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.

In new memoir 'Ordinary Girls,' Jaquira Díaz searches for home
Jaquira Díaz grew up in a public housing project in Puerto Rico; her father was a drug dealer and her mother was diagnosed as schizophrenic. As a child, she says, "I thought everyone lived like this."
'Shadow Network' offers a lesson on the American right's mastery of politics
Anne Nelson links "the manpower and media of the Christian right," "finances of Western plutocrats," and "strategy of right-wing Republican political operatives" via the Council for National Policy.
‘Janis’ reveals the complicated woman behind the rock legend
A new biography about Janis Joplin takes an intimate look at the gender-bending, perfectionist, talented rebel who broke rules and stereotypes and defined a generation. Kerri Miller spoke with the author, Holly George-Warren, about Joplin's musical influences and how Joplin’s own sound is still influencing others today.
'It Would Be Night in Caracas' mourns a mother and a country
Karina Sainz Borgo's novel follows a woman dealing with the death of her mother while trying to escape the violence and scarcity gripping Venezuela — an anarchy the book presents in shocking detail.
'Burn It Down' diagnoses, analyzes the state of American women's anger
The anthology demonstrates that American women are just now at the starting line of exploring and understanding their anger; it's more about how they live with anger than about what makes them angry.