Blu Dot, the award-winning furniture and accessories brand known for its playful modern designs, is pleased to present Field Trip at NYCxDESIGN 2026. The photography exhibition celebrates the brand’s Minneapolis roots through one of its most beloved designs, the Field Lounge Chair.
On view May 15 through May 23 at Blu Dot’s NoMad store,is a gallery-style installation pairing documentary photography with iconic Blu Dot furniture. Shot during a Minneapolis winter by photographer Galen Fletcher, the series captures the Field Lounge Chair across the Twin Cities as a tribute to the creativity, resilience, and personality of Blu Dot’s hometown. The project paints a unique portrait of Minneapolis via a wide-ranging cross-section of destinations and subjects. "We were thinking about the Field Chair as a character," says Fletcher, "Maybe if you had gone to college together ten years ago and came back to town for a reunion these are some of the places it would want to take you. It’s not really a travel guide to the city, it’s more like a location playlist."
Within Blu Dot’s NoMad store, Field Trip comes to life in a dedicated gallery through an installation of large-scale photographic prints alongside the Field Lounge Chair in new colors and finishes, including a range of seven Maharam textiles. The prints will be sold on a first-come, first-serve basis to support the Little Kitchen Food Shelf, a community aid network based in the same NE Minneapolis neighborhood as Blu Dot’s headquarters. "Even though Minneapolis isn’t in the national headlines every day like it was a few months ago," says Sam Grawe, Blu Dot’s chief creative officer, "for the families and communities that were affected by what happened here, it’s not something you just move on from. We care deeply about our neighbors and the Little Kitchen Food Shelf is doing great work to continue to help those in need."
Additionally, a 64 page limited-edition zine based on Field Trip will be available to visitors while supplies last. Free and open to all, Field Trip invites everyone to engage with Minneapolis as a vibrant and inspiring creative hub and underscores Blu Dot’s ongoing commitment to thoughtful, accessible design, a relationship between place, and product where people come first.
Branded Photo Exhibits
Blu Dot’s Field Trip Photography Celebrates Minneapolis at NYCxDESIGN
Trend Themes
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Branded Photo Exhibits — An intersection of documentary photography and product display that reframes merchandise as cultural storytelling, creating new experiential narratives tied to place.
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Product-as-character Storytelling — Treating a product like a recurring character in visual narratives enables emotional attachment and serialized brand storytelling across media and environments.
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Retail Gallery Hybrids — Combining shop floors with gallery-style installations transforms transactional spaces into cultural destinations where curation and commerce coexist.
Industry Implications
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Furniture and Home Goods — Design-led furniture brands can leverage localized storytelling and limited-edition visuals to elevate perceived value and deepen community resonance.
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Cultural Philanthropy Partnerships — Aligning product launches with local charitable initiatives creates socially rooted collaborations that blend commerce with civic support.
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Textiles and Fabric Collaborations — Limited-run textile partnerships with photographers and designers open avenues for co-branded collections that fuse material innovation with narrative provenance.