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Escape the heat and smoke with this week’s MN Shortlist, a roundup of indoor happenings including “Belly Laugh at a Funeral” at Mia, Florence Foster Jenkins in Alexandria, the new Roho Gallery & Cultural Arts Center in downtown Minneapolis and more.

‘Borderlands’ at Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery in Grand Marais — July 17-Aug. 9

 features four North Shore artists who have the shared experience of traveling or working along the borders of Canada and Mexico. Through printmaking, painting and jewelry design, the artists Betsey Bowen, Jeanne Hedstrom, Stephen Hoglund and Heidi Sobanja explore the meaning of home, sense of place and camaraderie. “Besides the common migratory element that the four of us have experienced, we have chosen to exhibit together because of our long-held knowledge and respect for each other’s work. That, and an enduring friendship,” the artists said in a joint statement. The gallery will host an opening reception 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, July 17. 

The Roho Gallery & Cultural Arts Center grand opening in Minneapolis — July 18

Downtown Minneapolis is getting a new art space: The Roho Collective is opening a new 3,000-square-foot gallery and center at the historic Andrus Building in downtown Minneapolis. The collective for artists of color will host a 

grand opening 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday 

featuring a ribbon cutting, both African and Native American dance and drumming, spoken word, family-friendly art activities and the inaugural Roho Collective member exhibition. “Body: Politic – Once Upon These Times,” which will present the works of 30 artists.

The exhibition is about “how we, as folks of color, are responding to what has been happening here, in particular the Twin Cities, after Metro Surge and the continuation of the political climate at large,” said Cara Deanes, Roho Collective executive director. 

Artists are “exploring the feelings, the thoughts of not just themselves as creatives, but at large as a community – How are we responding? How are we healing? How are we growing? How is this changing us?”  

“Body: Politic” is on view through Sept. 27.

‘Private Lives’ at Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis — July 18-Aug. 23

Nearly 100 years ago, the frothy and feisty romantic comedy “Private Lives” hit the London stage for the first time, and its second act was considered so racy that the British Lord Chamberlain’s Office nearly called it off, that is, until playwright Noël Coward convinced them otherwise. The play, which 

, follows two couples honeymooning in adjacent rooms on the Normandy coast in France, and before long, half of each couple realizes their ex-spouse is next door. The old flames flee to Paris, followed by their partners, and a comedy of manners ensues involving various pairings of the foursome. 

“They are deliciously intelligent and insanely human, driven by a fundamental need to connect,” says director David Ivers in a statement from the Guthrie. In the roles of all four lovers are Nikki Massoud (who previously starred in the 

) and Dustin Bronson (“A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” 

 and “Hamlet” at the Guthrie) as well as William Connell and Laura Odeh who will make their Guthrie debut. 

‘Ziba Rajabi: Belly Laugh at a Funeral’ at the Minneapolis Institute of Art — July 18-Oct. 25

For years, Minneapolis-based Iranian artist Ziba Rajabi has been meditating on the idea of collective grief and

 continues that work. In 2025, when Rajabi won a national award to support her ongoing project, she spoke to

 about her “ongoing research about grieving and mourning rituals in the Iranian plateau and Mesopotamia throughout history” and her love for the land where she comes from – Rajabi grew up in Tehran. The Mia exhibition will feature the fruits of this labor including the 2026 piece “Kotal,” which uses textiles, sounds, carpet and cushions to encourage visitors to pause together.

“In the past few years, many of us in the world, and specifically here in the Minneapolis, after the murder of George Floyd and recently Alex Pretti and Renee Good, we've been going through a prolonged grief,” Rajabi said. “This is this is a place for collective grief and the imagination of the moment after grief that inspires awareness and action.”

Rajabi will give an artist talk Oct. 18. 

“King of Cade” Tournament at Up-Down Arcade Bar in Minneapolis — July 19

Hear ye, hear ye, gather around for an annual competition of Arthurian proportion. Each year, the 

 sees dozens of gamers go head-to-head in a bracket-style contest to see who can lay claim to Camelot — or at least the nerdom of Minneapolis. 

Much like the tournaments of yore that saw knights compete in jousts and hand-to-hand combat, the “King of Cade” sees participants battle it out over multiple categories, including pinball, arcade and video games. At the end of the day, however, only one will be victorious in retrieving the sword from the anvil and achieving ultimate glory — as well as a grand prize. Sign-up for the competition ends at 12:45 p.m. on July 19, with the official event beginning at 1 p.m. 

‘Souvenir’ at Theatre L’Homme Dieu in Alexandria — July 21-25

I first became aware of Florence Foster Jenkins in the mid-2010s, when a film about her life — starring Meryl Streep — came out. Foster Jenkins was a socialite in the early 1900s, who, despite being a bad singer, regularly performed concerts at venues like the Ritz Carlson in New York City and even Carnegie Hall. 

Her uniquely terrible singing gained something of a cult following, with audiences attending her performances to laugh at her. Through all of it, she was often accompanied by pianist Cosmé McMoon, and it’s that relationship that serves as the basis for 

the play “Souvenir,” which Theatre L’Homme Dieu

 in Alexandria is producing. The show is a two-hander, both funny and earnest, full of classic standards by Mozart and Verdi performed in a style befitting the pitchy, amateurish performance that Foster Jenkins was known for. 

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An arcade tournament, exhibitions openings in the Twin Cities and Grand Marais, a new gallery in downtown Minneapolis, a musical play in Alexandria and a feisty romance at the Guthrie.

MN Shortlist July 17-24: An arcade tourney, a Guthrie romance, art of the border and a new art space

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