MINNEAPOLIS — This month, the work of several Minnesota artists will go on view in the nation’s capital. The exhibition “State Fairs: Growing American Craft” opens Aug. 22, 2025, at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

“Minnesota inspired the entire exhibition idea,” says Mary Savig, the head curator of the Renwick Gallery, a branch of the Smithsonian American Art Museum dedicated to craft and decorative arts.

Savig is from Mankato, Minnesota, and her mother grew up on a dairy farm in Tyler, Minnesota. Her youth, she says, is full of memories of attending the Minnesota State Fair, as well as county fairs and the Taste of Minnesota.

“I loved it all,” Savig says. “We developed the entire project to really survey and cover the full national history of state fairs in a broader context of

See Full Page