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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.

Shadowy exhibits added to Minneapolis Sculpture Garden

Shadowy exhibits added to Minneapolis Sculpture Garden

Artists Seitu Jones and Ta-coumba Aiken have installed a series of shadow representations in the sidewalks commemorating Minneapolitans the artists consider significant but overlooked.
by Euan Kerr

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Art Hounds: Peeling back the brick walls of Theatre in the Round

Art Hounds: Peeling back the brick walls of Theatre in the Round

This week on Art Hounds: a new mural fools the eye, a play takes a man's love for his dog to extremes and an art exhibition explores Rondo neighborhood's vibrant history.
by Marianne Combs

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This 'Spectral Hue' has a shimmering life of its own

This 'Spectral Hue' has a shimmering life of its own

Craig Laurance Gidney's debut adult novel is set in a marshy, mysterious rural town where a community of artists, students and townspeople are united by visions of a strange, pinkish-purple color.
by Jason Heller

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Will you love this book in all its 'Damaged Glory'? Maybe

Will you love this book in all its 'Damaged Glory'? Maybe

This debut story collection from Raphael Bob-Waksberg, creator of the TV show 'BoJack Horseman,' has some excellent, risk-taking work in it -- but stumbles sometimes over its higher concepts.
by Michael Schaub

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Joy Harjo is first Native American named U.S. poet laureate

Joy Harjo is first Native American named U.S. poet laureate

"I want to bring the contribution of poetry of the tribal nations to the forefront and include it in the discussion of poetry," says Harjo, an enrolled member of the Muscogee Creek Nation and a native of Tulsa, Okla.
by The Associated Press

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Regular old sci-fi not weird enough for you? Try 'FKA USA'

Regular old sci-fi not weird enough for you? Try 'FKA USA'

The pseudonymous Reed King's new novel is a loopy, violent, funny Technicolor road trip across a post-apocalyptic America. There are robots, talking goats, and even the occasional lone songbird.
by Jason Sheehan

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First Avenue gets museum treatment at the Minnesota History Center

First Avenue gets museum treatment at the Minnesota History Center

It's Minnesota's most famous nightclub and now an exhibit at the Minnesota History Center. The exhibit's curator and The Current's Andrea Swensson joined guest host Brandt Williams to talk about First Avenue -- its history, the icons who have performed there and why it's important to many Minnesotans.
by Brandt Williams and Karen Zamora

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