Entry No. 21 — the Minneapolis file — filed under: art
Smallest Museum in St. Paul
Tucked into a vintage, 2-by-3-foot fire-hose cabinet outside the Workhorse Coffee Bar, this micro-museum showcases rotating, highly niche exhibitions created by local artists and collectors.
The story
You could walk past 2399 University Avenue West every single day and miss it entirely. Bolted to the exterior brick wall outside Workhorse Coffee Bar is a vintage, 2-by-3-foot metal fire-hose cabinet. Most people assume it holds forgotten plumbing or emergency gear. It doesn't. It holds the Smallest Museum in St. Paul—a micro-gallery operating entirely within six square feet of repurposed glass and steel in St. Anthony Park.
The concept strips away the pretension of typical art institutions in favor of hyper-niche local curation. Instead of permanent collections, the cabinet hosts rotating exhibitions created by local artists, humorists, and obsessives. Exhibits turn over quarterly, forcing creators to get creative with absurdly tight spatial constraints. Past installations have crammed in everything from urban landscape art by Chris Bach to vintage Minnesota State Capitol souvenirs and delicate origami butterflies.
What it's like
Step off University Avenue, grab a cardamom latte inside Workhorse Coffee Bar, and walk right back out to the sidewalk. You don't need tickets, docents, or a coat check—the museum sits at eye level right on the exterior wall. Because the cabinet is permanently mounted on the outdoor façade, you can examine the current exhibition at noon or at 2:00 AM. It takes about three minutes to inspect every detail of the cabinet, making it the perfect low-stakes pitstop while riding the Green Line.
The move: Grab a cardamom latte from Workhorse Coffee Bar and spend a few minutes examining the tiny, whimsical display of the month, which has previously featured everything from weird State Capitol souvenirs to origami butterflies.
- 📍 St. Anthony Park
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 2399 University Ave W, St. Paul, MN 55114
Hours: Added 2026-07-21 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Can Can Wonderland — Continue the local artist-designed theme less than a mile away at this massive indoor mini-golf course built inside an 1889 canning factory.
- Wangensteen Historical Library of Biology and Medicine — Trade a six-square-foot sidewalk cabinet for 73,000 rare medical books and historical artifacts just down University Avenue on the U of M campus.
- House of Balls — Pair St. Paul's tiny glass cabinet with four decades of full-scale, interactive scrap-metal sculpture inside Allen Christian's Cedar-Riverside studio.
Good to know
How much does it cost to visit?
It is completely free. The cabinet is attached to an exterior sidewalk wall, so there are no tickets or entry fees.
Can I see the exhibit if Workhorse Coffee Bar is closed?
Yes. Because the cabinet is mounted on the outside wall of the building, the display is visible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
How often do the exhibits change?
Exhibits rotate quarterly, bringing in new installations created by local Twin Cities artists and collectors.
Where exactly is the cabinet located?
Look right next to the entrance of Workhorse Coffee Bar at 2399 University Ave W in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood of St. Paul.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · mprnews.org · Facebook
last checked: 2026-07-21