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.

Daniyal Mueenuddin pulls from his life for an upstairs-downstairs novel set in Pakistan
Daniyal Mueenuddin’s new novel, “This is Where the Serpent Lives,” is set in near-modern Pakistan and explores the connections between a wealthy family and the servants they employ.
'For the girls': New film tells a coming-of-age story of Somali American women in Minneapolis
A new short film by Minneapolis filmmaker Yasmin Yassin follows two Somali American sisters running a social-media matchmaking business as they move through Lake Street, exploring friendship, femininity and the in-between world of first-generation Somali life.
A puppet, a poet and a dreamscape: A new operetta at Open Eye Theatre
A new operetta at Minneapolis’ Open Eye Theatre reimagines the life and poetry of Pulitzer Prize–winning University of Minnesota professor John Berryman through a dreamlike staging that explores the writer’s inner world.
Art Hounds: Textiles and timelines, tabletop fantasy and a gallery launch
Art Hounds recommend “Our What Ifs Became Real Life,” “Monsters Not Monoliths! A DnD Actual Play” and the grand opening this weekend of the Lowry Hill Gallery.
Dropkick Murphys, local bands to play free concert at Alex Pretti memorial
Dropkick Murphys frontman Ken Casey says the band will visit the Minneapolis site where federal agents killed Alex Pretti and perform a free acoustic set at an anti-ICE fundraiser there, arguing the killing represents a profound shift in American society and that musicians should speak out about it.
‘Winning hearts and minds’: How protest signs shaped the anti-ICE movement in Minnesota
Minnesota has seen an explosion of art made in response to ICE’s presence. Perhaps more than any other art form, artists and designers have made protest posters and signs en masse. “There’s never been a viable movement for social change without the arts as central to the movement,” one art historian says.
Emily Fairfax has spent the past decade studying beavers and how they change landscapes by altering the flow of rivers and streams. She spent five years working with a Pixar animation team to make sure the movie accurately portrays the furry rodents.
How historians are documenting ICE enforcement in Minnesota
As more federal officers leave the state, the Morning Edition team wondered how historians might document this moment. The Minnesota Historical Society’s Director of Collections, Cecily Marcus, joined Cathy Wurzer with answers.
Indigenous film festival coming to Fargo
The Northern Plains Indigenous Film Festival debuts April 17 at the historic Fargo Theatre in Fargo, N.D. The inaugural event will celebrate Native storytelling and promote creative careers.