By Alyssa Thiede and Linnea Dahlquist June 2, 2026 This crazy quilt with feather stitching is one of the most ornate in Hennepin History Museum's collection. It was constructed by members of the Hankinson family around 1885, who originally came [...]
April 1, 2026 My name is Linnea, and for the past seven months I have been working on a grant-funded project at Hennepin History Museum. The goal of this project was to catalog a portion of the museum’s textile collection while rehousing objects and [...]
By: Alyssa Thiede, Curator October 1, 2025, updated December 17, 2025 Fig. 1: Unknown Artist, Angel Gabriel Weathervane, circa 1857. Iron, gilt. (26” x 62.5” x 2”) Photo by Dan Dennehy. Courtesy of the Minneapolis Institute of Art. “A [...]
By: Nina Clark 4/2/2024 Bjorkman's dressing gown from the HHM collection. Hennepin History Museum (HHM) has five objects in its collection that carry the label of Roy H. Bjorkman, a former Minneapolis apparel retailer. These items from his eponymous [...]
March 19, 2019 Image from HHM Collections This Foley food mill in the collection at Hennepin History Museum was one of Foley Manufacturing Company’s most popular products. Foley was founded in 1926 by Walter M. Ringer. When he introduced [...]
Lock and Dam No. 2, Mississippi River, Minneapolis, 2013. Acrylic on Paper. “American cities change at a frightening speed, usually with little regard for the past...It saddens me to think that some of my older photographs may be the [...]
Hero (Father and Son’s), Digital Collage, Acrylic, Paper on Canvas. 24” x 18” Untitled (Men by Fire), Digital Collage, Acrylic, Spray-paint, Paper on Canvas. 24” x 36” Last year, Hennepin History Museum commissioned Past, Present and Future: The [...]
Bettye Olson. "Water and Bridge," Watercolor and Oil Pastel. 35" x 27" Circa 1999. 1/30/2024 The West Lake Gallery opened in 1965 as the first women-founded art gallery in the Twin Cities. Over twenty years, West Lake Gallery hosted hundreds [...]
10/26/2023 Officially adopted in 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment states that the “right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” Before this important victory, [...]
January 3, 2023 Long Shadow at the Farm, 1985. Oil on canvas. Bela Petheo (1934 – 2017), pronounced "PEH-tyu," was an artist, refugee, and teacher. He was known as a wonderful “colorist in oil”, but his work spanned many [...]
