Nemeth Art Center draws top-tier artists to rural Minnesota

The Nemeth Art Center is based in Park Rapids, a town of 4,100 in north central Minnesota. Despite a remove of 186 miles from the city that calls the Minneapolis Institute of Art and Walker Art Center home, it’s attracting many top-tier artists. In May, it showcased some of the same works Pao Houa Her, a featured artist in the 2022 Whitney Biennial, exhibited during her 2015 Mia show.

The vibrance of this 46-year-old nonprofit space, writes Jenna Ross for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, is in part due to the efforts of Aaron Spangler, a sculptor who grew up nearby, and his wife, James Beard Award–winning chef Amy Thielen, both of whom are now on the board. Spangler, who was commissioned to make a work in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, has invited friends and colleagues to show there, from Her and Alec Soth to Dana Schutz and Caroline Kent.

Read “Art center in small-town Park Rapids, Minn., has become a hot spot for big-time artists.”