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.

Claire Keegan's 'stories of women and men' explore what goes wrong between them
Book critic Maureen Corrigan says her only frustration with Keegan's work is that she wants more of it. So she was happy to read her nuanced, three-story collection, “So Late in the Day.”
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Babel’
Carson Crooks of Prince Books in Norfolk, Va., highly recommends R. F. Kuang’s novel “Babel.”
2024 Grammy nominations led by SZA, Billie Eilish and Phoebe Bridgers
The R&B star led all artists with nine nominations for the 66th Grammy Awards. She’ll compete with Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo and Jon Batiste in album, song and record of the year.
Talking Volumes: Margaret Renkl on 'The Comfort of Crows'
New York Times columnist and nature writer Margaret Renkl closed out the 2023 Talking Volumes season with meditations on the joys of a backyard oasis, the inevitable losses of a warming climate and how to live while holding both of those truths in tandem.
Art Hounds: Three very different plays about immigration 
Art Hounds recommend three very different plays in the Twin Cities that have immigration as a theme. Combustible Theatre resurrects Eugene O’Neill’s 1922 play “The Hairy Ape,” Full Circle Theater stages “Anon(ymous)” and Fortune Fool’s new musical “Cold Planet Warm Heart.”
What disaster creates: A Palestinian American artist investigates conflict
In Minneapolis, Palestinian American artist Lamia Abukhadra’s new light installation, “Not the Sunrise,” at the Hair + Nails gallery, juxtaposes images of the sun with the stark reality of the 2021 bombings in Gaza, challenging perceptions of conflict and media through art.