This month is Drive the Great River Road Month! The Great River Road is a collection of roads that travel the Mississippi River throughout several states and communities, and, this month, we are highlighting art attractions along its route. We’re scoping out each communities’ public art, live performances, and other art forms along the Mississippi. Little Falls has lots of wonderful art out and about in our community year round that we can share with you as you explore the Great River Road!
One of great thing about Little Falls, of which there are many, is that our city has art everywhere! Little Falls has become a vibrant and beautiful city with our varying art forms available to the public such as murals and frescoes, sculptures, window clings, garbage art, bike racks, and more!
Little Falls has a large number of murals and frescoes that you see just by taking a walk or drive in and around our historic downtown. Grab a donut at the Little Falls Bakery & Deli and you’ll find the Days From the Past mural. Drive across the bridge and see The Lumber mural depicting the logging era. Tour the MN Fishing Museum and Hall of Fame and you’ll find two murals showing Minnesota’s seasons! Head back to grab lunch at the A. T. The Black and White and you can seat yourself by their stunning indoor mural. There are so many to find and explore!
We also have art with a dual purpose. Our garbage cans and bike racks are not only functional, they’re colorful and fun too! Each trash can was hand painted to bring some vibrancy to the streets where they’re stationed. Our bike racks, too, are unique and colorful. Many of them reflect back the businesses and locations they’re stationed at such as our rack featuring tourism!
To learn more about public art around Little Falls, visit our website and find Art & Culture under Things to Do.
Art in Downtown Little Falls
We are also very fortunate to have so many businesses and organizations that showcase art including our very own art gallery, Great River Arts.
Great River Arts is an incredible non-profit that has two galleries, a stage, classroom space, and a retail space. The galleries are in rotation every couple of months so there’s always something new to see. The space is also available to rent for reunions, meetings, receptions, and more! All month long, visitors and residents can sign up for youth and adult classes. Each class is unique and shows people how to create many different pieces with a wide range of mediums. There are also lots of performances on the stage at Great River Arts. There are monthly Open Mic Nights where anyone can come and watch or sign up at the door to share their talents on stage. There are also band, theater, and comedic performances. And you won’t want to miss out on the retail space! You can find lots of stunning, handcrafted pieces from local artists such as paintings, jewelry, pottery, and so much more!
Great River Arts is so full of incredible art and talent that they’ve shared some of their displays with surrounding businesses such as a satellite gallery at Melgram Jewelers as well as performances that will appear on the stage at the newly renovated The Falls Theatre opening soon!
Other incredible handcrafted pieces can be found just down from Great River Arts at the Shoppes of Little Falls. With over ninety vendors, the Shoppes has a vast collection of stunning artistic pieces. Discover pottery, unique handcrafted pieces, paintings, jewelry, and a wide variety of other incredible pieces.
Little Falls is not without its artistic events. The biggest and most well known is the Little Falls Arts and Crafts Fair. This annual event always falls on the weekend after Labor Day and has over six-hundred vendors that bring in over 125,000 people! There is no shortage of crafts, art, vendors, food, and community at this event. And this year is all the more special as the fair is celebrating it’s 50th year!
There is free parking at the Morrison County Fairgrounds and a shuttle bus that will take you to and from downtown Little Falls. A directory of the fair and its vendors is available on the Little Falls Area Chamber of Commerce’s website. The chamber is also holding a contest. Take photos of you and your friends and family having fun at the fair, share on Facebook or Instagram using the hashtag #LFArtsAndCraftFair, and you’ll be entered to win!
Come celebrate this incredible fair and explore all that Little Falls has to offer!
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