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.

Twin Cities sets new tourism record
Visitors to the Twin Cities metropolitan area topped 33 million last year, up 2.5 percent over the previous annual record.
All too human? Mpls. pinata maker's work looked like lynching to some
Victor Chavarria built three human-shaped pinatas for a mixed-race wedding as part of his new business. He's apologizing now after a picture showing the figures hanging off his north Minneapolis porch hit social media, triggering anger and death threats.
Fifty years ago, the British blues band Bluesology was on a flight home from a gig and keyboard player Reginald Dwight was trying to come up with a stage name for his nascent solo career.
The Sistine Chapel gets its own high-tech spectacle, with music by Sting
Now there's a new spectacle where visitors can feast their eyes on every detail of Michelangelo's masterpieces, with high-definition projections, actors, acrobats and music.
In 'That Kind Of Mother,' a white mom, a black son
Rumaan Alam's new novel starts out as a tale of female friendship between a woman and her child's nanny. Then it becomes a different sort of story -- one about an unconventional parenthood.
The St. Paul mayor played the piano and sang his own rewrite of Van Morrison's "Brown-Eyed Girl." Carter turned it into a humorous take on what it's like to be the first person of color elected the city's mayor.