I love visiting my home state of Minnesota in the summer. Most of those visits are spent lakeside in suburbia, but occasionally we break free from the extended family to see what’s happening in the Twin Cities. This year, we were able to visit two “domestic” galleries in Southeast Minneapolis. Sadie Halie Projects is a small alternative space for contemporary art that began in an apartment in Sunset Park, Brooklyn in 2012 and relocated to Minneapolis, MN in 2016 where they re-purposed their garage into a gallery. Run by artists, Patrick Gantert and Jennie Ekstrand, their mission is to work with international artists in this unconventional venue that operates outside the confines of the traditional gallery or museum. They mount monthly exhibitions between May and October (when the Minnesota weather is conducive) and we happened to be there for the opening of “Weight of a Wave” featuring the work of Sophia Flood and Matthew Yeager. It was one of those magical midwestern evenings where the light is perfect and the sun doesn’t set until nearly 10 p.m. Like many Minneapolis neighborhoods, detached garages sit behind houses and are accessible by alleyways that make them feel like their own little villages. Most of the doors were down, but Sadie Halie’s was up with a crowd mingling in and out of the space. I loved the community feel of this opening and envy their garage!

Just a few blocks away is All Star Fine and Recorded Arts, the home gallery of artist and archivist, Matthew Bakkom. We caught the last day of a beautiful exhibition of paintings by Syed Hosain paired with ephemera from Matt’s extensive archival collection and met Dutch artist, Annabel Kanaar, who had just arrived to install her exhibition which ran from July 6 - 31st. It’s days like this that make me wish I spent more time in the Twin Cities.