Reedy Gallery
The Reedy Gallery is an exhibit space on the first floor of the Oswald Visitor Center. Established through the generosity of Darwin and Geri Reedy, the gallery offers eclectic interpretations of nature's beauty, outdoor landscapes and scenes by talented, award-winning artists with roots in Minnesota. Works in oil, pastel, watercolor, acrylic and other media add nature-inspired artistry to engage visitors in exploring the beauty and wonders of the outdoors at the Arboretum.
Typically, four to five fine art exhibits are presented each year, touching on seasonal themes and explorations. Informal tours are offered weekly by trained volunteer docents and staff. Often, artists talks and painting demonstrations are scheduled in the Great Hall or in the gardens to round out the exhibit. Reedy Gallery exhibits are open year-round during Visitor Center hours and are free with Arboretum admission.
Art in the Reedy Gallery is for sale, with a portion of the proceeds from each sale directly benefitting the Arboretum as well as helping to support the local arts community. Purchases can be made through the Arboretum Gift Store.
Current Exhibition
Where the Seed Remembers: A Celebration of Earth, Lineage and Memory
March 25-May 17, 2026
Where The Seed Remembers is an immersive multicultural community art exhibit that celebrates earth, creation, lineage and memory. It is co-curated by artist, storyteller, and cultural architect Joshua "Brotha Asé" Gillespie. This exhibition and accompanying celebration and community gatherings honors the connection between Mother Earth and the human experience. It explores birth, nurturing, protection, identity, grief, joy and the giving and receiving cycles. The experience blends visual art, sacred storytelling, spoken word, and communal reflection to reawaken connection in a time of disconnection.
These stories, artworks and reflections are presented by 10 Minnesota artists representing the Black, Indigenous, Latiné, East African and Afro-Caribbean communities. The Opening Celebration event on March 29 from noon to 3 pm will include food from K's Revolutionary Catering, music and live entertainment and artist-audience engagement.
- May 20-July 20, 2026
“Viewpoint” brings together the distinct artistic lenses of Brian Jensen and Mary Meuwissen to explore how we perceive our surroundings.
Jensen offers a viewpoint rooted in clarity and memory—his precision-based acrylics on wood capture the iconic beauty of Minnesota’s landscapes and lakes with a storyteller’s eye.
In contrast, Meuwissen offers a viewpoint from within. Her abstract, luminous layers of oil and wax paintings strip away the literal to reveal the emotional essence of a place. When looking at her pieces, you witness the joyful shifting of energy in nature.
This exhibition invites you to shift your own perspective and find beauty in it all.
Don't miss a chance to meet the artists in Reedy Gallery on May 31.
- July 23-Aug. 30 2026
Each canvas is a "splash"—a moment when artist interpretation meets nature. Each time, the result is a work of art that challenges the objective view of the environment.
This is not nature observed, but nature felt.
Enjoy how these colorful landscapes sing in harmony revealing an energy that invites you to breathe it all in.
- Sept. 1-30, 2026
This project is a collaboration between Maggie Thompson, Fond du Lac Ojibwe and Peggy Thompson, her mother. It brings together weaving, painting, and shared observation of land.
Together, the pair will create a series of 5-10 small works, each pairing woven florals with painted earth. They will display Ojibwe floral design as a living, evolving practice while situating it in conversation with another generation’s way of making. The works emphasize relationships to land, lineage, and to one another, positioning the arboretum not only as a site of study, but as a shared teacher.
The two artists will explore the grounds of the Arboretum using two distinct visual languages — Ojibwe floral design and painterly depictions of ground. Maggie will create woven textile works with ribbon featuring Ojibwe florals inspired by flowers growing. Peggy will contribute a series of paintings focused on ground, dirt, and earth found at the Arboretum. Rather than depicting flowers directly, her work centers the soil that sustains them, emphasizing texture and a mother’s role as nurturer. Her paintings will function as both physical and conceptual foundations for Maggie's woven pieces. The works will be shown in the Reedy Gallery Sept. 1-30, 2026.
The project reflects how knowledge is passed intergenerationally and how children grow from those familial foundations. Maggie layers her woven florals in with Peggy's painted surfaces, revealing differences in how they see, translate, and honor the land. Read more about the project in the summer issue of the Arboretum magazine.
The Native American Artist Residency Program is funded by the 2024 Gala in the Gardens. It celebrates the intersection of art and nature at the Arboretum and supports co-curated art programming.
Exhibit Your Art
The Arboretum is pleased to curate art exhibits in its galleries featuring local and Upper Midwest artists. If you’re interested in showing your work, please fill out this form.
Sign-up for an Adult Art Class
From beginner to advanced and everything in between. Painting, drawing, textile and jewelry are just some of the more than 50 classes offered each year at the Arb. Classes are designed to engage the creative part of your brain and build community.