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MN Shortlist is your weekly curated roundup of recommended arts events from MPR News, highlighting standout theater and music performances, exhibits and gatherings around the region.

Featured event: ConFluence at the Northrup King Building

Minnesota is spoiled for choice when it comes to conventions focused on pop culture and comics, such as Twin Cities Con and AniMinneapolis. 

, however, looks to create a specific place where BIPOC pop culture lovers and nerds can geek out together.

“There's not many spaces that center BIPOC communities in the science fiction and fandom scene,” said Leslie Barlow, a co-founder of the biannual convention. “It's really important to us that nerds of color aren't on the margins, but really the central focus of our event in our community ... we're not just the sidekicks, right? We are central to our own story.”

After debuting in 2023, ConFluence expanded in size within its venue, the Northrup King building. The weekend-long event is full of panels and special guests, like "Dimension 20” and “Critical Role” star Aabria Iyengar and Star Trek Voyager’s Tim Russ. 

“It's been really exciting to see our capacity grow," said Barlow. (

The Rochester art house cinema is hosting its first-ever

 starting with the 1984 Freddy Krueger classic “A Nightmare on Elm Street” at 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17. The theme, loosely, is sleep, says Nate Nelson, who opened the theater with his wife Maggie Panetta just over two years ago. 

Other screenings include 1985’s “Re-Animator,” 1982’s “Slumber Party Massacre” and Nelson’s personal favorite, “Hausu,” a 1977 Japanese comedy-horror with a cult following.

“It’s like you take two tabs of acid and watch ‘Scooby Doo,’ and that’s essentially what you’re getting for [‘Hausu’],” Nelson says. “It’s delightful.”

In the mix, there will also be secret short films, a 2 a.m. pizza party and free breakfast and cartoons for those who survive the night. Nelson says he was inspired by scary movie marathons at the Trylon Cinema in Minneapolis and the Rivoli Theatre in La Crosse, Wisconsin. 

“It’s not common anymore to see these actual, bona fide marathons anymore,” Nelson says. 

 Bringing a liminal blend of dreamy shoegaze pop, 

 frontlines the Turf Club with their debut album “Tripla.” Miki Berenyi, who began her career with the band “Lush,” has been creating music since the 1980s. The trio was formed when she went on a book and performance run after the release of her 2022 memoir “Fingers Crossed." 

Berenyi anticipated being asked to play a song or two during signings, so she recruited Kevin “Moose” McKillop and Oliver Cherer to join her. Eventually, the group began to make new music together, which they released earlier this year in “Tripla” and an accompanying single, “Doldrum Days.” 

The Midwest Queer Trans Zine Fest and Conference

Midwest Queer Trans Zine Fest and Conference

 returns to Minneapolis. Programming begins with the free conference 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17, at the University of Minnesota’s Elmer L. Andersen Library, home of the famous Tretter Collection, “the largest archival repository of LGBTQ history in the Midwest.” 

Faythe Levine — author (“Handmade Nation: The Rise of DIY Art, Craft, and Design”), curator, filmmaker and, as the New York Times deemed her, “Ambassador of Handmade” — will deliver a keynote, followed by panels such as “Building Community Power Through Independent Publishing.” 

The fest runs noon to 5 p.m. on Oct. 18 and 19 at Open Book, which will feature artists and vendors from across the Midwest.  

multifaceted artist Emily Michaels King debuted one of her signature pieces, “Magic Girl,” in 2019. The piece uses multimedia elements and movement to take the audience on a journey that isn’t linear but deals with healing what Michaels King calls the “child self.”

“The show itself is an abstract memoir,” Michaels King said, explaining that it's focused on finding the child like “sparkle” for life and reclaiming it as an adult. 

After the artist debuted a companion piece to “Magic Girl” in 2024, she decided to revisit and reimagine parts of her original solo show.

“When I make my work, it's so important to me that the content and what the show is about is really powerful,” said Michaels King. “But it's also equally important to me that the artistic craft is really stunning.” (

‘Graveyard Smash: A Halloween Art Show’ at Duck Duck Coffee

For those who celebrate Halloween all month long (like me!), check out the sweet little group art show “Graveyard Smash” at Duck Duck Coffee in Minneapolis. 

Curated by Minneapolis artist and “zinester” Liz Walker, highlights of the show include the cozy, glowing pastels of decorated Twin Cities homes by Rachael Adams-Bliss and the 

, an associate professor of photography and video at Minnesota State University in Mankato. 

‘Matrilineal Memory’ at All My Relations Arts

 — All My Relations Arts, the art gallery in the heart of the Minneapolis Native American Cultural Corridor, has opened its fall exhibition. 

 is a solo exhibition by Hopi artist Mikaela Shafer (based in Olympia, Wash.), featuring paintings, installations and poetry that use unconventional materials like corn and chiffon.

The collection explores memory, emotion and cultural preservation.

“The process I use to create my art is feral. My pieces are painted, burned and sewn. I want people to feel the chaos and calm and see their own journey in the lines and jagged edges,” Shafer says in an artist statement. 

Shafer will give an artist talk on Nov. 15. 

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This week includes Horrorthon at Pop’s Art Theater, Miki Berenyi Trio and The Midwest Queer Trans Zine Fest and Conference.

Published MN Shortlist, Oct. 17-23: ConFluence brings BIPOC fandom to the center stage — and more!

Three people strike poses in cosplay costumes

MN Shortlist, Oct. 17-23: ConFluence brings BIPOC fandom to the center stage — and more!

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