Minneapolis is an arts-forward city, home to major institutions that have recently built expansions by grandee architects including Frank Gehry (Weisman Art Museum), Michael Graves (Minnesota Institute of Arts), Herzog & de Meuron (Walker Art Center), and Jean Nouvel (Guthrie Theatre). A mecca for architecture aficionados, it was recently listed as one of Travel & Leisure's top 5 destinations.

It is also home to one of the leading venues for photography in the Midwest. The Minnesota Center for Photography (MCP) was founded in 1990 by a group of passionate local photographers who were frustrated by the shortage of exhibition space for their art. In its first incarnation, housed in a warehouse above an auto body shop, it was called pARTs: Photographic Arts.

Photographs above, left to right: Untitled (Girl in Woods) by Angela Strassheim; Grocery by Kristine Heykants; Endeavour by Mickey Smith; Kennedy Space Center, Florida; Saturn Rocket and Man by Orin Rutchick.

By 2002 MCP had moved to larger quarters, and took a new name that more appropriately reflects its mission and objectives, which include classes and workshops at the professional level. This year it was named the administrative host of the McKnight Fellowships in Photography, one of the most prestigious awards given to mid-career artists. Past recipients of the grant, first offered in 1982, include Thomas Allen, Frank Gohlke, Stuart Klipper, Alec Soth, and JoAnn Verburg, among others.

The MCP/McKnight Fellows in Photography for 2006-2007 are Kristine Heykants, Orin Rutchick, Mickey Smith and Angela Strassheim. Each received a grant of $25,000 for a year in which to pursue an individual project while residing in the Twin Cities area. The opening reception for the awards exhibition is Saturday, August 4 from 7;00 to 9:00 pm at MCP. Admission is free, but reservations are required for the artists' walk through. Starting at 5:00 pm, each will make a half-hour presentation. Please check the MCP website for details about the exhibition and upcoming public programs.