The Minnesota Museum of American Art dates back to 1894, when it was the St. Paul School of Fine Arts… officially incorporated in 1927. It has seen various homes and 10 directors during its lifetime, and with this expansion in the Pioneer Endicott Building tripling its space, it finally has the space to showcase more of its collection of 5,000+ pieces showcasing the distinct perspectives of American artists, with an emphasis on Minnesota artists.
Their location in the Pioneer Endicott Building is of historical significance. The 16-story Pioneer building was built for the Saint Paul Pioneer Press newspaper in 1889, designed by Solon Beman. It was the first skyscraper in St. Paul and the first building in the United States with a glass elevator. For decades it was a cultural landmark… the home of the city’s newsmakers and tastemakers, making it the business heart of St. Paul. It remained the tallest building in St. Paul from 1889 until the Cathedral of St. Paul was constructed in 1915.
The Endicott building was built one year later, in 1890. Designed by the legendary architect Cass Gilbert, it formed an “L” around the Pioneer building. There was a depression in the 1890s and Gilbert was almost evicted from his own building when he got the commission for the Minnesota State Capitol building and his career took off. Gilbert went on to incorporate the Endicott Building’s unique semi-ellipse stair design in the State Capitol building and other projects.
The Pioneer and Endicott buildings were connected in the 1940s and are listed together in the National Register of Historic Places. They were the home of businesses until 2007. It is now home to 234 rental apartments, the Minnesota Museum of American Art, Legacy Chocolates, 12 Eyes Brewing and a restaurant.
Part of the Endicott building was a shopping arcade modeled on the Paris shopping arcades of the 1890s, originally designed to accommodate up to thirty shops. The original stained glass arcade ceiling was covered over in the 1950s and uncovered again in the 1980s. The Endicott stained glass arcade was a part of the restoration work completed for the M and the arcade now forms an important part of the gallery.
The stained glass arcade ceiling blew me away. It is made up of 420 windows with 100 pieces of glass making up each one. Each one was rebuilt. The restoration process took roughly 63,000 hours of labor! Completed by the team at Stonehouse Stained Glass in Avon, MN, they worked throughout 2023 and 2024 to complete it. It is worth the trip just to see this magnificent ceiling.
The M promises to be increasingly more diverse and with the new space… for the first time the museum can present a wide range of artworks that highlight the collection’s strengths and make unexpected connection across materials and time.
The Minnesota Museum of American Art is Minnesota’s oldest art museum. Visit today!
Free Admission
Open Thursdays–Sundays, 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
Minnesota Museum of American Art, 350 Robert Street North, Saint Paul, MN 55101
Sharlene Hensrud, RE/MAX Results – shensrud@homesmsp.com