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Rochester, Minnesota, has been promoted as a destination for innovation and creativity. The city’s art facilities and historical cultural locations provide an enriching experience for visitors. Here are some of Rochester’s diverse attractions.
Rochester Art Center
Established in 1946, Rochester Art Center was first opened above the public library. The center has grown in significance and moved into its current, spectacular 36,000 square-foot home in 2004. The original mission of connecting with community groups and citizens to make Rochester a worthy cultural center has never been lost along the way.
Temporary exhibitions of contemporary art showcase the work of local, national, and international artists working with a variety of media. The center offers workshops, summer camps, and the popular Free Family Days at which all family members are encouraged to create their own art.
Plummer House of the Arts
The Plummer House, originally called Quarry Hill, was built in 1924 by Dr. Henry Plummer of the Mayo Clinic. After his death in 1936, the Plummer family continued to live in the house until 1969. Built in the style of a Tudor mansion, the five story, 300-foot-long house has 49 rooms, 10 bathrooms, nine bedrooms, and five fireplaces. The furnishings in the house are all original.
When built, the estate consisted of 65 acres of which 11 acres remain, featuring formal gardens, landscaped grounds, and a bird trail. The house features many innovations that were little known at the time, such as a heated pool, the city’s first gas furnace, garage door openers, and a central vacuum system.
The grounds are open to the public from sunrise to sunset, except during private functions. Tours of the house are available each Wednesday in June, July, and August.
Mayowood Mansion
Located on the outskirts of Rochester is the Mayowood Mansion, built in 1911 by co-founder of the Mayo Clinic, Dr. Charles Mayo. The 38-room house on a 3,000-acre estate was lived in by two generations of the Mayo Family until the 1960s when it was donated to the Olmsted County Historical Society. Ownership was transferred to the Mayo Clinic in 2013.
The house is elegantly furnished with antiques of American, Spanish, German, and French heritage and features an extensive collection of decorative arts. Guided tours of the house are available March through October on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. After the tour, you can wander through the beautiful gardens.
SEMVA Art Gallery
South Eastern Minnesota Visual Artists (SEMVA) was set up in 1991 to support regional artists in improving their craft and marketing their work. The main gallery is located on South Broadway and features the work of more than 65 local artists.
The gallery is open Monday through Saturday and displays paintings, sculpture, pottery, photography, glass, jewelry, and much more. Visitors are able to purchase some of the art on display. Various events are held throughout the year, and classes are available.
These are just a few of the art and culture locations around Rochester, but the city has many more waiting for you to discover.
Image by Michael Hicks is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.0
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