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.

'Come with Me' lays bare the risks and regrets of our online lives
Helen Schulman splices together an old-school family drama with high-tech fantasy in her new novel, a rich, closely observed story about regrets and risk-taking in the Internet age.
Life after sudden death in 'Widower's Notebook'
When Jonathan Santlofer's wife died five years ago, he was thrown into a 'fugue state' of grief. Sketching her portrait from old photographs has helped him stay close to her.
Gorgeous 'Black Future Month' tracks a writer's development
N.K. Jemisin's new story collection is a story in itself, a chronicle of her career that has the seeds of her award-winning novels, but also lovely and thought-provoking stand-alone work.
Appetites: Meat pie makes a comeback
Microwavable versions may have given pot pies a bad reputation, but homemade meat pies are making a comeback this winter.
Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson and his band will be at the Orpheum Theater in Minneapolis tonight, performing all the songs from the Beach Boys' 1964 Christmas Album. Mike Love, the only other surviving original member of the group, is also doing a holiday tour this year.
Margaret Atwood is writing a sequel to 'The Handmaid's Tale'
Atwood said that she was inspired by readers' questions about the dystopian world of Gilead — and, she says, by "the world we've been living in." It's set to be released next September.
'Evening in Paradise' remembers those who might otherwise be forgotten
This second posthumous anthology of stories by Lucia Berlin is full of deeply felt stories about lives on the fringe, alternately comic and tragic, bound together by Berlin's love for her characters.
'SpongeBob' creator Stephen Hillenburg dies at 57
Hillenburg conceived, wrote, produced and directed the animated series that began in 1999 and bloomed into hundreds of episodes, movies and a Broadway show.