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.

Cannibalism: It's 'perfectly natural,' a new scientific history argues
It's gruesome, but from a scientific standpoint, there's a predictable calculus for when humans and animals go cannibal, a new book says. And who knew European aristocrats ate body parts as medicine?
Cecile McLorin Salvant will be joined by Aaron Diehl as they perform songs by Jelly Roll Morton and George Gershwin.
Grad student discovers a lost novel written by Walt Whitman
An ad in a March 1852 edition of The New York Times led Zachary Turpin on an electronic search that uncovered a rags-to-riches novella that Whitman published anonymously.
Are cyborgs in our future? 'Homo Deus' author thinks so
Yuval Noah Harari expects we'll soon engineer our bodies in the same way we design products. "I think in general medicine ... will switch from healing the sick to upgrading the healthy," he says.
Black history comes alive on a stage, and in a database
As the History Center celebrates four decades of African-American theater, a new searchable database makes its debut.
The story of Dorothy Day, her 'disorderly years' and her possible sainthood
A new biography of social justice advocate Dorothy Day, written by her granddaughter, reveals the life story of the woman whose legacy lives on in dozens of homeless shelters.
Behind this exuberant dance number? Planning, precision and practice
Choreographer Mandy Moore was lying underneath a car on the LA freeway, counting and calling out steps, throughout the 47 takes it took to shoot La La Land's fun-filled opening scene.
How Rorschach's 'Inkblots' took on a life of their own
These days, you're more likely to come across the concept of a Rorschach test in a cultural context than a clinical one. In a new book, author Damion Searls traces the history of the famous inkblots.