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.

Can't buy me love (of reading)
Summer's in full swing, and parents are trying all kinds of things to keep their kids reading. Here's a guide to what works and what doesn't.
Aspen Ideas Festival: Jane McGonigal on 'The Future of Imagination'
Futurist and game designer Jane McGonigal suggests we can make better decisions if we develop the ability to "remember the future" and "predict the past." She says Lewis Carroll was right when he wrote in Alice in Wonderland, "it's a poor sort of memory that only works backward." You'll hear her intriguing ideas in an Aspen Lecture given at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado.
Jim Northrup's son recalls his father's gifts of language
Jim Northrup, an Ojibwe writer, poet and performer, will be laid to rest in a traditional Anishinaabe ceremony Friday morning in his hometown of Sawyer, Minn. Northrup died of cancer Monday.
Documentary "The Seventh Fire" explores gang culture on northern MN reservation
There's a documentary opening Friday at St. Anthony Main Theatre in Minneapolis that tells a story about gang culture in Indian Country. The movie "The Seventh Fire" has gotten rave reviews at festivals around the world. Tom Weber talked with three guests about it.
Babe the Blue Ox toppled in high wind storm
Another string of damaging thunderstorms left thousands without power in northern Minnesota, and tipped over an iconic landmark, Babe the Blue Ox at the Paul Bunyan Land amusement park.
'American Heiress' revisits Patty Hearst's kidnapping
Hearst was abducted in 1974 and then declared allegiance to her captors. Legal expert Jeffrey Toobin does not believe Hearst was brainwashed, but rather, "responded rationally to the circumstances."