Altoids Seventh Annual Curiously Strong Collection

As corporate promotions go, this one’s pretty darn admirable, offering as it does a glimpse of what’s new and different on the art scene. Each year, the eponymous mint manufacturer enlists a keen-eyed panel of folks (such as Walker Art Center’s Douglas Fogle) to help it purchase a couple dozen pieces from emerging artists, many of whom have since become quite prominent. Then the art tours various U.S. cities before winding up in the permanent collection of New York’s New Museum of Contemporary Art. This year’s selection includes pieces by Rob Fischer, the Minneapolis native whose fascinating constructions, cobbled together from rural detritus, are becoming quite the thing among collectors; and Minneapolis photographer John Largaespada. Also appearing: sculpture from Los Angeles’ Anna Sew Hoy (who’s showing at Midway later this summer); a Reed Anderson drawing; work from everybody’s favorite urban folkie, the San Franciscan Chris Johanson; and many more. 2640 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-871-2263; www.soovac.org