Art Hounds: Monster drawing and a new children's museum

This week the Art Hounds take us to a Mankato children's museum in the process of being built, a musical respite from holiday stress, and a monster drawing rally.

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Brian Frink, chair of the Art Department at Minnesota State University, Mankato, is watching his community rally around the creation of a new children's museum. And he's thrilled to see artists being involved at the ground level. This Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. visitors can watch "Artists at Work" creating murals and installations.

Matty O'Reilly runs several restaurants in the Twin Cities area, and he's committed to showing the work of local musicians and visual artists. O'Reilly has become a big fan of Midway Contemporary Art's annual fundraiser, the Monster Drawing Rally. This Saturday, more than 80 artists will draw and paint in three shifts, each for an hour at a time. The work they create will be immediately available for purchase for $35 a pop. O'Reilly says it's a fun and engaging event that appeals to his kids, too.

Sarah Larsson is looking forward to seeing three of her favorite local musicians perform together on Sunday. Tony Axtell, Barbara McAfee and Steven Hobert are presenting "We Three: A Musical Respite from the Frenzy of the Season" at Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church at 6:30 p.m. Larsson says she admires how the three are so comfortable with improvisation and really create in the moment in a way that draws out — and responds to — the audience.