Local Artist Creates Tiny 'Mouse Doors' Near Minneapolis Landmarks

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Tiny works of art are making a big statement throughout Minneapolis.

A local artist is creating little mouse doors and putting them next to local landmarks and businesses. If you want to see them, you better keep your eyes open.

Teeny tiny little works of art are making a rather large statement, well for those who spot them anyway.

"Honestly I didn't know they put the stuff up high so I decided to put something down low, something people could interact with rather than see up high," the artist said.

The artist, who prefers to conceal his identity because, well his street art is not exactly legal, says he was inspired to spread the tiny doors in an effort to get busy city folks to pay attention and look around, even down.

"To be in places where people don't expect to find them, to provide a moment of interest or a moment of delight while people are walking along," the artist said.

He says the payoff from his work is about more than just putting smiles on the faces of people who see them. But also the interaction he gets from them, like this welcome gift from Dangerous Man Brewing.

"We saw the little door and we have all these plants in the brewery so we thought that he would want a little welcome plant for the house, so we made a little house plant for him," a brewery employee said.

With several little mouse doors spread across northeast Minneapolis, the welcome gifts keep coming. Like a variety 12-pack from Indeed Brewing. Just blocks away at Spyhouse Coffee, the art down on the ground is uplifting for passers-by.

"Disrupt in a polite way, that's actually exactly what he's trying to do. Oh okay, I like it, the subtle subliminal disruption," an area resident said.

And of course the main goal: Remember to keep your eyes open, look around and don't forget about looking down.

You can follow the artist on Instagram. His handle is Mows510. He plans on expanding the mouse door project to the Mill District and eventually across the river to St. Paul.