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.

Building a home of stories in 'The Bird King'
G. Willow Wilson's luminous new novel is set during the last days of Muslim Granada, and follows a royal concubine and her mapmaker friend as they flee the Inquisition for a place that may not exist.
Twin Cities poet Ed Bok Lee reads from new collection of work
Twin Cities poet Ed Bok Lee will read from his new collection of poetry, "Mitochondrial Night," on Saturday night in Minneapolis.
'Night Witches' sheds some light on daring female flyers
Garth Ennis' new graphic novel creates a fictional character to flesh out the stories of the real Night Witches, Soviet female pilots who dropped bombs on the Nazis from rickety old biplanes.
Poet W.S. Merwin dies at 91
In the 1980s, the two-time U.S. poet laureate moved to Hawaii and began working to restore the rainforest. According to one contemporary, that's when he 'morphed into a poet of praise.'
Normally, senior producer Stephanie Curtis recommends five things to see, do, read or experience. But this week, we asked Liliana Percy Ruiz, executive producer at "On Being" and host of the podcast "This Movie Changed Me," to fill in.
The duo's tour has been getting good reviews, with the two musicians — now in their mid-seventies — performing a mix of old favorites and more recent tunes. The show also includes tributes to Peter Tork, who died last month, and Davy Jones, who passed away in 2012.