The Rourke Art Gallery and Museum

The Rourke Art Gallery + Museum in Fargo’s sister city of Moorhead, Minnesota, is the oldest art museum in the area and one of Fargo-Moorhead’s top attractions.

Located inside a renovated post office building from 1915, this free art museum’s permanent collection has over 5,000 local, regional, and national works on display. 

When it comes to museums in Minnesota, the Rourke Art Gallery + Museum is a can’t-miss for its carefully selected and curated art exhibits.

And, if you’re looking for free things to do in Fargo or Moorhead, you’ve found one of them. 

HOURS
Please click on the website link above to see the most current hours.

ADMISSION
Free

TOURS
TEMPORARILY SUSPENDED
Tours will resume at a to-be-determined date

ACCESSIBILITY
The Museum's accessible entrance is on 6th Street South, the east side of the building. Accessible parking is available in the shared parking lot with the Moorhead Public Library and immediately adjacent to the accessible entrance on 6th Street.
All three floors of the Museum building are accessible by elevator, and there is a wheelchair-accessible restroom on the lower level of the building. 

OTHER INFO
The Rourke requires visitors to check all backpacks, briefcases, umbrellas, and other parcels larger than 11" x 14" with the gallery attendant.

Visitors to Rourke’s permanent collection galleries can take photographs or videos for personal, noncommercial use. Photography may not be permitted in some special exhibitions and may be restricted for loaned works of art, as indicated by a “No Camera” symbol on the gallery wall. Tripods, monopods, and flash lighting are prohibited at all times.

Food and drinks are not permitted in the galleries.

FUN FACTS
• The painted bison in front of the museum was done by a local artist. It’s painted like Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” and is titled “Gogh-Bison-Go”. 
• The building that houses The Rourke Art Gallery + Museum was originally the Moorhead Federal Post Office from 1915 until 1960 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

HISTORY
The Rourke Art Gallery + Museum opened its doors in 1960, through the hard work of two brothers, James O’Rourke and Orland J. Rourke. 

Since then, it’s been dedicated to showcasing regional talent, and functions as one of the elite art sales venues in the upper Midwest. Its permanent collection includes over 5,000 works – the vast majority of which are the lifetime collection of its founding director, James O’Rourke.