My Favorite Place to spend a Sunday afternoon! (even with my children)

One of my most favorite places to visit in the Minneapolis area is the MIA: Minneapolis Institute of Arts.  It's free to visit - unless you want to see the Target Gallery Exhibits.  The current exhibit in that gallery is China's Terracotta Warriors:  The First Emperor's Legacy.  In this exhibit, you will learn about the first emperor of China, Qin Shihaung and the sculpted warriors who protected him in the afterlife.

Here are two examples of those warriors.  The first one is an archer and the second is a light infantryman  (All pictures are courtesy of the MIA website.)

Warriors needed chariots as well.  Here is a picture of one of those horses who pulled a chariot.

The prices for the Target Gallery can be a little spendy but I have found that it is well worth it!  The prices are as follows:  Adults - $18 (weekdays), $20 (weekends); Seniors 62 & up / Students 13-17 -  $16 (weekdays), $18 (weekends); College students with ID - $9 (weekdays), $10 (weekends); Children - $14 (weekdays), $16 (weekends).

You can spend a wonderful day at the museum without spending a thing.  Parking is free on the street and in the parking garage next door.  Admission to the museum itself is free.  In the summer, when my children were little, we visited almost every other week.  The museum is so large and always changing that there is always something new to see.

The MIA has many special events.  One of my favorites is Family Day.  There will be one this Sunday, December 9th from 11am to 5pm.  They will be having a jewelry making workshop, a photo booth, metal tooling, stories, harp music and a host of other activities.  AND it's all FREE.  Check out the MIA website for more details on this special event and on others to come.  www.artsmia.org

"A museum has to renew its collection to be alive, but that does not mean we give up on important old works."  -David Rockefeller