Entry No. 38 — the Minneapolis file — filed under: sculpture-park
Franconia Sculpture Park
This 50-acre outdoor museum and active artist residency features over 100 massive, contemporary, and often interactive sculptures nestled in the scenic St. Croix River Valley, allowing visitors to touch, climb, and explore the art.
The story
Most fine art institutions treat you like a potential security threat, posting guards to make sure your breath doesn't fog up the glass cases. Franconia flipped that dynamic entirely on a 50-acre plot in the St. Croix River Valley—ancestral Dakota land of the Wahpekute—creating a space where over 100 colossal, mind-bending installations sit directly in open fields.
It is part outdoor gallery and part active heavy-metal workshop. Because the park operates an ongoing artist residency program, you aren't just looking at static monuments from years past; during the warmer months, you will routinely catch resident artists in heavy aprons welding, rigging, and fabricating new large-scale works right out in the elements.
What it's like
You'll park off St. Croix Trail and hit mowed grass trails cutting through open prairie land. There are no velvet ropes here—you are expected to touch, explore, and occasionally climb directly onto the giant steel, wood, and mixed-media installations. Pack a picnic, wear sturdy walking shoes, and bring bug spray, as shade is minimal across the open 50-acre stretch.
The move: Pack a picnic and walk the mowed paths to discover colossal, mind-bending installations, and if you go during the summer, you might catch artists-in-residence actively fabricating new works on-site.
- 📍 Shafer
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 29836 St. Croix Trail, Shafer, MN 55074
Hours: Added 2026-07-21 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Smallest Museum in St. Paul — Pair a walk through 50 acres of gigantic prairie sculptures with a stop at St. Paul's tiniest exhibition space, crammed into a two-by-three-foot fire-hose cabinet.
- Science Museum of Minnesota - Questionable Medical Devices Collection — Balance a day of contemporary monumental public art with over 400 fraudulent early 20th-century medical devices in downtown St. Paul.
- The Historic Mounds Theatre — Follow up an afternoon exploring open-air steel installations with an evening inside a haunted 1922 silent movie and vaudeville house.
Good to know
Are you really allowed to touch and climb the artwork?
Yes. Most sculptures are designed to be fully interactive and explored on foot, though always check for specific signage on fragile or temporary works.
How far is Franconia from Minneapolis and St. Paul?
It sits about 45 minutes northeast of the Twin Cities metro area in Shafer, near the junction of Highways 8 and 95.
When is the best time to watch artists at work?
Summer is peak residency season, when visiting artists are actively fabricating and installing new giant pieces on-site.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · Wikipedia · Atlas Obscura
last checked: 2026-07-21