Arts and Culture

MPR News has you covered with news and stories about local art and culture happenings across Minnesota.

Art Hounds: Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what's exciting in local art. You can explore arts events here, or become an Art Hound today.

Art Reviews: Our arts team offers insight on the latest in theater, music, visual arts and more. We explore the breadth of creativity and innovation found throughout Minnesota, offering audiences a deeper understanding of the works and artists shaping our cultural landscape. Read more here.

Art Friend: Everyone needs an art friend. Art Friend is a new segment with our arts team. Art spaces can feel exclusive and art can be confusing, obtuse, and even boring. But, especially with the right context, everyone can be a critic. So let us be your guide- your Art Friend. Listen or read Art Friend stories here.

Our arts coverage is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment's Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.

Ask a Bookseller: ‘To the Moon and Back’ by Eliana Ramage
Angel Horne of Two Friends Bookstore in Bentonville, Arkansas, recommends the novel "To the Moon and Back" by Eliana Ramage.
Snow sculptures share Indigenous stories at Minneapolis parks this winter
All-female Indigenous snow carving team, Team Kwe, has begun work on a public art installation at four riverfront parks near downtown Minneapolis. The snow sculptures represent the four seasons and share Ojibwe stories with parkgoers. 
Keep an eye out for these new books from big names in January
The new year begins with a host of promising titles from George Saunders, Julian Barnes, Jennette McCurdy, Karl Ove Knausgaard and more. Here’s a look ahead at what’s publishing this month.
Made to mingle: Why your brain is happier with friends
In his new book, “Why Brains Need Friends,” neuroscientist Ben Rein argues that social connection is just as important to human flourishing as exercise and nutrition.
At Stillwater snow sculpting championship, artists reflect a global moment
Artists from around the world descend on Stillwater to carve towering snow sculptures, bringing with them not just tools and technique but the anxieties, ideas and urgency of the moment they’re living in.
MN Shortlist, Jan. 16-22: Ice, candlelight and beautiful nonsense
Mid-January in Minnesota is when winter culture really shows its personality. This week leans into it from every angle: art villages on frozen lakes, homemade sleds flirting with gravity, candlelit concerts, unhurried Sundays and a mandolin master passing through town. Cold hands, warm ideas, zero apologies.
A rare U.S. premiere brings Harlem Renaissance poetry to sacred music
A Minnesota choral institution is hosting the composer behind some of the most widely sung sacred music in the U.S., pairing a rare U.S. premiere with a concert that bridges Christmas tradition and Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.