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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.

James McBride's 'Heaven & Earth' is an all-American mix of prejudice and hope

James McBride's 'Heaven & Earth' is an all-American mix of prejudice and hope

Set in a neighborhood where Blacks and immigrant Jews have lived next to each other for decades, “The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store” is one of the best novels critic Maureen Corrigan has read this year.
by Maureen Corrigan

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'Barbie' has legs: Greta Gerwig's film tops box office again and gives industry a midsummer surge

'Barbie' has legs: Greta Gerwig's film tops box office again and gives industry a midsummer surge

“Barbie” is cruising atop the box office. Studio estimates Sunday said director Greta Gerwig’s film phenomenon remained a runaway No. 1 in its fourth week, bringing in $33.7 million. 
by The Associated Press

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Amid streaming chaos, Dropout carves out its own niche

Amid streaming chaos, Dropout carves out its own niche

As big media companies struggle to become profitable, smaller companies like Dropout think they can make it work by offering niche content instead of going after a mass audience.
by Tilda Wilson

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Ask a Bookseller: 'Horse'

Ask a Bookseller: 'Horse'

Alden Graves of Northshire Bookstore in Manchester Center, Vt., says he generally avoids books about animals, but he's glad he made an exception for Geraldine Brooks’ novel “Horse.”
by Emily Bright

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Arts Briefs: Apparently cats can be trained

Arts Briefs: Apparently cats can be trained

In this week’s Arts Briefs: Hmong culture and opera, watery fun at Lake Superior and performing cats. Also, in Absolute Bleeding Edge: Wibbly wobbly timey wimey.
by Jacob Aloi, Alex V. Cipolle and Max Sparber

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Christian Cooper on what it means to be a Black man in the natural world

Christian Cooper on what it means to be a Black man in the natural world

Christian Cooper was birdwatching in Central Park in 2020 when a white woman falsely accused him of threatening her. That incident went viral, pushed his work as a Black birder into the public eye, and led to his fantastic memoir, “Better Living Through Birding: Notes From A Black Man In The Natural World.”
by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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A poet pieces together an uncertain past in 'Memoir of a Kidnapping'

A poet pieces together an uncertain past in 'Memoir of a Kidnapping'

When Shane McCrae was almost 4 years old, his maternal grandparents, who were white supremacists, took him from his father, who is Black. His new memoir is “Pulling the Chariot of the Sun.”
by Tonya Mosley

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