The mission of the Women’s Art Festival is to provide a welcoming place for women artists to show and sell their creations and to provide a fun and festive atmosphere for guests to shop, gather and enjoy community. Supporting local women artists of all experience levels, from first time exhibitors to experienced professionals, we are a non-juried show with the expectation that all goods are of excellent quality, made and sold by local women. We do not accept dealers or importers and define local as any woman who wants to travel to Minneapolis for a day of fun, camaraderie, community and creativity.
The Women’s Art Festival was started in about 1992 by Sue Zieke. It was held at Spirit of the Lakes church and hosted a handful of artists. A few years later, Catherine Azora-Minda, host of KFAI’s Womenfolk show, became the organizer and added music to the event. When she moved out of town, Naomi Siegal, the current organizer took the reins and began to grow the festival into what it is today.
As we outgrew Spirit of the Lakes Church and then El Colegio High School, the event was held for 9 years at the Midtown YWCA. In 2014, the festival moved to the Colin Powell Youth Leadership Center and grew to include over 130 women artists working in a large variety of media. With live music by women performers throughout the day and a women-owned coffee shop providing food, beverages and treats, artists and guests alike comment on the quality of the artistic work, the fun and comfortable atmosphere, the caliber of the music and the wonderful addition of good food, good coffee and the chance to see good friends.
After being fully virtual in 2020, in 2021 we have had to find a new venue as the Colin Powell Center is no longer available for renting. The venue for this year is the St. Mary’s University Center (previously known as the Shriner’s Center) at 2540 Park Ave. While the space is smaller, we will still be a high quality show dedicated to supporting MN women artists and musicians and providing a quality place for the community to shop and have fun.
Plan to come early, stay late, shop, listen, dance, eat, visit and enjoy!
