Free Art Exhibit at Mill City Museum Showcases Cities Across Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (February 20, 2025) – A special art exhibit at Mill City Museum invites visitors to appreciate the beauty and significance of Minnesota’s overlooked places like train yards, factories, and shipyards.

Featuring 20 paintings by the late painter, photographer, and architect Mike Melman, Minnesota Cityscapes includes scenes of Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth/Superior, Little Falls, Albert Lea, Brainerd, and more. The exhibit’s artwork depicts urban centers and small towns in the quiet hours of dawn or evening.

Melman’s artwork began as black and white photography, inspired by the fascination he developed with the Minneapolis milling district upon his arrival to Minnesota in 1972. Later in his life, Melman revisited these old negatives, using them as the basis for the acrylic paintings featured in the exhibit. The paintings are on loan to the Minnesota Historical Society from his widow, Lotte Melman.

Located in the Mill Commons area of the Mill City Museum, Minnesota Cityscapes will be free and open to the public during regular museum hours through May 11, 2025.

More information about the exhibit can be found here.

About the Minnesota Historical Society
The Minnesota Historical Society is a non-profit educational and cultural institution established in 1849. MNHS collects, preserves, and tells the story of Minnesota’s past through museum exhibits, libraries and collections, historic sites, educational programs, and book publishing. Using the power of history to transform lives, MNHS preserves our past, shares our state’s stories, and connects people with history.

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