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.

Thread Book Hour: Eddie Glaude Jr. explores what it means to be American
Princeton professor Eddie Glaude Jr. explores that it means to be American, in conversation with MPR's Kerri Miller for the "Thread" book series. He's the author of "Democracy in Black."
Workers make quick progress dismantling 'Scaffold' at Walker
By Sunday morning, crews from a Dakota construction company had pulled down and cut up the heavy wooden timbers that formed the bulk of 'Scaffold.'
A man learns the truth about his adoption in 'Everybody's Son'
As a boy, Anton was adopted by a loving, prominent couple. He grows up to be a man of distinction. Then he learns that his adopted dad manipulated his biological mom into giving him up.
Enormous rubber duck in Canada is counterfeit, artist alleges
A Dutch artist says Ontario should be using his giant duck instead of a similar johnny-come-lately giant duck. But the skirmish raises bigger questions about copycats and public art.
Legions of fans lined the streets of Macon, Georgia, to honor music legend Greg Allman as he's carried to his final resting place in the same cemetery where he and his band members used to hang out and write songs amid the tombstones.
This big book could carry you through the summer
English professor Samuel Andresen-Anderson hasn't seen his mother since he was a child. Then one day, he gets a call: She's been arrested in a political protest, and she needs a character witness.
'White Fur' is a fable of love, class, money and death
Jardine Libaire's novel -- more a series of vignettes -- follows two kids from very opposite sides of the tracks who fall hard in love in 1980s New York, and what happens when reality intrudes.
'The Dispatcher' is a short stroll in a strange neighborhood
John Scalzi's new novel imagines the implications of a world where 999 out of 1,000 murder victims pop back into existence, naked, confused and safe in their own beds.