Special Exhibits

The former packing floor of the mill, now Mill Commons, now features the museum store, cafe, changing exhibits, and visitor information. The exhibits are free to the public during regular museum hours and change two to three times per year.

Current exhibit

Milky Way.

Spirits Dancing: Photographs of the Night Sky by Travis Novitsky

November 15, 2023 - April 7, 2024

The night sky has enchanted humans for millennia. We marvel at the wonder of the aurora, the glory of the Milky Way, and the peace that comes from stargazing.

Travis Novitsky captures these marvels in this exhibit of 15 photographs featured in the new book from the Minnesota Historical Society Press. In Spirits Dancing: The Night Sky, Indigenous Knowledge, and Living Connections to the Cosmos, Novitsky’s photos are paired with insights from astrophysicist Annette S. Lee. 

The book reveals how the union of Western science and Indigenous knowledge enriches understanding of our place in the universe.

The exhibit is located in the museum’s central Mill Commons, and is free and open to the public during regular museum hours through April 7, 2024. 

The exhibit is temporarily inaccessible on select Saturdays from 10 am - 2 pm due to the Mill City Farmers Market:

  • December 16
  • January 6
  • January 20 
  • February 3
  • February 17
  • March 2
  • March 16
  • April 6

Upcoming exhibit

Going Out, Coming In Exhibit.

Going Out, Coming In: LGBTQ+ Spaces in Downtown Minneapolis

April 18 – July 14, 2024

Going Out, Coming In is a photo exhibit about LGBTQ+ community spaces in downtown Minneapolis. The exhibit details queer resistance, love, and identity formation amid the evolution of the neighborhood through the 20th century.

The exhibit features sites where queer people found or created community while addressing the systemic challenges of legal and extralegal discrimination, urban renewal, and HIV/AIDS. 

This exhibit deepens our understanding of the people that lived and visited downtown Minneapolis. We hope visitors leave with an understanding of the importance of community spaces, a sense of empathy or solidarity with LGBTQ+ people, and a sense of belonging and empowerment in seeing queer history embedded into the landscape of the city. 

This exhibit is part of an ongoing partnership between Twin Cities Pride and the Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS). It is inspired by the Twin Cities LGBTQ+ History Tours developed by TC Pride and MNHS in 2022.

The exhibit will be located in the museum’s central Mill Commons, and is free and open to the public during regular museum hours from April 18 to July 14, 2024.

This exhibit is made possible through funding provided by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.