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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.

Love rides the Q train in this supernaturally sweet romance

Love rides the Q train in this supernaturally sweet romance

In Casey McQuiston's new “One Last Stop,” cynical August moves to New York, where she meets and falls for Jane, a mysterious punk who seems to have been trapped on the Q train ... since the 1970s.
by Kamrun Nesa

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This retelling of 'Gatsby' has demonic flair to spare

This retelling of 'Gatsby' has demonic flair to spare

Nghi Vo recasts the classic book with Jordan Baker at the center, a Gatsby who's literally sold his soul and a speakeasy crowd that's partial to a drop of demon's blood in their illicit cocktails.
by Jessica P. Wick

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An Argentinean novel spins countless stories from a bicycle wheel

An Argentinean novel spins countless stories from a bicycle wheel

César Aira's “The Divorce,” a 2008 novel now out in English, centers around one charged moment at a Buenos Aires cafe, when water falling from an awning suddenly drenches a passing bicyclist.
by Kamil Ahsan

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Your summer entertainment to-do list: bike and kayak tours, live music and more

Your summer entertainment to-do list: bike and kayak tours, live music and more

As our masks come off and the sun comes out, we're planning our post-pandemic summer. Host Angela Davis asked tour guides and a couple of hosts from The Current for their recommendations for things to do and see.
by Angela Davis and Susan Davis

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Walker show asks: Is a still life really still or life?

Walker show asks: Is a still life really still or life?

A new exhibition at the Walker Art Center is challenging its audience to consider the term “still life.” It's been used so long to describe a conventional kind of art that it's taken for granted. But can an image that is still really be alive?
by Euan Kerr

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Ecologist Suzanne Simard on understanding the wisdom of forests

Ecologist Suzanne Simard on understanding the wisdom of forests

Ecologist Suzanne Simard talked with host Kerri Miller about her new book “Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest” and what humans can learn from the way trees cooperate and communicate with other plants.
by Kerri Miller and Marcheta Fornoff

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Yes, there are crimes — and much more — in 'The Thousand Crimes Of Ming Tsu'

Yes, there are crimes — and much more — in 'The Thousand Crimes Of Ming Tsu'

Tom Lin's new novel promises — and delivers — lots of crimes in a cinematic Western starring a Chinese American gunslinger on a mission of revenge against the men who sent him to work the railroads.
by Fran Wilde

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Art Hounds recommend live, in-person dance and music performances

Art Hounds recommend live, in-person dance and music performances

It’s the first time in well over a year that we have been able to feature three live, in-person only performances. BRKFST Dance Company performs “60/40” at Southern Theater in Minneapolis, StoLyette plays at Icehouse and Z-Fest screens this year’s crop of seven-minute films by veteran and emerging Minnesota filmmakers.
by Emily Bright

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