From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.Ojibwe art and teachings at Tettegouche State ParkEric Klepinger, an artist north of Duluth, recommends checking out the monthly artists’ shows and the artist-in-residence work at Tettegouche State Park. Featured in August is prolific Ojibwe artist Sam Zimmerman of Duluth, whose work will be on view until September. His boldly colored work often features animal forms, and Klepinger says these works were inspired by animals he saw at Tettegouche. Zimmerman is also, separately, the Artist-in-Residence at Tettegouche. For this role, he created seven signs, printed on weather-proof aluminum, about the seven Grandfather Teachings of the Ojibwe, which will be installed next spring at the Nature Play Area. See all the artists at Artists-in-Residence programs at State Parks across the state here. Watercolor artist and naturalist Chris Dillon is the featured artist next month, and there will be an artist’s reception for her Sept. 5. in the Tettegouche Visitor Center starting at 7 p.m.Arab American women’s stories in silk and animationSandra Brick, a teaching artist at the Textile Center, appreciates Hend Al-Mansour's exhibition at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. “Mihrabs: Portraits of Arab American Women” is an immersive exhibit of four installations of brightly colored, silk-screened fabric, which are paired with a short animation. Brick appreciates that visitors enter each pillar to experience the objects, sights, and sounds of the lives of four Minnesota women whose heritages trace to Syria, Morocco, Palestine and Saudi Arabia. “You feel like you’re visiting these women,” Brick says. There is an artist talk on Sunday, Sept. 7 at 2 p.m. The exhibit runs through Oct. 26. Punk rock meets Gorky in interdisciplinary theaterActor Kenzi Allen of St. Paul is looking forward to seeing “The Mother: A Punk Rock Musical” next weekend, Sept. 4-7, at Sokol Hall in St. Paul. Inspired by Maxim Gorky’s novel, the show is a collaboration between Luverne Seifert and Darcey Engen of Sod House Theater and Carl Flink of Black Label Movement, featuring music by Annie Enneking of Annie and the Bang Bang. Allen, who was involved in an early workshop of the show last year, is excited by the way it brings acting, dance and music together.“I think I personally crave a whole lot more work that has this kind of overlap and interdisciplinary focus. So I hope this show kind of shows how much fun and how much vibrancy each of us artists have to give to each other's disciplines,” Allen says.“The show is about a mother and a son who are living in poverty in Russia, and the son gets involved in what becomes the Bolshevik Revolution. The story follows how the mother is also brought into that whole uprising. “I think now is a good time to be telling this story, because we're looking back at history in this time and seeing what has happened in the past and kind of reflecting on have we moved past this, or is it possible for things like this to happen again? The show is being performed in St. Paul, and St. Paul has such a rich, rich history of union workers coming together and fighting against oppression.”
From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.Edible creativity at the State FairMorgan Kempton of Minneapolis, who works in education at Hennepin Arts, is a fan of the Creative Activities building at the Minnesota State Fair, which runs through Labor Day.While many flock to the rides or concerts, Kempton is drawn to the detailed displays of baked goods:Morgan: It’s just interesting to see how many different types of pies people can make, and all the designs on the top of the pies can always be so unique and interesting to see.— Morgan KemptonCarved emotion in HopkinsJanet Kilsdonk of Hopkins recommends “… good dog …” an exhibition of wood carvings by artist Fred Cogelow at the Hopkins Center for the Arts. The show runs through Sept. 6. She was captivated by the lifelike quality of the work:Janet says: It actually makes you step back and feel like you’ve stepped into a drawing when it's actually a wood carving.— Janet KilsdonkTransforming stuffed animals with clayCourtney Mault of Minneapolis is looking forward to the Spiralia World’s Clay Critter Workshop, led by artist Ricky at Odd Mart in Minneapolis on Saturday.Participants are invited to bring their own stuffed animals and create colorful masks for them using a variety of materials:Courtney: You’ll be able to totally change the personality of your stuffed animal.— Courtney Mault
From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.Shakespeare with a twistLuke Fanning of northeast Minneapolis has his eye on Zach Christensen of Jackdonkey Productions, whose staging of “Henry V” is now at Theatre in the Round.Fanning says Christensen has “an uncanny knack for taking something that might be a little bit old and dusty and shaking it up and making it new and fun.”This production promises music, movement and “weird vibes” while still exploring the play’s central themes of war, power and their effects on people. “Henry V” runs through Aug. 18.Luke says: I know I can trust Jackdonkey to add music, movement, weird vibes in a way that I’m gonna lean in instead of zone out.— Luke FanningTim Harding’s shimmering ‘Double Vision’Minneapolis visual artist Carolyn Halliday has followed Tim Harding’s textile work for decades, but his new series “Double Vision” is something entirely different.Harding prints his own photographs on polyester, reprints them at a different scale on organza, then layers, gathers and stitches the fabrics to create a stereopticon-like effect.The result, Halliday says, “moves and shimmers and distorts the view.” The show is on view at Groveland Gallery in Minneapolis through Aug. 30.Carolyn says: It’s really dramatic.— Carolyn HallidayA symphonic ‘Ring’ in BrainerdJustin Lucero, artistic director of Theatre Latté Da, says the Lakes Area Music Festival in Brainerd is preparing its largest-ever orchestra for an ambitious weekend.The festival will present an orchestral program featuring music from “The Lord of the Rings,” a new work by French composer Camille Pépin, and “The Ring: An Orchestral Adventure,” a 70-minute distillation of Wagner’s epic 15-hour cycle.More than 100 musicians will perform on the Gichi-ziibi stage Aug. 16 and 17.Justin says: It’ll be the largest ever orchestra that has been involved with the Lakes Area Music Festival.— Justin Lucero
From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.A clown’s farewell at the FringeThe Minnesota Fringe Festival continues through Sunday, Aug. 10, with nearly 100 shows presented in 90-minute intervals at theaters around the Twin Cities.Phillip Schramm, an improviser and theater maker in Minneapolis, particularly recommends seeing “Clown Funeral” at Theatre in the Round in Minneapolis, Saturday at 1 p.m. The show is billed as appropriate for ages 12–15 and up.“The funeral is about Bongo, a clown that has passed away, and there are four other clowns that are there to kind of honor his memory, and it goes the way you would think,” Schramm says. “It's a clown show. So there are bits of physical comedy, of just them assembling the coffin. There's word play. There's one clown that really only speaks through art. Everything you would want in a clowning show is in ‘Clown Funeral.’”One delightful touch, Schramm says, is red clown noses at the entry that audience members can take and wear. Because the theater is in the round, you can see the audience members wearing red clown noses throughout the show.Painting the urgency of climate changeSuzie Marty, gallery curator of Everett & Charlie in Minneapolis, recommends “2°C,” a joint exhibit by painters Drevis Hager of Minneapolis and Mark Granlund of Red Wing that focuses on climate change. The exhibit runs through Saturday, Aug. 9 at the Hamilton Gallery in Minneapolis.Marty called the paintings moving and beautiful, even as they drive home the seriousness of climate change. She pointed toward Granlund’s paintings with unusual materials, including tar, and his surprising pairings, such as a series of portraits of CEOs of oil companies overlaid on landscape paintings.Hager paints representational landscapes as well as abstracts that invoke wildfires and melting ice caps, as in the darkly humored title “Oh Oh, There Goes Greenland.”Mozart under the summer skyChoral singer Beth Gusenius of Minneapolis caught a preview performance of Mixed Precipitation’s summer outdoor opera, this year an adaptation of Mozart’s “1781 Idomeneo, re di Creta (King of Crete).”This abridged version, first staged by the company in 2012, is called “The Return of King Idomeneo.” It blends Mozart’s arias with other musical styles, including doo-wop. Next week, performances will be in Ely (Wed., Aug. 13), Hovland (Aug. 15), Grand Marais (Aug. 16), and Finland (Aug. 17). The run continues through Sept. 14 at outdoor locations across the state. It is free and open to all ages, with a suggested donation.“It's a really fun performance. I think it's one of those that's going to convert people who wouldn't necessarily otherwise go to the opera. They do such an amazing job bringing the story to life,” Gusenius says.
From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.‘Hidden Herald’ returns with new audio stories around St. PaulLast year, Jamie Daniels of St. Paul stumbled upon Wonderlust Productions’ mini audio stories, scattered about St. Paul. Season two of “Hidden Herald” kicks off this weekend, with a new batch of five-to-ten-minute audio stories written by Minnesota playwrights and recorded by professional actors. This weekend’s launch includes a scavenger hunt with prizes. Maps with the audio play locations are available starting Thursday at several St. Paul businesses, listed here. To listen — this weekend and beyond — simply scan a QR code printed on a durable decal on the ground.Jamie describes the wonder of discovering a new story: You scan [the QR code], and you are transported into a brief five-to-ten minute audio play that takes place in the place where you're standing. It's kind of like a scavenger hunt all year round, because you can find these stickers all over the place, around Lake Phalan, on Payne Avenue and in downtown St. Paul.Some of the plays are definitely kid-oriented, and some of them are not. Last year, there was one that took place in Mears Park that was a genuine horror story that gave me the chills. Some of the plays have a content warning at the top, if need be.Pro tip: bring some headphones or a portable speaker so you can hear them better.— Jamie DavisFavorites from St. Croix Valley Pottery Tour in one accessible locationCindy Ihlenfeld is a visual artist from Mahtomedi who serves on the board of the Weisman Art Museum, and she recommends seeing “A Culture of Pots” at White Bear Center for the Arts, on view through July 25 in the Ford Family Gallery.She notes that, for those with limited mobility, this exhibit is an accessible way to attend a pottery tourCindy says: “A Culture of Pots” is an exhibition of the artists that are typically part of the St. Croix Valley pottery tour in spring. And there are 68 artists, and I think 218 of their favorite pieces. The most delightful thing about it is that one of the resident artists at the White Bear Center for the Arts has created a display that looks very much like what the artists have in their yards during the pottery tour. It feels very intimate because of the way the structure is built to display the pots.— Cindy IhlenfeldPeople at PlayLou Ferreri, a visual artist from St. Paul, appreciates an exhibit by painter David Amdur entitled “At Play.” The paintings show groups of people enjoying the outdoors. The exhibition is on view at the Hopkins Center for the Arts through Aug. 2.Lou describes the paintings: They're impressionist, but they're also realistic figures. He incorporates sometimes 10, 15 figures in a setting outdoors, and they could be by the ocean, they could be mountain climbing, they could be by a lake or in a park. They are so celebratory, it makes me feel good looking at them.He’s a fabulous colorist: he manages to combine primary colors in natural settings, so that the clothing that the people wear becomes part of the composition, and it brings your eye all around the surface of the picture plane.— Lou FerreriCorrection (July 10, 2025): An earlier version of this story misidentified Jamie Daniels and had incorrect information about “Hidden Herald.” The story has been updated.
From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.Healing through the sensesMolly Johnston works for Springboard for the Arts in Fergus Falls and is the co-director of DanceBARN Collective in Battle Lake. She got a sneak peek at Naomi RaMona Schliesman’s upcoming exhibit “Heilung Saaám (Healing Medicine)” at the Kaddatz Galleries in Fergus Falls. The exhibit runs July 8 through Aug. 16, with an opening artist reception Thursday, July 10 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.Molly says: Naomi’s sculptures have always intrigued me with their textures, colors and materials from nature. This particular show excites me because she is examining healing through the senses. The exhibit combines paintings and prints, sound and music and even smells to create an immersive experience, including creating two interactive murals that when they’re finished, they’re going to be placed around the community for everyone to experience. Naomi’s work comes from her journey of healing and also [from] connecting with her German and Blackfeet [and also Blackfoot] heritage.— Molly Johnston‘Blocked View’Erik Jon Olson of Plymouth creates machine-quilted art from plastic waste. Recently, he visited the Visitor Center at French Regional Park in Plymouth to see the work of Beth Dorsey.Her show of abstracts, entitled “Blocked View,” invites the viewer to take a closer look. The work is on view through Aug. 17, with an artist reception on July 31 at 5:30 p.m.Erik says: I like the way she creates mystery and depth in abstract compositions. Her work appears as though you can't see the whole image, and your mind fills in the missing information, not really knowing how much is missing and how much you are making up. It's kind of like looking at something through a fence or privacy screen.— Erik Jon Olson‘Endometriosis: The Musical’KQ Quinn of Minneapolis is a big fan of comedy, and they remember seeing “Endometriosis: The Musical” when it was a Fringe show. Now the full musical is at Theatre in the Round in Minneapolis, and it runs through July 13.The show follows a woman who is trying to climb the corporate ladder but has debilitating pain each month from endometriosis. KQ acknowledges that this hardly sounds like the subject for a comedic musical, but it works:KQ says: They tell this story in such a way that is so funny and relatable, and you’ll see through these amazing songs that when we start talking about our health and consulting with medical providers that we trust life can change and be really, really awesome.It is super fun and lively and also extremely impactful, because we are talking about health and people's experiences with the medical system, and how often, you know, people aren’t believed. Theatre in the Round is like the most beautiful venue for this show, because you can literally look across and see people relating and reacting to all of the content in the show.The songs are, like, truly phenomenal. They’re super catchy. Expect big songs, big chorus numbers, dancing and an amazing band to keep it all rolling.— KQ Quinn
From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.‘Of the Earth’ joins the Detroit Lakes trollsFormer arts administrator Taylor Barnes of Jamestown, North Dakota, has a cabin in Detroit Lakes, and she admires the work of Project 412 in engaging the community to create public artworks. Last year, they welcomed Danish artist Thomas Dambo to create a series of large trolls, which remain on view in and around Detroit Lakes. Now, the trolls have company: artist-in-residence Olga Ziemska has created four large sculptures of natural materials, entitled “Of the Earth.” Three of the site-specific sculptures are temporary, but the fourth — a butterfly, currently in the works —will remain at the Ortenstone Gardens & Sculpture Park in Detroit Lakes.Taylor says: I think they had probably 300 volunteers that worked for over 100 hours with her creating the pieces [three of which portray women built at large scale]. One woman is emerging from the earth. Another head is lying on its side, kind of listening. The third one is the woman's head and torso. I particularly like this one, because she's just got this hair that looks as though it's being blown back by a hurricane that's all made out of twigs and branches and sustainable materials.— Taylor BarnesA one-woman musical, for those who waitLux Mortenson of Brooklyn Park is excited for people to see the one-woman musical “Penelope” at the Elision Playhouse in Crystal. It runs June 20–28.Lux says: I’m so thrilled that “Penelope” at Theatre Elision is coming back this month! I was fortunate enough to see it last year, and it was all I could talk about for weeks. Christine Wade is a marvel, a true multi-hyphenate who guides the audience on a tight and beautiful one-act journey through the eyes of Penelope, Odysseus' devoted, incredibly patient wife, as she waits for her husband to return home. Everything comes together to leave the audience spellbound. This is absolutely one NOT to miss this summer.— Lux MortensonNature in natural materials at the ArboretumArt enthusiast Doris Rubenstein of Richfield recommends visiting the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska to check out the new exhibit in the Reedy Gallery in the visitor center.It’s called “Wax, Wire, Wood, and Clay,” and four artists use natural materials to create scenes from nature. It runs through July 28. It's recommended that visitors to the Arboretum book a ticket online in advance; children 15 and under are free with an adult.Doris says: Lynn Sarnoff-Christensen is the driving force behind the exhibition. Lynn is an encaustic artist; she explained it to me as the process of painting with molten beeswax.For this show, she's taken photos of birds’ nests, incorporating them into the picture, along with other media like oils and pastels. Lynn invited three of her friends to join in the challenge of recreating nature with natural materials. Jodi Reeb sculptures weird seed pods and boulders from wire. Jim Gallop makes sculptures and bowls from knobby tree burls, and Cindy Syme carves tree portraits into clay tiles. So what better place could art lovers look for a show about the beauty of nature than the Arboretum, especially at this glorious time of year in Minnesota?— Doris RubensteinCorrection (June 12, 2025): An earlier version of this story incorrectly spelled Lux Mortenson's name. The story has been updated.
From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the original submission.Americana in the Historic AuditoriumJean Shore of Balsam Lake, Wis., recommends crossing into Wisconsin for an evening of American roots music. Minnesota singer-songwriters Emmy Woods, Sarah Morris and Laura Hugo will perform at The Historic Auditorium in St. Croix Falls this Saturday, June 7 at 7 p.m.Jean says: Each performer brings a unique voice and style to the stage, blending folk and country and heartfelt storytelling. But what makes this even more exciting is the venue itself. The Historic Auditorium was built in 1916 and was recently renovated in 2023, and it’s quickly becoming a cultural hub for this area.— Jean ShoreA Sondheim musical at the Ritz TheaterTwin Cities theater maker Kurt Engh recommends seeing Stephen Sondheim’s musical “Passion,” staged by Theater Latté Da at the Ritz Theater. Written by the same team that created “Into the Woods,” the show runs through July 13.Kurt says: “Passion” is one of Stephen Sondheim’s lesser-known musicals, but one of his most complex and most honest and emotional.It is a melodramatic story set in 1860s Italy during the unification of Italy. It is an uneven love triangle between a beautiful married woman, a very handsome army captain and a in the terms of the musical, a “troubled, ugly woman.” And it is about how love and desire are reflected through beauty and beauty standards.It is a very fascinating musical in that it is directed as almost a chamber opera at a breakneck speed. There are no applause breaks. It does not let you go. It just keeps moving.— Kurt EnghImprov Festival Moves to Phoenix TheaterMichael Krefting of Minneapolis loves the improv scene in the Twin Cities, and he recommends the Twin Cities Improv Festival, happening Thursday through Sunday, June 8. This is the annual festival’s first year at the Phoenix Theater in Minneapolis, following the closing of HUGE Improv Theater last year.Michael says: They have artists coming in from all over the world, a couple artists coming in from Japan. There are a lot of local names. When they select the artists for the festival, they’re always trying to get the local groups that are doing either the most interesting things or doing something new and creative that's picking up steam. The whole improv community is very welcoming. And I would, I would come ready to not just laugh but also feel. I would say to expect the unexpected!— Michael Krefting(Want more improv? Krefting also recommends Improv A Go-Go at Strike Theater in Minneapolis. Every first, second, and fourth Sunday, four or five improv groups are chosen by lottery to perform, offering an affordable evening of “yes, and” energy.)
From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the original submission.A path to healingRuth Sloven is a St. Paul-based artist. She recommends the group exhibition “WITNESS עֵד,” a group art show by Jewish artists for Palestinian liberation, at Modus Locus in Minneapolis.Ruth says: This exhibit includes ceramics, sculpture, community, quilting, painting and video. Many of the works are traditional Jewish subjects, which have been repurposed in non-traditional ways. What I’m excited about is that it’s a doorway into experiencing and expressing the grief about the destructive war in Israel and Gaza, and hopefully can be part of a path to healing.— Ruth SlovenStop, collaborate and listenJoseph “JoJo” Howsley is a music enthusiast based in Fargo. He recommends a showcase by Human Artistic Collaborations on Saturday, May 31, starting at 6 p.m. at Brühaven in Minneapolis.Joseph says: I met Kyle Krause last weekend. He is the head of Human Artistic Collaborations, whose aim is primarily to champion human-led art in a space that's constantly being inundated by artificial intelligence.They’re doing an event with one of my favorite producers in the scene. His name is Deerskin, and they have over, I believe he said, 12 artists who will be showcasing and selling their art.— JoJo Joseph HousleyEpp squaredKari Olk is a Brooklyn-based teaching artist who grew up in Minneapolis. She recommends “Orlando: A Rhapsody,” playing at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis through June 8.Carrie says: “ORLANDO: A Rhapsody” by Vinora Epp and Steven Epp is a thoughtful reflection about art, gender, storytelling. It’s both based on Virginia Woolf — a few of her writings: “The Waves,” “A Room of One's Own” and, of course, “Orlando” — and it’s also combined with writing from Vinora and Steve. To see them working together is really special. And so it’s really exciting to see her directorial debut, and it’s really exciting that she’s doing this work with her dad, Steve. The story of “Orlando” is a story about a person who, over 300 years, goes back and forth between being a young woman and a young man, and they both perform as Orlando, and they both perform as versions of themselves.— Carrie OlkCorrection (May 29, 2025): An earlier version of this story misspelled Kyle Krause. The story has been updated.
From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the original submission.Celebrating the work of Duluth artist Oddio NibJeff Schmidt, owner of Lizzards Art Gallery & Framing in Duluth, recommends visiting a retrospective show for Duluth painter Oddio Nib. Nib is a prolific artist whose work includes still lifes as well as abstract and narrative paintings.Over 100 of Nib’s paintings spanning more than 40 years of work will be in the exhibit, which opened this week at Zeitgeist’s Gallery Cafe and runs through July 30. The exhibit will expand to the Zeitgeist’s Atrium July 2–30, where some of Nib’s larger works will be hung. The paintings are for sale as well.Sing me a SongAmanda Helling is an improviser from Minneapolis, and she appreciates the musical improv abilities of Hannah Wydeven. Her ability to make up engaging songs on the spot is on full display in her show “Sad Songs for Happy People,” which runs Fridays in May at 9:30 p.m. at Bryant Lake Bowl in Minneapolis. It’s part of The Residency at the venue that pairs two 25-minute improv shows in an evening; Darth Hogbeef is the partnering act.“Sad Songs” will also help kick off the Twin Cities Improv Festival, which runs June 5–8 at the Phoenix Theater in Minneapolis.Amanda says: Hannah is an engaging musical improviser, and her show is very interactive. I'm always blown away by people who can improvise songs that sound almost preplanned, and Hannah is at the top of that game. Between the total 4th-wall break and the music that, despite being called “sad songs,” is often riotously funny.Hannah's show is a tour de force. “Sad Songs” would be at the top of my list of suggested shows to introduce someone to long-form improvisational theater.— Amanda HellingTell Me a StoryPeter Bretl of Minneapolis calls himself an enthusiastic amateur storyteller, and he’s really been enjoying taking classes and attending open mic nights at the American School of Storytelling in Minneapolis.He appreciates the coaching to help him tell stories more comfortably before a crowd, and he recommends that anyone who is interested show up at an open mic night and add their name to the list of speakers for an opportunity to tell a story of up to 10 minutes in length.Open mic nights for storytelling are the third Monday of the month (next event: Monday, May 19 at 7 p.m.) and open mic nights for poetry are every fourth Monday (next event: Monday, May 26 at 7 p.m.)Peter says: The venue itself is delightful. I think seating capacity is 36, so you feel almost surrounded by friends. There's an intimacy to it that I really, really like. And the crowds there are very supportive. Everyone wants you to succeed.— Peter Bretl
From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.Showcasing dance from across SomaliaSabrin Nur is a multi-disciplinary artist living in Minneapolis, and they are excited to see “Dhaxal-suge: the Somali Museum Dance Troupe Showcase.” The Somali Museum has maintained a youth dance troupe since its inception, teaching young people the widely varying folk dances from across Somalia. This will be the first performance by the museum’s dance group residency program. There are two upcoming performances: at the Paramount Center for the Arts in St. Cloud, Tuesday, May 13, at 6 p.m., and at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis next Sunday, May 18, at 7:30 p.m.Sabrin reflects on the themes of the show: The storyline is “when a beloved leader falls, who carries the crown?” and I think the question they're asking is a big question for Gen Z and also the Somali millennials who have grown up in the wake of the war, right? I'm 25 years old. For people like me, we've never known a peaceful Somalia. We've had a lot of our elders looking down to us and being like, “This is your history. This is what we used to be like. Now, what are you gonna do?” They've put a lot of responsibility on our shoulders, and a lot of us are ready to take it on, but it's like, what kind of future do we envision for ourselves? How do we carry that responsibility? How do we wear that crown?— Sabrin NurBooks meet architecture meet sculpturePeggy Korsmo-Kennon of Eagan, a former museum and arts administrator, recommends that people see “Building/Books | Karen Wirth: A Retrospective Exhibition” at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts Main Gallery in Minneapolis. The exhibition spans 40 years of Wirth’s work, and the pieces spread through the space include architecture, photography, sculpture, books, and the spaces where these disciplines meet. The exhibition is on view through June 8.The exhibition also marks the 25th anniversary of the Open Book Building and the 40th anniversary of the Minnesota Center for Book Arts.Peggy says: Karen has an extraordinary ability to think spatially and structurally, creating work with both conceptual depth and visually engaging images. Her projects range from small handheld artist books to major public artworks. Her art is playful, both thought-provoking, blends clever wordplay with striking visuals. You'll see this in her handwritten text that spirals through the Gale See staircase and in the whimsical assemblages of the Grammar of Architecture. Upstairs there are more works: my favorite are her “Follies.” She takes books and found architectural objects and put them together in a really interesting way.— Peggy Korsmo-KennonPhoto exhibit asks us not to look away from homelessnessGabriel Brito of Minneapolis is a graduating senior at the University of Minnesota and an Arts and Entertainment reporter for the Minnesota Daily. He wants people to know about “No More Turning Away,” a photography exhibit about homelessness in the Twin Cities by photographer David Fallon. The exhibit is on view at the Kenwood Burroughs Gallery in Minneapolis through May 31.This exhibit is a fundraiser for People Incorporated, a nonprofit mental health provider that also serves people experiencing homelessness.Gabriel says: [David] spent months in the Twin Cities, photographing homelessness in a very raw, real, captivating way. His photographs are raw, unflinching depictions of life on the street meant to challenge our society's tendency to look away from homelessness.— Gabriel Brito
From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.Happy Homegrown!It’s that time of the year when, for eight days, local music reigns in Duluth and Superior. The Homegrown Music Festival continues through Sunday. Emily Lee of Duluth is attending Homegrown for her twelfth year, and like many music lovers, she’s studied up on the Field Guide to make sure she can see her favorite bands. Check out the schedule here.Emily says: I’m going to see [Blues-rock band] The Adjustments Saturday night. Strikepoint is playing this year, which is kind of unique. They're an amazing hand bell choir here in town. My husband can't wait to see Bratwurst, and you have to watch out at that show, because Bratwurst throws raw meat off the stage. So a lot of people show up in ponchos.Something new this year is the Homegrown Variety Showcase on Friday night at Studio Four, and it's kind of like a variety talent show with poets, comedians and dancers. So that's something cool this year to check out.There's also different dress up nice each week for Homegrown, so that's kind of fun to see what everyone wears. Tonight is Eccentric Art Teacher & Gym Coach Night. Friday is Leather & Lace Night. Saturday is Pirates & Princesses Night. Sunday is Relaxation Sunday; they have a couple of daytime shows on Sunday because that's the last day of the festival.— Emily LeeNative stories on screenActor Silvestrey P’orantes of Minneapolis highly recommends checking out “Framed Differently,” an evening of four short films by local Native filmmakers with a Q&A to follow. Hosted by Sequoia Hauck, the event is Saturday, May 3 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Public Functionary’s Main Gallery 144 in Minneapolis. The films are Ajuawak Kapashesit’s “The Comedian,” Rosy Simas’s “yödoishëndahgwa'geh (a place to rest),” Oogie Push’s “Hunting Morels: Mushroom Secrets” and Moira Villiard’s animated film “Love Lessons in a Time of Settler Colonialism.”Silvestrey says: [They’re] all doing different films about Indigenous perspective outside of just the title of being Indigenous. There's a lot of pressure sometimes to fit into the stereotype of like, well, we got to talk about language and reclamation and what have you. But sometimes, you know, we just want to talk about what we want to talk about. We're really emphasizing that we are artists who have things to say outside of just who we are.— Silvestrey P’orantesYouth strings take the spotlight in MarshallSt. Paul musician Mary Adamek wants people to know about a musical opportunity in Marshall, Minn., this Saturday. Southwest Minnesota StringFest invites string players aged 13–18 to rehearse and perform alongside professional musicians on Saturday, May 3. The event is free and sign-ups are still open for students in Minnesota and southeast South Dakota. The festival culminates in a free concert performance, open to the public, on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Fine Arts Theater of Southwest Minnesota State University.Mary says: The festival is organized and funded through a partnership by three organizations: the St. Joseph School of Music, St. Paul Conservatory of Music, the Southwest Minnesota Orchestra and Southwest Minnesota State University. This is the only string festival available to string students in southwestern Minnesota.— Mary Adamek
From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.Dioramas of the Twin Cities’ most beloved landmarksShari Aronson is the creative Co-Director of Z Puppets Rosenschnoz, whose work was featured on Art Hounds last week. Continuing the chain of paying it forward, Shari recommends a “charming project” by Felicia Cooper called “The Agency for Tiny Tourism,” which is on view at In the Heart of the Beast Puppet & Mask Theatre. Cooper was selected by the National Humanities Center’s 2025 Being Human Festival. She conducted interviews asking people about their favorite Twin Cities landmarks and also led workshops to make dioramas of those landmarks. Visitors to the free exhibit can get a new view of the Twin Cities on Friday evening from 7 to 10 p.m., with additional showings Saturday and Sunday.Shari said: Everybody loves a diorama and peeking into a miniature world. I also am really curious to see which sites people depicted.— Shari AronsonA love of natural stone and kiln-fresh potteryKevin and Pam Bishop of Glenville enjoy the Bluff Country Studio Art Tour that spans southeast Minnesota each spring. Kevin is a custom wood furniture builder, and Pam calls herself an admirer of the arts. The art tour this year includes artists in 22 locations on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.The Bishops each have a favorite artist. Kevin likes the work of Ryan Palmer, whose studio in Lanesboro is called Livingstone Carver.Kevin said: He does very unique work, sculpting natural stone, and we’re totally enamored with the outcomes of what stone can be with some correct tooling and knowledge of what you’re working with.Pam recommends visiting Lanesboro potter Sue Pariseau.Pam said: She’s got a really unique place where she designs and creates her pottery. What I really appreciate is every year she does a special invite so that we can open the kiln as part of the weekend and get to see what’s been in the kiln, and have the first choice of what we want to maybe purchase while we’re there. But as important as that is just being with other artists.— Kevin and Pam BishopGraffiti, chance and found object artKylie Linh Hoang is the assistant curator at the Minnesota Museum of American Art. Last week she attended the standing-room-only opening of graffiti artist SHOCK’s gallery show at the Chambers Hotel in downtown Minneapolis. The exhibit “Daydreaming at Midnight” runs through May 10. It’s a unique space for a show, dressed up with couches and plants for an “anti gallery space” feel, says Hoang, and the work on display derives from a unique artist residency.As Hoang describes it, SHOCK was on his way home from St. Louis when his car broke down in Springfield, Ill., on a holiday weekend, so he set about doing some graffiti work at an abandoned flour mill. The building owners took a liking to his work and invited him to create an art installation in the space.Kylie said: They couldn’t pay him, but they did tell him that he could take whatever he wanted from the building, because it was going to be demolished. And so a lot of the work in this show is their assemblages and paintings on found materials from that mill. And so you’ll see things that were see things painted on, like doors from the facility, signs from the facility. He also created a number of lamps from materials found at the facility. He taught himself how to wire lamps. It’s a very cool assemblage of multimedia work.— Kylie Linh Hoang
From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.Time-traveling puppets and Cherokee futurismOogie Push is a Minneapolis-based actor and playwright. She wants people to know about Z Puppets Rosenschnoz’s upcoming performances of “Tales of ᏓᎦᏏ Dagsi Turtle & ᏥᏍᏚ Jisdu Wabbit,” a time-traveling, Cherokee-language-learning puppetry adventure for ages 5 and up. Shows are Saturday, April 19 at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at Open Eye Theatre in Minneapolis. There are also upcoming performances at two libraries: April 26 at 10:30 a.m. at East Side Freedom Library in St. Paul and April 29 at 5:30 p.m. at Hosmer Library in Minneapolis. The show runs 45 minutes.Oogie Push described the show: It’s a musical adventure that goes into Cherokee futurism, and it’s just a really fun sort of sci-fi adventure. Dagsi Turtle and Jisdu Wabbit are racing through time and space to save Grandmother Turtle. So they hop aboard their Turtle Ship and travel across space and time. I find it amazing that they find a way to get to historical, important events in Cherokee history. So you visit Sequoyah and Ayoka when they are coming up with the Cherokee syllabary, for example.Chris Griffith, who is Cherokee and part of Z puppets Rosenshnoz, was an adult language learner of the Cherokee language, and so the language came to him in the form of song. And so he thought, How can I incorporate this into a puppet theater? And so he just started envisioning futurism, sci-fi, fantasy and just sort of like this hero's journey.— Oogie PushLaughter, identity and healing at the OrdwayTerri Thao of St. Paul loves the Funny Asian Women Kollective (FAWK), and she booked her tickets early to see The FAWK Hmong (+ Friends) Super Show this Saturday at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. Thao remembers when FAWK was packing the house at Indigenous Roots Studio in East St. Paul, and she’s looking forward to a night of laughter as a mix of familiar FAWK members, stars and some local newbies bring their comedy to the Ordway stage. Thao said: When they came together, I just thought this, this is a great idea. You know, Asian American women can be funny! My understanding about comedy is a lot of people talk about real life, right? They’re making observations about things happening.And I think so many times in communities, you know, refugee communities, there’s been a lot of strife but at the same time, we’ve used humor to cope with so much. I just think they’re able to just offer a lens into that experience with some humor. Seeing people on stage who look like you matters.— Terri ThaoHonoring Minnesota’s poetic legacyJoshua Preston grew up in Montevideo, Minn., and he’s proud of western Minnesota’s poetry heritage, including the work of Minnesota’s first poet laureate, Robert Bly (1926-2021). Preston’s looking forward to the launch of Mark Gustafson’s new book “Sowing Seeds: The Minnesota Literary Renaissance & Robert Bly, 1958-1980.” The book explores how Minnesota became the literary hub it is today. Mark Gustafson will discuss his new book with poets Jim Lenfestey and Nor Hall at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis this Saturday, April 19 at 6 p.m. People are encouraged to pre-register here. Preston says people who arrive early can see a slide show of The Loft through the years. Preston shared why this history matters to him: I believe Robert Bly is one of the most consequential poets of the 20th century. And I’m not just saying that as a Minnesotan from western Minnesota who’s very proud of our literary tradition, but I’m saying this as someone who has had the immense fortune of being able to grow up in a state that takes its arts and culture seriously. How do you get to a point in a state’s culture to where that is seen as a civic good? It begins with poets. It begins with our creatives. And “Sowing Seeds’” is about the influence of one individual, by no means the only, famous writer from Minnesota, but from someone who is very intentional of wanting to go out and set a new course for American poetry.— Joshua Preston
From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.Vanishing flora, captured on handmade PaperMinneapolis-based visual and teaching artist Ilene Krug Mojsilov recommends “Vanishing Flora: Fiber Art,” an exhibition by Amanda Degener at the Northside Artspace Lofts Gallery in Minneapolis. The show runs through May 25. Visitors can enter the gallery by calling or buzzing the office, open Thursdays 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Fridays 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. A poetry and potluck event will be held May 18.Mojsilov explains that Degener’s work highlights endangered plant species. The exhibition includes 18 framed handmade paper works, with pulp manipulated to form plant imagery. Eight handmade planters, constructed from up-cycled wood, spell out “in danger.” Suspended discs depicting endangered plants, made from frozen paper, gradually melt into the planters, which are seeded with native flowers that will grow over the exhibit’s duration.Krug said: I could go on and on about Amanda’s artwork, because she’s part scientist. She’s a chemist. She researches all her subjects to the T. She’s a specialist in handmade paper and the history of handmade paper, she collects fibers from all over the world.— Ilene Krug MojsilovA 21st Century Take on Theater of the AbsurdTheater maker Harry Waters, Jr. attended the opening night of Pangea World Theater’s staging of “Rhinoceros,” directed by Dipankar Mukherjee. The absurdist play by French playwright Eugène Ionesco was written in 1958 and follows the transformation of a town’s residents into rhinoceroses — all except one, the least heroic character.The show runs through April 19 at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis.Waters praised the production’s creativity: inventive lighting, a soundscape of Indigenous music, strong choreography and a diverse cast of professional and amateur actors.Harry said: The gift, I would have to say, of what Dipankar gives to this adaptation [is] that it starts huge, and then, as the story goes, it winnows down to this very simple, important issue of the one human being that’s standing in resistance to all the totalitarianism and the conformity ... how are we also taking our own stands in spite of everything that’s being thrown [at us] that really allows us to know that we’re not crazy, that it is not insane that you’re standing strong. So that’s a conceptual thing that I was really quite pleased to see without being beaten over the head by it.— Harry Waters, Jr.A Multimedia Symphony in the South MetroRetired attorney and former St. Olaf Choir singer Maren Swanson of Burnsville is excited for a joint choral performance at Shepherd of the Lake Lutheran Church in Prior Lake this Saturday at 4 p.m. South Metro Chorale will perform alongside Singers in Accord and Kantorei, with the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Kathy Saltzman Romey.The concert features “The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci,” a multimedia symphony by Minnesota composer Jocelyn Hagen.Maren said: I heard Jocelyn speak once about having grown up in a musical family in a small town in North Dakota, and about singing and playing piano from the age of three, she said that she lay in bed as a as an older child, hearing orchestral music in her head and wishing she knew how to write the music down. Well now we get to hear the enchanting music in her head. The work has been performed all across the country and internationally. I actually heard it in Croatia in 2023. The libretto features an English translation of select texts from the notebooks of Da Vinci. The score is soaring, sometimes lyrical, sometimes percussive, always gorgeous. The video uses a new technology that allows it to be synced to the nuances of the music as conducted in a live event. In effect, the video is played like an instrument of the orchestra responding to the conductor, and so every performance is spontaneous and unique. The video features an unfolding of text and images from the notebooks and other animated images that bring the music to life.— Maren Swanson
From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.Musical premiere in Bemidji tackles small-town healingKevin Cease of Bemidji is a funeral director and fan of community theater. He’s looking forward to the world premiere of “Water from Snow,” a new musical by Janet Preus, co-written with Robert Elhai and Fred Steele. The show runs through Sunday, April 13. Tickets here.NOTE: The “Water from Snow” premiere has been postponed until April 11.Kevin said: I’m looking forward to the world premiere of local playwright Janet Preus’s show “Water from Snow.” It is an original musical play co-written by her and Robert Elhai and Fred Steele of the Steele family. As it is set in a small town on a lake in northern Minnesota, Bemidji seems perfect for its premiere!Important and universal themes drive this story: healing wounds caused by abuse; overcoming racism against Indigenous people; bridging generational differences; valuing elderly community members; and championing women supporting each other. They hope to generate meaningful conversations among audience members, performers and the creative team.The roughhewn nature of the Rail River School venue in Bemidji lends additional character and dimension to the play. The music is diverse from a mix of music from country and blues, to pop, ballads and R&B, even a song from old farts at the setting of the café — there are 22 original songs! The lively local cast has chosen their roles carefully, with a range of characters drawn from the writer’s lifetime in rural Minnesota.— Kevin CeaseMacMillan’s transformative choral workStephen Kingsbury is a choral director and educator who wrote his doctoral dissertation on Scottish composer Sir James MacMillan. He recommends two upcoming events celebrating MacMillan’s music.MacMillan will conduct seven Twin Cities choirs in a free performance called “Voices for a Cathedral” at the Cathedral of St. Paul, Friday, April 4 from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. VocalEssence will also perform an all-MacMillan program Sunday, April 6 at 4 p.m. at the Ordway in St. Paul, with both MacMillan and Philip Brunelle conducting. The program features “Seven Last Words from the Cross” and “The Sun Danced,” with soprano Goitsemang Lehobye joining the U of M University Singers and orchestra.Kingsbury describes his first encounter with MacMillan’s work over 25 years ago:Stephen says: One day, in deep frustration, I was going through my collection of recordings looking for inspiration. I found a disc that I had no recollection of purchasing. It was of MacMillan’s “Seven Last Words from the Cross.” I popped in the player and spent the next hour laying on the floor of my apartment, wrapped in the music, staring up at the ceiling, silently weeping. I had never encountered anything like it. In that hour, I was transformed by a new awareness of what the choral art could be: how it touch the soul in deep and transformative ways. I knew then that MacMillan had to be the topic of my study. Since then, MacMillan’s music has served as one of the centers of my artistic and scholarly life. I’ve since written a number of additional articles about his music and had the pleasure of being able to conduct many of MacMillan’s compositions. His music strikes a balance between passion and craft; it is both deeply emotional and thoughtful.— Stephen KingsburyZappa’s legacy lives on in Mankato tributePaula Marti of New Ulm is a classically trained oboist and manager of Morgan Creek Vineyards & Winery, where she curates summer concerts. She also has a lifelong love of Frank Zappa’s music, and she recommends a tribute concert this weekend.Joe Tougas and his ensemble Joe’s Garage return to perform “Joe’s Garage, Act Two,” a Frank Zappa tribute concert. The event is Saturday, April 6 at 7 p.m. at the Morson-Ario-Strand VFW in Mankato.Paul says: What’s unique about this particular group is because there’s so many professional musicians in it, they really have been able to achieve the sound that Frank Zappa attempts to create in his works. He has this diverse sensibility about sound and rhythm. It’s integrated in a marvelous way that has this orchestral effect. It’s just amazing as a classical musician myself, enjoying what comes out of these interesting themes that Zappa puts together, which are unique, they're cultural expressions of our time and our era. And he does that in a way that’s very, very respectful to the instrumentation that has to go on that represents, you know, the harmonies, the diversities and the the challenges of the message of the music.— Paul Marti
From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.Resting as resistance Folk musician Emily Youngdahl Wright of Minneapolis admires writer and community-space-maker Amọké Kubat. She wants people to know about the final step of Kubat’s ongoing project to honor those who mother children by offering them a place to rest — literally. The exhibit features rocking chairs that were created during a community build and then painted, collaged or otherwise re-created by Minnesota artists. “Rocking Chair (Re)Evolution” is a free, drop-in show at the Weisman Art Museum on the West Bank of the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis. The exhibit is open Friday, March 28 and Saturday, March 29 from 11-5 p.m., with a ceremony on Sunday from 1-3 p.m. The rocking chairs will be gifted to 12 mothers and grandmothers previously chosen with community feedback. Emily said: The whole project itself is just such a beautiful example of thinking about what kind of rest do you need, and what kind of support do you need? The chairs are an example, I think, of tending to the spirit and the heart and the body [in] this work that really doesn’t end when you’re a parent and when you’re a grandparent, and when you are tending to this world that is in so much need of tending right now.— Emily Youngdahl Wright21st century opera Composer Eric Heukeshoven of Winona plans to head to Rochester to watch Hometown Opera Company’s New Media Opera performance, featuring scenes of new and familiar works staged in a multimedia format. The first act consists of scenes from Rochester composer Kevin Dobbe’s “Tempus Fugit.” The second act centers women’s voices with scenes from Verdi, Puccini, Dvořák, Wagner and Strauss. Performances are Friday, March 28 and Saturday, March 29 at 7:30 p.m. at the Rochester Civic Theatre. Eric Heukeshoven said the staging is: As 21st century as I can possibly imagine.It is an opera that explores the human experience and time, and it does this by combining live performances of vocalists and dancers with digital projections, what Kevin calls motion-capture ‘metahumans’ and singing projected avatars. I’ve seen a clip that he sent me recently, and it is absolutely mesmerizing.(He adds that Act Two scenes are “fully staged and choreographed, but also using projections that Kevin has created.”)— Eric HeukeshovenMinneapolis hosts breaking qualifier for national competition Kelly Rabe of Champlain started taking hip hop and breaking classes over the pandemic, and she wants people to know that Minneapolis will be in the national eye this weekend when it hosts the Red Bull BC One Cypher One competition. Local and regional b-girls and b-boys will compete in one-on-one battle style for a spot at the National Finals in Denver. The event will be held in a new venue on the Minneapolis scene: Royalston Square, located in the North Loop. There are open qualifier preliminaries on Friday. The main event is Saturday, starts at 7 p.m. and costs $10. Kelly described her experience: This is probably maybe my third year going to the BC One, and I have to say, it is like the most hyped event I have ever been to in the Twin Cities. I mean, it’s better than music festivals. It’s better than dance parties. There’s just an energy like nothing else. The spectators are really supportive of the dancers. They’ll be cheering, they’ll be screaming, jumping up and down when they see the dancers do amazing things. It’s a really welcoming community. Not to mention they have, like, world-renowned DJs that are spinning the tunes for these dancers. So, I mean, it’s a full dance and music action. — Kelly Rabe
From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.A spring garden in ceramics Cindy Pope is a ceramic artist from Waite Park. She got a dose of early spring by visiting the ceramics exhibit “Garden Party” at the Paramount Center for the Arts in St. Cloud. Created by Stacy Larson, who is originally from Cold Spring, the exhibit features wheel-thrown and hand-carved cups and tableware that look like delicate leaves and flowers, glazed in springtime colors. The exhibit runs through March. Voices of the Asian American experienceJulia Cheng of Duluth had a chance to hear the world premiere this fall of “mOthertongue: Lived Experience in Asian America.” Soprano Jennifer Lien of Duluth performs three song cycles commissioned by Asian American women composers, accompanied on piano by Lina Yoo-Min Lee. Lien commissioned these new works in partnership with the Cincinnati Song Initiative with support from the Minnesota State Arts Board Creative Individuals grant. The duo has continued to perform these works in what Cheng refers to as “a living collaboration.” They’ll perform highlights of the song cycles at the College of St. Scholastica’s “Lunch With Friends” on March 25, with the full performance on March 28 at the college’s Mitchell Auditorium. Julia Cheng was touched by the performance and looks forward to hearing it again.“I have to say that, as the child of immigrants from China, these songs really resonated with me,” Cheng said. “I always wondered, you know, how did they deal with the dislocation of leaving home, family, language, culture, developing new community, the wrenching loss of being separated from family? These are all things that I heard bits and pieces of in the song cycles by Melissa Dunphy and the other two composers.” Wood sculptures at Tettegouche Annalisa Buerke follows her former colleague artist Rick Love on Instagram, where she enjoyed watching his process of creating a series of sculptures now on view at the Tettegouche State Park Visitor Center in Silver Bay.The five sculptures are all made of wood — some painted, some charred — that celebrate both forests and sustainability. The works evoke the moon, the sun, a tree, a waterfall and Lake Superior. They’ll be on view through March.Tettegouche State Park’s Visitor Center includes both juried art shows (of which Love’s exhibit was one) and an artist-in-residence program.
From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.Generations of sewingDaniela Bianchini is a Minneapolis mosaic artist who is originally from Argentina. She’s drawn toward an exhibit at CLUES’ Latino Art Gallery in St. Paul that celebrates the art of sewing as it is passed through generations of women. The exhibit, by Columbian-Minnesotan artist Adriana Gordillo and Nena’s Atelier, is titled “Connective Thread.” It opens Friday, March 14 and runs through May 14. There is a Cafecito de Hermanas (Coffee with Sisters) on Saturday, March 15 from 9 a.m. to noon that offers a time for workshops, resources, music and community connection. Register here. Daniela says: I feel very related to it. We all in Latin America grew up seeing our grandmas and our mothers sewing. I’ve seen a couple of images that the artists have been posting in their social media: collages of different compositions of fabric and flowers and needles, and things that you see that represent the art of sewing. The community will be able to write something: their emotions, or their feelings about the exhibition, and some sort of petals that will then be sewed together and put in a dress.— Daniela BianchiniCelebrating Latinos on BroadwayAnne Sawyer, executive director of Art Start in St. Paul, is looking forward to seeing Teatro Del Pueblo’s “Voces Latinas: A Broadway Musical Revue.” Directed by Mark Valdez of Mixed Blood Theatre with musical direction by Brenda Varga, “Voces Latinas” celebrates Latino artists’ contributions to Broadway through the years. Shows are at Park Square Theatre in St. Paul, beginning Friday, March 14 and continuing Saturday, March 15 at 7:30 and Sunday, March 16 at 2 p.m. Anne says: If you love musicals, this production promises to be so much fun. Teatro del Pueblo’s performers will sing a curated, eclectic collection of songs that is a take on the Latino experience on Broadway. There are some older, really iconic numbers made famous by the likes of Chita Rivera, such as “A Boy Like That” from “West Side Story” and “Bye, Bye Birdie’s” “An English Teacher.” But there’s also pieces like Selena's "Amor Prohibido” and the “Hamilton” song “Dear Theodosia,” which was sung on Broadway by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Leslie Odom Jr. What is so engaging about this production is the range of musical styles and how they encompass so many themes, societal differences and passionate love, pride in one's mother country, family and the struggle to survive. It’s a show that will take you on a real roller coaster of emotion.— Anne SawyerLilith Fair lives on Laura Hotvet loves the cover band Pandora’s Other Box, and she’s excited for their upcoming concert, which feels tailor-made for Women’s Month. “The Legacy of Lilith Fair” celebrates the female musicians who took part in Lilith Fair in the late 1990s, and the artists who have followed in their footsteps. The concert takes place at the Women’s Club of Minneapolis on Saturday, March 15 at 7:30 p.m. Laura says: Pandora’s Other Box is one of the most energetic and fun-to-listen-to, fun-to-dance-to, talented pop rock cover bands in the Twin Cities. The show features songs from [Lilith Fair concert tour] founder Sarah McLachlan, along with Paula Cole, Sheryl Crow, The Chicks, Bonnie Raitt, Tracy Chapman, Pat Benatar, Indigo Girls and more. The second act will journey through the 25 years that followed, and this will be showcasing more current artists who benefited from the bravery of the original female pioneers in the Lilith era, such as Brandi Carlile, Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Carrie Underwood, Paramore and more.— Laura Hotvet
From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.Strange Paradises Visual artist Brian Frink of Mankato is looking forward to an exhibit newly opened at the Carnegie Art Center featuring the sculptures of Todd Shanafelt, Pocket Toscani and Jim Shrosbree. “Strange Paradises” is on view through March 22, with an opening artist reception Friday from 5-7 p.m. Brian says: Todd Shanafelt and Pocket Toscani are both Mankato residents, and Jim Shrosbree is from out-of-state. Jim and Todd are ceramic artists, and Pocket is more of a traditional sculptor, but what their work shares together is a kind of playful quirkiness. They are very abstract in their approach. But I would also say they’re kind of obliquely recognizable in terms of the content in the work. There;s also an interesting intersection of functionality and non-functional in all three of them. They are also very involved in painting and drawing. So, the exhibition will include their three-dimensional work as well as their two-dimensional work, which I think adds another texture and level of interest to what they're presenting.A show about making the most of the days we haveTheater lover Brad Pappas of St. Louis Park is looking forward to seeing the indie rock musical “Hundred Days.” It runs through March 22 at Theatre Elision, a black box theater in Crystal. The show is 80 minutes with no intermission. Brad describes the show: Abigail and Shaun decide to get married three weeks after they meet. Abigail is plagued by these dreams, and she’s convinced that the man she loves is going to die within in a little over three months. Abigail and Shaun concoct a plan. They’re going to live their whole lives in 100 days. They’ll have Halloween in the morning, Christmas in the afternoon, birthdays at sundown. This performance sounds so intriguing to me because it’s eight musicians. They’re all a part of the show, but they’re all playing instruments throughout the performance.Opera shrouded in mysteryBurlesque dancer Renata Nijiya of Minneapolis is intrigued by An Opera Theatre’s “Opera Underground.” There are four performances whose exact Twin Cities location and details will be revealed to ticket holders 24 hours before showtime. Performances are March 12 and March 13 in northeast Minneapolis at 7 p.m., March 16 in the Longfellow neighborhood at 5 p.m. and March 25, 7 p.m. in the West Seventh area of St. Paul, with ASL interpretation. Shows run 90 minutes. Renata loves the ways AOT makes opera accessible, through the work it chooses, its pay-as-you-can performances and ASL interpretation. She also offers this tip: “After each show, it’s going to roll into an after-party and have a local band performing … each location has a different local band,” she said.