10 years later

The first week of June, the Twin Cities will be awash in purple as fans, community and the Prince-curious celebrate what would have been his 68th birthday (June 7), 10 years after his passing. Paisley Park is hosting its annual Celebration 2026. There will be tributes and dance parties at First Avenue and other venues. The University of Minnesota is hosting a symposium for scholars and fans to get into the nitty-gritty of Prince’s life and legacy.

Also returning this year is the People’s Museum for Prince, a community- sourced, counter-museum commemorating the music legend by showing the deep impact he has had on those whose lives he transformed. Beginning last fall, curator E.C. Balázs invited people to submit their stories and share with the broader community their grief, joy and love of Prince through art, music, films and other expressions.

This collection, the People’s Museum, opens June 7 at Roberts Gallery (2400 Plymouth Ave. N.). Formerly Homewood Studios, the space is now owned by local artist Peyton Scott Russell, who painted Prince’s star on First Avenue gold.

Balázs said the inspiration for the museum first emerged after she traveled to Minneapolis from New York in 2016, a few months after Prince died. She had been trying to make sense of why her heart was so broken and decided to visit his hometown. Once here, she encountered many others who felt the same way.

“People who I’d never met before would share deep, personal stories with me about what Prince meant,” she said. “I just felt really moved by that, and I thought this is the power of an artist. Just one artist has changed so many.”

In subsequent visits she met more and more people who freely shared their Prince stories, and it was that generosity of sharing that made her feel like there was something she had to do. She also knew that people would move on at some point.

“The spirit of sharing was wide open at that moment, and I thought, ‘This is going to close over and it’s going to disappear, but this is extraordinary,” she said.

Drawing from a collaborative curatorial practice she developed at School of the Art Institute of Chicago, she approached the work not by imposing her vision for a museum but by listening to community and holding space for their experiences. What she was hearing was a collection of stories that added up to why Prince mattered so much to all these different people, and she wanted to throw the door open to allow every kind of creative expression.

Presenting these stories became a way that she could honor Prince in what she calls his “full multi-dimensionality” – an offering back to him.

It was an experiment. And when the museum first opened in 2018, 3,000 people visited in a single weekend. Her hope afterwards was to continue and see where the museum took her, if even to other locations. But then COVID hit and Balázs moved back to be with her mother in Melbourne, Australia. After another visit to Minneapolis last year, she decided to revive the museum once more to commemorate Prince on this 10th year of his passing. Same open call. Another outpouring of submissions – more than 80 in a variety of formats.

Asked whether she sees a difference in submissions from 2018 to now, Balázs noted a quality of depth as people have had more time to process. They are better able to articulate why Prince mattered so deeply to them, as opposed to responding in the flow of raw grief before, she reasoned.

The museum aims to create a quiet, reflective space where visitors can engage with art and stories, fostering a deeper understanding of Prince’s legacy.

“I’m imagining people coming in and feeling that they can just walk into the space and go where they’re called to go,” she said. “I imagine it’s quite an internal, interior kind of experience, rather than a big, ‘I love Prince. Let’s dance to Prince’ – which there’ll be so much of in the city.”

Prince’s roots in Minneapolis
Prince’s earliest roots are on Minneapolis’ Northside. He moved a lot during his childhood and adolescence, living with family and friends. He spent a couple of his teen years at the home of his best friend and Grand Central bandmate André Cymone. Roberts Gallery is on the corner of the same street, now named Bernadette Anderson Way after Cymone’s mother. It is believed by many to be the birthplace of the Minneapolis Sound.

One of the museum’s exhibits, “Houses of Prince,” gives visitors a tour of Prince’s Minneapolis. It’s a walk through time, with photos and references to houses, apartments, schools, a church, The Way community center and other places where Prince lived, worshiped and played during different periods of his life. Local historian Kristen Zschomler researched and compiled the information and, according to Balázs, has been instrumental in getting three separate properties recognized as historic.

Part of the People’s Museum is also on display at the Capri Theater (2027 W. Broadway), where Prince held his first ever performance. As Balázs tells it, “I don’t think it went very well, if we read the reports. He was very shy and mostly had his back to the audience.” It seems impossible for his fans to imagine Prince without his usual flair.

Of course, Prince has deep ties to the Southside, too. He was bussed to attend school at Bryant Junior High School (now Sabathani Community Center) and Central High School (now Central Gym Park), and his first apartment was in South Minneapolis.

‘RATED P 4 FUNKY’
Local artist Tammy Ortegon is dedicating some space at her ColorWheel Gallery (319 W. 46th St.) to the People’s Museum, which means the Southside will be represented, as well. Ortegon has Prince-inspired artworks of her own going back many years, including her “Raspberry Beret” painting, which she finished a few months after Prince passed. It was installed in 2017 as a wrap on an outdoor utility box at 38th St. and Park Ave. (as part of Project Purple, initiated by the Central Area Neighborhood Development Organization).

She also created a coloring book titled “Rated P 4 Funky” and occasionally hosts pop-up purple coloring parties (next is June 6). At one such gathering in April, featured guest Stephanie Carlson shared stories of being in grade school and middle school with Prince (“Skipper,” as he was known then).

“He was really into superheroes, and he thought he was going to be a graphic or drawing artist for many years,” she told the group. Reading from a three-ring notebook with Prince’s symbol on the cover, Carlson shared some of Prince’s writing assignments – a story about superheroes set in the year 2967, his joy of jumping in piles of leaves, Prince as a silver dollar – offering playful glimpses of his early humor and creativity.

‘Dearly beloved’ film shorts
In addition to curating the museum, Balázs, who is also a filmmaker, submitted a short film for the exhibition. Titled “Dearly Beloved,” the film follows Balázs’s deeply personal journey to Minnesota and the community she has found here. It premiered in March 2026 at the Atlanta Documentary Film Festival, then screened with other shorts at The Main during the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival in April. It will show again in July at the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival in Australia.

On June 10, the People’s Museum and Capri Theater are co-presenting “Forever in My Life: an evening of film, art and live music” – where Balázs’s film will screen alongside other shorts from the museum.

The People’s Museum for Prince opens June 7, 2-6 p.m., at Roberts Gallery (2400 Plymouth Ave. N.) and will run through June 27. It is free and open Wednesdays through Sundays, 2-5 p.m. Parts of the exhibition can also be viewed at the Capri Theater (2027 W. Broadway) and at ColorWheel Gallery (319 W. 46th St.). More at peoplesmuseumforprince.org and on Facebook and Instagram.