With its steel design meant to mimic the nearby bluffs and rippling water of the Mississippi River, the Weisman Art Museum—always open for free—is an iconic building on the Twin Cities campus that offers so much more than its 30,000-piece art collection.

Interdisciplinary work 

"Folks see a big, old audacious building and think it’s just about appreciating art,” says Susannah Schouweiler, the Weisman’s marketing and communications director. “It’s a space to explore, collaborate, and connect with the community.”

Its Public Engagement and Learning team and Open Studio space offer many interactive activities and programs, such as workshops, demonstrations, and guided experiences with artists, curators, and more.

Anyone can participate in its free art-making activities like building a model of their ideal city with cardboard, making flower arrangements from pipe cleaners, and more.

The Open Studio is also used for the Imagination Studio, an immersive research study that investigated how engaging with creative arts activities such as painting or sculpting could help college students with their mental health. The Weisman not only provided the venue, but staff helped bring in a diverse group of local artists to work with these students.

Kathryn Cullen, a professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the Medical School, led that study and has collaborated with the Weisman for the past seven years on multiple projects connected to her research with the Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain. Cullen and the Weisman team are planning to continue their collaboration to extend the Imagination Studio project for adolescents and young adults in the coming academic year and beyond.

“In science and medicine, we don’t have that artistic focus in our day-to-day, so it’s wonderful to collaborate with Weisman to have their ideas, talents and contributions integrated into more scientific work,” says Cullen.

Expanding access

To expand art accessibility, the Weisman’s Madeeha Lamoreaux, a digital content specialist, and Ricki Williams, the public engagement and learning coordinator, are creating 3D-printed “TouchTiles”—a tactile representation—of select works from the museum’s collection gallery, available for check out at the front desk.

“The initial instinct was to do it for visually impaired folks, but it’s also great for young kids,” says Lamoreaux.

Any University faculty, staff, or student can even take a piece of the Weisman home with them. The art rental program includes roughly 400 available pieces in the gift shop. A student can rent a piece for $15 per semester while faculty, staff, or departments can rent an artwork for $45 per year.

"I’m blown away by the sheer variety of artworks available to rent,” says Schouweiler. “There are pieces from every era and sensibility, from Works Progress Administration poster prints to oil paintings and more contemporary works by local and emerging artists."

Before you leave

If you do visit the Weisman, a must see piece is the Pedicord Apts., the recreation of a dilapidated Spokane, WA building. When you enter it, put your ear up to each of the hallway’s six apartment doors. You’ll trigger a motion sensor that plays separate audio from a dog barking to a couple fighting, meant to address issues of alienation, human relationships, and the urban-lived experience.

Whether you stop by to eat your lunch on the second-floor terrace, study in the museum’s Riverview gallery, buy something at the gift shop, appreciate the collection, or just relax, the Weisman can be a haven for anyone.

Learn more about the Weisman Art Museum.