Every time winter rolls around in Minnesota, hundreds of thousands of people are left with only two options: hibernate for the season, or get on with living. Art Shanty Projects was born out of the latter mentality as a new take on the local sport of ice fishing, in which dedicated outdoorsmen and women trudge out into the cold, go sit on frozen lake in a little shack, drink beer, and stare at a hole in the ice… for hours.

The shanties built by artists, architects, makers and the like, are positioned on a frozen lake. Art Shanty Projects have playfully skewered ice fishing for over ten years every year in January-February.

A rotating cadre of artists and their creations unite friends and families in outdoor whimsy during winter’s doldrums, with shanties offering a post office, karaoke, a landed spaceship, radio station, and a human carwash.

Notes for visitors: You never know what you’ll encounter in the Art Shanties, so come prepared. Wear shoes (and Yaktraks) and clothing appropriate for walking across a frozen (therefore icy), windswept environment for hours at a time!