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From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above.

Linda Sloan of Hopkins, Minn., is the executive director for the Council for Minnesotans of African Heritage. She predicts audiences will be on their feet at the Fitzgerald Theater in St Paul this weekend, moved by “

The Sound of Gospel: An Anthology Depicting the Rich History and Evolution of Gospel Music.

 of 2nd Chance Outreach and directed by Academy Award-nominated artist 

, with musical direction by Grammy Award-winning artist Billy Steele. The all-ages show will be performed Saturday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 9 at 3 p.m.

 I cannot say enough about this performance. It is amazing. When I went to the show a couple years ago, I was just blown away by the caliber of the talent and then the meaning of the songs. It’s just a phenomenal show. 

You’ll hear anything from spirituals to praise and worship. It is just an opportunity for individuals who maybe have never really experienced gospel to understand the roots, the roots of where it comes from and why it is spiritual music. 

It’s so energetic. There are a couple little somber moments, because it is a history of gospel music, and there have been things in the past that maybe occur that required spiritual music. But for the most part, it’s just one of those “toe-tapping, get-on-your-feet, clapping, as if you were in a Baptist church” shows. 

Actor and singer Anna Hashizume of Minneapolis recommends seeing Frank Theatre’s current production of 

 about two undocumented teens growing up in Newark, N.J., post 9/11. 

She describes the play as a series of very short scenes performed by an outstanding three-person cast. The play runs in the intimate Open Eye Theatre in Minneapolis through Feb. 23. Masks are required for the Feb. 7 and Feb. 16 performances. 

Frank Theatre, which mounted the play, specializes in works that spark conversation, and Anna says this show feels incredibly timely.

 I know when [director] Wendy Knox first chose the play we didn’t know the political climate that was going to be happening at this moment in time, but it is a very timely play for what is happening in our nation right now.  

Theater has a lot of different functions. It can just be entertainment, which is also lovely at a time like this, but also being able to be educated and see different life experiences in front of your eyes in a relatively safe space can open something up in all of us.

Donna Winberg of Deephaven, Minn., loves to walk the trails at the 

 in Chaska, so she’s been able to pop inside the visitor center to watch preparations for 

 The enchanted garden displays are now open to viewers with an Arboretum ticket daily through March 16.  

In addition to the Spring Flower show, Donna recommends continuing through the Synder Building to the Conservatory, which is currently packed with orchids and tropical blooms, with a stop at the Rootstock Café for a bite to eat. Additional ticketed events include an Art Fair on Feb. 15 and 16, After Hours with Flowers and Afternoon Tea events.

MPR chief meteorologist Paul Huttner is also a fan; see his pictures in a recent Updraft Blog 

 You’ll be amazed when you see the huge tree trunks they’ve brought in there, and the mosses and the lichens and the mushrooms. It’s just like a breath of spring, which we all need this time of year! What I really love is the local artist work that is incorporated into the displays. There’ll be different artists coming in [through the course of the show.] 

[This week] there are mosaic glass birds and ceramic birds and all sorts of wonderful little fairy houses, bird houses. So you have to stand there and look at things for a while to have it all revealed to you, which is fun.

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Art Hounds recommend “The Sound of Gospel,” “Sanctuary City” and the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.

Art Hounds: The history of Gospel music, spring flowers and a play about immigration

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