at Chicago Avenue Fire Arts Center.

This Cultural Districts Art Fund program activity is funded, in part, by the Arts & Cultural Affairs Department in the City of Minneapolis

09/12/2026

Get ready for MNI House Picnic #2, a rain‑or‑shine outdoor celebration of music, community, and culture in North Minneapolis’ Lowry Ave Cultural District. This free, outdoor gathering celebrates community, deep-house music, and self-expression in a family-friendly, rain-or-shine environment.

Date: Sunday, Sept 13
Time: All day picnic - music starts at 11 a.m.
Location: Lowry Ave N and Aldrich Ave N

The picnic features an exciting lineup hosted by Maya Marchelle, with performances from Khadijahs House Africana Dance, Jamecia Bennett and J Movement Band, Biig Miic, M’Baku, AriesFirebomb, DJ Lilfoot, Sole2Dotz, Dandara, DJ Get Down, Angel Beloved, Yonci, MXKENNAMX, Sasha Bangzz, DJ Madre Rosa, and Tricky Miki.

Hosted by Voice of Culture and Kenna Cottman. This Cultural Districts Arts Fund activation is funded in part, by the City of Minneapolis Arts & Cultural Affairs Department.

09/12/2026

The City posted a call for artists for the Cedar Field Park Public Art project last fall. Holly Henning (Anishinaabe/Cree), Willard Malebear (Standing Rock Sioux) and Rock "Cyfi" Martinez were recently announced as the selected artists.

The Cedar Field Park is a two-acre open space located at 2500 Cedar Avenue South. The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board is renovating the park, which is next to the Little Earth Residents Association. The renovation includes an elders’ garden, playground, pow-wow space, and sport court. Construction begins in 2026.

Little Earth is next to Cedar Field Park. It is a 9.4-acre housing development. Twelve hundred Native people and over 35 tribal nations call Little Earth home.

Learn more about the Cedar Field Park Public Art Project at https://www2.minneapolismn.gov/government/departments/arts/public-art-guidelines/cedar-field-park/

09/11/2026

Cedar Cypher. Authentic, undiluted Hip-Hop.

The Summer Cypher crew will be setting up on The Riverside Plaza, outside The Cedar Cultural Center. Summer Cypher creates authentic Hip-hop spaces where people in community immerse themselves into a process of self-exploration, and critical reflection, within the raw elements of Hip-hop.

Date: Sat. September 13
Time: 11 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Free / All ages
Location: Cedar Cultural Center, 416 Cedar Ave S. MPLS, MN 55454

In collaboration with Open Streets MPLS & Cedar Fest, bringing you a day to remember on the Southside. This activation is funded by the City of Minneapolis Arts & Cultural Affairs Department.

09/10/2026

Visit Mercado Central for a free, family-friendly poster workshop with Mexican artist José Luis Fitch Jiménez, who has created posters for Mercado Central for more than two decades.

Create your own poster using words, color, and images. No experience is necessary, and all ages are welcome.

Date: Sat. September 12
Time: 3–7 p.m.
Location: Mercado Central, 1515 E Lake Street, Minneapolis

The workshop takes place during Mercado Central’s Mexican Independence Festival. You can also visit a special exhibition of posters created for Mercado Central over the past 20+ years and receive a free collectible poster signed by the artist, while supplies last.

This Cultural Districts Arts Fund activation is funded by the City of Minneapolis Arts & Cultural Affairs Department.

09/10/2026

🪶 This Saturday 9/12, come meet our Owamniyomni artists’ - Team Thipi K’in at the Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Tribal Community Annual Wacipi (Powwow). The team is currently engaging with the community on their public artwork at Owámniyomni (St. Anthony Falls) at Water Works Park.

📍 St. Peter Church grounds in St. Paul (Mendota Heights)

🕐 Grand Entry (1pm) until Dinner Break (7pm)

Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Tribal Community

09/09/2026

We are so excited to see the progress on North Commons. This public artwork is going in this fall. Great work Chango and Rogério Cummings
Dudley Voigt

09/09/2026

Bryn Mawr Neighborhood Association is creating street murals along Laurel Ave. The goal of their project is to improve pedestrian safety. They chose this area because it connects the commercial area and schools to the neighborhood. There will be six intersections painted over the next two years.

Bryn Mawr chose Aza Erdich Abe, a local resident and Native artist to make the designs. The designs will transform along Laurel Avenue Starting at Cedar Lake Road, and will morph moving towards the school and Theodore Wirth Park. The design starts as an eight-pointed star, turns into a flower, and then into hearts near the schools.

The first intersection was recently finished in July at Laurel Avenue W and Upton Avenue S. The neighborhood association decided to start with the intersection closest to the school. They plan to install the next intersection on September 12.

Bryn Mawr Neighborhood Association