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.

Idiosyncratic, dimension-hopping 'Skip' creates its own niche
Molly Mendoza's loopy new graphic novel isn't quite a young adult book, or a book for grownups, either. But it is a trippy visual experience, and Mendoza's art is gorgeous even when the story is thin.
Losing and old faith — and gaining a new one — in 'The Churchgoer'
Patrick Coleman's novel follows a former pastor, now working as a security guard, who gets caught up in a noirish adventure after one of his coworkers is murdered, but it's much more than a whodunit.
'It Came from Something Awful' links 4Chan and today's political discourse
If author Dale Beran is to be believed, all the world's an Internet forum. His new book offers an overview of Internet culture and explores the mindset and techniques of early Internet trolls.
'Marilou is Everywhere,' and also a miracle
Sarah Elaine Smith's debut novel, about a girl from an impoverished, broken family who impersonates a missing neighbor in order to get motherly attention, is otherworldly in its beauty and power.
Watch Lizzo's Tiny Desk concert
Backed by a band assembled just for this occasion, the breakthrough pop icon performs three joyfully showy songs from “Cuz I Love You.”
Looking for stories along the Mississippi, she's found love
The Relay of Voices project aims to connect river towns with each other, but those aren’t the only connections it has made.
'Jade War' is a magical, operatic crime and family drama
Fonda Lee's Jade War is the second volume in her sweeping yet intimate saga about two clans on a small island nation, battling for control over supplies of the magical jade that powers their fighters.
A photographer's vision of the magical masks of Mexico
On festivals that range from Day of the Dead to Easter, Mexicans hide their true identity behind fantastic masks that conjure up both indigenous — and European — traditions.