Brian Frink has received numerous grants, awards, and fellowships throughout his career. These include a 1995 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship (NEA); a 1990 Wisconsin Arts Board Individual Artist Fellowship; two McKnight Individual Artist Fellowships (1992, 2001); seven Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grants (2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023); and three Minnesota State Arts Board Individual Artist Fellowships (1992, 1997, 1999).

In 2012, he was named “Artist of the Year” by the Twin Cities arts and culture weekly City Pages, in recognition of his work with the organization Rural American Contemporary Artists (RACA).

Frink is Professor Emeritus at Minnesota State University, Mankato. In 2010, he was designated a Distinguished Faculty Scholar, and in 2019 he delivered the Douglas R. Moore Faculty Lecture. He retired from his academic career in 2021 — though not from being an artist.

Originally from Illinois, Frink earned his BFA from Illinois State University in Normal. In 1979, he moved to the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York, where he lived for five years. He and his partner Wilbur were among the early wave of artists who helped shape what would become one of the country’s most recognized creative neighborhoods. In 1985, he began graduate study at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, earning his MFA in 1989.

Brian and Wilbur have two children and six grandchildren.

Frink maintains an active exhibition schedule. His work is widely collected and represented in both public and private collections.

Selected solo exhibitions include:

  • Hennepin Avenue United Methodis Church, Minneapolis MN

  • White Bear Lake Unitarian Church, MN

  • James May Gallery, Milwaukee, WI

  • University of Minnesota, Moorhead, MN

  • The Goodness Gallery, Rochester, MN

  • Coe College, Cedar Rapids, IA

  • The Carnegie Art Center, Mankato, MN  

  • The Spirit Room, Fargo, ND

  • The Kaddatz Gallery, Fergus Falls, MN

  • Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN

  • Spokane Falls Community College, Spokane, WA

  • Washington Pavilion, Sioux Falls, SD

  • Blanden Art Museum, Fort Dodge, IA  

  • McLean County Art Center, Bloomington, IL

  • University of Minnesota, Morris, Morris, MN

  • Plains Museum of Art, Fargo, ND

  • Carnegie Art Center, Mankato, MN

  • Arts Center of Saint Peter, MN

  • University of North Carolina, Charlotte, NC

  • Rochester Art Center, Rochester, MN

  • University of Dallas-Texas, Richardson, TX

  • Northfield Art Center, Northfield, MN 

Selected group exhibitions include:

  • Minnesota State University, Moorhead, MN

  • Art of Water, James May Gallery, Algoma, WI

  • Minnesota Museum of American Art, St Paul, It's Complicated

  • South Arkansas Art Center, AR

  • James May Gallery, WI

  • Coe College, IA

  • McKnight Foundation, MN

  • Illinois State University, Il

  • University of Wisconsin, WI

  • Groveland Gallery, MN

  • Minneapolis College of Art and Design, MN

  • Sioux City Art Center, IA

  • Madison Art Center, WI

  • Rockford Museum of Art, IL  

June 27, 2021: Article about Brian in the Mankato Free Press, “Art Journey: Retiring Brian Frink helped students gain identity as artists”.

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