Here’s Where To Find North Loop’s Public Artworks
Our neighborhood is getting increasingly colorful, with mural artists and sculptors leaving their mark on the area.
And with thousands of art lovers expected at the upcoming Stone Arch Bridge Festival which stretches into the North Loop, we thought we’d offer a guide to some of our most prominent works of public art. You can locate them all with this interactive map of our artworks and history plaques.
424 N Washington Ave: This is definitely the most photographed mural in the neighborhood. Floyd’s 99 Barbershop brought in Los Angeles-based artist Jonas Never to paint this giant mural of Prince in 2019. Here’s an interview we did with Never as he was painting it.
1st St N & 1st Ave N: Prince also appears in an oversized photo on this building, wearing a jacket with the name of his hometown on the sleeve. A former owner of the building, Peter Remes, had it mounted here after the singer’s death in 2016. Also featured in the photo was Prince’s companion, whom he named Anna Fantastic. Photographer Albert Ferreira snapped this photo in 1988.
2nd Ave N between 1st and 2nd Streets: This is one of the newer murals in the neighborhood, merging classical imagery with modern street art. Francesco Parisi, head of the non-profit Neighbors For North Loop Livability, commissioned European artists to create this mural on the back wall of Iron Store Lofts.
2nd Ave N between 1st and 2nd Streets: Deeper into that same parking area behind Iron Store Lofts is another mural commissioned by NNLL and created by the same European group of artists from Operazione Street Art.
3rd Ave N and Washington Ave N: The North Loop Neighborhood Association commissioned Twin Cities sculptor James Brenner to create a Welcome Monument for this heavily-traveled intersection in 2020. It’s made of steel I-beams, similar to the ones used to build our historic warehouses and factories, while the rotating colors of LED lights represent the vitality of the present day. Generous donations from North Loop businesses helped make this happen.
The Green behind North Loop Green, 350 N 5th St: Hines Corporation had Twin Cities artist Adam Turman paint numerous murals (too many to put in one photo!) surrounding the large private park they created behind North Loop Green. Highway overpass pillars and a giant staircase are covered in colorful images featuring Minnesota and North Loop themes.
701 N 5th Street: The colorful depiction of the brewing process on the side of Inbound BrewCo was done by one of the brewery’s former bartenders, Lindsey Saunders, in 2019.
N 5th Street & 5th Ave N: This musical sculpture near Target Field, known as Sidewalk Harp, has been entertaining passersby for many years now. If you walk by closely enough, or run your hands under it, it will play musical notes. It was created for Be The Match (now known as National Marrow Donor Program) by renowned sculptor Jen Lewin, whom we interviewed in 2019.
729 N Washington Ave: This origami-style sculpture on the Nordic Plaza is from Los Angeles-based artist Nathan Mabry, who titled it Blue Deer. We interviewed Mabry as he was installing the sculpture in early 2020.
729 N Washington Ave: Toward the back of Nordic Plaza is a series of colorful abstract panels created by Juxtaposition Arts of North Minneapolis in 2024. The group was brought in by developer CedarST to liven up the backside of this new building which is part of Hall Lofts.
7th Ave N between Washington Ave and N 3rd St: At the end of that series of abstracts, you’ll find three more panels illustrating a dark moment in North Loop history, the truckers strike of 1934 that led to the infamous Bloody Friday. This mural is also from Juxtaposition Arts of North Minneapolis.
316 N 2nd St (along Cedar Lake trail): Eight steel butterflies, created by Minneapolis-based welder Mari Bebel, adorn the northwest side of Intersect Apartments. Bebel won a competition put on by the builder, Crowe Companies, to create a unique work of art in this area where cyclists, pedestrians and trains pass by.
323 N Washington (along Cedar Lake trail): Also along the trail is a colorful mural along the side of the T3 office building, created by the graphic design firm known as Burlesque of North America. There’s a heavy emphasis on wood grain and lumber imagery in his mural which is appropriate since T3 was one of the first large timber buildings built in the U.S. in more than a century.
505 N 3rd St: Modist Brewing has several murals–inside and out. They include this one from Minneapolis-based artist Martzia Thometz, which is designed to inspire positivity, as she told us in 2022.
414 N 6th Ave: Fulton Brewing commissioned Twin Cities-based artist Peyton Scott Russell to create this mural on the side of its taproom in 2021. It includes a quote from civil rights icon and politician John Lewis.
700 N Washington Ave: Inside the tunnel of Tower Lofts are several works by Minneapolis-based artist Ron Ridgeway. He set out to create a “public art corridor” in this historic tunnel, as he told us in 2020.
By Mike Binkley, North Loop volunteer
