The founder

Gerard L. Cafesjian was a businessman and a philanthropist. In addition to establishing several charitable foundations, in 1988 he joined an effort to save a 1914 merry-go-round that had spun at the Minnesota State Fairground for 75 years. He contributed several million dollars to save the 68-horse carousel from being broken up and auctioned off and to re-open the carousel which now bears his name on a pavilion in Como Park. Mr. Cafesjian had a passion for art that consumed his life for more than six decades.

Born in Brooklyn, NY in 1925 to immigrant Armenian parents, he served in the U.S. Navy and later went to school on the G.I. Bill, graduating from St. John’s University School of Law. In 1952, he began a long career with West Publishing Company, the world’s largest publisher of legal information. As vice president of marketing and sales and eventually as a member of the board, he initiated a nationally recognized annual art exhibition called “Art and the Law” for which he received the prestigious Business in the Arts Award. Upon his retirement, he founded the Cafesjian Center for the Arts in Yerevan, Armenia. Upon the final settlement of his estate, the Cafesjian Art Trust was created. Mr. Cafesjian’s love of color, light, and form and his wonderful sense of whimsy are personified in his wide-ranging collection. It was his desire this collection, which gave him so much pleasure during his lifetime, be shared with the public.

Our Building

The building that houses the Cafesjian Art Trust Museum is one of a kind. Architecture firm Mohagen Hansen transformed this former engineering firm into a world-class art museum. The most striking features are the blue glass facade and oval-shaped library.

Our building was given a Top Project Award of 2022 by Minnesota’s Finance & Commerce.