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.

Thinking outside the ‘daily concrete life’: How puppets and picture books create a sense of possibility
Minnesota artist Anne Sawyer, a puppeteer and educator, channels her lifelong love of storytelling and improvisation into a new children’s book about pollinators that blends science, imagination and playful creativity.
‘I'm one American story’: Minnesota author Kao Kalia Yang resists being ‘the Hmong voice’
Author Kao Kalia Yang resists being boxed in, both as the only '“Hmong voice” in literature and in a singular genre. The Minnesota author has written memoirs, fiction, picture books, and even an opera.
'Thunderbolts' kicks off the summer movie season with $76 million at the box office
Marvel Studios’ “Thunderbolts” opened with $76 million in domestic ticket sales. Studio estimates released Sunday showed the film kicking off the summer box office with a solid No. 1 debut, though it fell shy of Marvel’s more spectacular launches.
What our 'good boys' can teach us about living a good life
In his new book, “The Word of Dog,” philosopher Mark Rowlands extols the the morality of dogs, which he says leads to a happy and fulfilling life.
‘I Kissed a Girl’ singer-songwriter Jill Sobule killed in Woodbury house fire
Jill Sobule, the award-winning singer-songwriter whose witty and poignant writing first attracted widespread attention with the gay-themed song “I Kissed a Girl,” died in a house fire Thursday. She was 66.