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Arts and Culture

MPR News has you covered with news and stories about local art and culture happenings across Minnesota.

Art Hounds: Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what's exciting in local art. You can explore arts events here, or become an Art Hound today.

Art Reviews: Our arts team offers insight on the latest in theater, music, visual arts and more. We explore the breadth of creativity and innovation found throughout Minnesota, offering audiences a deeper understanding of the works and artists shaping our cultural landscape. Read more here.

Art Friend: Everyone needs an art friend. Art Friend is a new segment with our arts team. Art spaces can feel exclusive and art can be confusing, obtuse, and even boring. But, especially with the right context, everyone can be a critic. So let us be your guide- your Art Friend. Listen or read Art Friend stories here.

Our arts coverage is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment's Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.

Critical DMs: Exploring the many collections featured at the State Fair

Critical DMs: Exploring the many collections featured at the State Fair

Critical DMs finds arts editor Max Sparber and senior arts reporter and critic Alex V. Cipolle exploring the Minnesota State Fair’s Collections exhibit — an eclectic, chaotic counterpoint to the more codified tradition of crop art, featuring everything from stamps and postcards to scrapbooks, mail ephemera and license plates.
by Alex V. Cipolle and Max Sparber

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Ojibwe jingle dress brings education, healing to the State Fair

Ojibwe jingle dress brings education, healing to the State Fair

Regalia made in remembrance of Indigenous people impacted by violence is on display in the State Fair’s Fine Arts Center. The jingle dress features names of missing and murdered relatives inside red handprints.
by Melissa Olson

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Library of Congress acquires only known lyrics sketch of ‘Over the Rainbow’

Library of Congress acquires only known lyrics sketch of ‘Over the Rainbow’

Scrawled in pencil on a scrap of yellow legal paper by lyricist E.Y. "Yip" Harburg, the artifact is among dozens of treasures from The Wizard of Oz donated by composer Harold Arlen's sister-in-law Rita Arlen.
by Chloe Veltman

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‘This will take forever’: My crop art journey to the Minnesota State Fair

‘This will take forever’: My crop art journey to the Minnesota State Fair

A first-time crop artist chronicles her exhausting but joyful journey of creating a whimsical, Magritte-inspired seed art piece for the Minnesota State Fair, discovering both the beauty and madness of gluing millet one seed at a time.
by Alex V. Cipolle

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'Sopranos' star Jerry Adler, Broadway backstage vet turned late-in-life actor, dies at 96

'Sopranos' star Jerry Adler, Broadway backstage vet turned late-in-life actor, dies at 96

Actor Jerry Adler has died at 96. Adler started his career behind the scenes in theater and worked on more than 50 Broadway productions. He later transitioned to acting in his 60s, gaining fame for roles on “The Sopranos” and “The Good Wife.”
by The Associated Press

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Smithsonian artists and scholars respond to White House list of objectionable art

Smithsonian artists and scholars respond to White House list of objectionable art

A page published by the White House entitled "President Trump Is Right About the Smithsonian" lists exhibits, educational sites and more that the administration seems to take issue with.
by Mandalit del Barco

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Publishing this week: A James Baldwin bio, the hope of solar, Snow White reimagined

Publishing this week: A James Baldwin bio, the hope of solar, Snow White reimagined

Bill McKibben says solar is a “last chance for the climate.” T. Kingfisher offers a dark retelling of “Snow White.” Nicholas Boggs tells James Baldwin’s story. Plus new debut fiction.
by Colin Dwyer

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These ‘Blondes’ are turning 100, and they’re still a lot of fun

“Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” is about two flappers on the prowl for sugar daddies. First published in 1925, Anita Loos’ cheeky comic novel has now been reissued in paperback.
by Maureen Corrigan

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Be there pirates? The true story of Capt. Kidd

Be there pirates? The true story of Capt. Kidd

Was Capt. Kidd a notorious pirate whose ill-gotten treasure is still hunted today? Or was he an experienced sea captain who got caught up in the geopolitics of his day? Parse the true story from the scuttlebutt on this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas.
by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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