From traditional galleries to outdoor installations, fine-art exhibitions tell personal and cultural stories

During the busy fall season, galleries are elevating art forms and artists you might not see elsewhere.

At various spots across the city and metro area, you can find artworks from museums’ permanent collections that are rarely exhibited; works that have been rejected from other shows; State Fair crop art; Cambodian bronze sculpture and Mexican paper-mache sculpture; and a close examination of rugs.

Here are some of the many gallery shows and exhibitions coming up this fall in St. Paul and the greater Twin Cities.

SEPTEMBER

Openings

Sept. 9, “Twentieth Century Irish Art: The Thomas Dillon Redshaw Collection” — Monahan Gallery, St. Paul: The University of St. Thomas’s on-campus gallery showcases work collected by retired literature professor Thomas Dillon Redshaw over six decades. The exhibition draws connections within the works between artistic modernism by progress-oriented artists and the strong conservative sociopolitical culture in 20th-century Ireland. Free; 2115 Summit Ave.

Sept. 13, “Gatsby at 100” — Minneapolis Institute of Art: In honor of the centennial of “The Great Gatsby,” the museum is pulling rarely seen pieces from its collection “that embody the decadence, excess, and social upheaval of Fitzgerald’s most famous novel.” Free; 2400 Third Ave. S., Minneapolis.

Sept. 13, “Bestiario: The Release from the Constraints of Reason” — Gordon Parks Gallery, St. Paul: Over at Metropolitan State University, the on-campus gallery is presenting works from five Twin Cities Latino artists working across paintings, puppetry, photography and more focused on bestiarios, or fantastical, mythical beasts. Free; 645 E. Seventh St.

Sept. 18, “Queering Indigeneity” — the Minnesota Museum of American Art, St. Paul: This exhibition at the M downtown showcases a multiyear project led by artist Penny Kagigebi to amplify Indigenous culture bearers and the artistic voices of queer or 2-Spirit Native artists. Free; 350 N. Robert St.

Last Chances

Go before Sept. 20, “Rejected!” — Burl Gallery, St. Paul: The State Fair’s Fine Arts Center received 2,836 submissions this year, of which 336 were accepted to be shown on the Fairgrounds. At Burl Gallery in Lowertown, you can check out a selection of the rest of ‘em, by nearly 80 artists from across the state. Free; 308 Prince St., Suite 130.

Go before Sept. 21, “Queericana” — Calendula Gallery, St. Paul: A series of paintings by queer artist Kandace Creel-Falcón, who lives in rural Otter Tail County in northwest Minnesota. The work explores rural life and the unexpected links Creel-Falcón draws between spacious, nature-centric countryside life and a focus within queer theory on non-normative freedoms. Free; 275 E. Fourth St., Suite 110.

Go before Sept. 26, “Every Which Way” — Interact Gallery, St. Paul: Fiber arts are one of the newest but fastest-growing programs at Interact Center, a progressive visual arts studio geared toward artists with disabilities. This show presents work from 35 artists, from solo projects like weavings and felted sculptures to collaborative pieces like a large quilt. Free; 1902 W. Minnehaha Avenue.

Go before Sept. 27, “No Limit” — Xia Gallery, St. Paul: Tou Her is a local Hmong-American artist who works across mediums and genres, from galleries to children’s books. In this solo show, he pushes back against the idea that artists should restrict themselves to just one style or subject matter, saying that “all things are possible when you accept that the best type of artist to be is one that works with No Limit.” Free; 422 University Ave., Suite 14.

Go before Sept. 28, Cream of the Crop: A Minnesota Folk Art Showcase — Minneapolis Institute of Art: Over the past couple of weeks, like the rest of us, the museum’s curators have been at the State Fair looking at crop art. The pieces they select as “Best in Show” are now on view at the Mia till the end of the month.

OCTOBER

Openings

Oct. 10–12, “We Belong Together” — Solidarity Street Gallery, St. Paul: This three-day pop-up exhibition is not centered in one specific site but spread out among a couple of galleries and several dozen businesses along Payne Avenue. The event also includes live music and workshops. Free; art begins at 967 Payne Ave.

Oct. 11, “RugLife” — Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis: This fall’s exhibition at the University of Minnesota’s art museum asks us to consider the rug — a functional object, a decorative object, an artistic object, a form of storytelling and cultural preservation. Works by 14 artists from around the world are on view. Free; 333 E. River Road, Minneapolis.

Oct. 17, “Collidoscope: de la Torre Brothers Retro-Perspective” — Cafesjian Art Trust, Shoreview: In one of the first CAT shows fully organized by its new curatorial team — and the first time the museum has ever hosted a traveling exhibition — brothers Einar and Jamex de la Torre, both born in Guadalajara in the early 1960s, present a body of mixed-media work that pulls together ancient Mesoamerican iconography, Mexican folk art, Baroque motifs and modern Mexican and American pop culture. Free, though timed tickets are required for Thursday and Friday visits, and Saturdays no reservations are required; 4600 Churchill Street, Shoreview.

Oct. 18, “Sculpture Court” — Walker Art Center, Minneapolis: Taking inspiration from 16th-century outdoor sculpture courtyards, this (indoor) exhibition explores the range of figurative human sculptures in the Walker’s collection. Unlike the works on permanent view in the Walker’s famous outdoor Sculpture Garden, many of the pieces in this exhibition — from artists like Joan Miró, Bonnie Collura and Mona Hatoum — have not previously been exhibited. Included with required timed-entry museum ticket: $18 for general admission; $16 for seniors; $12 for students; free for kids, teens and Walker members. 725 Vineland Place, Minneapolis.

Oct. 25, “Royal Bronzes: Cambodian Art of the Divine” — Mia: A collaboration between the local museum, the Guimet National Museum of Asian Arts in Paris and the National Museum of Cambodia, this exhibition showcases more than 200 objects from the Khmer Empire period, which lasted from the ninth to 15th centuries, many of which have only recently been rediscovered in archaeological excavation. Tickets to this special exhibition ($20) are required for visitors over 17, but the exhibition is free for members at the “contributor” level and higher. Museum admission is otherwise free for everyone; 2400 Third Ave. S., Minneapolis.

Last Chances

Closing Oct. 4, “Refuge in Nature” — ArtReach St. Croix, Stillwater: Four artists “endeavor to make sense of the world and their place in it” with paintings that explore the deep connections and fleeting moments in wild natural spaces. Free; 224 N. Fourth St., Stillwater.

Go before Oct. 11, “Four Seasons” — Night Club, St. Paul: This pocket-sized contemporary and conceptual art gallery, once located downtown, is up and running in its new North End home. Currently on view is a solo show by artist Isabelle McCormick that blends oil painting and sculpture to evoke the virtual world in physical forms that question our relationships with technology. Free but gallery hours are very limited; 1096 Rice St., Suite B.

Go before Oct. 26, “Alebrijes: Keepers of the Island” — Raspberry Island: If you haven’t checked out this surrealist, vibrant outdoor public art exhibition yet, you’re missing out. On view since June, the show is organized by the Minnesota Latino Museum, which is planning a permanent home on the West Side. Free outdoors; on Raspberry Island.

Go before Oct. 31, “Snake Snake Snake Butterfly” and “Extra Gum London Bus” — Interact Gallery, St. Paul: A pair of solo shows are on view at Interact through the end of the month. In “Snake Snake Snake Butterfly,” you can see Kaia Burg’s expressive, playful, colorful drawings. In “Extra Gum London Bus,” longtime Interact artist David Wright presents a retrospective of his global cityscapes and portraits of landmark buildings.