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On of its latest projects is the Chambers hotel, built by noted Minneapolis art collector and real estate mogul Ralph Burnet.

The hotel features a Damien Hirst bull’s head floating in formaldehyde hung behind the check-in counter, as well as a made-to-order wall-length Gary Hume painting in the lobby lounge, across from a Sam Taylor-Wood video installation. It also includes a private art gallery that shows rotating exhibitions of work from Burnet’s personal collection.

“I’d put us ahead of [San Francisco and Los Angeles],” said Burnet of the city of Minneapolis. “I’d say, culturally, we’re third in the United States, only behind New York and Chicago. For a city with 3 million people, we have more culture than many cities with 20 million.”

In the past two years, the city has added more than $500 million worth of museum, theater and cultural space. Legendary architect Frank Gehry—of Guggenheim Bilbao—recently drew up plans for an expansion of the riverfront Weisman Museum, which he designed in 1993. It holds the art collection of the University of Minnesota.

USA Today: Who put the art in heartland?