Minnesota State Fair Fine Art Preview 2025

Once again, the Minnesota State Fair is almost upon us. The fair's harbinger is the Fine Art Preview night, where hungry culture vultures congregate in hope of finding artistic sustenance:

When I finally got in I was encouraged by the second image I saw:

The Crane Wife, a charcoal and pastel drawing by Jennifer Soriano was elegant and evocative. Alas, the same could not be said for most of the rest of the exhibition. Clichés and formality were the order of the night and after a while I found myself distracted by people-watching:

For the very first time, I left the preview early—too much of not enough. See the whole exhibition here. The most memorable sight of my evening was on the way back to the car:

I’ll return to the fair next Friday with new images.

For music previews read my friend Mark’s annual wrap-up.