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.

Tracy K. Smith named new U.S. poet laureate
The Pulitzer Prize-winning poet says she plans to use her new role to meet people who don't read poetry ... yet, anyway. She believes poetry can be a resource for people in fraught or isolating times.
In new novel, 'Ove' author takes on hockey-town culture
"Beartown" ponders "the things that we let successful people get away with, just because they are important to us."
Southern cooking: 'People of color didn't get the respect they earned'
In his new book, John T. Edge writes that food plays a central role in Southern identity, but African-American and immigrant cooks have often been left out of the stories the South tells about itself.
Prog rock gets some respect in 'The Show That Never Ends'
David Weigel is primarily a political reporter, but in "The Show that Never Ends" he spins his love of prog rock into a detailed, affectionate history of a genre that's never completely gone away.
'Last Kid Left' is a summer read for people who hate the light
Rosecrans Baldwin's new novel probably shouldn't have come out in summer: It's got the trappings of a beach read -- a shore town, tourists, a murder -- but it strays into some very dark territory.
MMMBop inspired 'SNL' skit
"MMMBop" got so much airplay when it first came out that it inspired a skit on "Saturday Night Live." In it, the brothers were held hostage in an elevator and forced to listen to the song repeatedly until they snapped.
What makes a good whodunit? 'Magpie Murders' author spells it out
Anthony Horowitz's latest novel is a whodunit about whodunits. He says, "I wanted it to be ... a sort of a treatise on the whole genre of murder mystery writing."
Stevie Wonder honored Duke Ellington in a song that hit No. 1
In a 1977 speech at UCLA, Wonder said, "I knew the title from the beginning but wanted it to be about the musicians who did something for us. So soon they are forgotten. I wanted to show my appreciation. They gave us something that is supposed to be forever."
For one Saudi woman, 'Daring To Drive' was an act of civil disobedience
In 2011, Manal al-Sharif filming herself driving in a country where women are banned from getting behind the wheel. Driving, she says, is "a way to emancipate women. It gives them so much liberty."