Support from the Gene Biewen and Noel Van Tol Fund and the Marian Anderson Fund of the Mankato Area Foundation is helping spark new public art experiences – activating spaces, inviting participation, and strengthening community connections.

Mankato Free Press (May 2026) — This year, the third Saturday of May will be a little different in the Joe and Kaaren Grabianowski household.

For many years, as public works director for the City of Mankato, Joe has risen before sunrise so meet volunteers at the Kato Moving & Storage facility on Poplar Street to help with the installation of the new CityArt Walking Sculpture Tour. This year he will have company, and both of their trips to the lake will be delayed.

As the new executive director at Twin Rivers Council for the Arts, Kaaren will help Stacey Straka, sculptors and a collection of community volunteers with the installation. This is also the first year for Twin Rivers’ oversight, taking on the responsibility from the former City Center Partnership.

But that’s not the only new things residents can expect on this, the 16th annual sculpture walk tour. Although the number of sculptures is down from 32 to 26 due to Belgrade Avenue construction, meaning no sculptures, the Mankato side of the river will once again sport sculptures that come from artists who live all over the country.

And the number of additional events on the North Mankato side is up.

To maintain its commitment to annual public art experiences in North Mankato, CityArt is launching CityArt in the Alley, a program that is designed to activate the underutilized alley on the south side of Belgrade Avenue with art, activities and community connections throughout the summer.

CityArt in the Alley is underwritten by the Gene Biewen and Noel Van Tol Fund and will includes four themed activations:

• Creating Art — 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 30

• Art & Play — 4-7 p.m. Thursday, June 18

• Learning Art — 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, July 18

• Celebrating Us in Art — 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19

In addition, the Marian Anderson Fund of the Mankato Area Foundation is supporting the creation of a large-scale exterior mural at NaKato Bar & Grill, Range and Belgrade, that will be developed throughout the summer.

Mankato is one of several regional cities that host sculpture walks. With an ever-expanding collection of artists designing and constructing specifically for the many events, a complex web of logistical activities help artists get their pieces from one site to another.

This past weekend, many of the new sculptures arrived in Mankato and have been stored at Kato Moving’s facilities.

With a carefully scripted schedule, volunteers and sculptors will begin moving pieces into place at 6 a.m. Saturday and continue until they are all installed. Often it is all in place by 9 a.m., with sculpture fans grabbing CityArt Walking Sculpture Tour brochures and maps from vote boxes along the tour route to check out what’s new.

Since the founding of the CityArt program in 2011, nearly $5 million in sculptures have been displayed on Greater Mankato streets. More than 32 sculptures have been sold to private individuals and businesses, while over 38 sculptures have been added to the region’s permanent public art collection.

This large-scale public art programming would not be possible without the continued financial and in-kind support of businesses, the cities of Mankato and North Mankato, area foundations and individual supporters.

The continued success of CityArt has also allowed the program to expand into additional public art initiatives, including CityArt On the Go, the City Center Public Art Tour and Silo Art, which helps position Greater Mankato as a growing arts and cultural destination.

For more information about what Mankato has to offer, artfully speaking, visit cityartmankato.com