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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.

A journalist's eye enlivens 'Land Of Big Numbers'

A journalist's eye enlivens 'Land Of Big Numbers'

Journalist Te-Ping Chen's fiction debut puts her reportorial talents to brilliant use, in a collection of short stories about Chinese life that will make readers reconsider their settled notions.
by Kamil Ahsan

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Awards season is here; these are the movies you need to see now

Awards season is here; these are the movies you need to see now

Two longtime film critics joined the program to talk all things awards season. What are the best films of the year? The worst? The ones you know you should like but just couldn’t get through? The ones that surprised you? After the show, you’ll know exactly what to stream this weekend.
by Angela Davis and Katie Moritz

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Music venue owners, artists reflect on how the pandemic changed their industry

Music venue owners, artists reflect on how the pandemic changed their industry

NPR's Audie Cornish checks in with music venue owners and artists to gauge how they're managing during the pandemic and what funding from the Save Our Stages Act would do for the live music industry.

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Oscar winner, ‘Sound of Music’ star Christopher Plummer dies

Oscar winner, ‘Sound of Music’ star Christopher Plummer dies

Christopher Plummer, the dashing award-winning actor who played Captain von Trapp in the film “The Sound of Music” and at 82 became the oldest Academy Award winner in history, has died. He was 91.
by The Associated Press

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All the home’s a stage: Far-flung actors, crew unite for Theater Mu’s new show

All the home’s a stage: Far-flung actors, crew unite for Theater Mu’s new show

After months of planning and with pandemic restrictions still in place, Theater Mu in St. Paul will launch its mainstage season on Saturday with a new production merging theater and film — a play that’s designed for, and speaks to, the times we’re living in. 
by Emily Bright

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Author interview: ‘Ida B. The Queen’

Author interview: ‘Ida B. The Queen’

To kick off Black History Month, we talk to Michelle Duster, the great-granddaughter of journalist and Black activist Ida B. Wells, about her new intimate biography of her great-grandmother’s legacy.
by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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Minnesota Orchestra announces $11.7 million deficit for fiscal 2020

Minnesota Orchestra announces $11.7 million deficit for fiscal 2020

COVID-19 cancellations of concerts and the orchestra’s biggest fundraiser of the year, the Symphony Ball, punched a hole in the organizations finances.
by Euan Kerr

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You'll never look at your 'Good Neighbors' the same way again

You'll never look at your 'Good Neighbors' the same way again

Sarah Langan's new novel takes the old theme of "something rotten in suburbia" and pushes it into the future, in an intense, uncomfortable story about class resentment and the horrors it can lead to.
by Gabino Iglesias

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White dove that connected Prince to his fans dies at age 28

A female white dove that was adored by legions of Prince fans has died. Divinity was one of the original doves Prince kept at his iconic Paisley Park compound. Officials at the mansion-turned-museum say her health had been declining due to age. At 28, Divinity surpassed the average lifespan of most doves.
by The Associated Press

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While the possible is possible: A 2021 poetry preview, part 3

While the possible is possible: A 2021 poetry preview, part 3

In the final installment of our 2021 poetry preview, we bring you books that demonstrate the incredible capaciousness of poetry — and that we hope will be sustaining company for the year ahead.
by Ana Božičević, Ken Chen and Craig Morgan Teicher

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