The State Fair said no. These Minnesota galleries and artists said yes
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1969: That’s the first year Minneapolis artist Bob Schmitt entered an artwork into the Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Competition. Schmitt has entered dozens of times since and has never been accepted.
Schmitt is in good company. The Fine Arts Competition, which opens Aug. 27, is one of the most competitive juried art shows in the state. In 2026, the fair received more than 3,185 submissions and only accepted 340. That’s an acceptance rate of less than 10 percent (down from last year when the rate was about 12 percent).
Schmitt has advice for newcomers to the rejected community.
“It's that piece that's been rejected — it's not your skill, it's not your desire, it's not your intention, it's not your ambition, it's not who you are that's been rejected,” Schmitt said.
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The rejected community is thriving. Posting your State Fair rejection letter to social media has become a rite of passage. Schmitt, like hundreds of other artists, is showing his rejected artwork elsewhere. Two galleries have turned State Fair rejection into annual exhibitions of their own.
The Burl Community Art Gallery in Lowertown, St. Paul is hosting its sixth annual “Rejected” show, now through Sept. 26.
In Edina, the Douglas Flanders & Associates gallery is hosting its third annual “Minnesota State Fair Reject Show” Aug. 29-Oct. 10.
“The word is getting out,” said Beth Stoneberg, codirector of the Burl gallery. In 2025, the small gallery featured about 75 artworks; this year 99 are on view.
Stoneberg said the gallery keeps doing the show because rejection is rough.
“There is a certain amount of emotion and anxiety and analysis. So much of an artist's value is sometimes tied up in particular shows,” Stoneberg said.
Along with the Burl holiday show, “Rejected” is the gallery's most-visited exhibition of the year.
At Douglas Flanders & Associates, executive director Syril McNally said the “Reject Show” has become the most-attended exhibition of the year.
People “love to see what was rejected,” McNally said. “This is their way of getting behind the scenes and supporting local artists.” The show will feature more than 250 artworks.
On Aug. 21, Minneapolis artist Cora Park dropped off her rejected painting at Douglas Flanders & Associates. The artwork features Park and her cousin as children at the State Fair, painted from an old photo.
“My process is reflecting on childhood memories and processing what I remember and what I don't remember, and trying to bring more positivity back into those memories,” Park said.
This is the first time Park has entered a rejected show.
“Art should be accessible. Showing your art should be accessible, and I just think that's really cool that they do this,” Park said.
For Schmitt, the Douglas Flanders & Associates show is also the first time he’s entered a rejected artwork. His submission, “I Wasn’t Expecting Snow,” uses a Chinese technique called “one-stroke” painting, done with a large brush loaded with different layers of paint. Schmitt has been studying and teaching Chinese painting techniques for more than 20 years.
“I enter what is my best, which is what you do at the State Fair,” Schmitt said.
He’s been attending the Fine Arts Competition exhibition since 1960.
“I love the State Fair art show,” Schmitt said. “For me, it's the people's show.”
When Schmitt posted his rejection letter to Facebook, he received a flood of condolences and affirmations.
“‘Oh you poor man,’ ‘Oh keep going and don’t give up’ — It was ridiculous,” Schmitt said.
So he posted again: “Someone who continues to enter after being rejected for over 50 years hasn’t given up. They also long ago learned not to define their success by whether or not they get in.”
Schmitt said he will continue to submit his work to the Minnesota State Fair.
Douglas Flanders & Associates hosts an opening reception Aug. 29. The Burl Community Art Gallery will host a reception on Sept. 12. Visitors can vote for a people’s choice award at both galleries throughout the duration of the exhibitions.
Correction (Aug. 25, 2026): This story has been updated to reflect the correct number of artworks accepted into the 2026 Minnesota State Fair art exhibition.
