Organizers cancel 2024 Uptown Art Fair, citing street construction

The long-running Uptown Art Fair has been canceled this summer due to the logistical difficulties caused by road construction along Hennepin Avenue, its organizers announced.

“This was a challenging decision, especially during the 60th anniversary of our event,” Director Jill Osiecki said in a Facebook post Monday announcing the cancelation.

In a normal year, the fair would take up a stretch of Hennepin Avenue, lining it with booths for artists selling their work, food trucks and other vendors.

But at the start of April, the city began significant construction work to rebuild the road, and has closed off or restricted traffic lanes for the next two years. Organizers said the construction would close off half of the event’s footprint by Aug. 2, when the fair was scheduled.

The event also includes a stretch of city Park Board-owned land called “the Mall,” which extends perpendicular to Hennepin toward Lake of the Isles. The organizers considered downsizing so the fair was only on that section of parkland, but ultimately decided the event’s integrity would be compromised by doing so, according to the post.

“The closure of Hennepin Avenue, central to the Uptown experience, would detract from the event’s vibrancy and hinder support for local businesses within the footprint,” the organizers said.

The organizers said they went through “exhaustive analysis and consideration of alternatives.”

In its place, the directors announced a new event to begin this summer, called the Uptown Art Experience. For the entire summer, there will be art installations, pop-up events, a public art competition and more throughout Uptown, according to the Facebook announcement.

Osiecki said she hopes the community supports the new endeavor, writing in the statement that “we must embrace the changes thrust upon us and evolve into something uniquely special, mirroring the spirit of Uptown itself.”

The event was also canceled in 2021, when organizers cited concern for safety amid unrest and violence in the neighborhood following the death of Winston Smith Jr. He was shot and killed by undercover deputies, leading to protests in the area.