Fall Open Studios sweep through the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District November 14–16, complete with the return of the Basement Speakeasy fundraiser at the Casket Arts Building. Also on tap: Dills on Wheels: This Country’s in a Pickle at NE Sculpture (Nov 15), raising funds for Second Harvest Heartland; Project Art for Nature: Evolving Visions at Vine Arts Center; Public Functionary turns up the volume November 8, teaming with Red Bull for a crowd-directed DJ experience at First Ave; and new work at 801 Gallery.
The return of our Basement Speakeasy at the Casket Arts Building during Open Casket November 14th – 16th.
The Northeast Minneapolis Arts District’s annual Speakeasy is scheduled from Friday evening, November 14, through Sunday afternoon, November 16, during the Fall Open Studios – Open Casket event. The event will be held in the basement of the Casket Arts Building, mirroring the often-hidden secret hideaways used for prohibition-era alcohol consumption. The Speakeasy will serve Beer and Bloody Marys from noon to five on Saturday and Sunday. The evening hours are when the Speakeasy develops into vintage form, featuring prohibition-era-inspired cocktails using high-quality spirits donated by our lead sponsor, 45th Parallel Distillery. NA Beer and non-alcoholic beverages will also be available.
The Basement Speakeasy event has become an Autumn highlight for many who attend Open Casket during the Fall Open Art Studios and is the Arts District’s most successful annual fundraiser. All sale proceeds will further the Arts District’s mission to sustain and promote our fabulous, award-winning arts district. Event organizers promise that the event will be bigger and better than ever before, and participants and sponsors will be “leaning into the prohibition era theme.”
The Arts District wishes to thank our lead sponsor, 45th Parallel. We also receive tremendous help and support from Stray Dog Restaurant and Bar, Central Ave Liquors, and our host, the Casket Arts Building.
When: Friday, Nov 14th 5-9pm, Saturday Nov 15th 12-8pm and Sunday Nov 15th 12-5pm
Fall Open Studios
California Building, November 14th – 16th, California Dreamin’- Fall Open Studios
Casket Arts Building, November 14th – 16th, Open Casket Fall Open Studios
Flux Arts Building, every Saturday from 11- 5pm
Northrup King Building, November 14th – 16th, Art Attack – Fall Open Studios
Solar Arts Building– November 14th – 16th, Art This Way- Fall Open Studios
Q.arma Building- November 14th – 16th, Fall in Q.arma- Fall Open Studios
Dills on Wheels: This Country is in a Pickle At NE Sculpture November 14th
When life’s in a pickle, you race it!
Celebrate National Pickle Day with Dills on Wheels: This Country’s in a Pickle — a community art event raising money to fight hunger. Join us Saturday, November 15, 2025, from 3–8 PM in the Sculpture Quad @ NE Sculpture, Casket Arts Factory Building, during Open Casket – Fall Open Studios. Every dollar raised supports Second Harvest Heartland, providing three meals for Minnesotans in need. Expect pickle races and plenty of briny fun for a good cause.
Public art event by artists Alyssa Baguss, Andrew MacGuffie, Sara Hanson, and Pocket Toscani.
3 – 8 PM Saturday, November 15, 2025
Location: Sculpture Quad @ NE Sculpture, Casket Arts Factory Building. Part of: Open Casket – Fall Open Studios
We’re raising funds for Second Harvest Heartland, where every dollar provides three meals for Minnesotans facing hunger. Guests can also bring non-perishable food donations for Good Works Food Shelf in Northeast Minneapolis.
Activities include
Pickle Races (3–6:30 PM)
Double Dill Dare You: Taste pickle ice cream & dill pickle Jell-O
Pickle Piñata
Metal Pickle Casting with Sara Hanson’s WOW Mobile
The Pickle Dome (weather permitting)
And more!
PF Collaborates with First Ave for a show November 8th
Public Functionary is excited to be partnering with Red Bull on Red Bull Directions.
On Saturday, November 8, global superstar DJ Pee.Wee (the DJ alter ego of 9-time GRAMMY winner, Anderson.Paak) is coming to the iconic First Avenue in Minneapolis to perform an interactive DJ set where you (the audience) direct the mix in real time. PF collaborators Kwey and Sophia Eris will be warming up the First Ave Stage for .Paak. Grab your tickets here
801 Gallery Exhibition
On View now- December 14th – Artist talk November 16th from 2-4pm
Featuring Artists Mary Johnson, Mark Hirte, Ellen Thomson.
Featured Artists:
Mary Johnson (Casket Arts Building) is a Minnesota sculptor, whose work transforms and reassembles found materials, considering their material histories and narrative potentials. Following a recent injury, she has adapted her sculptural aesthetics to painting, utilizing repurposed industrial foam as both surface and form. By investing time, labor, and personal reflection into the handling of this seemingly disposable material, she re-animates our intimate relationship with the aesthetics, natural and industrial processes, and objecthood of our culture’s cast-offs, honoring the complexities which go hand-in-hand with our consumption.
Mark Hirte
Mark makes compositions to be visually arresting. They are painted to be graphic and dynamic as they are traversed as they need to compete in our flooded visual environment. The subject matter, color, and texture can be the reflection of the floor of a well used paint booth, or the glossy flash of a fluorescent fishing lure, or an ocean pacific tshirt from his childhood, or a direct homage to a western mesa landscape. Or all of it at once.
Ellen Thomson
Ellen Thomson’s paintings draw on memory, intuition, and emotion, unfolding through layered patterns, shifting forms, and recurring imagery. Moving fluidly between the figurative and the landscape, her work resists fixed meaning and instead embraces openness and transformation. This ambiguity invites viewers to bring their own interpretations, creating a dialogue between artist and audience.
Art at 801 Gallery 801 N Washington Ave, Mpls
American Craft Council Welcomes a New Era
According to a recent press release, the American Craft Council (ACC) is taking bold steps to become more accessible to makers of American craft. “We are excited to launch new approaches to storytelling, membership, and more to increase our reach and impact for makers and appreciators of American craft,” says Andrea Specht, ACC Executive Director. “While our programs are evolving to meet our communities’ changing needs, we are steadfast in our commitment to foster craft-centered livelihoods and develop a broad audience for the artful work of the human hand.”
Founded 85 years ago to promote handcrafts and craftspeople, the ACC has been based in Northeast Minneapolis since 2010. To increase its reach and impact, the ACC is taking steps to become more inclusive and make its resources available for a national network of craftspeople. Many of the changes focus on providing expanded digital access to a range of resources. The print magazine, American Craft, will be discontinued in Winter 2026. Instead, stories. news and original content will be available through the website at Craftcouncil.org. The ACC is transitioning to a fully remote workplace with staff throughout the country. The Baltimore and St. Paul juried craft shows will continue to be held. In-person storytelling events will be added. Grants to support early-career artists will be awarded through a new program. To learn more about the American Craft Council’s plans and goals, visit their website at www.craftcouncil.org