Way Back Home: A Northside Gathering

A day of quiet gathering: A tour of Prince's North Minneapolis, a reunion of Prince's school friends, Art & memory sharing.

Power to the ones who can raise a child like me

The path is set, but if you look the truth will set us free.

- Prince, Way Back Home, 2014

Sunday June 21. The People's Museum celebrated Prince's Northside roots. We welcomed Stephanie Carlson, Prince's first crush (see Prince's valentine and letter to Stephanie in the museum display). We also welcomed Terry Jackson, Prince's next door neighbor in the '70s and a bandmate from their 1970's band Grand Central. Stephanie invited other classmates, who gathered from near and far: Jeralyn Godman, Peggy Patterson, Kathi White Pollard, creating a spirit of class reunion!

A special day of memory and art. Local neighbors stopped by to join for the afternoon, keen to learn more about Prince's roots. Enjoy our photo story.

The Tour

Kristen introduces Prince's house on 8th Ave N- where Prince first played his father's piano. He lived here 1965-1970

We started the day with a North Minneapolis tour led by historian Kristen Zschomler, which involved lots of memory sharing with Stephanie and her friends, helping Kristen fill in some gaps and details in the known timeline of Prince's early years. Building accurate history is an ongoing living activity, built from historical documents and lived memories.

Remembering Prince and schooldays, on the steps of Lincoln Junior High School, site of the recently-found Prince WCCO interview during the Minneapolis Public Schools Educators strike of April 1970. (see Charvis Harrell's artwork, a homage to this moment, on display in the museum now) As Stephanie (lower right) remarked, this strike was successful and an early lesson for the students in the power of a community standing up for social justice.

Museum guests and Prince's school friends outside Bernadette Anderson's home- our last stop on the Northside tour, led by Kristen Zschomler (5th from right). Prince lived here as a teen after he left home. The age he moved here was a gently contested topic of the day!

Coloring Party and School Friends Reunion

After the tour, artist Tammy Ortegon of Colorwheel Gallery generously hosted a coloring party to provide a relaxed setting for visitors to gather around the table while sharing and listening to stories, as memories flowed from days of Prince's childhood and teenage years.

Terry Jackson, Prince's friend and neighbor as a teen, came to share his memories of 'Skipper' with the others. Terry recalled the difficult time in Prince's life when he needed a place to live that wasn't either of his recently-separated parents' homes. The mothers in their community, including Mattie, Prince's mom, and Bernadette Anderson, gathered in Terry's mom's kitchen to work out where he would be supported. It was decided Bernadette's home would be the best for young Prince, as he would be living with Andre and his siblings, amongst other teens, all of them into music.

At work on Prince history! Stephanie Carlson and Kristen Zschomler comparing notes, with archives & Prince's The Beautiful Ones on hand.

Enjoying Art & Activities

North Minneapolis neighbors and Ashley and her daughters spent the afternoon with us, learning all about Prince. For a photo, they chose Peyton Scott Russell's Screenprint His Royal Badness, created for Prince's Glam Slam nightclub in the 1990s - Peyton's big break as a young artist.

Resident Artists Bill Jeter and Linda Maylish welcomed museum visitors young and young at heart to make Prince memory bracelets.

A young museum visitor shows artist Bill Jeter the bracelet they just created in Bill and Linda's studio

Bill Jeter and Linda Maylish in their studio, with museum visitor Shannon (center)

Stephanie's homemade jam for all to share

Archives

Stephanie's mom kept every school archive! Stephanie brought some of her many binders of artefacts to share- letters, clippings, journals- delighting us with insights into Prince as a child including letters, poems and drawings by Prince.

From Stephanie Carlson's personal archive

Coloring party for all ages! Designs by Tammy Ortegon

Tammy Ortegon with her much loved painting Raspberry Beret

Community day scene, with Bernadette Anderson's house (left) in the background.

Children posting drawings for Prince. BG: Bethany Tobias's penny portrait.

It was a relaxed day of community. Poignant too, witnessing this light-hearted gathering of old school friends, to imagine Prince here amongst them.

Jennifer Umolac, Prince Portable Shrine, 2016-present

JOIN US FOR THE FINAL DAYS

Join us Wednesday-Saturday 12-5pm for our final days of the People's Museum for Prince 2026 in North Minneapolis! Friday 4-6pm happy hour. Visit on Saturday June 27 for our final day program https://www.peoplesmuseumforprince.org/events

Recent Press:

Yesterday Minnesota Live! invited Curator Emma Balazs to the studio for an interview https://kstp.com/special-coverage/minnesota-live/the-peoples-museum-for-prince/

NHK Japan — Japan's national broadcaster covered the 10th anniversary of Prince Rogers Nelson's passing with a feature on Minneapolis, the museum, and curator E.C. Balázs. NHK filmed at Roberts Gallery during opening weekend. Read the original Japanese article at NHK →  (Google Translate recommended). 5 minute news story broadcast on NHK News June 13 2026.