WALRUS

"I attended the opening weekend of Walrus, a lovely new community marketplace in Minneapolis. While the Twin Cities are blessed with terrific art galleries and festivals (including Art-A-Whirl, the largest open studio tour in the country), Walrus founder Michelle Courtright felt there was something missing from the scene: an affordable art boutique. She brought her vision to life inside a turreted machine repair building dating to 1894. Her curation includes original works by some of Minnesota's most talented artists (Hilary Greenstein, Madison Elyse Rubenstein), limited-edition prints, and a smattering of vintage pieces. There’s something for every price point, from $25 to $2,500, and many of the works are already framed. Even cooler—10 percent of the shop’s net profits are donated to Juxtaposition Arts, a teen-staffed art and design center in North Minneapolis."