Overview Uptown Art Fair is a juried outdoor fine-art fair in Minneapolis, run every August by the Uptown Association, the nonprofit that represents the Uptown business district. For one Friday-to-Sunday weekend, 300+ juried artists from more than 40 states sell their work from booths beside Lake of the Isles. Entry is free and the fair goes ahead rain or shine. Half of net proceeds are reinvested in Uptown through the association's district reinvestment program. On site The footprint, billed as Art on the Isles, follows the south shore of Lake of the Isles just north of Lagoon Avenue and takes in one block of The Mall. Booths carry pottery, painting, wood carving, ceramics, jewelry and photography. Bands play through the weekend. Food trucks park between the rows, and Uptown restaurants, coffee shops and dessert counters serve the crowd a short walk away. Family activities run alongside the art. Audience Visitors come from across the Twin Cities and walk the fair on foot along the lakeshore, buying work straight from the artists at their booths. Families come for the children's activities, and plenty of people stay on for the music and a meal from the food trucks. Talent and Influencers Live music has included musicians who played with Prince, and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis have made special appearances. Before the fair opens, the Uptown Association stages pop-up events with local businesses, artists, performers, influencers and the City of Minneapolis. It tells the neighborhood's story through its own podcast, videos and social channels, and through local and national media. Track record The fair has run in Uptown for generations, and the Harris Guide ranked it the No. 1 art fair in Minnesota. It left the neighborhood for two years, running in a Lyndale Avenue parking lot as the SoMi Art Fair, then came back to Uptown at the lakes. Artists apply and are juried in. Brand presence Xcel Energy, the City of Minneapolis, Weidner Apartment Homes, The Op Games and Loyal Saints Pets back the current fair. The top partner takes naming alignment with both the fair and the reinvestment program, and half of each sponsorship pays for street lighting, security cameras, plantings, graffiti removal and marketing for small businesses. Other partners run on-site activations in high-traffic spots or appear on the association's podcast and email. Two entry levels are kept for Uptown small businesses.