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A puppet rock opera returns

Azure Anderson of St. Paul is an artist, musician, and podcaster, and she’s a huge fan of Phantom Chorus Theatre.

They are re-mounting the founders’ 2019 production of “Razia’s Shadow,” a puppet rock opera. The production contains 12 songs by Forgive Durden, performed live, with a new cast of puppet characters ranging in size from two to eight feet.

The show runs April 10–25 at the Hive Collaborative in St. Paul. In-person and live-streamed tickets are available. While not designed as a children’s show, Anderson says the show is recommended for ages six and older due to a few spooky elements; if your child enjoys Tim Burton’s film “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” this show should be a good fit.

Having seen all Phantom Chorus’s productions for the past three years, Anderson raves about them.

Azure says: “The visuals are always incredible. The music's always incredible. And the technical aspect never misses.

— Azure Anderson

Sewing and style at Twin Cities Frocktails

For Hannah Olanrewaju of St. Paul, sewing means community. She’s looking forward to Twin Cities Frocktails, an evening event where attendees are invited (though not required) to wear clothes they made themselves.

This year’s theme is “Making Through the Decades.” Frocktails takes place 6 to 10 p.m., Saturday, April 11 at Steady Pour in Minneapolis.

Hannah describes the vibe of the first Frocktails in 2024.

Hannah says: There's something so uniquely wonderful about being in a room with people who've made at least one part of their outfit and can really speak the same language as you do. And so, I remember walking around with my bingo sheet and getting to know people and where they're from.

They're asking you about your outfit, and you're asking them about their outfit. And so by the end of the night, you're saying goodbye to all these people that you've really never met before, but now, you’re finding ways to keep in touch.

I think that's something that's so beautiful about Frocktails and about sewing, specifically, that I don't think I've been able to find anywhere else.

— Hannah Olanrewaju

Poetry and community in Rochester

John Sievers is a trombonist from Rochester, but tonight, he’s looking forward to an event that celebrates poetry. The Southeastern Minnesota Poets will hold their next Bright Lights Poetry Night tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the historic Chateau Theatre.

The theme of tonight’s reading is “Emergence.”

John says: This event is really a community event that is encouraging people to come together as people who are interested in language and words and poetry.

And I just love the fact that I can hear people from my community sharing their deep thoughts about important themes in today's society.

— John Sievers

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A rarely staged musical comedy

Christine Sweet, a retired classical music radio host in St. Paul, is looking forward to seeing Minneapolis Musical Theatre’s production of "Grumpy Old Men," a musical adaptation of the 1993 romcom set in Wabasha.

The musical runs April 3–19 at the Conn Theater in Minneapolis.

Christine says: MMT brings us new and rarely performed musicals, digging deep to find forgotten gems and often presenting the local premieres of chosen works, which is the case with this production of “Grumpy Old Men.”

After a hard winter, we could use some belly laughs at the foibles of two lifelong rivals vying through snow and ice-fishing for the attention of their attractive new neighbor.

MMT draws on the Twin Cities' wealth of vocal, instrumental and theatrical talent, and I can’t wait to hear what they do with the soundtrack, which was commercially recorded just two years ago.”

— Christine Sweet

A poetic look at a scientific pioneer

Carolyn Pool, a writer and performer in St. Paul, recommends seeing “Ada Lovelace: Bride of Science,” a new play staged by nimbus theatre.

Daughter of the famed poet Lord Byron, Lovelace (1815-1852) was a mathematical genius who invented the Analytical Engine, a prototype for early computers. Carolyn says this play offers a great way to introduce children to an important historical figure in STEM. This show has sliding scale tickets. It runs April 4–19 at The Crane Theater in northeast Minneapolis.

The play is written by Twin Cities performer Nissa Nordland, who is also the head of the Twin Cities Horror Fest.

Carolyn says: [Nordlund] has a very, very big interest in both science and beauty and poetry. And so this is going to be, yes, a play about a woman in science, and it's going to be poetic, full of beautiful language and stellar performances.

— Carolyn Pool

Continuing a quiltmaker’s legacy

Brie Taralson owns Lykke Books, across the street from the Grand Center for Arts and Culture in New Ulm. She wants people to see the beautiful quiltwork on display in the Grand’s current exhibition, “Picking Up the Piecework: A Legacy of Creativity Through the Lens of Mary Hartten.”

After Hartten, an avid quilter, died, her family gave her fabric and unfinished piecework to be sold to benefit The Grand. This exhibit features quilts that have been made — in a variety of styles — using those pieces, thus continuing Hartten’s legacy. The exhibit runs through April 24.

On Sat. April 10 at 5 p.m., Mary’s son Randy Hartten will give a presentation about “An Unfinished Project,” a printed book of 54 of Mary’s quilt squares. Brie describes that project.

Brie says: What's really neat is you can actually see the “finished side” on one and flip the book over and see exactly how precise she was and how complicated the stitching was on the other side. And so you get a true behind-the-scenes look at how much math and geometry and and precision that was needed to do this well.

[Mary’s children] had this bound, and the the book itself is a piece of art. It's quite literally stitched together of her quilt pieces.

— Brie Taralson

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A beloved fantasy comes to the stage

Becca Buntjer of South St. Paul is looking forward to taking her kids to see the world premiere of the play “The Girl Who Drank the Moon” at Stages Theatre Company in Hopkins. The play is an adaptation of the novel by Minneapolis author and Newbery Medalist Kelly Barnhill.

The play runs March 27 through April 19 with performances both during school hours and on weekends. The show is 75 minutes long and is recommended for audiences age 10 and up. There is a special meet-the-author and book-signing event 6-7 p.m. on April 4 before that evening’s show.

Buntjer can’t wait to see a book her family loves adapted for the stage.

Buntjer says: It is a fantastical world with a fun, magic structure, and it's got sweet characters. It is about a young girl named Luna, and she you get to see her grow up as she learns about magic, forgets magic and then learns about it again.

She has this beautiful relationship with Xan, the old witch. You get to see how the different villages that Xan interacts with view her role as the witch. Is she the helper, or is she someone to be feared?

Pro tip: There’s a free parking garage half a block from the theater.

— Becca Buntjer

Generations connect over pastries

Kim Kivens is an actor based in Crystal who has performed before with Six Points Theater, but she’s looking forward to being in the audience for their upcoming production, the world premiere of the play “Vienna, Vienna, Vienna.”

The show follows three generations of women connecting over pastries in Vienna, from where the grandmother fled as a child. The show runs Sat. March 28 through April 12 at Highland Park Community Center in St. Paul. The play is 90 minutes without intermission.

Kim says: Six Points is a theater that I love. They are telling stories that are rooted in Judaism, which is close to me, because I happen to be Jewish — but they are universal stories.

— Kim Kivens

Stargazing through science and story

Erin Makela is an educator and author in Worthington, and she’s looking forward to seeing the play “Silent Sky” at Minnesota West Community and Technical College. The show marks director Eric Parrish’s 50th production.

“Silent Sky” tells the story of Henrietta Leavitt, a 19th-century astronomer and computer (meaning she did the math and science calculations) at Harvard. Though only men were allowed to touch the telescopes, Leavitt’s careful calculations unlocked a key tool for understanding the distance between stars and galaxies.

The play runs March 27-29 at the Worthington Campus Fine Arts Theater. Parrish will be honored after the Friday evening show. Following the Saturday evening show, astronomy instructor Paul Seifert will host a star party with telescopes available to view the night sky. After the Sunday matinee, there will be a talk-back with cast and crew.

As a preview, Erin says: The set looks like a lot of fun. They've got it set up to look like an observatory at the top, and there are different constellations that will be appearing throughout the show on the background.

— Erin Makela

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A story of the 1977 bank strike

As Artistic Director of the Twin Cities Women’s Choir, Randi Grundahl Rexroth loves Women’s History Month and the opportunity to empower women’s voices. She’s looking forward to the opening of Twin Cities actress Sandra Struthers’ new play “Hungry Like the Wolf," which tells the story of the 1977 bank strike in Willmar.

In the first bank strike in the U.S., eight women demanded equal pay with their male counterparts. The show features an all-female directing and design team. See it at the History Theatre in St. Paul, Saturday, March 21 through April 12.

Randi is looking forward to an engaging show with strong 80s vibes.

Randi says: The script is fast-paced and guaranteed to speak directly to us Gen Xers. Sandra Struthers uses comedy to engage the audience and discuss really difficult subjects like gender and gender inequity and double standards and harassment.

The cast includes Sandra and Jen Maren, who last teamed up at the History Theatre's production of ‘Glensheen,’ Allison Vincent, Sam Landman and History Theatre veteran JJen Burleigh-Bentz.

— Randi Grundahl Rexroth

A Gilbert & Sullivan tragicomedy

Allison Amy Wedell is the Alto Two Section Leader of the Twin Cities Women's Choir, and she’s looking forward to great singing on display in “The Yeoman of the Guard; Or, The Merry and His Maid” from The Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company.

Allison says this tragicomedy is “a little more opera than operetta” with a wider range of emotion than some of their satires. Performances run Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through March 29 at the Conn Theater at the Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis. The March 28 performance will be livestreamed.

Allison says it’s one of Gilbert and Sullivan’s most musically ambitious works, staged by local talent:

Allison says: It's music-directed by Dr. Randal Buikema and it's directed by Gary Briggle. I personally know Gary Briggle as an actor from his 10-year run in “Glensheen” at the History Theatre, but I'm really looking forward to seeing him apply his considerable musical theater talent to this show.

— Allison Amy Wedell

Painting Minnesota wildlife

Alejandra Pelinka is the Director of Creative Placemaking for the City of Bloomington, and she feels fortunate that she gets to see art exhibits curated by Artistry in the building where she works.

On display right now is Kat Corrigan’s exhibit “Minnesota Neighbors.” The series of vibrant paintings of Minnesota animals runs through April 19 in the Atrium Gallery at the Bloomington Center for the Arts.

Alejandra says: What I really love about this exhibit is how it really makes you slow down and notice the animals we live alongside every day.

You'll see a very loose, expressive painting method. And what I love about that is it gives it motion, and it gives it emotion as well. With this exhibit, specifically, you feel like you're not just looking at an animal, but it feels like you're kind of meeting it.

— Alejandra Pelinka

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‘Touching Two Worlds: Reality’

Koreen Valdovinos runs Open Minds Fusion Studio. She met Sherry Walling when they were both training to be aerial arts instructors 10 years ago, and Valdovinos is looking forward to seeing Walling’s next circus production, “Touching Two Worlds: Reality.”

Walling, who is also a clinical psychologist and author, partners with circus performer Lynn Lunny to create circus shows whose narratives focus on mental wellbeing. Shows are March 13 and 14 at Luminary Arts in Minneapolis, with a Circus Experience option that allows ticketholders to try out some circus arts for themselves on Sunday.

Koreen says this circus show revolves around themes of loss, embodiment, and healing through movement.

Koreen says: One of the greatest parts about watching good aerial dance performances is the shared feeling--almost like co-regulating with the people in the audience and the performers.

— Koreen Valdovinos

World premiere of “Abuelita”

Theater artist Tinia Moulder is a big fan of Prime Productions, which mounts plays featuring roles for women over 50. She’s looking forward to the world premiere of Nathan Yungerberg’s play “Abuelita.”

Directed by Shá Cage, the show runs at the Capri Theater in Minneapolis March 14-29 (preview night March 13).

Tinia says: I'm drawn to this show because not only is it featuring, four women of different races over the age of 50, but it's also a story of a multiracial family, and it's written by a man who is part of a multiracial family through adoption himself and through raising his own children.

And that reflects my own family as well. [The play takes us] to Spanish Harlem, summer of 1983, and there is a white Midwestern grandmother who wants to expose her mixed-race grandson to his Puerto Rican culture. So we have women that are trading wisdom and laughs and trauma and reflections from the past and looking forward to the future.

— Tinia Moulder

Eric A. Johnson’s “Periphery: Paintings + Reduction Relief Prints”

D’Mitry Lewman is an artist in Fargo, North Dakota, where he partners with Ted Martin at Ted Martin Art. He recommends seeing Eric A. Johnson’s exhibit “Periphery: Paintings + Reduction Relief Prints” at the Rourke Art Gallery and Museum in Moorhead, Minn. The show is on view through April 12 with an artist talk March 22 at 2 p.m.

D’Mitry says the wavy lines and clever titling of Johnson’s work invokes Vincent Van Gogh. To make reduction relief prints, Lewman says, “You take the initial block of wood and you carve away at it, you print on that, and then you continue to reduce it down into basically nothing.”

D’Mitry says: I just really feel like I connect with his work through his colors and his expressive lines. On display will be not only his printmaking, but his experiments within abstract art.

There are these beautiful, intricate gradients that almost look like squares of quilts and really engaging pieces all around.

— D’Mitry Lewman

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‘Our What Ifs Became Real Life’

Kayla Maria of Fort Ripley is an avid arts consumer, and she recommends a visit to the MacRostie Art Center in Grand Rapids.

She appreciated the multi-disciplinary show “Our What Ifs Became Real Life” by Amber Buckanaga and James Harvin, on view through March 27.

She describes the “intimate moments” of the exhibit.

Kayla says: As you walk into the exhibit, you're basically walking through time and through the timelines of James and Amber's ancestors and even thinking into the future. There were components like poetry, textiles, fashion, design and painting.

There was a moment where they were talking about Amber's family history with boarding schools and relating that to James's family escaping slavery.

— Kayla Maria

‘Monsters Not Monoliths! A DnD Actual Play’

Eli Effinger-Weintraub is really looking forward to seeing “Monsters Not Monoliths! A DnD Actual Play,” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 6, rescheduled from the original January date due to the federal immigration enforcement surge.

Professional game master Manny Elliott will run a live table-top role-playing game with a group of experienced actors/gamers while the audience watches the story unfold.

The show will run approximately three hours and is recommended for ages 18 and older.

Eli says this show should be a blast for experienced and would-be gamers, improvisers and storytellers.

The story follows a group of ordinary people in a city a lot like Minneapolis, when mythical monsters and fairy tale creatures start showing up, the characters have to decide whether to fight the new arrivals or stand with them.

— Eli Effinger-Weintraub

Lowry Hill Gallery grand opening

Kristin Makholm has a bead on the arts community as a former art museum curator and director and now a nonprofit fundraiser in the Twin Cities.

She recommends visiting the grand opening this weekend of the Lowry Hill Gallery in Minneapolis. Located on Franklin Avenue near Hennepin, the Lowry Hill Gallery will feature Minnesota and regional artists working in a representational style.

Kristin describes the two artists with featured shows starting Saturday.

Kristin says: Charles Lyon is a Minneapolis artist who paints what he himself has seen and experienced. For example, he paints nature as it appears in the urban environment or the landscapes of the Boundary Waters as seen from a canoe.

The show he's opening this weekend is called “Round Here,” which features paintings of the greenery of our Midwest spring, summer and fall.

Kirsten Tradowsky’s paintings are based primarily on photographs, reimagined through her own vibrant lens of paint color and expressive brushwork. The series of paintings called “Annemarie's Vision” uses her grandma's photos of family gatherings as source material to create paintings.

— Kristin Makholm

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Harp takes center stage

Kathy Kienzle is a retired principal harp of the Minnesota Orchestra. She’s looking forward to the upcoming Bakken Ensemble performance where the harp gets to shine. This season Bakken Ensemble celebrates 30 years. The performance is 4 p.m. Sunday, March 1, at Westminster Hall in Minneapolis.

Cheryl Losey Feder is the guest harpist, and Kienzle says this is a wonderful chance to hear her perform chamber music up-close, rather than with the full Minnesota Orchestra.

Kathy is particularly looking forward to hearing André Caplet’s “Conte Fantastique,” which she calls “extremely difficult and very, very fun to hear.”

Kathy says: One of the reasons I really love this piece is people think of the heart as a very beautiful, soothing, pretty instrument. And this piece really looks at the dark side of the harp.

It's based on a story by Edgar Allan Poe called “The Masque of the Red Death,” about a group of nobles who hole up in a castle and throw a masked ball while the populace dies of a plague, only to be killed off by a masked figure dressed as a plague victim.

— Kathy Kienzle

A visionary’s early years on stage

Brianna Regan is a former stage manager and ongoing arts fan in Minneapolis. She has seen both Theatre Elision’s current and previous productions of Grace McLean’s musical “In the Green,” and she liked it even better this time.

The musical is about the early years of Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179), a German Benedictine abbess, visionary, and composer whose writings spanned medical, natural history, philosophy, music and more.

The 90-minute musical focuses on a young Hildegard’s early years, when she entered the church after having visions. She is cloistered with an older nun, Jutta.

Brianna describes the show: It's a small, five-person cast that really deals with how to be a woman in the world, how to deal with using your voice, speaking up, being present and how to heal from trauma.

This time around, I really think it is even more relevant in our current political environment, as well as what we are dealing with here in Minnesota; it really hit me and gave me that kind of catharsis.

The artists in the show are just absolutely incredible. I cannot say enough good things about their musical talents. It is a little bit of a weird musical, but I will say, from start to finish, the story pulls you in.

— Brianna Regan

Chamber music in Nisswa

Stephen Gurney of Bemidji is a retired English professor with a self-described “indefatigable love of classical music.” He and his wife plan to make the drive to Nisswa to see the Lakes Area Music Festival perform Mozart and Borodin.

The concert is Sunday at the Lutheran Church of the Cross at 2 p.m. Saturday’s performance at Pillsbury Castle in Minneapolis is sold out. The program contains three pieces of chamber music by Mozart, Dvorak and Borodin.

Stephen offers some background on Borodin’s “String Quartet No. 2 in D Major”:

Stephen says: Borodin was one of the Russian five. These were five Russian composers who endeavored to express Russian folk music and even liturgical music in their in their works.

Borodin was by trade a chemist, and actually contributed a great deal to the advance of organic chemistry, but the Second String Quartet is a pure love song from beginning to end. It was dedicated to his wife. It was written and given to her on one of their anniversaries.

— Stephen Gurney

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‘Fíodóireacht Bheirte / A Weaving of Two’

Matt Schneider describes himself as a dancer and dance floor builder for the underground scene of electronic music in the Twin Cities.

He’s looking forward to the Valentine’s Day artist reception of a photography exhibit by married couple Saoirse and Sarah Weiss. Their joint exhibit, entitled “Fíodóireacht Bheirte / A Weaving of Two,” runs through April 5 at the Northside Artspace Lofts Gallery in Minneapolis.

Matt describes Sarah’s work as daytime photographs involving portraits and family and Saoirse’s work as nighttime images that capture the DIY dance scene.

He says the artist reception on Saturday (6-9 p.m.) will be a family-friendly dance scene with live music and a DJ.

Matt says: She's one of the few people who is given the privilege to carry a camera in these spaces where anonymity and privacy are really respected.

— Matt Schneider

‘Fiber, Fragment and Form’

Scott Pollock, museum director at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum in Winona, made a recent visit to the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska, Minn., where he enjoyed seeing Martha Bird’s woven baskets.

Her exhibit, “Fiber, Fragment and Form,” includes baskets displayed through the Spring Flower Show, on view now through March 15. Bird, who has a willow garden in southeast Minnesota, will give an artist talk on Sat. Feb. 21 from 1-2 p.m. called “Cultivating Willow: Building community through the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.”

Scott says most of Bird’s pieces are in the visitor center, though he advises stepping into the Arderson Horticultural Library to see Bird’s Japanese-inspired baskets with ikebana-style floral arrangements.

Scott says: What makes Martha's work really special is the level of detail that she goes into. As a basket maker, a willow harvester, she really looks at the functional approaches to form, but then she takes them into a sculptural level.

— Scott Pollock

‘Nordic Echoes’

Jennifer Olson of Golden Valley says she’s been visiting the American Swedish Institute since she was 5 years old. She’s looking forward to seeing the traveling exhibit “Nordic Echoes” when it opens on Saturday, Feb. 14.

The collection of contemporary Nordic folk arts includes works of textiles as well as work crafted from wood, metal, birchbark and more. A majority of the 24 artists represented are based in Minnesota, including Tia Keobounpheng, Sonja Peterson, Amber M. Jensen, Talon Cavender-Wilson, Pieper Bloomquist and Lucy and Gene Tokheim of Tokheim Stoneware.

The exhibit will be on view through June 7.

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Collide Theatrical’s ‘Little Women’

Renee Guittar is a Twin Cities dancer, actor, and choreographer. She’s performed in the past with Collide Theatrical Dance Company, and she’s looking forward to being in the audience to see their production of “Little Women.” The show runs Feb. 6–15 at the Luminary Arts Center in Minneapolis.

Renee says: I love seeing Collide’s shows, because the dancers are so impressive and athletic, and the shows are just jam-packed with storytelling that is accessible to all sorts of people, whether you've seen a dance show before or you haven't.

Yes, you're watching cool dance moves and lifts and turns and all that stuff, but there's a reason why the dancers are doing all those movements, and it's because of the story. And I always loved that as a dancer, but then also, since I've been an audience member, it's so fun to watch.

— Renee Guittar

Rochester City Jazz Festival

Eric Heukeshoven is a composer and jazz musician in Winona, and he says it’s worth the trip to Rochester on a Wednesday night to catch the Rochester City Jazz Festival. Each Wednesday in February, a different jazz group will perform at Thesis Beer Project from 6–8 p.m.

Heukeshoven has this rundown: This coming Wednesday [Feb 11] is a relatively new group from Rochester called Snacklebox. I would call it sort of an instrumental funk band, something along the lines of Corey Wong or even Tower of Power. Really fun — almost all Rochester musicians or Rochester-area musicians.

And then on February 18, Zacc Harris, who's an amazing guitarist from the Twin Cities, is coming down. He's a composer and a band leader who's been on the Minneapolis scene for many years." He's performing as part of a trio.

And then rounding it out on the 25th is Winona's own Aaron Lohmeyer, and he's formed a trio with a pianist named Mark Whited and Rochester drummer named Alex Ortberg. Aaron has lived in different parts of the U.S., where he’s always been close to the Mississippi, and so his music reflects the various cultures [along the river.]

— Eric Heukeshoven

‘Stardust & Soul’ by Sarah Pester

Charles “Corky” Reynolds works in the Historic Fournet Building in downtown Crookston, Minn., so he gets to see the art gallery on its second floor. That means, lately, he’s had a chance to appreciate Crookston artist Sarah Pester’s exhibit “Stardust & Soul: it’s in everything.”

The series of 41 watercolor, oil and mixed media paintings points both outward to the planets and inward, tying in Pester’s work as a yoga teacher and energy practitioner. The exhibit is on view through mid-April.

Corky says: You get overwhelmed in a sense that we're such a small part of the whole universe concept, and you kind of reflect and go, “You know, the situation we're in now, maybe that's just a little speck in the whole cosmos.”

— Charles “Corky” Reynolds

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Dinner with literary greats

Erin Janssens is a big fan of the Northfield Arts Guild Theater, and she is looking forward to their play “Little Wars,” which opens Friday. Set in the French Alps on the night before France falls to the Nazis, the play imagines a dinner party of female literary greats: Agatha Christie, Gertrude Stein, Dorothy Parker, Alice B. Toklas and Lillian Hellman.

The play runs Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m., through Feb. 8.

As the characters discuss what they can do to help Jewish people targeted by the Nazis, Erin says the play raises questions that feel timely.

Erin says: What do you want your legacy to be? How do you want to be remembered? Do you want to be remembered as someone who did something to help someone? Or do you want to just be someone who stood back and watched while others helped?

There are some serious themes in the show. They deal with antisemitism, xenophobia and your own moral responsibility.

— Erin Janssens

Classical words meet musical improvisation

Minneapolis author Cheri Johnson is looking forward to seeing the Ken Takata Ensemble set the words of Shakespeare, Jane Austen and other classic authors to music. The free event takes place this Saturday, Jan. 31, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at George Latimer Central Library, as part of the St. Paul Winter Carnival. Hear examples of Takata’s work here.

Cheri says Takata began by setting the songs in Shakespeare’s plays to music, but he’s expanded to include short Shakespearean passages, often starring female characters, as well as passages from other classic works. She says the music style varies to fit the words.

Cheri says: Ken started out as mostly a jazz musician, but there’s [also] stuff that sounds very classical, and then other times he does R&B, or it sounds very musical theater. He just sort of chooses a style, it seems, based on what inspires him in the text and how he can imagine a production looking.

— Cheri Johnson

A gospel tradition, continued

Ella Gates-Mahmoud of Minneapolis says she’s been to nearly all the productions of “The Sound of Gospel” since it began in 2018. The production, presented by Second Chance Outreach, takes place Sunday, Feb. 1, at 3 p.m. at the O’Shaughnessy at St. Catherine University in St. Paul.

Ella says to expect an array of music, from spirituals to quartets, solos to choirs, spanning the history and styles of gospel.

Ella says: I think it's important to note that gospel music is really a transformative experience. It covers an array of life experiences, and it encapsulates people's emotions, from happiness and joy to sadness to celebration.

It encompasses all of that, and you can find yourself crying and laughing at the same time. It's just a beautiful experience.

— Dr. Ella Gates-Mahmoud

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Everyday beauty, captured outdoors

Painter Adam Swanson of Cloquet recommends seeing the work of painter Matt Kania at Duluth Pottery, on view now through February. The exhibit “From There to Here” features Kania’s plein air paintings. There is an artist reception tonight from 5 to 7 p.m.

Swanson says Kania is a prolific artist who takes the time to notice — and paint — both landscapes and scenes of everyday life.

Dance meets science

Rachel Doran is co-director of Hothouse, a dance arts space in Northeast Minneapolis. She can’t wait to see Black Label Movement's show “Rules of Life,” which combines dance with findings from cancer research.

Performances are Jan. 16 and 17 — Friday at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday at 2 and 7:30 p.m. — at the Barbara Barker Center for Dance in Minneapolis. Please note: this 45-minute show seats audience members in pods for an immersive and up-close experience of the dance; no late-comers will be seated.

Rachel says: Black Label Movement, a local contemporary dance company helmed by Carl Flink. They are premiering a new work, “Rules of Life,” on Jan. 16-17, which has been in development for years, through Carl’s collaboration with cancer researchers David Odde and Paolo Provenzano.

BL’s work is physical-to-the-max, impressively so, pushing limits of what the dancing body can do, and what dancers can do together. I can’t wait to see this culmination of research and output come together on stage.

— Rachel Doran

A fusion of West African and Celtic music

Spoken word artist Ibrahima Kaba, known as IBé, of Robbinsdale loves the West African–Celtic blend of the musical group Canadh Croí, which means “singing of the heart” in Irish Gaelic and is pronounced “Conna Cree,” just like Conakry, the capital of Guinea (and hometown of drummers Fodé and Sana Bangoura).

The Twin Cities group combines West African rhythms with Irish and Scottish melodies. Their debut album is called “Badenya,” which is Mandinka for a family relationship that encompasses extended family. There is an album release concert Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Celtic Junction Art Center in St. Paul.

Ibrahima says: There is something nostalgic about the sound, how it both transport and transfixes. It both reminds me of the Guinean ceremonies and celebrations, and the feeling I get when I see pictures and videos of the Irish countryside.

I think a blending of music tradition gives a result that's truly more than the sum of its parts. When I listen to Canadh Croí, they don't only take me to Guinea and the Ireland I imagine, but also a place totally different, new and refreshing, a place that I believe is as American as the Statue of Liberty.

This is especially important to remember and celebrate in today's immigration climate, that one of the amazing and beautiful things about America is the opportunity it gives to bring together seemingly different cultures, to create something new, fresh and totally wonderful.

— Ibrahima Kaba (IBé)

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Fiber art finds a spotlight

Sandra Brick, a teaching artist at the Textile Center of Minnesota, recommends a trip to the Minneapolis Institute of Art to see Amy Usdin’s contemplative fiber arts exhibit, “After All.“

The show runs through Feb. 22 in the U.S. Bank Gallery.

Sandra says: I think it’s really great that Mia is giving fiber art this call-out in this show because, historically, fiber art has been considered a craft, and by having this exhibit at Mia, we’re saying that it is an art.

Amy's art is an expression of connection and transformation. There's woven layers, knots, found objects and time-composed pieces, both large and small, and many are hanging from the ceiling. So it's a truly immersive experience. You get to walk around the art. I would check it out just to learn and see how simple processes, like weaving, knotting, can be transformed into really contemplative, transformative pieces.

A lot of the pieces are very airy, and so you're actually seeing through them. You see how it all blends together and flows into one really great use of the space.

— Sandra Brick

Multimedia storytelling takes the stage

Performance enthusiast Laurel Podulke-Smith of Rochester follows the work of local artist Jessalyn Finch, who has a short multimedia film debuting this weekend.

“Embodied Landscapes” is the creation of Finch, Mary Mailand Schlichting and Laura Sukowatey. The film incorporates dance, large-scale drawing and sculpture.

The premiere takes place at the Historic Chateau Theatre in Rochester on Sunday, Jan. 11. Screenings are at 2 and 3:15 p.m., with an artist talk and Q&A in between. Attendees are encouraged to wear cocktail attire and enjoy mocktails while meeting the artists.

Surreal sisterhood in ‘Plano’

Minneapolis theater maker Caleb Byers recommends “Plano,” presented by Third Space Theater. The play runs Jan. 9–18 at the Alan Page Auditorium at Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis.

Caleb says he’s been anticipating this production since seeing Third Space Theater’s original show “Breach” at the Fringe Festival.

Caleb describes the play: Will Arbery is something of a magical realist-slash-surrealist playwright. And “Plano” is about three sisters, essentially in a sort of heightened reality and a sort of undisclosed period of time.

Time is a little bit strange in “Plano.” They, in a very surreal style, move through their specific problems. There’s very snappy, casual, modern dialogue. I'm incredibly excited for these artists in particular to tackle this.

— Caleb Byers

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Songs and stories with Kao Kalia Yang

Melissa Meyer works at Way to Grow, which focuses on education for families, including literacy, music and the arts. She's excited to attend “An Evening of Children’s Literature with Kao Kalia Yang and Friends” this Friday at 7 p.m. at the Ordway Theater in St. Paul.

In an evening of songs and stories, Yang will read from all her picture books, and Leslie Damasco and T. Mychael Rambo will perform songs Yang wrote specifically for the evening. Jocelyn Hagen, who composed music for the event, will play piano.

Melissa says of Kao Kalia Yang: Let me tell you, she has a gift. She really wraps you into the story. Her stories about are about her own personal experience as well as her family's experience coming here to the United States.

[The subject matter in her stories] can be difficult to hear at times, as far as just some of the difficult experiences, but in the end, it really inspires you to love community and love one another.

— Melissa Meyer

A ceremony of renewal for the Winter Solstice

Melanie Shirley of St. Paul is looking forward to attending the 24th annual Winter Solstice Blessing. She went last year and says she emerged from this theatrical, shamanic ceremony feeling refreshed and ready for the year to come.

The event is Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 7 – 9:30 p.m. at the Minnesota Opera Center in Minneapolis. This event is not recommended for young children.

Melanie describes the event: It's a blessing led by Jamie Meyer and Patricia Choate, and they lead the audience through a two-part ceremony about letting go of what's ready to die through the solstice and receiving blessings for new life.

So there's the Old Bone Mother who helps us to release what needs to go, kind of like a spiritual composting. And then in the second act, there are reindeer women who move through the audience with rattles and blessings, and they fill the space with new life.

There's storytelling and singing, and it ends with a wild drum jam. And so it is dealing with heavy themes, but there's a lot of lightness and humor. Jamie is hilarious, so there's hilarity and sacredness all at the same time.

— Melanie Shirley

Hanukkah Goblins in dance theater form

Shari Aronson of Z Puppets Rosenschnoz has taken part in many productions of Eric Kimmel’s beloved children’s book, “Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins,” but she says she’s never seen a dance theater production of the story.

Enter Little Tanz Theater, which was formed this year, led by Hannah MacKenzie-Margulies. Their family-friendly dance theater production of the classic story is Saturday at 2 and 5 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at Southwest High School in Minneapolis.

Shari says: I find [dance theater to be a] really a great way to express this story of bringing light to dark times and to really using your wits to overcome what seem like insurmountable forces against you.

The production incorporates klezmer music with some of my favorite local klezmer musicians, and that just adds such a feeling of being back in those small Eastern European villages — the shtetl.

— Shari Aronson

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Concerts at the Cedar Cultural Center

Renee Vaughan, who plays the Swedish folk instrument the nyckelharpa, recommends a concert on Friday that will bring a mix of musical holiday folk traditions.

Red Thread will perform along with Minneapolis and Duluth-based folk band Ponyfolk, Friday at 8 p.m. at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis.

Renee says: Red Thread is fronted by one of my absolute favorite singers, Sarah Larsson, with her lush, warm voice, coupled with these incredible harmonies, and it's mixed with a deep love of cultural lineage.

Their music spans from Yiddish and klezmer and Slavic, Scandinavian, Irish, English and American winter traditions, and they'll be sharing the stage with Ponyfolk. They're able to have this folk sound that creatively blends folk and rock and jazz and Nordic influences.

I'm sure there'll be opportunities to get up and move, but you can also sing, and it'll be like this lovely musical quilt covering the audience.

— Renee Vaughan

While you’re looking at the Cedar website, musician Leslie Vincent recommends you check out a performance there on Sunday at 2 p.m. by Ben Cook-Feltz, with Ann Reed and Zippy Laske.

Leslie says: He's an INCREDIBLE singer and performer. His “Holiday Shindig” is coming up on December 14 and features lots of my other favorite performers in town, including Zippy Laske, who I'm obsessed with.

— Leslie Vincent

A musical classic in Rochester

Voiceover actor Rebecca Brokaw-Sands is excited to see Rochester Repertory Theatre’s production of “Little Women: The Musical” this weekend.

Based on the classic story by Louisa May Alcott, the musical follows the four March sisters from childhood to adulthood. The remaining performances are tonight through Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 14 at 2 p.m.

Rebecca says: “Little Women” itself is a fantastic, heartwarming story that focuses on family and dreams and hope and following your own path, even when it's not the one that others would have chosen for you or the one that seems traditionally laid out by society.

The music is fantastic and supported very well by the voices in this cast. Amber Feind as Jo knocks it out of the park.

— Rebecca Brokaw-Sands

Symphonic celebration in Grand Forks

Stacy Bach is a band director at East Grand Forks High School, and she suggests coming back to her school’s auditorium this Sunday at 2:30 p.m. for the Greater Grand Forks Symphony Orchestra’s Yuletide Concert.

Expect holiday favorites, including Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite,” plus classic carols that invite the audience to sing along. The winner of the Young Artist Concerto Competition will also be featured.

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A Holmesian holiday twist

Heidi Dybing of Lanesboro loves the arts scene in her community. She’s seen the Commonweal Theatre’s production of “A Sherlock Carol” twice and plans to go back for more.

The story, she says, is equal parts Sherlock Holmes mystery and Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” with recognizable lines from each woven into the script. The show runs through Dec. 21.

Heidi says: This show is absolutely fantastic. It's eye candy because of the amazing sets with the amazing vintage props all over the stage and the walls and the ceilings. It is very Victorian, with authentic Victorian costumes and music.

— Heidi Dybing

Classical guitar meets civil rights anthem

Joe Haus, former president of the Minnesota Guitar Society, recommends seeing the vibraphone and guitar team of Vincent Hyman and Robert Ekstrand in concert at Lynnhurst Congregational UCC in Minneapolis.

The duo will perform music spanning three centuries, including classical, jazz, and tango. The Lynnhurst choir will join them to perform Oscar Peterson’s “Hymn to Freedom,” a civil rights anthem. The concert is 7 p.m. Friday. Admission is free, with donations accepted for the Sabathani Food Shelf.

Joe says: Vince Hyman is one of the best vibe players in town. Bob Ekstrand has been playing guitar forever: playing in rock bands, playing as a solo blues artist, jazz ensembles studying classical guitar. I can't recommend them enough.

— Joe Haus

Sketch comedy meets Santa Claus

Megan McDonough is a high school theater director who celebrates the season by seeing “Letters to Santa... With a Twist,” a one-woman show by Janelle Ranek.

Each year, Ranek co-writes and performs 10 new and returning characters who update Santa on their year and share their holiday wishes. This year’s run is at Bryant Lake Bowl in Minneapolis, Dec. 5–22, with all shows at 7 p.m.

Megan says: This show is hilarious! It is, it is essentially an individual sketch comedy... the likes of a “Saturday Night Live,” or like a Smosh comedy, where she creates a character, runs with it for a few minutes, and then we change characters, and we get to meet somebody new right afterwards.

My favorite is Marjorie. She's a motivational speaker, and there's usually a prop that the audience gets when Marjorie comes up to talk to you.

— Megan McDonough

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A harmonious gathering of voices

Singer and voiceover actor Jen Maren always enjoys seeing the Twin Cities Women’s Choir perform. Their fall concert, whose theme is “Ignite!,” takes place 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 23 at South High School in Minneapolis.

Maren says: This is an incredible group that is 140 voices, all non-auditioned, but incredibly professionally sounding. There's percussion, there's a string quartet happening.

There's some great jazz arrangements that are happening. There's all six-part harmony of all these women's voices raised in song. And I don't know about you, but we're living in a rather divided time right now, so a little bit of harmony would actually be soothing to my soul.

— Jen Maren

Celebrating Latinidad on screen

Filmmaker Maxie Rockymore is looking forward to the inaugural Serpentina Arts Film Festival at 6 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 25. at The Parkway Theater in Minneapolis.

The free event promises a range of styles of short films, all created by Minnesota-based Latin filmmakers. The theme is “Celebrating Latinidad Through Short Films.”

Rockymore explains why this film festival is important to her: When people share stories, and share other people's stories, that's when we connect and realize that we are all one. That's what filmmaking, I think, does for people.

— Maxie Rockymore

Holiday jazz with heart

Aaron Lohmeyer is an associate professor of music education and jazz band director at Winona State University, and he wants people to know about the holiday album release of a Winona band that’s also a family affair.

H3O Jazz Trio is the work of Eric Heukeshoven and his sons, Max and Hans, with wife Janet Heukeshoven as a frequent musical guest. They celebrate the release of their second album, “Combo Carols,” at the Steele County Historical Society in Owatonna at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22. The songs are mash-ups of holiday carols and jazz standards.

The trio also holds jam sessions at Two Fathoms Brewing in Winona on the third Sunday of every month.

Aaron says: One neat thing about the H3O trio is that their jam sessions also function as a fundraiser for area nonprofits. So it's not only a family band, but it's a band with a mission, and their commitment to give back to the community through music is really unique.

— Aaron Lohmeyer

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Centering voices of experience

Mankwe Ndosi is a community-engaged artist at Pillsbury House + Theatre in Minneapolis. She admires the work of zAmya Theater, whose original plays focus on housing and homelessness, drawing from the lived experience of the communities in which they perform.

Their show, “Living in America: The Waiting List is Full,” takes place in conjunction with Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. The hour-long performances are today through Friday, Nov. 21, at venues across the Twin Cities, including Minneapolis Central Library, Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis and 825 Arts in St. Paul.

Mankwe says: I think this group is really important, because a lot of times when we talk about making change, often things are happening from the top down, from large institutions or academics or policy makers, and we really seldomly actually are listening to folks who are in some of the hardest challenges situations, but they actually have the most information about what works and what doesn't work.

And so I think in this time, when there is room for change and transformation, it's helpful to be able to see people who are living it, who are the experts, who are also the visionaries of how to transform what can be some of the toughest situations that people can experience.

— Mankwe Ndosi

Wordplay and wonder in Longfellow

Sara Rothholz Weiner is an architect and potter living in Minneapolis, and she recommends a visit to the Snakpak Gallery in the Longfellow Neighborhood, where a sidewalk community makers event is also happening this weekend. The gallery features the work of Jim Ockuly.

Sara says: Jim Ockluly’s witty and evocative art explores the relationship of image and language. It's quirky, it's fun, it's thought-provoking, and it's accessible to all audiences. He explores our world with a sense of irony and a big dose of wonder that's very relevant to our times.

This [weekend] event, importantly, includes several local artists and craftspeople from the Longfellow neighborhood on a sidewalk art show and yes, bundles of local firewood [will be] for sale with proceeds going to Soup For You Cafe, a local soup kitchen that's free for all.

— Sara Rothholz Weiner

Jazz and emotional honesty on stage

Meghan Kreidler is a musician and actor in Minneapolis, and she’s shining a light on fellow musician Leslie Vincent, whose new album “Little Black Book” has its Twin Cities premiere on Sunday, Nov. 16 at the Parkway Theater in Minneapolis.

The jazz album of original songs explores the ups and downs of dating and marriage. Leslie and her band will be joined on Sunday by guest musician Jeremy Messersmith.

Meghan says: It's really hard not to fall in love with [Leslie] the minute she steps on stage. She just creates a really warm and fun atmosphere.

I remember the first time I ever saw Leslie perform, and it just felt really accessible and fun and kind of new, and it broke my kind of preconceived notions about what jazz can be and how it can feel from an audience perspective.

— Meghan Kreidler

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Music, storytelling and Ojibwe voices

Singer-songwriter Molly Dean of Minneapolis sees the musical group Bizhiki perform as often as she can, and she plans to drive to Grand Marais to see their concert on Saturday, Nov. 8, at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts at 7 p.m.

Bizhiki consists of Dylan Bizhikiins Jennings (Bad River Ojibwe), Joe Rainey Sr. (Red Lake Ojibwe), and S. Carey (who is also drummer for Bon Iver). It's a multimedia performance, including video from filmmaker Finn Ryan.

The concert is presented by the North Shore Music Association, which Molly says curates “an excellent calendar of music throughout the year.”

Molly adds: I can recall the first time that I saw them. I was blown away by their performance, with the drumming and the vocal soundscapes. And I said, “I'm going to see them wherever I can.”

It's very multi-sensory. They have a vast array of instrumentation that they use, and then there's a beautiful visual backdrop. It's a film that they created to really support and amplify the storytelling aspect of it.

The first time that I saw them, it became pretty clear that the intention really is to engage the listener on many levels, and with a purpose of [creating] human connection.

— Molly Dean

Magical realism without words

Actor Natalie Rae Wass of Minneapolis recently saw “Apartment 2B” at Red Eye Theater. There are no words in this masked show, which brings the characters in an apartment building together with a dash of magical realism.

There are three more chances to catch the show: Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Natalie says: It is a beautiful show that is created without spoken word. So it uses, of course, body language and scenery and lighting, music, sound effects to tell the story; but that makes it really universal and allows all of us to really see ourselves in every character.

We laugh at our shared annoyances and insecurities but also celebrate our shared triumphs, and you know the possibility of humanity coming together.

— Natalie Rae Wass

Letterpress with global reach

Doris Rubenstein of Richfield recommends exploring the art of letterpress printmaking at the “Just Letters” exhibit at the Olson Gallery at Bethel University in St. Paul.

There’s a reception and letterpress demonstration with David Wolske Thursday from 6–8 p.m. in the gallery. The show runs through Dec. 19.

The exhibit includes nine artists based in Minnesota and around the world. Rubenstein is a particular fan of Detroit-based Lynne Avadenka.

Doris says: Her resume is about as long as my left arm. I've seen her work, and I only wish I had room on my walls for some of it.

— Doris Rubenstein

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Brecht meets the gangster underworld in Frank Theatre’s Halloween opening

Peter Rachleff is a retired labor historian from Macalester College, and he recommends Frank Theatre’s staging of Bertolt Brecht’s “The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui,” a satirical play about authoritarianism and corruption.

The play’s title character, Arturo Ui, is an imagined cross between Adolf Hitler — whose rise Brecht fled Germany to escape — and Al Capone, and it’s set in the 1930s gangster underworld of Chicago.

Frank Theatre is known for mounting plays that challenge the status quo and spark conversation.

The play opens on Halloween and runs through Nov. 23 at the Ivy Building for the Arts in Minneapolis.

Rachleff, who has seen Frank’s previous productions of the show in past years, calls the play "very relevant to the moment in which we are living."

Peter says: We are living in a moment where not only is authoritarianism a concern, but so is corruption; and so whether it's pardoning this cryptocurrency guy or demanding that the Department of Justice reimburse the president $230 million, we seem to be experiencing the kind of synthesis that Bertolt Brecht imagined when he wrote “The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui.”

I think that Brecht's aesthetics of tearing down the fourth wall between the audience and the performers on stage is an aesthetic that Frank Theatre has engaged and deployed consistently and in challenging ways over the last 36 years. I've lived here about 45 years, and I'm very fortunate not only that we have a fabulous theater community, but that Wendy Knox and Frank Theatre are in the middle of it.

— Peter Rachleff

‘Phantom’ returns to the screen — with a 60-piece live orchestra

Tristan Crawford is a writer, director and animator in Minneapolis, and his plans for Halloween evening involve a new musical take on a famous phantom. Before Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote music for the haunted Paris Opera House, Gaston Leroux’s gothic horror novel was imagined as a silent film.

On Halloween night, the 1925 film “The Phantom of the Opera” will screen at Ted Mann Concert Hall on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis, accompanied by an original score by Twin Cities composer Philip Shorey. He will conduct the 60-piece Curse of the Vampire Orchestra as the film plays.

Tristan says: It's like the combination of going to the movies, but then also going to your favorite concert. They have flashing lights, they have fog, they have the screen playing the film. But then you also get to see the orchestra just play right in front of you.

Philip always dresses to the 10s, too. And you're just sucked into this amazing experience. I don't know what else you would want to be doing this Halloween.

— Tristan Crawford

A musical ‘Terminator’ brings joy and absurdity to Morris

Syd Bauer of Morris loves the joy and fun going into the production of “Terminator: The Musical” on the University of Minnesota-Morris campus, starting tonight.

Shows run Thursday and Nov. 1 (skipping Halloween), and Nov. 6–8 at 7:30 p.m., with a 2 p.m. matinee on Nov. 8 at the George C. Fosgate Black Box Theatre.

Syd says: I'm excited about “Terminator: The Musical” for lots of reasons, but for the main reason being that the folks putting it on are thrilled to be experiencing joy and silliness through their art.

I've gotten to talk to a lot of the folks doing tech for the show, and they're pumped about the comedy within it. They're pumped about the silliness in the props.

One of them is a bike helmet with a little toy helicopter attached to the top for the chase scenes. They're excited about what it means to be thinking about AI and technology as we're coming up on 2029, the year that the Terminator is from, to go back to the 80s.

— Syd Bauer

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Puppetry meets science

Musician Greg Herriges of Minneapolis recommends a date night or family trip to see Z Puppets Rosenschnoz’s performance of “Cellula.”

The show combines blacklight puppetry and live a capella music by improv vocalists Mankwe Ndosi and Libby Turner, zooming in on a story that takes place at the cellular level.

Performances take place at Sabathani Community Center in Minneapolis. Showtimes are Thursday at 5:30 p.m., Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. The show is recommended for ages 5 and up.

Microscope activity stations will be available 30 minutes before each show.

Greg says: It takes the world that you might see in a microscope and brings it to glow-in-the-dark life. It is educational, mesmerizing, funny.

The live music by Mankwe and Libby is somewhat improv-based, I believe, but it also includes intertwined melodies and sound effects to create just beautiful soundscape to this great fusion of art and science.

— Greg Herriges

A haunted Winona theater show

Writer and playwright Kathleen Kenney Peterson of Winona plans to get into the Halloween spirit by attending “Mallory’s Ghost,” an original ghost story and murder mystery set in a haunted theater.

The play involves three heiresses and a ghost with something to say.

It’s written and produced by Margaret Shaw Johnson of Winona, who has written several plays and a book inspired by local hauntings. The show runs Friday, Oct. 24, through Sunday, Nov. 2. Tickets are available through the Great River Shakespeare Festival.

Kenney Peterson is also excited about the venue.

Kathleen says: The Historic Masonic Theatre here in Winona has been closed for two years for renovations, and this play will be the first opportunity the public has to be in the building for over two years!

— Kathleen Kenney Peterson

Polka, anyone?

Folk musician Sarah Larsson of Minneapolis plans to see the Upper Midwest Folk Fiddlers perform at Tapestry Folkdance Center in Minneapolis, Thursday at 7 p.m.

Expect to hear — and dance to, if you choose — polkas, schottisches, waltzes and other traditional tunes.

Sarah says: I think maybe a lot of people know about folk music from Appalachia or from the American South. But turns out, of course, here in the Upper Midwest — Minnesota, Wisconsin, the Dakotas — there's folk music, too, that comes from the early 20th century and the middle of the 19th century.

What this group considers folk music from this region is all the music of different immigrants from Europe during that era, as well as Indigenous communities.

— Sarah Larsson

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Mental health and community expression in Morris

Missy Polster, a former healthcare worker connected to the 210 Gallery in Sandstone, is passionate about art that intersects with social justice.

She highlights “Waiting for Beds,” a powerful exhibition featuring artists Moira Villiard and Carla Hamilton, alongside submissions from community members. It’s on view at the Morrison Gallery at the University of Minnesota Morris through Nov. 25.

Missy says: It's beautiful, it's moving and it does make you think, which is how I hope everybody wants art to be.

— Missy Polster

A literary road trip through Minnesota’s complexity

Chris Vondracek, a journalist for the Star Tribune currently based in Washington, D.C., recommends “Greater Minnesota: Exploring the Land of Sky-Blue Waters” by author Patrick Hicks.

Hicks, who teaches at Augustana University, takes readers across the state in a travelogue rich with regional nuance.

Hicks will speak and read from his book at St. John’s University in Collegeville Thursday at 7 p.m.

Chris says: I came away from it feeling just this absolute sense of how large and how boisterous and how impossibly contradictory sometimes Minnesota can be.

— Chris Vondracek

Grieving through color and text in St. Cloud

Olivia Norquist is the marketing and programming coordinator at the Grand Center for Arts and Culture in New Ulm. She recommends “Letters to the Void,” a solo exhibition by Eric Twait at the Paramount Center for the Arts in St. Cloud, running through November.

Twait will be present at an artist reception on Friday, Oct. 17, from 4 to 6 p.m. in Gallery C.

The show is a deeply personal exploration of grief following the loss of Twait’s' wife, Maria.

Olivia says: At our gallery, we actually had someone who left in tears after seeing the paintings.

— Olivia Norquist

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A storytelling road trip from Grand Marais to Winona

Rose Arrowsmith is a storyteller and children’s book writer from Grand Marais, and for the second year in a row, she’s making the six-hour drive to Winona to attend the Sandbar Storytelling Festival.

The festival, held on Friday and Saturday, features seven storytellers from around the country, including local talent, offering a series of storytelling events at the Page Theatre.

There are also free events Friday through Sunday at the Historic Mason Theater, the Winona Public Library and two Winona churches. Find the schedule here.

Rose describes the transportive nature of storytelling: This is oral storytelling, so oftentimes it's going to be one person up on stage, and they might be telling a story from their own life. They might be telling a folktale or a myth or some combination thereof.

Some people are really theatrical storytellers and do voices and a lot of physicality. And some people, it feels like you're in a really intimate conversation until you realize you're lost in a story.

Rose is particularly excited to see Elizabeth Ellis, whom the NEA named an American Masterpiece Touring Artist.

Rose says: If you're in the storytelling world, you've known her name for forever. She doesn't really travel anymore, but she tells these traditional stories from her experience in Appalachia.

— Rose Arrowsmith

A play about care, connection and humanity

Twin Cities theater-maker Shanan Custer is looking forward to seeing Martyna Majok’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Cost of Living” staged by Full Circle Theater.

The show runs Oct. 10–18, including accessibility matinees Saturdays at 1 p.m., at 825 Arts in St. Paul. The play lasts an hour and 45 minutes with a 10-minute intermission. Tickets are pay-as-you-are-able.

Shanan says: It's an incredible acting show. You really get to know the characters. And the show has two characters [out of four] who have disabilities. And in this particular production, we have two characters who are using wheelchairs. They both require caregiving, but the show isn't about disability.

All of the characters are fully realized, and the show is asking us to think about all the ways that we intersect, whether it be how much money we make in a year, or how we're able to move about in the world, or how others perceive us.

— Shanan Custer

Glamour, vintage, and Prince-inspired fashion on the runway

Leslie Firkins is a wardrobe stylist living in St. Paul, and she’s looking forward to Glam Jam, a vintage fashion show and corresponding clothing market, both held at The Hennepin in Minneapolis. It’s a Prince-inspired event as well as a fundraiser for Hennepin Arts.

The high-glam 80’s style fashion show kicks off at 7 p.m. Friday night.

Leslie says: The stylist is Richard Anderson. He's a really well-known icon and stylist here in the Twin Cities, and I just can't wait to see what he pulls together.

And then on Saturday, there is a vintage market where you can shop a lot of the vendors that provided a lot of the clothes and pieces that we saw in the show the night before.

I think it'll be a really good time to be inspired to maybe pick up some vintage to mix and match with your modern clothes.

— Leslie Firkins

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Meander through artists’ studios along the upper Minnesota River Valley

Musician Clark Machtemes of Waconia recommends the Meander Art Crawl, a three-day, self-guided tour of artists’ studios across western Minnesota.

This year’s event features 42 artists in towns including Ortonville, Appleton, Madison, Milan, Dawson, Montevideo, Granite Falls and Canby.

The Meander runs:

Friday: 12 – 6 p.m.

Saturday: 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Sunday: 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Machtemes notes that several towns will also host evening musical performances. (Find a map here.)

The quiet beauty of the everyday

Minneapolis painter Ken Johnson recommends Justin Terlecki’s solo show, “Hidden Place,” on view at Groveland Gallery in Minneapolis through Oct. 11.

Ken says: It's a series of nine paintings in oil. They're scenes reproduced from photographs and from his remembered events of places and friends: sleeping, exploring the outdoors, eating — all relatable.

He's creating a living history through these subtle artworks. His oils are in muted blues and greens. It's best seen in person because he uses these small brushes, and you can actually see these little brush strokes.

— Ken Johnson

Kick-start spooky season with Theatre 55’s production of ‘Sweeney Todd’

St. Paul’s Heather Foxx says she first discovered Theatre 55 — a Twin Cities theater company featuring actors aged 55 and older — through Art Hounds.

After appearing in some of their past productions, she plans to be in the audience for their fall show, “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.”

Heather says: This fall, they’re kicking off the spooky Halloween season with “Sweeney Todd,” filled with beautiful, eerie, haunting melodies, with actors and actresses of 55 and older.

— Heather Foxx

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The Saint John’s Bible Experience

Calligrapher Maura Lynch of Minneapolis encourages a visit to The St. John’s Bible, a monumental work of sacred calligraphy and art housed on the peaceful campus of St. John’s University.

The Bible, which involved significant contributions from Minnesotans, can be viewed year-round both in person and digitally.

Maura says: Calligraphy is seen first and read second. When you experience the words in the Bible that have been rendered in a visually and aesthetically beautiful way, it elevates the entire experience.

— Maura Lynch

Edge of the Big Woods Art Wander

Hutchinson-based potter Betsy Price recommends the Edge of the Big Woods Art Wander in Carver County. The self-guided studio tour runs through a wooded landscape that gives the region its name, and features over 40 artists, including potters, jewelers, painters, woodworkers and more. Visitors can explore studios, watch live demos, and connect with artists.

The event runs Friday through Sunday, with stops including the Mocha Monkey where there will be a pottery demo by “Jon the Potter.”

Betsy says: It feels like a true wander through art and nature.

— Betsy Price

Kinship and Clay at Form + Content Gallery

Minneapolis arts advocate Becky Smith shares her admiration for “Kinship,” a show at Form + Content Gallery that pairs Chris Cinque’s life-size charcoal portraits of friends from her lesbian and nonbinary community with expressive ceramic vessels by Sharon Jaffe, a radical Jewish feminist artist.

The exhibition runs through Oct. 4 in the North Loop of Minneapolis.

Becky says: They're celebratory, and they also serve as a real documentation towards resistance and survival of people who are experiencing an oppressed sexual identity.

— Becky Smith

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Honoring Marley Kaul’s legacy in book and gallery

Visual artist Paula Swenson remembers painter and former Bemidji State University professor Marley Kaul (1939–2021) as a mentor and a creative force in northern Minnesota.

Swenson is excited for a new retrospective coffee table book, “Marley Kaul: Paintings,” covering six decades of his work.

Book launch events include:

Sept. 18, 5–8 p.m. at Open Book in Minneapolis

Sept. 23, 5–7 p.m. at the Watermark Arts Center in Bemidji

Sept. 25, 5–7 p.m. at the North Dakota Museum of Art in Grand Forks

A corresponding retrospective exhibition of Kaul’s work is also on view at the Talley Gallery at Bemidji State University through Oct. 30.

Paula recalls one memorable moment turned painting: My husband and I were over to his house, talking to him, and just at that time, a bird of prey flew under the deck — under Marley. It was just that fast.

And later on in that month, we went to visit, and Marley had done a painting of that experience, of the bird flying underneath him, under the deck and out again.

— Paula Swenson

A call and response: Peter Williams at MCAD

Independent curator and art consultant Esther Callahan recommends “Peter Williams: Homegoing — A Call and Response,” on view at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design through Nov. 1.

Esther says: The longer you look, the more you will see the depth of connections that are built into the space. For example, there are sight lines in this exhibition that have artists like Russell Hamilton directly communicating with seangarrison that beautifully builds on the narrative that is foregrounded in this exhibition by Peter Williams in memory and remembrance of his passing in 2021.

This exhibit itself is rooted in honoring the complex experiences of Black Americans through historical and contemporary narratives with both a really good sense of humor and candid honesty.

It’s really important to note that this exhibit is supported by a chorus of 15 Minnesota-based Black artists responding to Williams profoundly human, critical and beautiful work.

— Esther Callahan

Songs with names take center stage

Allison Amy Wedell of St. Paul is Alto 2 Section Leader of the Twin Cities Women's Choir. She’s looking forward to the comedic cabaret “What’s In a Name?” happening for one night only on Sept. 22 at the Hive Collaborative in St. Paul.

Allison says: “What’s in a Name?” is the brainchild of local actress and singer Jen Maren and local pianist and teacher, Andrew Fleser, who noticed the impressive and varied array of songs with names for titles and decided we needed to hear as many of them as they could fit into one show!

I’m already familiar with Jen Maren’s work, especially in her role as the murderess Marjorie Congdon in “Glensheen” at the History Theatre, but I understand that for the first time, she weaved some original stand-up comedy in among the music.

Fleser's gorgeous accompaniment and quiet zingers provide the perfect foil for Maren's raucous charm.

— Allison Amy Wedell

Correction (Sept. 20, 2025): An earlier version of this story misstated the singer’s name in the comedic cabaret section and the Art Hound’s name. The story has been updated with the correct names.

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Queer Muslim coming-of-age on stage

Anita Chikkatur of Minneapolis is an educator and theater enthusiast. She’s excited for Theater Mu’s production of “Maybe You Could Love Me,” a new play by Samah Meghjee.

The story follows the evolving friendship between two queer Muslim women across three stages of life — childhood, adolescence and adulthood — all portrayed by the same pair of actors. Directed by Katie Bradley, the play opens Theater Mu’s 2025–26 season.

“Maybe You Could Love Me” runs through Sept. 28 at Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis, with previews beginning today.

Anita says: One of the things that I love about Theatre Mu is that it showcases the very diverse experiences of the Asian American communities in the United States

We need to kind of understand how diverse Asian Americans are across sort of cultures, nationalities, religion, sexuality, immigration status and so on.

— Anita Chikkatur

A celebration of children’s literature in Red Wing

Children’s book author Peter Pearson of Minneapolis is looking forward to the Minnesota Children’s Book Festival at the Anderson Center in Red Wing.

The event gathers a wide range of Minnesota writers and illustrators to speak, sign books, and lead activities for children and families. Attendees can explore the estate's Art Barn, sculpture garden, and grounds.

The events has a strong lineup this year, including Art Coulson, Justice Alan Page, Cristina Oxtra, Chris Monroe, Pete Hautman and Molly Beth Griffin.

The Minnesota Children’s Book Festival takes place Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Anderson Center in Red Wing.

Peter says: It’s just really wonderful. They have a really good lineup this year.

Just a lot of really good folks, picture book all the way up to YA stuff. So there’s really something for everyone.

— Peter Pearson

Music on every block at Rochester Porchfest

Ken Simurdiak of Rochester recalls the first time he and his wife stumbled upon Porchfest, a grassroots neighborhood music event in the Kutzky Park area.

Local bands perform on porches across the neighborhood while audiences stroll, bike, or bring lawn chairs to enjoy the performances. With four bands playing each hour, attendees can hear a wide variety of styles, including blues, rock and folk.

Porchfest takes place Saturday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Rochester’s Kutzky Park neighborhood.

Ken remembers: Every hour, four bands would play, all located at different houses. And so we walked around looking for music that we liked, and there’s a variety, everything from blues to rock to folk.

And after that, we were hooked, and we have been attending ever since

— Ken Simurdiak

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Ojibwe art and teachings at Tettegouche State Park

Eric 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 animation

Sandra 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 theater

Actor 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.” 

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Edible creativity at the State Fair

Morgan 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 Kempton

Carved emotion in Hopkins

Janet 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 Kilsdonk

Transforming stuffed animals with clay

Courtney 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

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Shakespeare with a twist

Luke 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 Fanning

Tim 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 Halliday

A symphonic ‘Ring’ in Brainerd

Justin 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

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A clown’s farewell at the Fringe

The 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 change

Suzie 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 sky

Choral 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.

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‘Hidden Herald’ returns with new audio stories around St. Paul

Last 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 Davis

Favorites from St. Croix Valley Pottery Tour in one accessible location

Cindy 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 tour

Cindy 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 Ihlenfeld

People at Play

Lou 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 Ferreri

Correction (July 10, 2025): An earlier version of this story misidentified Jamie Daniels and had incorrect information about “Hidden Herald.” The story has been updated.

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Healing through the senses

Molly 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

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‘Of the Earth’ joins the Detroit Lakes trolls

Former 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 Barnes

A one-woman musical, for those who wait

Lux 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 Mortenson

Nature in natural materials at the Arboretum

Art 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 Rubenstein

Correction (June 12, 2025): An earlier version of this story incorrectly spelled Lux Mortenson's name. The story has been updated.

Americana in the Historic Auditorium

Jean 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 Shore

A Sondheim musical at the Ritz Theater

Twin 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 Engh

Improv Festival Moves to Phoenix Theater

Michael 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.)

A path to healing

Ruth 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 Sloven

Stop, collaborate and listen

Joseph “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 Housley

Epp squared

Kari 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 Olk

Correction (May 29, 2025): An earlier version of this story misspelled Kyle Krause. The story has been updated.

Celebrating the work of Duluth artist Oddio Nib

Jeff 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 Song

Amanda 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 Helling

Tell Me a Story

Peter 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

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Showcasing dance from across Somalia

Sabrin 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 Nur

Books meet architecture meet sculpture

Peggy 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-Kennon

Photo exhibit asks us not to look away from homelessness

Gabriel 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

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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 Lee

Native stories on screen

Actor 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’orantes

Youth strings take the spotlight in Marshall

St. 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

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Dioramas of the Twin Cities’ most beloved landmarks

Shari 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 Aronson

A love of natural stone and kiln-fresh pottery

Kevin 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 Bishop

Graffiti, chance and found object art

Kylie 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

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Time-traveling puppets and Cherokee futurism

Oogie 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 Push

Laughter, identity and healing at the Ordway

Terri 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 Thao

Honoring Minnesota’s poetic legacy

Joshua 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

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Vanishing flora, captured on handmade Paper

Minneapolis-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 Mojsilov

A 21st Century Take on Theater of the Absurd

Theater 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 Metro

Retired 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

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Musical premiere in Bemidji tackles small-town healing

Kevin 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 Cease

MacMillan’s transformative choral work

Stephen 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 Kingsbury

Zappa’s legacy lives on in Mankato tribute

Paula 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

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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 Wright

21st 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 Heukeshoven

Minneapolis 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 

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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 experience

Julia 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. 

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Generations of sewing

Daniela 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 Bianchini

Celebrating Latinos on Broadway

Anne 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 Sawyer

Lilith 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

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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 have

Theater 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 mystery

Burlesque 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.

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One-act plays in Winona

Daryl Lanz, owner of Chapter Two Books in Winona, is glad to see Theatre Du Mississippi’s One Act Play Festival returning for a second year.

Playwrights from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa submitted original work earlier this winter, and the winning four short plays will be performed together to make a performance running about two hours.

The result is a grab-bag of comedy and drama by regional writers ranging from 10 to 50 minutes. Shows will be performed at the Valencia Arts Center’s Academy Theatre in Winona this weekend and next, Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.  

A family of artists

Visual artist Fawzia Khan of Hopkins recommends the exhibit “Reflections and Conversations: Monica Rudquist and Jerry Rudquist” at the Catherine G. Murphy Gallery at St. Catherine University in St. Paul.

Assistant professor Monica Rudquist explores the relationship between her ceramic art and paintings by her late father, Jerry Rudquist (1924-2001), who taught painting at Macalester College for 42 years.

On the gallery’s second floor, Sophia Gibson — an honors student of Monica’s — extends the legacy one step further by curating an exhibit of Jerry’s portraits. 

The exhibit runs through March 16, with an artist talk by Monica Rudquist on March 5 at 6:30 p.m. There will also be a screening and panel discussion of the short film “The Painted Eye,” which documents Jerry Rudquist’s painting process on March 12. 

In the East Gallery, Monica Rudquist’s deconstructed and reassembled bowls, plates and cylinders reflect the shape and textures of her father’s work.  

“Both artists deconstruct objects and put them together in new ways to create imaginary forms and leave the marks of their hands on the works,” Khan said. 

Pining for the fjords

Diane Hellekson, retired writer and former art critic for the St. Paul Pioneer Press, was inspired by the mixed media exhibit “Sund: Notes from the Sea” showing at Form + Content Gallery in Minneapolis.

Minneapolis artist Moira Bateman created works reflecting on her summer 2024 residency in Ålvik, Norway, and on the human impact of its fjords. The exhibit includes found objects pulled from the fjords, textiles and an audio element that immerses listeners in the sounds of the sea and underwater noise pollution.

The exhibit is open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays through March 8, with an artist coffee reception on Saturday, March 1 from noon to 3 p.m. 

Hellekson called it an intimate show that gave her a feeling of  “wonder and curiosity.” She says you have to look closely at each piece and see “What is this? Oh my gosh. This is a plastic bag, and you find out that Moira dug it out from among some rocks in a fjord in Norway, and yet, here it is in this strange, deteriorated condition on the wall of a gallery.”

“And it makes you think [how] this thing probably was there for years, and yet, if Moira hadn’t plucked it out, it would have kept breaking down, and all these little shards of plastic would have gone on to pollute and end up in some animal’s belly. It’s very emotionally affecting, and yet it’s also beautiful.” 

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Artists at work 

Diane Richard of St. Paul worked for 21 years at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia), and she wants people to know about “Artists at Work: the Mia Staff Art Show.”

It’s tucked away in the community commons area just past the cafe and the family center (pro tip: you can bring your lunch with you to the exhibit!) The show runs through April 13. 

Diane explains: You might never have thought about it, but the people who work in museums are often artists themselves — and good ones, too. They work as security guards, and they create public programs, hang art on the walls, help you figure out where you’re going, and sell you stuff in the shop.

And they work in everything from oil painting to watercolor and prints, ceramic sculpture to embroidery, video and collage. There’s even a tarot card created from crop seeds.  

One work waves from the wall: the menacing loon flag was security guard Rob McBroom official entry into the state’s flag contest.  As I strolled around, Cara O’Connell's portrait of Myrna drew me over. It’s from O’Connell’s series on caregivers. Myrna is a beatific presence under a halo of robins.

For me, the showstopper was Adam White’s “It Came with the Room.” White’s triptych collage is layered with thousands of cartoon bubbles filled with intriguing messages, many about the hellhound Cerebus. You could spend hours in front of it searching for meaning. 

Overall, the show gives insight into the mostly unseen hands responsible for MIA’s daily operations. What comes through is their passion for art.

— Diane Richard

The art of mental health 

Carla Mansoni is the director of arts and cultural Engagement at CLUES, one of the largest and oldest Latin organizations in Minnesota. She wants people to know about “The Art of Mental Health,” a group show of art created by people who work in the mental health field, curated by Kasia Chojan-Cymerman and Thrace Soryn.

The exhibit at the Vine Arts Center in Minneapolis opens this Saturday, Feb. 22, with an artist reception from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. featuring a performance by psychologist/musician Mindy Benowitz. The show runs on Saturdays through March. There is a performance by bluegrass Americana trio Echo Trail on March 15.  

Carla says: The idea is to focus on the mental health professionals who also use art to heal themselves. This is a wonderful opportunity to showcase the diversity of art forms and how art and culture also heals the healer, elevating the humanity of those working in mental health spaces.

 — Carla Mansoni

SEEN

Jennifer Bowen, founder and director of the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop, was deeply moved by the exhibit “SEEN” currently on display at the Weisman Art Museum on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis.

Curated by Emily Baxter of We Are All Criminals, this show is half a decade in the making. Seven artists partnered with seven incarcerated artists to create installations. The show runs through May 18, with a panel conversation planned for Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 6 p.m. 

Some installations respond to incarcerated life, such as work by Sarith Peou and Carl Flink, which reflect the steps of traditional Cambodian dance Peou used to keep himself active and healthy while on COVID lockdown in his cell.  

Jennifer says: There’s another exhibit of a poet named Brian, who’s got a massive chandelier of bird cages hanging from the ceiling with some of his poetry being read and voiced over by himself and other folks that he lives with. And I think the title of the poem is “We Can’t Hear Ourselves Sing,” and it’s about the kind of chaos and cacophony of life inside a prison.

It was the first thing I saw when I walked into the exhibit. And it literally took my breath away, the way that it speaks metaphorically not just to the pain that incarceration causes, but to the kind of human need to still find beauty in the midst of that pain. 

But then there are other artists who chose to think about what the future would look like, or what healing might look like. There’s an artist named Ronald who has a garden reminiscent of the garden his grandfather grew when he was in Detroit that’s meant to be this kind of healing look forward. It’s a really heavy but beautiful exhibit.  

And one thing this exhibit does is offers the community, not only a chance to listen on phones to the artists’ voices and to see interviews, but it also gives the public a chance to write notes to them that will go back to them. 

— Jennifer Bowen

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Take your valentine somewhere that’s green 

Writer and art lover Susan Montag recommends the work of Theatre 55, a Twin Cities-based theater company whose shows all feature casts of actors over age 55. Their production of the musical “Little Shop of Horrors” is playing at the Gremlin Theatre in St. Paul through Feb. 22.

She’s particularly looking forward to hearing vocalist Patricia Lacy, who is known for her work with Luther Vandross and with Sounds of Blackness, sing out “Feed me, Seymour,” when she plays the hungry plant from outer space, Audrey II.  

Susan says: I’ve seen a lot of the Theatre 55 shows. They are always so much fun. I like to see on the stage the folks who represent someone in my age group, showing that people over 55 are still very vibrant, very energetic and have a lot of talent to share!

— Susan Montag

Take your Valentine to see a rom-com play in Duluth 

MacKenzie McCullum is a writer and podcaster living in the Twin Cities, and she suggests taking your Valentine to see a Minnesota-original rom-com play at Zeitgeist Theater in Duluth.

“String” opens tonight and runs through Feb. 22. There is an ASL-interpreted performance Wednesday, Feb. 19. The play was a runner-up for the Kennedy Center Mark Twain Comedy Playwriting Award. 

MacKenzie says: I like to say that this play is like your favorite Nancy Meyers or Nora Ephron romantic comedy that you see on screen, but it’s on stage. It’s just a beautiful showcasing of genuine love that you can find every day.

It’s an unlikely courtship between a poet and a pizza delivery boy. It’s a great ensemble play: there are lots of great characters that will make you laugh out loud.  

The playwright, Jessica Lind Peterson, is a Duluth native. She actually wrote this play while she was in school at the University of Minnesota Duluth. She went on to co-found Yellow Tree Theater based in Osseo. “String” had kind of a life of its own in productions all over the country, and now it is back in Duluth for the 20th anniversary.

— MacKenzie McCullum

Match made in heaven: Mathematics + art 

Freelance mathematics writer Barry Cipra of Northfield recommends a solo art show that celebrates the connections between mathematics and art.

John Shier’s exhibit “From Order to Chaos” features visual art created from equations. The show at the Steeple Center in Rosemount runs through March, with an artist reception and talk on Wednesday, Feb. 19 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.  

Barry points out art and mathematics are both fundamentally creative endeavors, adding that John is part of a long tradition of artists using mathematical thinking to create their work. Leonardo da Vinci, anyone?

Barry offers this introduction: John Shier’s a retired physicist. He taught for many years at Normandale Community College here in the Twin Cities, and has been doing his own kind of art, using equations and algorithms to create interesting, colorful [works], everything from landscapes to completely abstract works.

He also uses a lot of randomness. He calls it stochastic geometry — a term of art in the mathematical world. You let chance play a big role in what you get. He then, of course, uses his own eye to make selections. If he doesn’t like what the computer produces, he’ll try it again and see if he gets something that looks better.

— Barry Cipra

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Somebody Say Hallelujah

Linda Sloan of Hopkins, Minn., is the executive director for the Council for Minnesotans of African Heritage. She predicts audiences will be on their feet at the Fitzgerald Theater in St Paul this weekend, moved by “The Sound of Gospel: An Anthology Depicting the Rich History and Evolution of Gospel Music.”

The play is written by Rev. William H. Pierce of 2nd Chance Outreach and directed by Academy Award-nominated artist Jevetta Steele, with musical direction by Grammy Award-winning artist Billy Steele. The all-ages show will be performed Saturday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 9 at 3 p.m. 

Linda says: I cannot say enough about this performance. It is amazing. When I went to the show a couple years ago, I was just blown away by the caliber of the talent and then the meaning of the songs. It’s just a phenomenal show.

You’ll hear anything from spirituals to praise and worship. It is just an opportunity for individuals who maybe have never really experienced gospel to understand the roots, the roots of where it comes from and why it is spiritual music. 

It’s so energetic. There are a couple little somber moments, because it is a history of gospel music, and there have been things in the past that maybe occur that required spiritual music. But for the most part, it’s just one of those “toe-tapping, get-on-your-feet, clapping, as if you were in a Baptist church” shows. 

— Linda Sloan  

A play about DREAMers navigating life 

Actor and singer Anna Hashizume of Minneapolis recommends seeing Frank Theatre’s current production of the play “Sanctuary City,” about two undocumented teens growing up in Newark, N.J., post 9/11.

She describes the play as a series of very short scenes performed by an outstanding three-person cast. The play runs in the intimate Open Eye Theatre in Minneapolis through Feb. 23. Masks are required for the Feb. 7 and Feb. 16 performances. 

Frank Theatre, which mounted the play, specializes in works that spark conversation, and Anna says this show feels incredibly timely.

Anna says: I know when [director] Wendy Knox first chose the play we didn’t know the political climate that was going to be happening at this moment in time, but it is a very timely play for what is happening in our nation right now.  

Theater has a lot of different functions. It can just be entertainment, which is also lovely at a time like this, but also being able to be educated and see different life experiences in front of your eyes in a relatively safe space can open something up in all of us.

 — Anna Hashizume

A breath of spring 

Donna Winberg of Deephaven, Minn., loves to walk the trails at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska, so she’s been able to pop inside the visitor center to watch preparations for the Spring Flower show. The enchanted garden displays are now open to viewers with an Arboretum ticket daily through March 16.  

In addition to the Spring Flower show, Donna recommends continuing through the Synder Building to the Conservatory, which is currently packed with orchids and tropical blooms, with a stop at the Rootstock Café for a bite to eat. Additional ticketed events include an Art Fair on Feb. 15 and 16, After Hours with Flowers and Afternoon Tea events. 

MPR chief meteorologist Paul Huttner is also a fan; see his pictures in a recent Updraft Blog here.

Donna describes the scene: You’ll be amazed when you see the huge tree trunks they’ve brought in there, and the mosses and the lichens and the mushrooms. It’s just like a breath of spring, which we all need this time of year! What I really love is the local artist work that is incorporated into the displays. There’ll be different artists coming in [through the course of the show.]

[This week] there are mosaic glass birds and ceramic birds and all sorts of wonderful little fairy houses, bird houses. So you have to stand there and look at things for a while to have it all revealed to you, which is fun.

— Donna Winberg

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Flute takes center stage

Roma Duncan is a piccolo player in the Minnesota Orchestra. She recommends a concert this Sunday where the flute will take center stage.

Flutist Adam W. Sadberry, accompanied by Joe Williams on piano, will perform this month’s Coffee Concert at the Lakeville Area Arts Center, Sunday, Feb. 2 at 2 p.m.  

Roma says: Adam’s really put together an interesting program with a lot of music from Black composers. Perhaps the one that catches my attention most is the finisher on the program, “Wish: Sonatine” by Valerie Coleman.

Valerie is a living composer. She’s a Black woman who is a flutist and a composer, and she’s gotten a ton of attention in recent years with with great reason; she always has such engaging, exciting works.  

One of the big pieces that I’m also excited about is the [J.S.] Bach Partita [in A minor]. It’s a real tour de force for flutists.

It’s not very often that we have these solo pieces where we just never stop playing. He has so many different composers on this program, so I think it’ll be really fascinating to hear him switch gears so many times between different eras, different styles, different feels to his repertoire.

— Roma Duncan

13 years of musical marriage

Theater artist Laurie Flanigan Hegge from Minneapolis recommends a light-hearted musical to see with your sweetheart: the musical “’Til Death.”

Written and performed by real-life married couple Jeremiah and Vanessa Gamble of Bucket Brigade, the musical, now in its 13th season, opens Friday and runs through Feb. 15 at Art House North in St. Paul. 

Laurie says: This show is a Valentine to marriage and commitment and a love letter to their community on the west side of St. Paul [where they live and perform]. 

“‘Til Death” features two sets of couples: a married couple who have been together for 15 years but are on the brink of separation, and a newly married couple who are goofily in love with each other. The two of them come together on a snowy night in a blizzard and end up spending a kind of madcap, silly night together, where the realities of what it means to be married and committed kind of crash into each other.  

It’s a fun musical: warm, funny and light-hearted, and it’s performed in a really intimate space called Art House North, which is an old church.

— Laurie Flanigan Hegge

Rochester Jazz

Jazz musician Eric Heukeshoven of Winona recommends spending your Wednesday nights this February at the Rochester City Jazz Fest.

Hear live jazz at the Thesis Beer Project from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., starting Wednesday, Feb. 5.  

Eric describes the line-up: Next Wednesday, Feb. 5, is Darren Saner Quartet. Darren is a crooner from Rochester, very well known.

There is a wonderful band backing him up. The next Wednesday, Feb. 12, is a group called TakeTwo & Friends. They're very much straight ahead, right in the pocket. It’s piano, drums and tenor sax, but I think the “friends” indicates they're going to have people sitting in with them that night.

Then on the 19th is a new group from Minneapolis called 3-D. It features guitar, bass and drums. And wrapping it up [on Feb. 26], just in time for Mardi Gras, is Loud Mouth Brass, which is a New Orleans-style brass band. They will bring down the house, I’m sure.

— Eric Heukeshoven

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The River Connects Us 

Jim Voegeli of Rochester visited to Winona Arts Center recently to see the opening of a photography and poetry exhibition entitled “The River Connects Us.”

Retired environmental engineer Pete Mutschler spent six years taking photographs along the full length of the Mississippi River, and for the past two years retired state demographer and poet Tom Gillaspy has written poems to pair with the photographs. The resulting 26 images and poems are on display through March 2 at the Winona Arts Center, which is open from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends.   

Voegeli appreciated both artistic halves of the exhibit. He says the enlarged photographs, encompassing all types of transportation along the river, “looked almost like paintings.” The title has a dual meaning.

Jim says: The river does just physically connect all of these photos together and poems. But as Peter said in the reception, the people that he met along the way, all the way up and down the Mississippi were such nice, friendly people that the meaning also has to do with all the people that live along the river, that we’re all connected together.

— Jim Voegeli

In June, the exhibit will be on view at the Great River Road Visitor and Learning Center (also known as Freedom Park) in Prescott, Wis. View the ongoing project at theriverconnectsus.org. 

A daughter sings her love for her father 

Delta Rae Giordano is an actor and teaching artist based in Falcon Heights. She recommends the show “Loudly, Clearly, Beautifully.”

Elena Glass wrote and performs this show about her father, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when she was 14. The show includes original music by Twin Cities duet The Champagne Drops. It runs Jan. 24 through Jan. 31 at the Hive Collaborative in St. Paul. 

Delta says: I’m really interested to see how Elena is going to talk about this, present it to an audience, and create art out of something that’s, you know, a really sad personal loss. But from the description that she has on her event information, it sounds like she really wanted to let people know about this wonderful relationship she had with her dad, and probably some wisdom that he imparted. 

It’s directed by Allison Vincent, who is a very well known local performer and theater maker. She actually did a show about [losing] her own father that was just performed at the fringe last summer.

— Delta Rae Giordano

High school thespians’ 35 minutes to shine 

Georgette Jones is an arts educator and advocate in Watson and she is excited to enter the competition season for the Minnesota State High School League one-act plays.

From Pipestone to Mora, Detroit Lakes to Mountain Lake, each competing school has 35 minutes or less to shine with a play of their choosing, and Jones says the styles of show vary from comedy to drama to everything in between. 

The subsection tournaments begin today across the state. Find your nearest host school here. They competition culminates in a state festival held at the O’Shaughnessy at St Catherine University in St. Paul on Feb. 6 and Feb. 7. 

Georgette says: Some of these schools are coming from well-funded programs with huge, wonderful facilities. And some of these schools have a stage at the end of a gym and a volunteer director.

And yet, the quality of student acting and performance and different theater making criteria is just amazing. Every year, I never cease to be surprised by what I see on a stage at a one act play festival.

— Georgette Jones

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This play is🔥

Twin Cities actor Peyton McCandless is looking forward to seeing a new stage adaptation of her favorite childhood book, “Dealing with Dragons.”

The series, written by Patricia C. Wrede beginning in 1991, features Princess Cimorene, who refuses to fit the expected mold of a princess and instead runs off to live with a dragon and have adventures. The novel received the 1991 Minnesota Book Award for Fantasy and Science Fiction. Staged by Phantom Chorus Theatre in collaboration with Arts Nest, the show runs from Friday, Jan. 17 through Feb. 2 at the Phoenix Theater in Minneapolis. 

This is an all-ages show, but at a running length of 2 hours and 15 minutes, it may not be appropriate for very young children. 

Peyton McCandless raves about Phantom Chorus Theatre’s puppetry, including the dragon Kazool, who is over 10 feet tall.

Peyton says: I saw [Phantom Chorus Theatre’s] most recent show that was called “The Alchemist’s Bargain” at the Twin Cities Horror Fest this last fall, and it was one of the most visually stunning, amazing things I’ve seen in a really long time.

As far as I can tell from what I’ve seen, they’re total geniuses about puppets. They’re really inventive and creative in the puppets that they create, because they make all their own puppets, and also in how they actually use those puppets to tell the story.

And it really feels like they’re not just using puppets for convenience or because it’s cool, but because they actually understand deeply what that art form is. I really can’t think of a better way to put dragons across on stage.

— Peyton McCandless

A stitch in time

Lyn Reed is a former art teacher and a ceramic artist living in Orr, but she made the trip to the Northwoods Friends of the Arts in Cook, Minn., to take in the joyful colors and compositions of fabric artist Cecilia Rolando of Ely.

Entitled “Piecing it Together,” the exhibit runs through Jan. 31. Several small quilts designed and sewn by NWFA’s Round Robin Quilt Group are also on display. 

Lyn Reed offers this look around the gallery, where the colors and textures provide a welcome burst of inspiration in January.

Lyn says: She calls it fabric collage, and that’s exactly what it is. She must have just an incredible resource of fabrics because I notice fabric from Southeast Asia … Japan … she’s used doilies, antique lace, gingham …There’s a piece I really like that’s red and white spiral.

She cuts different pieces of different sizes, and she’s collaged those together. You can see that she’s layered them. She’s using all different types of stitching, and the lines actually look as if they’re in a drawing. The compositions are really beautiful. 

It’s like a cornucopia of all different types of fabrics from around the world. If you love fabrics, you will enjoy Cecilia’s work.

— Lyn Reed 

Photo freedom

Photographer Sarah Weiss of St. Paul is intrigued by a photography exhibit opening this Saturday entitled “With Liberty and Care for All.” Organized by Sarah Sampedro, the photography exhibit includes the work of more than 20 artists in the FotoMatter Artist Collective.

There is an opening artist reception this Saturday, Jan. 18, from 6-9 p.m., and the exhibit runs through March 22. The exhibit is on view in the first-floor gallery of the Northside Artspace Lofts; dial “1” on the call box for building access. 

Sarah Weiss says the photo exhibit grew out of discussions, led by Sampedro, about the concepts of freedom.

Sarah says: What if we put more care into the idea of freedom? What if we had the definition of freedom be more about “us” rather than ‘“I?”  

The work itself is really thought-provoking and introspective, and very much, I think, poignant … just a conversation that we’re due to have as a society.

— Sarah Weiss

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Actually a very active life

Life-long art lover Ted Pfohl of Little Falls wholeheartedly recommends that people see the work of Charles Gilbert Kapsner while it’s on view at Studio Pintura Fine Art Gallery in the Northrup King Building in northeast Minneapolis.

Kapsner is based in Little Falls but trained in Florence, Italy in the studio of Nerina Simi (1890-1987). The retrospective includes over 30 still lives, portraits and other works, gathered under the title of “Odyssey — A 50-Year Artist’s Journey: Not a Still Life!” The show’s run has been extended through Feb 8. 

Ted Pfohl muses on the odyssey of Kapsner’s work: I can in all integrity state that I am captivated by the stories within the works of Master Artist Kapsner, a designation earned within and from his colleagues in the world of fine art. Today, he voyages within oil and charcoal. He has been at several harbors within fresco. He has created a monument of paintings honoring the five branches of the United States military.

Each carefully chosen and curated piece provides glimpses into the creativity of a gifted helmsperson. There are flowers, bottles of wine, his wife — whom he calls Lady Catherine — still lives and portraits. As I was moving within the currents of the visuals before me, there were several times where my feet would not move as my gaze rested upon the piece before me.

— Ted Pfohl

Tickets to Paradise

Jewelry artist and silversmith Jessica Prill of Faribault works across the street from the Paradise Center for the Arts, and she says the exhibits there are always a source of inspiration.

She recommends taking in the new visual arts show, which opened this week and features painters Laura Andrews and Montana Becker as well as stained-glass artist Bob Vogel in the main gallery. Art by students of Bethlehem Academy will be featured in the Creger Gallery, which often features student work. There is an artist reception on Friday from 5-7 p.m., and the exhibit runs through Feb. 15. 

Speaking about the stained glass art of Bob Vogel of St. Peter, Jessica Prill says: [His work] blows my mind. He has done stuff with glass that I didn’t know was possible. He has found a way to make it look like he’s painting with glass. He uses the patterns in the glass like brush strokes. He does lamps, panels, fused glass: they’re just incredible.

— Jessica Prill

Remember: They’re on Thursday night

Dana Drazenovich of St. Cloud loves live music, and she wants people to know about Monday Night Jazz, a band that has been performing jazz for 20 years in St. Cloud.

Despite its name — a holdover from a previous location that was open on Monday nights — the sextet plays most Thursdays from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Veranda Lounge in St Cloud. 

Dana says: I feel like Monday Night Jazz is just a gift to St. Cloud’s music scene, because I’m sure it’s introduced plenty of people to the genre, and it’s probably even made fans out of people who might not have otherwise even heard jazz performed live. 

They take a lot from the Great American Songbook, Rodgers and Hart, Rodgers and Hammerstein. You’ll hear songs like “All the Things You Are” and “Mood Indigo.” They throw in a few originals here and there, too.

They’ve got drums, piano, bass, guitar, sax and trumpet, so it’s a big, full sound. And if you’re lucky, you’ll get to hear guitar player and vocalist, Muggsy Lauer, scat. There’s a lot of laughing between songs, a lot of joking back and forth and they just put out the tip jar and go.

— Dana Drazenovich

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Authoring and illustrating childhood

Art fan Deborah Bartels of St Paul took a delightful trip The Kerlan, which is one of the premier collections of children’s literature, housed in the Elmer L. Anderson Library on the West Bank of the University of Minnesota.

Called “Journey to Joy: Rise, Relevance, Representation in Children’s Picture Books,” the exhibit is open Monday-Friday 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., with docent-led tours available by appointment each day at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Please note: the Kerlan is closed on weekends and from Dec. 21-Jan 1 for the University’s holiday break. 

Deborah describes. the exhibit: The entrance to the exhibit welcomes viewers with life-sized, colorful cut-outs of joyful children doing cartwheels and reaching for the stars. A wall behind is covered floor-to-ceiling with enlargements of the covers of books that have won the Ezra Jack Keats Award. 

Displays invite visitors to see the process behind the published award winner: the submitted manuscript, the sketches that evolve into beautiful artwork and the notes of the authors and illustrators.

One of the surprising things I learned was that it is the editor who selects the illustrator for a submitted manuscript and that often the writer and artist never meet! 

“Journey to Joy” is displayed over four floors of the Anderson Library. A short elevator ride to the third floor brings you to the beginning of the exhibit which succinctly illuminates the history of children’s picture books, a history which is not always one to celebrate.

The exhibit doesn’t dwell long on this exclusionary past; it reveals a lesser-known history of positive efforts to represent the diversity of people and cultures and of the awards which encourage and publish more diverse children’s literature. 

I have long been aware of Newbery and Caldecott Medals which are well-known prizes in children’s literature. I knew little about the Ezra Jack Keats Award, which celebrates books that embrace all ethnic and social groups. The ground floor devotes an entire room to feature three indigenous Minnesota artist illustrators:  Jonathan Thunder, Annette S. Lee and Marlena Myles.

 — Deborah Bartels

Healing arts

Martin DeWitt, former director and curator of the Tweed Art Museum in Duluth, recommends making time to see the Twin Ports exhibit “Loaded” by Duluth artists Rob Quisling and Jonathan Thunder.

It’s showing across the High Bridge at the Kruk Gallery Holden Fine Arts Center, University of Wisconsin-Superior through Dec. 20 and by appointment until Jan. 15, 2025. 

Martin says: The exhibition is truly a collaboration by Quisling and Thunder, featuring a thoughtful and poignant selection by curator Annie Dugan of each artist’s diverse artistry that deals directly with their struggles and recovery from alcohol addiction. The exhibition is a powerful testament, not only to the artists’ long-term friendship, but also to their unique and powerful creative expression in a variety of media.

A dramatic, monumental acrylic painting on canvas by Thunder, smaller oil paintings and intimate prints and drawings by both artists, and a provocative mixed-media art installation by Quisling, fill the Kruk Gallery with inspiration, forthright honesty and beauty.

The notion of “Loaded” takes on new meaning, not only as a celebration of the artists’ sobriety but also how passion, friendship and creative expression can offer the potential for healing and resolve in this increasingly challenging world. This is an exhibition not to be missed.

— Martin DeWitt

A note before we go

From Art Hounds producer Emily Bright: This is the last Art Hounds for 2024, rounding out our 15th anniversary year. Don’t worry, we’ll be back in January. But before we take a little holiday break, it’s worth taking a moment to appreciate what a distinct joy this show is.

This year, Art Hounds featured nearly 130 artists and events, from Worthington to Ely, from Fergus Falls to Winona, plus in venues across the Twin Cities metro area.   

Artists regularly tell me that folks turned up at their show because they heard about it on Art Hounds.  

And the range of shows is just as wide-reaching: visual arts exhibits and stage performances of all kinds. (And even some off-stage: we had not one but two dance performances on or near bodies of water, because that’s how we roll in Minnesota.) There were jazz concerts, community quilt projects, art strolls and cabarets, plus art collections at four different colleges.  

This is work that sparks conversation about the biggest topics of our day! Shows that make people feel seen. Art that spreads joy.  

Thank you to everyone who’s been on Art Hounds this year, for taking time to shine a light on someone else’s work.  

It’s not too soon to let me know about the shows you’re looking forward to seeing in 2025. 

Happy holidays, and we’ll see you soon. 

— Emily Bright

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An arts retreat

Andrew Rosendorf of Minneapolis says he wouldn’t be the playwright he is today without the support he received early in his career from the Tofte Lake Center.

He wants artists at all levels of their career to know that applications for next summer’s artist retreats are open now through the end of December. 

Andrew says: I just want you to imagine going to a pristine lake near Ely, Minnesota, that’s adjacent to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. You paddleboard, you canoe, you wade feet into the lake.

You sit around a fire pit at night looking up at the crystal-clear night sky, like you’re at a planetarium. And you also get a work on your art surrounded by a community of artists. That’s Tofte Lake Center. I find it’s a soul-centering place that leaves lives and breathes the value that nature is nurture. 

It gives access to artists at all levels of disciplines, and identities: those who are emerging, parents, BIPOC artists, arts educators who need time to center their own work and small collaborative teams. 

I first got introduced to Toffee Lake Center because about 15 years ago, when I was in my late 20s, I went there to work on a play, and Liz Engelman, who is the founder and who runs Tofte Lake Center, said, “Come work on your play. We believe in you and your voice.” And for any artist starting out, there’s a huge sense of imposter syndrome, and here was a place early in my career telling me I belong, and that’s kind of everything for an artist.

— Andrew Rosendorf

Gratitude and celebrating love

Kerry Johnson is the high school choir director in Worthington. This Sunday, she’s headed to the Worthington Chamber Singers’ Christmas concert. The theme of the concert is “Love Came Down,” and for this 30th anniversary performance they will sing a work they commissioned from Venezuelan composer Reinaldo Moya, entitled “Ya Germinaba.”

The concert is Sunday, Dec. 8 at 2 p.m. at First United Methodist Church in Worthington. The concert is free, with a free-will offering. 

Kerry adds: Eric Parrish, the director, just really kind of has a knack for choosing themes and music that just really become more timely as the process of preparing that music goes on.

This year, the focus is on hope and on gratitude and on celebrating love, and the fact that we are more similar than we’re not. And I think this fall, especially, that’s an important message to to put out into the world, just that we have a lot of common ground that we need to tap into.

 — Kerry Johnson

Escape into the world of dreams 

Mabel Houle appreciates the vibrant community of artists living in her Longfellow neighborhood of Minneapolis, and she recently got a sneak peek at a show by three local artists at the Vine Arts Center.

“Dreams and Abstract Schemes” features the works of Kim Pickering, Susan Kolstad and Karen Brown. It will be on view for the next three Saturdays, including during this Saturday’s Seward Frolic. 

Mabel appreciates art that transports us away from reality and into another world.

Mabel says: I find Susan’s collages of these earthy landscapes very soothing, very comforting.

Her paper has such wonderful textures, and the colors are just calm and peaceful; and that’s quite different [from] Kim’s vivid dream images, which are more mind-bending, very colorful, very, very abstract — just beautiful images of something that's not in this world.

Karen creates these very unique sculptures that are not completely human and not completely animal.

— Mabel Houle

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The M’s new wing triples its exhibit space in downtown St. Paul 

Architectural historian Marjorie Pearson of St. Paul wants people to know that the new, expanded wing of the Minnesota Museum of Art, commonly known as the M, is now open in the historic arcade of the Endicott building in downtown St. Paul.

The major renovation triples the available exhibit space for Minnesota’s oldest art museum. The exhibit in the new wing, entitled “Here, Now,” features 150 works from the M’s permanent collection, ranging across centuries and styles. The museum is open Thursdays through Sundays and admission is free. 

When you visit, Marjorie recommends you take time to admire the architecture in addition to the art.

Marjorie says: This is a premier office building that was designed by Cass Gilbert in the early 1890s and the arcade with its wonderful arch stained-glass ceiling, beautifully restored by Stonehouse Stained Glass Studio in Avon, Minn., really enhances the whole gallery space.  

The Endicott building was constructed around the historic Pioneer building … the two buildings were combined. The galleries now are in the historic arcade, which was a shopping arcade for people in the offices downtown — a precursor to a shopping mall.

[Note: Cass Gilbert (1859-1934) was a prominent architect who lived and worked in Minnesota for portions of his life; he designed many important buildings, including the Minnesota State Capitol and the U.S. Supreme Court Building.]

 — Marjorie Pearson

Artist created, student-curated Black joy 

Billy Nduwimana Siyomvo got an early view of the exhibit “Layers of Joy,” which he called “mind-blowing.”

The exhibit features five Minneapolis artists — Leslie Barlow, Alexandra Beaumont, Eyenga Bokamba, Cameron Patricia Downey and seangarrison — whose selected works celebrate Black joy and identity. Billy loved the work, and he recommends taking your time to take it in from all angles.

He was also struck by the exhibit’s backstory: the show was curated by University of Minnesota students enrolled in ARTH 3940: Black Art in Minneapolis, taught by Dr. Daniel M. Greenberg and Dr. Dwight K. Lewis, Jr. 

Billy describes the show: When you walk in, the first thing that embraces you is colors —different textures, colors, different stories. Each art piece I felt like was made with love. 

What I love about this [exhibit] is that this class is basically giving these artists a platform. I don’t think it’s every day that you hear about curating art; people need to understand that, yes, these artists are very important, but without the right curated spaces, their art is not put on a platform that it deserves to be on.

 — Billy Nduwimana Siyomvo

Where design meets play 

Rebecca Montpetit of Rochester is a lifelong fan of the Rochester Art Center, and she’s already making plans to go back again with her family to see Mini Golf and Chairs.

The interactive exhibit consists of 20 chairs from the private college of an Owatonna family, which artist then used as inspiration to create five mini golf holes. You can’t sit on the chairs, but you can play the golf holes. Clubs of all sizes, including adaptive clubs, are part of the exhibit, and there is a par for each hole. The exhibit runs through May 4, 2025. 

Rebecca describes what it was like to visit the exhibit with her kids, aged 8 and 10: The beginning of the exhibit leads you through this hall of chairs. And it was a really fascinating discussion with our kids to talk about.

We said, all of these have the same purpose: to sit! But look at all of the materials and ways that you can create ways to sit. They’re everything from corrugated cardboard to molded plastic to, a kind of a shag material.

So we had all sorts of different ways to explore, ways to sit. So it gave the artist creative license as well to really be inspired by the materials or the shape or even the thought process as they created the mini golf elements. 

— Rebecca Montpetit

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Hankering for a crankering

Norah Rendell is the executive artistic director of the Center for Irish Music in St. Paul. She saw — and loved — the original storytelling musical “The Well Tree” by the Heartwood Trio last spring. 

The trio consists of Sarina Partridge of Minneapolis, Heidi Wilson of Vermont and Willie Clemetson of Maine. They’re back for performances of “The Well Tree” tonight at 7 p.m. at the Twin Cities Friends Meeting House in St. Paul and Friday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. at New City Center/Walker Church in Minneapolis.

Norah says she imagines the acoustics of the church venues will be well-suited for a show with beautiful harmonies. 

Norah says: It’s an original singing story performance that includes songs and instruments and acting and illuminated paper cut art called a “crankie” [so named because a person turns a crank to scroll to new images].

It tells a story of a young woman who finds herself running away from home, and along her journey, she meets songbirds and snails and ancient trees as she finds her way home. And the three artists who perform are super talented. They’re beautiful harmony singers. There’s a fiddle player, a banjo player and they’re all actors and they invite the audience to sing along.  

It seems like it would be geared towards children, but it really suits anybody of any age who loves the experience of singing together with other people. You leave the show feeling great; it’s very inspiring, very positive. The show itself is really inspiring.

— Norah Rendell

The male gaze

Erin Maurelli is an artist and educator in the Twin Cities. She wants people to know about the MCBA / Jerome Book Arts Residency show which is up now at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts, inside Open Book in Minneapolis.

Free and open to the public, this show displays the work of the three winners of the Jerome Book Arts Residency: photographer Christopher Selleck; papermaker Jelani Ellis; and artist and printmaker Louise Fisher.  

Erin says: Christopher Selleck is a photographer who takes on the body, the figure and what we think of as idealism, and through the lens of the camera, he’s able to capture kind of the ideal masculine body — which, in my experience, we don’t see a lot of that in art and art history. Christopher brings issues of identity and sexuality into his work as a gay man, I think the male gaze becomes part of his narrative. 

Christopher was selected to be part of the Jerome book arts fellowship, and the show is through January 4 of next year. He’s one of three artists that are part of that show, there are some hand-crafted books featuring his photographs as well as sculptural elements. He’s exploring bringing the photographic process into bookmaking.  

— Erin Morelli

Baroque in Gaylord

Charles Luedtke is a retired professor of music at Martin Luther College in New Ulm, and he is heading to Gaylord tonight to see La Grande Bande.

The group specializes in performing music written from 1600-1800, using instruments of the period. Their November concert celebrates the 340th birthday of Handel with two of his works set near water, his famed “Water Music Suites” as well as his cantata “O come chiare e belle.”  

Handel’s "Water Musicks" is tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Gaylord. Michael Thomas Asmus, the founder and artistic director, will give a talk before the performance at 6:45 about the music. 

Charles says: It’s rather spectacular because he lives in Gaylord, just outside of Gaylord and his music performances have been kind of centered around that area, sometimes in St. Peter, sometimes in New Ulm.

So, it’s kind of local, but [it’s] tremendous quality. They’re not amateurs, never amateurs. They are all really professional performers and on period instruments — baroque instruments.

— Charles Luedtke

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Dance a mile in another’s shoes

Erinn Liebhard is the artistic and executive director of Rhythmically Speaking, a jazz and American social dance-based company.

She’s looking forward to the Threads Dance Project’s fall show, “Impressions,” this Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at the Luminary Arts Center in Minneapolis. 

Erinn elaborates: Their artistic director, Karen L. Charles, is a really fascinating artist. She was a mathematician and statistician who ended up shifting into dance education and eventually was able to open her own company. So she’s got a really sort of methodical yet artistic way of creating choreography.

Something that I love about Threads’ work is that I feel like it’s really artistic and accessible at the same time. So it’s saying something, but you don’t have to have special training in dance in order to understand.

(As part of the show), Threads is going to be re-exploring a piece about shoes. The piece is called “Abolition in Evolution, Part 2 – Shoes,” and it’s based upon the shoes we wear and what they say about us.

I think it’s really interesting that they’re taking this metaphor of walking in someone else’s shoes into a visual and artistic representation that causes you to ask questions about identity, race, class and how we see each other.

— Erinn Liebhard

Alice in Northfield

Margit Johnson of Northfield appreciates the work of ArtMakers, and she’s looking forward to their new, original musical, “Alice’s Wonder.”

Shows are this Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. (with audio description) at Northfield Arts Guild Theater. Admission is free for this family-friendly show. 

Margit says: What I like about ArtMakers’ storytelling through music and theater is the genius of the artists with and without disabilities.

For 10 years now, ArtMakers start with individuals from the Northfield area, from Colorado and even from Norway; they craft a production around and adapt to the talents and special needs of each participating artist. This way, they create authentic, artist-centered projects in the community.

I know that “Alice's Wonder” is going to surprise and delight me. Alice is blind, and so is her friend, the White Rabbit. Their Wonderland is going to come alive with sound and what they call the brave idea of living your life as you choose. The ensemble includes local performers with disabilities alongside professional musicians from Northfield and the Twin Cities.

— Margit Johnson

Take me to the river

Author Marcie Rendon of Minneapolis recommends that people see “The Adventures of a Traveling Meskwaki,” written by and starring Oogie Push.

Originally a one-woman show, the multimedia performance has been expanded to a cast of five. Full Circle Theater is producing the show, which will be staged at Park Square Theatre in downtown St. Paul.

There’s a preview performance tonight ahead of the opening Friday. The show runs through Nov. 24, and tickets are pay-as-you-are-able. 

Marcie says: It follows her adventures as she’s exploring and working with other Native people around issues of protecting the water.

It’s broader than just the water: it incorporates many of the things that she’s learned on all of these different travels that she’s done, from Alaska to Vancouver to Washington to California to out East. As a young person, she was a pow wow dancer. So she’s also got stories from that part of her life that she incorporates into her work. 

The thing to know about Oogie is that she has a wonderful sense of humor. She can also go really deep into the emotional aspects of a piece, like into a character that she's taking on.

— Marcie Rendon