State of the Arts Blog

Musician Jake Armerding offers shares of his songs at $2 a pop
Folk musician Jake Armerding is celebrating the release of his latest CD “Cosmos in the Chaos” tonight at Aster Café in Minneapolis. Armerding, a transplant from Boston, recently moved to Minnesota for the second time in recent history. In an interview with Mike Pengra on Radio Heartland Armerding cited his particular love of the local food…
Photographer Wing Young Huie brings neighbors together with latest exhibition
As part of this weekend’s Arts On Chicago event in Minneapolis, photographer Wing Young Huie has placed 100 of his images inside 20 different businesses along a section of Chicago Avenue. Titled “We Are The Other,” the series consists of portraits of people who live or work in the neighborhood. If you’re familiar with Huie’s…
Starting July 1, it’s going to cost Minnesota nonprofits more to get a donation through GiveMN. The online giving agency has worked to keep transactions low since it started up in 2009. But, because of increased costs incurred by its technology provider Razoo, the fee for transactions on GiveMN is jumping from 2.9% to 4.9%.…
Poet Tom Hennen: American master, hidden right under our noses
A New York Times review of Minnesota poet Tom Hennen’s latest book calls him an “American master.” Hennen, who was born in Morris in 1942, worked much of his life as a letterpress printer and a naturalist. Retired, he now lives in St. Paul to be close to his children and grandchildren.  Copper Canyon Press…
Art Hounds: Native jazz, Geriatrical Theatrical, and print artists open their portfolios
This week, three Sallys explore the relationship between Native Americans and jazz, a new musical about the autumn years, and a print artist jamboree in Minneapolis. (Want to be an Art Hound? Sign up!) The last time Groveland Gallery director Sally Johnson went to Highpoint Center for Printmaking’s annual “Open Portfolio” event, she felt “like…
FM Symphony names Christopher Zimmerman as new Music Director
The Fargo Moorhead Symphony has a new Music Director.  Christopher Zimmerman was selected from among 140 conductors who applied for the job. FM Symphony Executive Director Linda Boyd said five candidates were chosen to audition during the just completed concert season. There were each put through a grueling two week test, working with the orchestra…
Cantus bids farewell to Tim Takach
Cantus vocal ensemble is losing one of its core members and co-founders, bass vocalist Tim Takach. Takach and a few friends at St. Olaf College started Cantus as a means to keep singing after graduation.  Now it’s considered one of the premiere men’s vocal ensembles in the country. After seventeen years Takach is stepping down…
Minnesota State Fair unveils 2013 commemorative art
Today the Minnesota State Fair unveiled this year’s commemorative art by Marie Olofsdotter of Minneapolis. The piece features a woman with long flowing red hair holding a basket of fresh vegetables and wheat. While the familiar State Fair agriculture building and ferris wheel are visible to the right, the scene is dominated by the Mississippi…