Minnesota Arts

‘We can do hard things’: The impact of ICE enforcement on the arts
The fatal shooting of Alex Pretti and Renee Macklin Good by federal agents and related immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis disrupted arts and education institutions across the Twin Cities, forcing widespread closures, cancellations, financial losses and safety measures.
MN Shortlist, Jan. 30–Feb. 5: New dance, live music and cozy getaways
Late January and early February in Minnesota have a way of sharpening the senses. This week’s picks sit right at that edge, where artists question what gets valued, musicians sit with emotional wreckage, theaters make room for inherited histories and winter itself becomes something to savor rather than survive.
A Minneapolis opera brings back a pioneering Black composer
A new Minnesota Opera production is using the life and music of Florence Price, a pioneering Black symphonic composer whose work disappeared from mainstream stages, to examine how major artists are remembered, neglected and brought back into the cultural conversation.
A Minneapolis musician finds a song in childhood memories
A Minneapolis musician reflects on how childhood car rides with his mother shaped a song he later wrote while grieving her death.
How Minnesota musicians are responding in real time to federal shootings
After two fatal encounters with federal agents in Minnesota, musicians began responding almost immediately with songs that helped them process shock, connect with their communities and turn private grief into public solidarity.
The 'Magical City' — An illustrated tour of George Morrison’s New York
George Morrison’s years in New York shaped his artistic voice and placed him at the center of major 20th-century art movements. A new exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art traces that journey from his arrival in 1943 to his lasting influence on modernism and Abstract Expressionism.
MN Shortlist, Jan. 23-29: Risk-taking theater, winter festivals and poetry with purpose
Across stages, bookstores and winter streets, these events test how culture can hold joy and rigor at the same time, whether through reinvention, representation or the simple act of gathering in the cold and paying attention together.
A Minneapolis band shared a song in progress. Fans took it from there.
Indie pop artist anni xo’s new album “Something Profound” explores topics of love, heartbreak, growing up and queer identity. One of their most memorable moments of the album was leaking it all over social media.
MN Shortlist, Jan. 16-22: Ice, candlelight and beautiful nonsense
Mid-January in Minnesota is when winter culture really shows its personality. This week leans into it from every angle: art villages on frozen lakes, homemade sleds flirting with gravity, candlelit concerts, unhurried Sundays and a mandolin master passing through town. Cold hands, warm ideas, zero apologies.