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.

Building a better brain through music, dance and poetry
Art can make the brain's wiring stronger, more flexible, and ready to learn, say the authors of the new book, “Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us.”
A safe space for ‘sad girl’ music fans: Inside Electric Fetus’ boygenius listening party
Fans gathered at Electric Fetus Tuesday to soak in the first listen of boygenius’ highly anticipated album — “the record.” While the pandemic made in-person music gatherings nearly impossible, listening sessions are having a resurgence three years later.
Diana Abu-Jaber on family myths and inheritance
For immigrants who have to start life over in a new land, home carries a powerful lure. Diana Abu-Jaber says questions of identity and displacement haunted her Jordanian father, which inspired her latest novel, “Fencing with the King.”
The Triple Rock Social Club sign has moved to Las Vegas
When The Punk Rock Museum officially opens in Las Vegas — a date mooted, after many delays, for this April 1 — chances are that you’ll see a lot of the Twin Cities on display.
Jeannette Walls' 'Hang the Moon' transports readers to Prohibition
Walls' excellent construction of her female characters is most satisfying; each represents women from varying walks of life, each fighting for their own place in a male-dominated world.
Art Hounds: Love, collaboration and Shakespeare
In Lanesboro, Commonweal Theatre’s play “Bernhardt/Hamlet” is a “love letter to theater.” Artists at Northside Artspace Lofts display their “Works in Progress” in north Minneapolis. Members of the Minneapolis Guitar Quartet display their range at Sundin Hall in St. Paul on Friday.