State of the Arts Category Archive: Art Hounds
Art Hounds: Spring Awakening, VocalPoint, and a gender mash-up in Bloomington
Posted at 7:30 AM on February 9, 2012
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Painting, Theater
Paintings by Nicholas Harper (left) and Tina Blondell (right), part of the "Lace and Gunpowder" exhibition at the Bloomington Art Center
The hounds lead us to the premiere of an alt-musical in Duluth, a charitable community choir in St. Paul, and an exhibition that pairs up male and female artists.
"Spring Awakening succeeds as musical theater, by breaking the rules of musical theater." That's according to Rebecca Katz Harwood, who's heralding the premiere of the broadway sensation Spring Awakening at Renegade Theater in Duluth. Rebecca, who teaches theater and dance at the University of Minnesota Duluth and is a dancer and choreographer, says the musical is about German teenagers in the late 19th century trying to emerge from an oppressive childhood. It's not suitable material for children, though. On stage at Renegade Feb. 9 - 25.
Anne-Marie Wagener paid her first visit to Bloomington Art Center and was wowed by its current exhibition "Lace and Gunpowder." The show puts the work of male and female painters, sculptors and illustrators side by side to demonstrate unlikely contrasts and similarities. Anne-Marie, who directs public relations at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, wasn't drawn so much to the gender divisions as the sheer power and beauty of the art. You can see the show through Feb. 17.
VocalPointhas a dual purpose, to create the most compelling choral music it can while raising money for humanitarian causes. St. Paul choral singer Shahbaz Shah says the choir has one of the most dynamic directors in the Twin Cities in Jennifer Anderson. VocalPoint is singing this weekend (2/11 & 2/12 at 3pm) at its home base of Central Presbyterian Church in St. Paul. Maria Jette is the guest soloist.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
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Art Hounds: Megan Vossler, Brazilian dance, and a Neutral Milk Hotel cover band
Posted at 7:30 AM on February 2, 2012
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Drawing, Events, Music
Megan Vossler, "South China Sea," 2012. Video stills.
The hounds dig up landscape art that's sensitive to the earth's movements, a new local dance company that moves to Afro-Brazilian rhythms, and a cover band serenading Neutral Milk Hotel fans.
Sarah Moeding wears a lot of hats in the Twin Cities art scene; artist, musician, writer, and producer of the "Literary Death Match." Therefore it shouldn't surprise that Sarah would know about a Neutral Milk Hotel cover band performing the legendary indie rock band's most influential album, "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea," in its entirety. It's happening Friday night at Cause Spirits and Soundbar. The group is the appropriately named CVR BND and its performance is partially aimed at folks who couldn't get tickets to former Neutral Milk Hotel frontman Jeff Mangum's sold out show at the State Theater this Saturday.
The local dance world, which includes dancer and Cowles Center Education Director Jessi Fett, is buzzing over the premiere of a new dance company. Contempo Physical Dance, led by choreographer and dancer Marciano Silva dos Santos, fuses Afro-Brazilian dance, capoeira, and contemporary dance into a potent mix on stage. Contempo Physical Dance makes its debut this weekend at the Ritz Theater in Minneapolis.
Christina Schmid thinks there's a movement of artists trying to take landscape art in more thoughtful, probing, deconstructing directions. Christina, a liberal arts professor at the College of Visual Arts in St. Paul, would put artist (and fellow Art Hound) Megan Vossler at the forefront of that movement. Vossler's new exhibition is called "Overlook: Landscape Studies," and it's at the Macalester Gallery at Macalester College through March 9th. Here's an essay Christina, who's also an editor at Quodlibetica, wrote about Megan's work.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
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Art Hounds: Isa Gagarin, Art Sleds, and a quadruple art opening in Duluth
Posted at 7:30 AM on January 26, 2012
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Museums
Image from Isa Gagarin's artist book accompanying her exhibition, "Occultation"
This week's hounds are totally engrossed in Minnesota's visual art scene and share impressions of an emerging artist's quest for identity in found documents, neighborhood artists who create community on a sledding hill, and a communal art opening at the Duluth Art Institute.
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Milwaukee-based independent media producer Adam Carr's answer to his own wanderlust: travel to Duluth, live there for a month, soak up its culture and pour everything you discover into a website called "January in Duluth." One of the dozens of things Adam has investigated over the last month was last week's quadruple opening at the Duluth Art Institute. He was particularly impressed with the "Membership Exhibition," which features 175 works from amateur and professional artists and is on the walls through February 19.
Winter is fun...if we make it fun. That might as well be Erin Lauderman's mantra. Erin, who's a painter and works in marketing at the Weisman Art Museum, will definitely be somewhere along the gentle slopes of Powderhorn Park in Minneapolis this Saturday, January 28, at 2pm for the 5th Annual Art Sled Rally! Dress up your favorite sled, toboggan, or snowboard and pray for snow, although the event will take place regardless of the level of frozen precipitation.
When an emerging artist with great potential has an important exhibition, peer artists take note. That's how performance and installation artist Josh Stulen regards the work of Isa Gagarin. Isa's new show is called "Occulation," at St. Cloud State University's Kiehle Gallery. Gagarin manipulates found documents such as photos of the Dead Sea, images of the Lunar surface, or National Geographic articles, to give them a new identity.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
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Art Hounds: Ghost, Dirty Girls, Al Church and State
Posted at 7:30 AM on January 19, 2012
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Theater
Photo of Al Church and State by Shinano Katagiri
The hounds have uncovered a devil-worshipping Swedish heavy metal band, a slew of confessional style performers and artists who turn the phrase 'dirty girls' inside out, and an indie rock band which is seriously tongue-in-cheek.
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Photographer and musician Charlie Ward has some advice. Take all your troubles down to the Amsterdam Bar this Friday and let the Minneapolis indie rock band Al Church and State lift them off your shoulders, at least temporarily. The group is fronted by Al Church, who Charlie classifies as a huge goofball. You'll hear songs about such disparate subjects as making up your own dance moves, birthday parties, and intense relationships.
The phrase 'dirty girls' carries a lot of baggage, but actor and playwright Heather Meyer says a performance fest in Minneapolis is trying to present a more nuanced, multi-layered interpretation of what it means, good and bad. "Dirty Girls Come Clean" is a remount of a production of short works--in musical, performance art, spoken word monologue and mini-play form, which attempt to re-define 'dirty girls.' On stage at Nimbus Theatre through January 28.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677. Art Hounds is powered by the Public Insight Network.
Some say satan and heavy metal go hand-in hand, and bands such as Ghost, which St. Paul composer Mike Croswell has been following for the last couple years, are living proof. Mike says devil worship comes up often in the Swedish group's lyrics, but the playing is disciplined and tight. "Ghost" is in the midst of its first American tour, and arrives at Station 4 in downtown St. Paul this Wednesday, Jan. 25.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
Art Hounds: Theatre Smackdown, Ruben Nusz, and young virtuosos
Posted at 7:00 AM on January 12, 2012
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Painting, Theater
"Paint Stone (3)" and "Untitled (green frame, diamond exceeding the frame)" by Ruben Nusz
This week's hounds are endorsing art that's abstract and illusionary at the same time, classical music that's being performed by some of the region's finest young adult soloists, and a 24 hour theater festival with all the energy of the WWE.
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Scott Pakudaitus will almost always say yes to chaotic, frenetic, seat-of-your-pants theater. Scott, a theater director himself and Bedlam Theatre's board president, says Theatre Unbound's "24:00:00 Xtreme Theatre Smackdown" is right in his wheelhouse. Over 40 playwrights, directors and actors have 24 hours to craft six 10-minute plays that can be about anything they want, provided they meet certain stipulations. The madness culminates with a performance of all six plays on Saturday, January 14 at Hamline University's Anne Simley Theatre at 8pm.
For a glimpse of the next generation of top-shelf professional musicians, flute instructor and musician Tina Persson says get thee down to Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis on Sunday, January 15 from 1-4pm, for the annual Young Artists Competition. It's sponsored by WAMSO, the Minnesota Orchestra Volunteer Association. Tina says the finest young adult classical musicians in the Upper Midwest and parts of Canada are competing for thousands of dollars in prizes and a chance to perform with the Minnesota Orchestra.
MCAD and CVA instructor and artist Pam Valfer raves about fellow Art Hound and painter Ruben Nusz's exhibition at Thomas Barry Fine Arts in Minneapolis entitled "Sticks/Stones." Pam says Ruben takes his ongoing interest in abstract yet illusionary images in a new direction in the show, which is on view by appointment through Feb. 9.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
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Art Hounds: Shostakovich, Chastity Brown, and "A Dog is a Dog"
Posted at 8:00 AM on January 5, 2012
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Books, Events, Music
Illustration from "A Dog is a Dog" by Stephen Shaskan
This week's hounds pay tribute to a string quartet series at St. Paul's Landmark Center, a folky soul singer from Minneapolis, and an illustrator who's winning national raves for his new kids' book.
Art Hounds January 5 by MPR News
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Songwriter and musician Mayda knows a thing or two about soul music, so we need to pay attention when she speaks of her admiration for Minneapolis singer-songwriter Chastity Brown. Mayda says Brown's probing honesty and acoustic guitar craft can transport the listener to another place. Brown will be joined by visual artist Natalie Gallagher for an unusual performance, "Marrow," at Republic in Minneapolis, Sunday, Jan. 8.
Sometimes your friends and fellow artists surprise you. It happened to Minneapolis visual artist and musician Rich Barlow, whose former bandmate and album art illustrator Stephen Shaskan has released a critically-praised children's book called "A Dog is a Dog," published by Chronicle Books. Rich says kids will be delighted by the clever way the story's main character, a dog, continually changes his identity. Rich was also impressed by Shaskan's ability to professionalize his style as an illustrator.
The great 20th-century Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich wrote a series of string quartets that St. Paul composer Justin Busch describes as a musical documentation of life behind the Iron Curtain. Justin says eight of those 15 quartets will be performed by the acclaimed Twin Cities-based Artaria Quartet every Thursday in January from noon to 1pm at the Landmark Center. According to Justin, the 'courtroom concerts' are not to be missed.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
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Art Hounds: 2011 Highlights, part three
Posted at 8:20 AM on December 29, 2011
by Molly Bloom
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Filed under: Art Hounds
We asked our Art Hounds to tell us about their Minnesota arts and culture highlights of the year. Here is the third and final installment (here are links to part one and part two).
Northern Spark
We loved Northern Spark, a dusk to dawn art happening in June in both Minneapolis and St. Paul. The events going on were mostly focused around the Mississippi River. In Minneapolis there was everything from a community kazoo band to projections on the mill buildings and throngs of people enjoying art together. In St. Paul, there were light installations on the river banks and art on a riverboat, among many other happenings. We heard people say that it felt like Barcelon - and it did. People are still talking about it six months afterward. It was the city we deserve.
-Debra deNoyelles, The Soap Factory and Molly Balcom Raleigh, Forecast Public Art
Formation of the Rural American Contemporary Art group
The group started as a facebook page that Brian Frink, artist and art professor at Minnesota State University - Mankato, and it grew to 400 members nationally within one week. I think it has captured a movement that's going on among contemporary artists that choose to live in rural or small town areas. The boundaries don't exist anymore. You don't have to live in an "art city" to engage in the kinds of intellectual conversations that foster contemporary art.
-Stephanie Wilbur Ash, writer and performer
City of Music: The Cloak Ox perform "Vacuum Cleaner" from MPLS.TV on Vimeo.
The Cloak Ox debut show at The Turf Club
My most memorable local music event of this last year happened in January: The Cloak Ox's debut show at the Turf Club. The Cloak Ox is a new rock band fronted by Andrew Broder of fog and Martin Dosh. Given their experiemental backgrounds, I didn't know what to expect but their sound was more of straight-ahead rock and I was pleased to see they were a succinct, tight band. That night was also the second or third night that The Turf Club was open again ater it closed on New Year's Day. So it was reassuring to see that The Turf Club was still going to be around and still a cornerstone of the St. Paul music scene.
-Jon Gilbert, First Avenue website manager
Amiri Baraka's "Wise, Why's, Y's" produced by Tru Ruts' Freestyle Theatre
The performance visualized critical elements of the African American experience from the 1800s to 2011 through dance, spoken word, music and intricate paintings. Historical references were placed in a context any audience member could grasp. The audience response to the work was incredibly visceral and clearly indicated a desire to experience the performance again and again.
-Janis Lane-Ewart, cultural actvist and executive director of KFAI Fresh Air Radio
Art Hounds: 2011 Highlights, part two
Posted at 1:00 PM on December 28, 2011
by Molly Bloom
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Filed under: Art Hounds
We've asked our Art Hounds to tell us about their Minnesota arts and culture highlights of 2011. Here is the second installment (find part one here):
A Winged Victory for the Sullen at the Cedar Cultural Center
It's not always easy to translate ambient music to the stage, but this show was a purely transporting experience: Adam Wiltzie and Dustin O'Halloran are amazing performers who inhabit their music, as much as they play it and are captivating to watch. Jaw-dropping.
-Juliet Patterson, poet and writer
Twin Cities Zinefest
Zinefest attracts exhibitors from all over the U.S. and is packed with odd booklets, fresh ideas and interesting art. I always find something amazing there and it's a great place to start good conversations and make friends.
-Sarah Morean, zinester and cartoonist
Frank Theatre's production of "Cabaret"
First of all, it was on the Minnesota Centennial Showboat, so the show had a charming, vintage-y quality. The company did a great job of capturing the grit that IS this show. The dancing, though executed by mostly non-dancers (or folks who don't consider dance to be their primary discipline), was very well conceived, accomplished and really served to support the show.
-Penelope Freeh, dancer and choreographer
"hot 3-way action" at SOO Visual Art Center
Specifically, it was Bruce Tapola's Gigantic Tightie Whitie Underwear mixed media painting that tips the visual art scales for me this year. Tapola painstakingly searched all over the Twin cities for the biggest pair of men's underwear and found a plus size undergarment that was big enough for several of Paul Bunyan's logging friends. In a refreshing dire need of a good washbasin cleaning by Grandma, and with the two words splattered and stained in reddish paint, "Relational Aesthetics" has been brought to a new glamorous and humorous low!
-Pete Driessen, artist
Minnesota Orchestra's "Hansel and Gretel"
It kept me and my two kids (ages 10 and 8) enthralled for nearly two hours--a remarkable feat! The singers were expressive but clear enough for children to understand, the puppetry was gorgeous and fascinating, and the orchestra wove it together with a beautiful blanket of sound in the background. Truly first rate, and even the youngest in the audience enjoyed it.
-Erin Hanafin Berg, Preservation Alliance of Minnesota
A Fistful of Dirt: How the Death Was Won
Every year, BareBones puts on a Halloween show in St Paul's Hidden Falls Regional Park. There are live actors but mostly it's giant puppets drifting about in the dark, usually almost wordless but scored by an amazing rag-tag orchestra. The themes always revolve around death and the afterlife, and never fail to bring a tear to my eye.
-Kelly Krantz, zinester and writer
Art Hounds: 2011 Highlights, part one
Posted at 7:00 AM on December 22, 2011
by Molly Bloom
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Film, Music, Theater
We've asked our Art Hounds to tell us about their Minnesota arts and culture highlights of 2011. Here is the first installment (look for parts two and three next week):
Center of the Margins Festival at Mixed Blood Theatre
This one-of-a-kind theatre festival featured three plays delving deeply into disability. One play spotlighted Asperger's, autism, and what is "normal," another show was performed completely in American Sign Language, and the third dealt with race, adoption, and disability -- both mental and physical. Each piece challenged the audience and their conceptions of disability. Part of Mixed Blood Theatre's new Radical Hospitality concept, Center of the Margins pushed Minneapolis theatre into new directions.
-Michael Merriam, author and storyteller
Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg at Orchestra Hall
Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg's performance at Orchestra Hall on October 22 blew me away...all the way to Buenos Aires! She is likely the only solo violinist on that stage to wear bright red leather pants, and her energetic performance was just as fiery, with spirited movements and enthusiasm accompanying every note. Astor Piazzolla's Four Seasons of Buenos Aires was an ideal choice for the dynamic musician, seducing us with tango and Latin rhythms that flowed into or were interrupted by familiar Vivaldi melodies.
-Laura Westlund, managing editor of University of Minnesota Press
The Free Range Film Festival in Wrenshall
It's a film festival showcasing many local filmmakers, created by local filmmakers, taking place in a barn outside of Wrenshall. What's more Minnesotan than that? Also: they had good popcorn.
-Joshua Carlon, filmmaker and film editor
Big Quarters, Nicolas Carter, And a yuletide dance party
Posted at 7:00 AM on December 15, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music
Follow the hounds as they dig up a brotherly hip hop duo that raps about everyday life, a Nordic Yuletide celebration featuring authentic Scandanavian music and sounds of the season courtesy of a Minneapolis musician and his Paraguayan harp.
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Minneapolis visual artist Jan Elftmann is drawn to the music of her Northern European heritage, which will be in abundance at Jultide Celebration: a Nordic Roots Dance Party at Tapestry Folkdance Center in Minneapolis on Sunday, Dec. 18, from 6-8pm. Jan, who organizes art car-related events throughout Minnesota, reports the event will be hosted by Nordic roots artist and Art Hound Kari Tauring, with help from Nordic dancer Carol Sersland and Minneapolis world music musician Drew Miller.
Eric Utne's favorite holiday music is plucked by Minneapolis musician Nicolas Carter. Carter's specialty is the national instrument of Paraguay, the harp. Eric, who started the "Utne Reader" and is a writer and publisher in Minneapolis, says Carter brings a distinctive South American flavor to holiday classics. Carter will be joined in concert by the Son Del Sur Folk Ensemble at First Christian Church in Minneapolis on Saturday, Dec. 17 at 7:30pm and for a family concert at City of Lakes Waldorf School on Sunday afternoon.
If you're looking for local rap that's rooted in the community, Minneapolis hip hop aficionado and writer Ali Elabbady can't say enough good things about Big Quarters. The duo consists of brothers Brandon Allday and Medium Zach. Ali says Big Quarters rhymes are often about the rigors and beauty of daily existence, which makes them unique. Big Quarters celebrates its new CD, "Party Like a Young Commie," with a release party at the Triple Rock Social Club on Friday, December 16th.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
Art Hounds is powered by the Public Insight Network.
Art Hounds: House tour, Spiked Too, and nerds conquer Duluth
Posted at 7:00 AM on December 8, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Architecture, Art Hounds, Events, Theater
This week's hounds say you can't ignore a chance to tour a stunning 1915 'Prairie School' home in Minneapolis, a variety show guaranteed to fill you with mirth and merriment, and a special evening for show and tell-oriented nerds of the Duluthian variety.
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Interested in seeing how the holidays were celebrated in Minneapolis circa 1915? Hopkins Center for the Arts Director Amanda Birnstengel heartily recommends visiting the Purcell-Cutts House. Tours of this immaculately maintained Prairie School gem, which is owned by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, are conducted by docents dressed in period garb and focus on the holiday decorations, gift giving, and social traditions of the period. The tours take place every Saturday and Sunday through the holiday season.
Holiday-themed entertainment often triggered a gag reflex in improvisor Tane Danger, until he went to see "Spiked Too!" by Table Salt Productions at the Lowry Lab Theater in downtown St. Paul. Tane, founder of the "Theater of Public Policy," says the early '70s style variety show is stocked with talented musicians and funny performers who will help you give in to the spirit of the season. On stage through December 17.
Nerds, and Duluth theater artist and playright Jean Sramek counts herself among that crowd, have their own semi-regular special evening at Teatro Zuccone in Duluth. Jean says "Nerd Nite" turns the stage over to local nerds who want to share their vast knowledge of obscure subjects with other nerds and imbibe together. The next Nerd Nite is Wednesday, Dec. 14 at 7:30pm.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
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Art Hounds: Patrick Harison, Michon Weeks, and a theatrical manual on infidelity
Posted at 7:00 AM on December 1, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Public Art, Theater
If you're hankering for a virtuoso accordion player, a painter and printmaker with her eye on the landmarks of Lyon County, and a play that lays out the anatomy of adultery, this week's Art Hounds were made to order.
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Marshall graphic designer Marcy Olson became an Art Hound to celebrate the work of painter and printmaker Michon Weeks. Marcy is drawn to Michon's skewed vision, which is subtly evident in her installation "Poetry of the Road," at the brand new Marshall-Lyon County Library. It's a series of glass etchings of local county landmarks, hung in the windows of the library. There'll be an opening reception at the library on Thursday, Dec. 1, from 5-7pm.
Shazore Shah was eating lunch the other day in Minneapolis when button accordionist extraordinaire Patrick Harison transported him to five different cultures over the course of his meal. Shazore, a tenor with the male vocal group Cantus, says he was amazed by Patrick's proficiency and comfort level in so many different genres. Patrick belongs to a number of groups, but his main gig is frontman for Patty and the Buttons. Patty and the Buttons plays on Monday, Dec. 5 at the Red Stag Supper Club in Minneapolis. The band also has a standing engagement at the Aster Café every Sunday afternoon.
Lily Troia is founder of the Minneapolis-based Invisible Button, an artist and event management company. Lily wasn't in the Twin Cities when "How to Cheat" became one of the hits of the 2006 Minnesota Fringe Festival. But she's read the new and augmented script by Minneapolis playwright Alan Berks and predicts the two person play about marital infidelity will pack even more of a sexy wallop. It's on stage at the Gremlin Theater in St. Paul through Dec. 10.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
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Art Hounds: Dear Data, St. Cloud aesthetic, and Rebel Pleasure
Posted at 7:00 AM on November 23, 2011
by Molly Bloom
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Painting, Printmaking
This week, three Scotts and a Carol show us what it means to be a St. Cloud artist, introduce to us a new band with a warm sound perfect for winter, and a performance series that pushes all sorts of boundaries.
Scott Stulen may be the Project Director for mnartists.org as well as a visual artist, but his true love is DJing, which he does under the name Black Lacquer. He's always on the hunt for new music and he can't get enough of the newly-formed Dear Data. The Minneapolis band, made up of members of I, Colussus and Al Church and State, pairs a warm electro-pop sound with soulful vocals. If you want to catch this band before they hit it big, you can see them Monday, Nov. 28 at Red Stag Supperclub and Wednesday, Nov. 30 at Cause Spirits and Soundbar.
Carol Weiler is a photographer and designer in St. Cloud. She wants you to head to the 912 Art Gallery to see the work of a man who helped shape the aesthetic of the St. Cloud art scene. Bill Ellingson's watercolors and prints particularly struck a chord in the '70s and '80s, especially his work featuring images of protests from the era of the Vietnam War. The show will be up through Nov. 30 and there will also be a discussion at the gallery on Monday, Nov. 28 about the collective memory of the St. Cloud arts culture.
Scotty Reynolds and Scotty Hall share a name, artistic endeavors (Picnic Operetta and Interact Center) and a love for the queer performance series Pleasure Rebel. Wednesday, Nov. 30 at the Bryant Lake Bowl you can see artists pushing themselves and the boundaries of what queer performance can be. They're particularly excited to the see the intimate performance of Melissa Birch and the visceral work of Tim Carroll, who goes beyond normal human limits.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
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Art Hounds: Supernatural Wife, Matt Ryan, and a re-telling of a Greek tragedy
Posted at 7:00 AM on November 17, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Music, Theater, Writing
Image of "Supernatural Wife" by photographer Mike Van Sleen
The week's installment has an ancient Greek flavor...the hounds are trailing a movement theater piece based on a Euripedes translation and a drama inspired by Aeschylus. Oh, and they're talking up Minnesota writer Matt Ryan's new book.
Robbinsdale poet Matt Rasmussen favors the comedic literary stylings of Minnesota writer Matt Ryan. Matt thinks Matt's new book, "Read This or You're Dead to Me," which Mr. Ryan describes as a collection of prose poems and flash fiction, is wildly inventive, brash, and hilarious. The Minneapolis publication "Paper Darts" is throwing a launch party for 'Read This' tonight at Moto-i in Minneapolis from 7 - 10pm. Matt Ryan will be reading, along with writerly guests Matt Mauch and Leah Drillias and there will be musical entertainment by Bethany Larson and the Bees Knees.
Budding director and dramaturge Molly Budke says Savage Umbrella's "The Ravagers" is memorable on a number of levels. They include the manner in which the company has updated Aeschylus's tragedy, "The Supplicants," and the way it uses the decaying environs of the Hollywood Theater in Nordeast Minneapolis. It's the final weekend of "The Ravagers," on stage at the Hollywood through Nov. 19.
The New York-based Big Dance Theatre's multi-media circus of movement combined with New Yorker Anne Carson's poetry is an irresistible combination to Minneapolis writer and poet Juliet Patterson. "Supernatural Wife" is Big Dance Theatre's interpretation of Carson's translation of Euripides' "Alkestis." You can see it Friday and Saturday, Nov. 18 - 19, at the Walker's McGuire Theater.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
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Art Hounds: Real-Phonic, Breadcrumbs, and the myth of the mad trapper
Posted at 7:00 AM on November 10, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Books, Events, Music, Theater
An illustration by Erin McGuire from Anne Ursu's "Breadcrumbs"
The hounds delight in a celebrated new children's book from a Minnesota author, a play set in the wilds of Canada about mythmaking and madness, and a new, rootsy, musical variety show.
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Brandy Dutoit has a really good feeling about the "Real-Phonic Radio Hour." Brandy, creator of the Minnesota music blog "365 Music Project," says local musician and songwriter Eric Koskinen and folk rocker Molly Maher and her Disbelievers came up with 'Real-Phonic,' an organic, monthly variety show performed live at the James J. Hill Library in St. Paul . Its debut is tonight at 8pm. Iowa guitarist and songwriter Bo Ramsey and soul singer Ashleigh Still will be special guests.
Sandbox Theatre's latest production, "The Mad Trapper of Rat River," has crept into the imagination of Carin Bratlie and stayed there. Carin, Artistic Director of Theatre Pro Rata in Minneapolis, says the story and myth of the insane trapper, who actually stalked the woods of northwest Canada in the 30s, perfectly suits the Sandbox aesthetic. On stage through Nov. 19 at Nimbus Theatre in Northeast Minneapolis.
All the superlatives critics are using to describe Minneapolis author and Minnesota Book Award winner Anne Ursu's new children's novel "Breadcrumbs," are well deserved. That's according to visual artist and Macalester College Drawing Instructor Megan Vossler. Megan says the story was inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen," and is set in a snow-blanketed Minneapolis in midwinter. In fact, Megan says the state's longest season is so beautifully rendered in "Breadcrumbs" it made her have a new appreciation for it. You can hear Anne read from her book at the Loft Literary Center this Sunday at 2pm.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
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Art Hounds: Gabriel Figueroa, Learning Fairy, and improv for policy wonks
Posted at 7:00 AM on November 3, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Comedy, Events, Film, Photography, Theater
Max Specktor, Zoe Sommers Haas and Noah Sommers Haas in "The Learning Fairy" at Open Eye Figure Theatre. (Photo credit: Lary Lamb)
This week's hounds are into Mexico's master cinematographer, a strange fairy who knows how to push the laugh button and theater that turns public policy into improv comedy.
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As far as actor, teacher and improv artist Jen Scott is concerned, anything can be the source of improv comedy. Even, or maybe especially, public policy. Jen says "The Theater of Public Policy," on stage at Huge Theater in Minneapolis every Thursday through Nov. 17, serves up useful info along with its humor. It features a conversation with a policy expert, followed by an interpretation by a team of improv artists.
Twin Cities photographer Manuel Castillo calls Gabriel Figueroa the best cinematographer Mexico ever produced. Figueroa is well known for his 'film noir' aesthetic and his work on such notable movies as "Night of the Iguana" and "The Fugitive," directed by John Ford. Figueroa's son, Gabriel Figueroa Flores, will discuss 20 original still photographs from his father's classic films, Friday, Nov. 4, at the Minneapolis Photo Center.
Tim Carroll, Minneapolis performance and installation artist, was having a bad day when he went to see "The Learning Fairy" at Open Eye Figure Theatre in Minneapolis. Tim says once the show started, he was laughing so hysterically he forgot all about it. Who is the Learning Fairy? Tim's still not sure, but she's here from another world to help change ours. All ages welcome....through November 12.
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Art Hounds: Myron Johnson, Joan of Arc, and an exquisite French jazz pianist
Posted at 7:00 AM on October 27, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Music, Theater
The hounds show their enthusiasm for the final solo performance of the founder of "Ballet of the Dolls," a virtuoso piano improviser from France and an intimate musical theater piece featuring one of the Twin Cities' finest vocalists.
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Dancer, actor and scenic artist Kathleen Sullivan calls Myron Johnson the "godfather of Minneapolis dance." The "Ballet of the Dolls" founder, former Childrens Theatre Company performer and veteran choreographer will dance solo for a final time for the next two weekends at the Ritz Theater in Minneapolis (Oct. 27 - Nov. 6). The concert is called "Songs for a Swan." Among other things, Johnson will be exploring his 50-plus years on stage as well as the challenges of staying relevant as an aging performer.
As board chair for the Minneapolis theater group "The Moving Company," Randy Nordquist has a refined appreciation for good musical theater. Randy says in "Joan of Arc," Nautilus Music Theatre in St. Paul has reduced a full length production down to its most intimate elements, which allows lead vocalist and stunning soprano Jennifer Baldwin Peden to shine. On stage Oct. 27 - Nov. 6.
Arts-based psychotherapist Nancy Ruppenthanl has good news for fans of the now defunct Franco/Minnesota jazz festival Minnesota Sur Seine. Avant pianist Benoit Delbecq, who made an impression on local jazz enthusiasts in previous festivals, is making a stop at the Black Dog Café in St. Paul on Friday, Oct. 28.
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Art Hounds: James Sewell, Michael Pisaro, and women in graphic design
Posted at 7:00 AM on October 20, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Design, Events, Music
James Sewell Ballet dancers Nicolas Lincoln and Emily Tyra (Photographer: Erik Saulitis)
The hounds' curiosity leads them to experimental music from a composer who values silence, a signature Minneapolis ballet company performing in the theater it helped refurbish, and an exhibition about the unsung women in Minnesota graphic design.
James Sewell Ballet presents its inaugural performance at the Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts Oct. 21-30, and dancer and dance historian Judith Brin Ingber plans not to miss it. Judith has long appreciated the playful unpredictability in JSB's dances. This concert will feature an older piece performed to a live rendition of the Mendolssohn Trio, as well as a different twist on Tchaikovsky's Black Swan pas de deux, and the world premiere of a new work. Judith says the Sewell family deserves huge amounts of credit for helping make the Cowles Center a reality.
When St. Paul musical theater performer Sabrina Crews felt a need to expand her comfort zone and knowledge beyond vocal music, she turned to challenging yet innovative experimental musician and composer Michael Pisaro. Pisaro's "Concentric Rings in Magnetic Levitation" is being performed by the Chicago-based group, Haptic on Sunday, October 23 at Studio Z in Lowertown, St. Paul. Sabrina says the piece is inspired by Saturn's rings.
St. Paul writer Ellen Shaffer says a new exhibition at the CVA Gallery in St. Paul about Minnesota graphic designers who happen to be women is generating a lot of buzz in the local design community. "WOMN: Women in Minnesota Design" is another installment of the gallery's "Leaders of Design Series." The show opens on Thursday, Oct. 27. On Wed., Oct. 26, there will be a panel discussion featuring exhibition participants Kelly Munson, Sue Crolick, Cynthia Knox, and moderator Gail Rosenblum of the Star Tribune.
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Art Hounds: Dan Israel, Spelling Bee, and Lake Superior in photographs
Posted at 9:23 AM on October 13, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Photography, Theater
"The Watcher" by Shawn Thompson
The hounds are following a St. Louis Park songwriter who sings from the heart, a photographic portrait of the biggest Great Lake, and a spelling bee re-imagined as musical theater.
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St. Paul photographer Julie Caruso was charmed and moved by a recent trip up to the North Shore where she saw "One Special Place" at the Waterfront Gallery in Two Harbors. It's an exhibition of Lake Superior photographs from artists around the upper midwest and Canada. The photographers each chose one image of their favorite lake location. Through Nov. 5th.
Spelling bees have become the stuff of award winning documentaries and now musicals, which is okay with Bloomington Theatre and Art Center Education Director Paul Coate. Paul says "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," presented by Theater Latte Da at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, has everything you want from a musical...humor, illuminating characters, and songs which become implanted in your brain. The show runs through Oct. 30.
St. Louis Park singer songwriter Dan Israel's new album "Crosstown Traveler" hasn't left fellow singer songwriter Gretchen Seichrist's stereo for days. Gretchen has great appreciation for Israel's authenticity as an artist, as well as the unsentimental manner with which he tackles sentimental subjects. Israel performs next on Friday, October 14 at Republic at Seven Corners.
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Art Hounds: Neighbors, Winona photography, and two King Crimson alums
Posted at 7:44 AM on October 6, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Photography, Theater
"Lake Winona" by Drake Hokanson
The hounds are all about a challenging, incendiary play about race, two Winona photogs whose black and white imagery reflects a time and place in America, and two prog rock magicians who are re-uniting at the Cedar.
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Actor, singer and dancer Anna Esposito was so bowled over by Mixed Blood Theatre's production of "Neighbors," she's seen it three times, bringing new audience members with her on every occasion. It's about an affluent, educated inter-racial family whose world is turned upside down when an African-American family of minstrel performers moves in next door. As Anna will tell you, it's not an easy play to watch, but incredibly rewarding in terms of what it reveals about the state of American race relations. The show runs through Oct. 9. You can also get into the show for free through Mixed Blood's new "Radical Hospitality" program, which offers free tickets on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Stuart Klipper calls the Minnesota Marine Art Museum in Winona a jewel in the state's cultural crown. And Stuart, a Minneapolis photographer, was transfixed by the museum's latest exhibition, "Portrait and Place." It features photographer James Bowey's sharp, up-close black and white portraits of Winona-area residents alongside photographer Drake Hokanson's softer, black and white depictions of the local landscape. It's on the walls of the MMAM through December 4th.
Sunday, October 9th can't come quickly enough for Edmonton Symphony Orchestra Music Director William Eddins. Bill, a Twin Cities resident and former associate conductor for the Minnesota Orchestra, has been anxiously awaiting guitarist Adrian Belew and Chapman Stick player and bassist Tony Levin's visit to the Cedar in Minneapolis. The two former members of seminal prog rockers' "King Crimson" will play separate sets with their respective trios, then combine their trios and perform some choice selections from the King Crimson catalog.
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Art Hounds: Pinocchio, Seamus Heaney, and an architectural jewel re-opens
Posted at 7:00 AM on September 29, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Museums, Poetry, Theater
This week's hounds sing the praises of puppet portrayals of "Pinocchio" in Plainview, a Nobel Prize winning Irish poet who's visiting Minnesota, and a newly expanded architectural gem that was Frank Gehry's first foray into museum design.
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Minneapolis puppeteer Soozin Hirschmugl has a real appreciation for performers who can breathe life, emotion and humanity into inanimate characters such as puppets. Soozin says that skill is on full display in Jon Hassler Theatre's production of "Pinocchio" in Plainview, so much so that it gave an old children's classic a new dimension. It's on stage through Oct. 16.
Tim Nolan once shared a smoke with Irish poet Seamus Heaney at a party in New York City, which was a thrill because Tim, a Minneapolis attorney and poet himself, views Heaney as the greatest living poet in the English language. Heaney is making two stops in Minnesota in the coming days. He'll be at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph on Sunday, Oct. 2 at 2pm. Heaney will also be in conversation with Joe Dowling at the Guthrie Theater on Monday, Oct. 3 at 7:30pm.
Walker Art Center Executive Director Olga Viso took a tour of the University of Minnesota's newly expanded Weisman Art Museum recently, and she was thrilled with what she saw. Olga says the expansion of the Frank Gehry-designed museum transforms its exhibiting capacity and connects it physically and programmatically in a much more meaningful way to the rest of the campus. The Weisman celebrates its re-opening at WAMdemonium on Sunday, Oct. 2, 1-6pm.
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Art Hounds: Congolese dance, "Tommy," and "Habibi"
Posted at 7:00 AM on September 22, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Books, Dance, Events, Music
This week the hounds have the Walker's mini-fest of Congolese music and dance, a more than 500-page graphic novel and the granddaddy of all rock operas on their minds.
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Minneapolis/St. Paul magazine senior writer Steve Marsh just got back from a trip to Gabon, so Central African culture is still swirling in his head. He'll get a heavy dose at the Walker this weekend when choreographer Faustin Linyekula and the Studios Kabako dance troupe perform. The Congolese music ensemble Benda Bilili was also scheduled to play, but its concert was cancelled because of visa issues.
Twin Cities sculptor Josh Wilichowski went to school with writer Craig Thompson in central Wisconsin and is proud of Thompson's literary achievements. Josh heartily recommends Thompson's second, newly published, more than 500-page graphic novel entitled "Habibi." It's about a harem girl and slave boy who come together amidst hardship and strife in an unnamed modern country in the Middle East. Thompson will be in town this Monday for a reading at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design as part of the Rain Taxi Reading Series.
For photographer and Bedlam Theatre board chair Scott Pakudaitis, rock operas don't get much better than the forerunner of all rock operas, The Who's "Tommy." Mainly because it's the music of The Who. Scott will be road tripping to St. Cloud's Pioneer Place Theatre for its production of "Tommy," and he's particularly excited that the show will have the inimitable style of director Zach Curtis and music director Jake Endres.
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Art Hounds: Guitars, German satire and Prince proteges reunite
Posted at 7:00 AM on September 15, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Arts around the state, Events, Music, Theater
Dovetail Theatre's "Leonce and Lena." (Photo by Bill Cameron)
This week the hounds help us re-capture that Minneapolis sound, discover a new theater company tackling an ambitious first production and find a gathering of master guitar players in greater Minnesota.
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When Andrea Satter was coming of age in the mid-'80s Minneapolis was the epicenter of music, or at least that's what it felt like. So Satter, development manager of Coffee House Press, is very excited to recapture some of that feeling and Minneapolis sound this Friday at the Loring Theater. She'll be at the fDeluxe concert, which is a reincarnation of The Family, a short-lived Prince protégé band.
Kara Davidson and David Darrow were so entranced with the Twin Cities theater scene that they moved here from Nebraska to start a theater company - and they're starting out with a bang. Actor and producer Christopher Kehoe admires that their inaugural production is the most obscure work by a relatively obscure German playwright. "Leonce and Lena" is a lively satire on class and nobility written in the 19th century during a period of major social and political upheaval. You can see it this weekend at the Walker Community United Methodist Church in Minneapolis.
This weekend, Fergus Falls is hosting a who's who of Minnesota's acoustic music scene as part of the Midwest International Guitar Summit. Tim Litt produces the local television show "The Week in the Arts," and is excited to not only hear great performers like Tim Sparks, Ann Reed and Dakota Dave Hull (among others), but there are also workshops where you can work on your guitar playing and songwriting chops. The Summit is taking place this weekend at A Center for the Arts in downtown Fergus Falls.
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Art Hounds: August: Osage County, Peace Mass, and a short, funny play about 9/11
Posted at 7:00 AM on September 8, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Theater
The hounds dig up a play about a devastatingly dysfunctional family, a Winona/global performance of a mass written in response to the Sept. 11th terror attacks, and a drama about 9/11 that might make you laugh.
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Ten years ago, a play about 9/11 with strong comedic elements would have been unthinkable. But actor and "Comedy Suitcase" co-founder Levi Weinhagen thinks enough time has elapsed to find a healing humor in the tragedy. Levi, who's also social media manager for "Minnesota Playlist," recommends Workhaus Collective's "A Short Play About 9/11." It follows three disparate characters, including a comedian, who in the wake of the attacks, struggle to resume their normal lives. It opens on Friday and runs through Sept. 24.
Last April, as Winona State University arts administrator Kathy Peterson recalls, her community was deeply moved by a performance of Karl Jenkins' "The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace," by the Winona Oratorio Chorus. There will be a reprise of the 9/11-inspired work this Sunday, Sept. 11th, at Central Lutheran Church in Winona. The concert is part of "Global Sing for Peace," in which Jenkin's Mass will be performed in communities around the world.
Patrick Dewane agrees the nasty behavior of the troubled family at the center of the Pulitzer Prize winning play "August: Osage County," may hit close to home for many audience members. But the Twin Cities actor and writer is willing to put up with the discomfort to get to the laughs. It opens on Friday and runs through October 2.
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Art Hounds: Mark Manders, The Goondas, and finding art in a construction zone
Posted at 7:00 AM on September 1, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Sculpture
Construction at the corner of University and Raymond in St. Paul (MPR Photo/Chris Roberts)
This week's hounds are reveling in "post-conceptual" sculpture, celebrating raw, seductive rock from some nice Minnesota boys and fine-tuning their powers of observation along the Central Corridor.
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Allen Brewer can't help it. The Twin Cities artist and instructor at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design sees unintentional art everywhere he looks; in mundane, everyday surroundings, and even light rail construction. Allen's St. Paul studio is near the Central Corridor on University Ave, where wild colors, piles of rubble and the detritus of a torn-up street make for eye-catching sculpture.
Award-winning set designer and Off-Leash Area co-founder Paul Herwig found solace and stimulation at the Walker Art Center's exhibition "Mark Manders: Parallel Occurrences/Documented Assignments." Paul says the acclaimed Dutch sculptor Manders is a thoughtful, clever artist who plays with the viewer's assumptions and perspective. The show is up through September 11.
Local poet and writer Laura Brandenburg has not one but two reasons to visit downtown St. Paul this Friday night. The first is a chance to preview the Amsterdam Bar and Hall, which will have a grand opening later this month, and the second is that the Goondas will help christen the new club. Laura says The Goondas, with their swampy, bluesy, all-out musical attack, have restored her faith in local rock and roll.
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Art Hounds: Hamlet, Latino artists, and a neighborhood art crawl
Posted at 7:00 AM on August 25, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Craft, Drawing, Events, Galleries, Painting, Photography, Sculpture, Theater
"Sustainable Farming" by Nancy Robinson
This week's hounds can't resist a Latino art show inspired by miracles, an art crawl the Longfellow neighborhood way--from home to home, and an attempt to scale the theatrical heights of Hamlet for the first time.
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The Twin Cities Latino artist collective Grupo Soap del Corazon has a fan in former Minneapolis Institutue of Arts assistant curator Molly Huber. Molly, who now works at the Minnesota Historical Society, highly recommends the group's latest exhibition, "El Milagro," at Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis. It's a collection of paintings, photography, sculpture and mixed media pieces from the area's most dynamic Latino artists, all inspired by the presence of miracles in their lives.
No Bird Sing emcee and McNally Smith College of Music faculty member Joe Horton will be on foot, going from home to home in the Longfellow neighborhood of Minneapolis this weekend, on the hunt for art. The League of Longfellow Artists, or LoLa, will be hosting the third annual LoLa Art Crawl, in which artists open up their doors and showcase their art. Joe says the art is fantastic, and so is the community building that results.
Veteran Art Hound and Minnesota Monthly writer Gregory Scott is always game for a production of his favorite play, Hamlet. This time, the Jungle Theater is taking a stab at Shakespeare's masterpiece for the first time in its 21-year history, with 2008 Guthrie BFA grad Hugh Kennedy in the title role. It's a level of boldness that Gregory admires and thinks should be rewarded. On stage from Aug. 26 - Oct. 9th.
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Art Hounds: Visual art meets poetry, Dark Dark Dark, and Oklahoma!
Posted at 7:00 AM on August 18, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Film, Music, Poetry, Theater
Dark Dark Dark | "Spies" Event | Teaser (1) from Guerrilla Waltz on Vimeo.
A classic American musical, a live silent film score from a Minneapolis chamber folk group and a group of visual artists interpreting a poem, have all captured the hounds' attention this week.
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Bloomington Civic Theatre is on a roll, according to actor, director, and Normandale College film and theater teacher Sean Byrd. Sean says not only is BCT staging excellent productions, it's improved its outreach to the community. Sean is excited about BCT's upcoming production of Oklahoma!, which marks the return of director Gary Gisselman, who served as BCT's artistic director way back in 1964. Oklahoma! is on stage Aug. 19 - Sept. 18.
Nordic roots artist Kari Tauring is going to the Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts in Fridley on Saturday, Aug. 20th, to watch a cross-discipline artistic dialogue unfold. Poet Kathryn Kysar has published a new book of poems entitled "Pretend the World," and she's asked a group of visual artists from different media to respond to one in particular. Kysar plans to continue the call and response in the future. The exhibition, also called "Pretend the World," is at Banfill-Locke through Sept. 30.
The slightly eerie yet elegant Minneapolis chamber folk group "Dark Dark Dark" has long struck a chord with freelance arts journalist Christopher Matthew Jensen. Christopher says the band will truly get to stretch its wings on Monday, Aug. 22, when it headlines the final installment of the Walker Art Center's popular "Music and Movies in the Park" series. Dark Dark Dark will be joined by 30 to 40 members of the "Modern Times Spychestra" in creating a live score to Fritz Lang's silent movie "Spies." The performance will take place in the Walker's Open Field, not Loring Park.
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Art Hounds: Mystery Palace, Square Lake, and a novel about a teacher's first year
Posted at 7:00 AM on August 11, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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The hounds celebrate a rural film and music fest that rewards cyclists, an Ortonville writer's novel about a novice teacher struggling through his first school year, and a Minneapolis electro-pop band with an avant undercurrent.
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Ortonville photographer Becky Stattelman has a recommendation for your late summer reading list. "First Year" by fellow Ortonvillian and Big Stone Arts Council member John Salls. "First Year" chronicles a first year English teacher's arduous journey in the classroom. Becky says teachers will relate, parents will benefit, and anyone who's ever been a student will have their memories sparked.
Shahzore Shah is getting out of the city this Saturday, Aug. 13, but he's not going that far. Shahzore, a member of the male vocal ensemble "Cantus," is headed for the "Square Lake Film and Music Festival," just north of Stillwater. The festival features primarily Minnesota-made short films, documentaries, and animation, alongside local music stalwarts. This year the music roster includes, among others, "Kill the Vultures," "Ben Weaver," "Happy Apple," and "The Orange Mighty Trio." Located on a 28-acre parcel in Square Lake, the festival offers room for camping and 75% ticket discounts for people who bike there.
Minneapolis musician and "Ghost in the Water" co-founder Nathan Tensen Woolery counts himself as a longtime fan of the Minneapolis electro-pop outfit "Mystery Palace." Nathan appreciates what he views as the arty, at times bizarre interior of the band's seemingly accessible songs. Mystery Palace is celebrating the release of its new, free, digital download EP "Nervio," with a show at the 7th St. Entry, Friday, Aug. 12.
Art Hounds: Comic Cookbook, Mankato sculpture, and a suburban art oasis
Posted at 7:00 AM on August 4, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Galleries, Public Art, Sculpture
This week the hounds are all about salon style comic book art, a walking sculpture tour in the 'Key City,' and an art park nestled in the hills of Eagan.
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Going to the Caponi Art Park in Eagan has been on bass player Rolf Erdahl's 'to do' list for a long time. The co-founder of the Vecchinone/Erdahl bass and oboe duo finally took his family over the July 4th weekend. Rolf was captivated by the harmonious relationship between the visual art sprinkled throughout retired art professor Anthony Caponi's 60-acre park, and the earth. The park is open Tuesday through Sunday.
Mankato painter Amanda Gullixson thinks her city needs more public art, which is why she's excited about the "CityArt Walking Sculpture Tour." People can visit 25 sculptures scattered around downtown Mankato from artists around the world, and then vote for their favorite. The city will then purchase that piece and award the winning artist a $2500 prize. Voting is open through October 28.
Performance and visual artist William Hessian is a big proponent of Altered Esthetics "Comic Cookbook: Just Add Ink" exhibition, which opens on Friday, August 5th. It features comic artists from around the state in a salon style show that will saturate the gallery with art. The show runs through Aug. 25.
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Art Hounds: Big Business, the Dari-ette, and a corporate wizard
Posted at 7:00 AM on July 28, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Galleries, Music
The hounds have live-action role playing, a '50s drive-in, and heavy metal of the two-person variety in their hearts and minds this week.
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Fiona MacNeill, performance and digital media artist in Minneapolis, is more than just a little curious about "The Amazing Adventures of the Corporate Wizard in the Land of L.A.R.P." It's a 72-hour role playing extravaganza at the Soap Factory. Artists and players from around Minnesota will take on roles in a rambunctious, at times contentious narrative that reflects upon corporate America's moral map. You can observe or join this weekend, July 29-31.
After losing Porky's, Erin Hanafin Berg of the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota is pleased we still have the Dari-ette in St. Paul as an architectural landmark and symbol of the car culture of the '50s and '60s. The Dari-ette is holding a 60th anniversary party on Saturday, July 30th, with a live radio broadcast and era-appropriate bands galore.
Jess Miller is on the board of the Rose Ensemble, she's a clarinetist and she loves heavy metal, especially if it's Big Business. Jess says Big Business is a thunderous, L.A.-based two-piece that doesn't take itself too seriously but knows how to bring the noise. Big Business will rattle the walls of the Triple Rock Social Club on Friday, July 29th along with Miami metalheads Torche.
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Art Hounds: Saboteur, Smooch, and Will Eno's "Oh the Humanity"
Posted at 7:53 AM on July 21, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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(© 2011 Bonnie Fournier, The Smooch! Project)
The hounds put their stamp of approval on a piece of theater which requires audiences to solve puzzles in order to proceed to the next scene, a not-yet-completed documentary about the art and act of forgiveness, and a darkly comedic existential drama.
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Poet and comedian Brian Beatty was pleasantly surprised when the local theatre troupe The Peanut Butter Factory brought "Oh the Humanity And Other Good Intentions" to Intermedia Arts. It's a play by absurdist American playwright Will Eno, whose work is rarely staged in the Twin Cities. It runs through this Sunday, July 24th.
Want to be in a documentary about forgiveness by award-winning filmmaker Dawn Mikkelson? Fellow documentarian Justin Schell suggests you head over to the Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis, Saturday and Sunday (7/23-7/24) to tell your story. Mikkelson's doc is called "Smooch," inspired by artist Bonnie Fournier's "The Smooch Project," in which Fournier's trying to collect ten-thousand photographs of someone kissing someone else on the cheek.
If you love puzzles and plays about industrial espionage in post-industrial settings, Michael Merriam has the perfect recommendation. Walking Shadow Theatre Company's "Saboteur: A Theatrical Game with Puzzles," asks audience members to solve puzzles in order to watch the play unfold. It's being presented at Universal Hydro Solutions, 2010 East Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis, through Aug. 3. Seating is very limited.
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Art Hounds: The Defenders, Momentum dance, and handbells ring
Posted at 7:00 AM on July 14, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Film, Music
Chris Yon, Echo Park Dream Ballet Essay. Photo by Cameron Wittig, courtesy Walker Art Center.
This week's hounds embrace the notion of not only presenting cinema, but defending it in a screening room full of film aficionados, they endorse a series that plucks emerging talent from the local dance scene, and they open their ears to a national handbell conference in Minneapolis/St. Paul.
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The Walker Art Center's Momentum: New Dance Works at the Southern Theater is perhaps the biggest dance event of the year, according to dance and theater videographer Ben McGinley. Ben is thrilled with this year's line-up, which includes choreographers Chris Yon, Kenna Cottman, and Kaleena Miller, plus the zany three-woman troupe Mad King Thomas. Momentum: New Dance Works 2011 is on stage at the Southern July 14 - 23.
Attention, movie geeks! Cheapo music clerk and former film student Jon Gilbert wants you in on The Defenders, a series at the Trylon Microcinema in Minneapolis. It's a monthly get-together of cinephiles in which one local film personality presents a movie of his or her choosing and then defends it in a vigorous, rigorous post-screening discussion. The next installment of "The Defenders" happens Wednesday, July 20th at 7pm, and features Star Tribune Movie Critic Colin Covert.
As music director at North Como Presbyterian Church in Roseville, Sean Johnson knows a good handbell choir when he hears one. But do you? Sean says you'll have abundant opportunities to refine your taste in handbell music this weekend, July 14-17, when the Handbell Musicians of America holds its annual conference at the Minneapolis Hilton.
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Small Tales: Former DJ recalls a holiday encounter with NSYNC
Posted at 4:30 PM on July 12, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Arts around the state
Take an ever so brief video break with another installment in the Art Hounds "Small Tales" series. This one features Minneapolis improv actor/musician Courtney McLean.
Small Tales: Don't play the Backstreet Boys from MPR Art Hounds on Vimeo.
Art Hounds: Iron Pour, 1001 Chairs, and a retro sci-fi flick
Posted at 7:00 AM on July 7, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Film, Museums, Public Art, Sculpture
This week the hounds track down a weekend iron pour in Lanesboro, an installation piece at the Walker that defends artistic freedom, and a throwback sci-fi film made in the Twin Cities about moon zombies....ATTACKING!
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Twin Cities artist Mike Tincher wants you to grab a chair from home and bring it to the Walker Art Center's Sculpture Garden on Tuesday, July 12, to take part in the installation piece, "1,001 Chairs." The chairs represent artists around the world whose voices have been silenced. It's an homage to a work by Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei, who in April was detained by the government and recently was released.
Adrienne Sweeney, artist administrator at the Commonweal Theatre, says it gets really hot this time of year in Lanesboro...molten hot. That's because a bunch of metalsmiths from around the country (led by Art Hound Karl Unnasch) will be conducting an iron pour in Sylvan Park. Unnasch will be giving an artist talk on Thursday, June 7 and the iron pour itself is on Saturday, June 9. There will also be public workshops on how to craft ironworks. The event is sponsored by the Lanesboro Art Center.
If you're charmed by the over-the-top melodrama, cornball comedy, and cheesy special effects of the '50s-era sci-fi movie ouevre, big band drummer Kerry Johnson predicts you will love "Attack of the Moon Zombies." It's another in a series of locally produced horror/sci-fi movies from Twin Cities writer/director Christopher Mihm. "Attack of the Moon Zombies" will be screened July 14 at the New Hope Cinema Grill in New Hope, but Kerry wanted to give you advance notice because when the film premiered in May, it sold out.
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Art Hounds: CONvergence, Beethoven and a poster-like mural
Posted at 7:00 AM on June 30, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Public Art
This week, the hounds find the art in a science fiction convention, the diversity of Beethoven's music in Winona and a poster-like mural in Powderhorn.
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Susan Woehrle is a storyteller and writer from Minneapolis. She usually digs CONvergence, the Twin Cities' annual science fiction and fantasy convention, but she's especially excited about this year's theme: "Tomorrow Through the Past." With its focus on steampunk, she thinks this year's convention will really showcase the imagination and artistic expression of the convention participants.
Minneapolis printmaker Joshua Norton thinks Richard Barlow's mural in Minneapolis is no ordinary mural. The mural, which Barlow painted on the Acme Awning building in Minneapolis' Powderhorn neighborhood through a Clean City grant, depicts a speed skating rink that used to be in Powderhorn Park. Norton loves how this image taken from a photograph from the Minnesota Historical Society manages to be nostalgic and modern at the same time.
Jonelle Moore, a pianist from Winona, looks forward to the Minnesota Beethoven Festival every year. Beethoven is her favorite composer and she feels the Winona festival really captures the depth and diversity of his compositions. The festival is going on through July 17 and features many different performances, including tonight's free Minnesota Orchestra concert at the Lake Park Bandshell.
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Art Hounds: Improv Fest, woodturning and Dali's cookbook inspires dance
Posted at 7:00 AM on June 23, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Comedy, Craft, Dance, Events, Theater
Chicagoans "TJ and Dave" are one of the many groups that will be here for this weekend's Twin Cities Improv Fest
A festival of improvisational comedy Twin Cities style, American woodturners uniting in St. Paul, and two dance companies preparing a feast of movement are on the hounds' agenda this week.
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Scotty Reynolds, an actor with Interact Theater and a food performance artist with "Mixed Precipitation," finds a lot of inspiration in the culinary arts. No wonder he's drawn to "Dali's Cookbook: A Gastronomical Inquisition," a joint production of Ballet of the Dolls and Zorongo Dance Theatre in Minneapolis. It's based on a cookbook surrealist Salvador Dali wrote and dedicated to his lover. It's on stage at the Ritz Theater through Sunday, June 26.
Love free form improv comedy? Want to see the Twin Cities' best improv artists matched up with stars from other parts of the country? Shad Petosky, owner of Pink Hobo Gallery and Puny Entertainment in Minneapolis suggests you go directly to Huge Theater for the fifth annual Twin Cities Improv Festival. Shows start tonight and go through Sunday.
Maybe your only exposure to woodturning was in woodshop in junior high. Or maybe woodturning is a completely foreign concept. Amanda Birnstengel says it doesn't matter. Amanda, director of the Hopkins Center for the Arts, predicts you'll be amazed by the progression of the art form and the prowess of the nation's finest woodturners as they converge for the 25th American Association of Woodturners Symposium at St. Paul's River Centre.
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Art Hounds: Patio Nights, felt weapons, and Minnesota Prohibition songs
Posted at 7:00 AM on June 16, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Museums, Music, Sculpture
This week's hounds endorse the resurrection of a summer art and music tradition, a hanging installation of felt guns and knives, and an early music choral group embracing Prohibition.
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Happy days are here again for local musician Mischa Suemnig. Mischa's celebrating the return of "Patio Nights," the Minnesota Museum of American Art's summer-long outdoor music and art gathering. The MMAA has been without a home for a couple years but it's using City House, a former municipal grain elevator on the Mississippi River to revive "Patio Nights" on Friday, June 17. One of Mischa's favorite local bands, Communist Daughter, will be the featured musical entertainment this Friday.
Asia Ward loves installation artist Liz Miller's hand cut felt art works. Asia, a kinetic sculptor herself, says Miller has a provocative new show at the Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program Gallery at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. It's entitled "Ornamental Invasion" and contains numerous felt pieces, cut in the shape of items in the MIA's weapons collection, and hung from the ceiling. Tonight, there will be a panel discussion on the current MAEP exhibitions -- Miller's and Paula McCartney's "A Field Guide to Snow and Ice" -- at 7:00 p.m.
Jackie Smith, a singer with the Mila vocal ensemble, is anxious to see the Rose Ensemble shed its medieval attire and grab their tommy guns in their upcoming "Songs of Temperance and Temptation." The show highlights the music of the Prohibition in Minnesota. The Rose Ensemble, which normally specializes in early music, will bring "Songs" to Weber Music Hall at University of Minnesota Duluth tonight at 7:30pm, and the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, June 17-18 at 8:00 p.m.
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Art Hounds: American Indian festival, Paper Toys, and pioneering painting
Posted at 7:00 AM on June 9, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Arts around the state, Events, Film, Galleries, Music, Painting
Still from the documentary film "Naked Vision"
This week's hounds have their eyes on a Duluth screening of the documentary about painter Philip Pearlstein, an art show in which paper takes on an added, more playful dimension, and an encompassing American Indian art festival in Minneapolis.
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Minneapolis Institute of Arts curator Joe Horse Capture has been waiting a long time for a festival that cuts as wide a swath through American Indian culture as the Twin Cities American Indian Arts Festival. It'll be held this Saturday and Sunday on the corner of 16th Avenue South and Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis.There will be music from six native bands, a hand drum contest, native food, and a fine arts plaza, which will feature more than 30 Native American visual artists.
Kelly Krantz is always on the lookout for shows at the Pink Hobo gallery in Minneapolis because she says they offer affordable art and never disappoint. Kelly, who makes zines and mini comics and blogs about theater for Metro Magazine, says Pink Hobo's "Paper Toy II" will feature cut, folded and manipulated paper sculpture, wall pieces and toys. It's a great opportunity to start an art collection, according to Kelly. The show opens on Saturday and runs through July 29.
Peter Spooner, curator at the Tweed Museum of Art at the University of Minnesota Duluth, says the documentary "Naked Vision" is a compelling portrait of a 20th century master who's still going strong. Philip Pearlstein was an Andy Warhol contemporary who started as an abstract expressionist but moved into realism at a time when it wasn't cool. "Naked Vision," from Minnesota filmmaker and artist Jen Dietrich, will be screened at the Sound Unseen Festival in Duluth on Saturday, June 11, at Spirit of the North, at 2:30pm.
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My Saturday night spark
Posted at 1:45 PM on June 6, 2011
by Chris Roberts
(1 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Arts around the state, Culture, Events
A droning violin in Father Hennepin Bluffs park
When you reach mid life, you become more grateful for adventures. Northern Spark gave me one.
Riding my bike from a St. Paul patio party to the downtown Minneapolis riverfront.
The early summer dusk and clouds of bugs along the Mississippi colliding into my face as if it were a windshield.
Arriving at the almost glowing Gold Medal Flour building at nightfall.
Staring at images of familiar yet foreign looking river sights projected onto its massive, undulating silo surface, with shadows of gaping onlookers at the bottom a la Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Being enveloped by throngs of ecstatic people on Stone Arch Bridge who collectively almost rose into the air as the weight of an oppressive winter was lifted from their shoulders.
Following the Egg and Sperm caravan to and fro on the bridge.
Watching grown men try on a sperm hat with the expression of a seven year-old boy donning a twins cap for the first time.
Seeing people step into a booth at Father Hennepin Park and bark, grunt, howl and whisper misunderstood words to the tune of a haunting, droning live violin.
Getting my neighbor's very pleasantly surprised reaction after he visited the Soap Factory for the first time.
Riding my bike down Chicago Avenue at 11:45pm and passing the hospital where my two sons were born.
Checking my watch again at Lake and Hiawatha when a homeless woman asked for the time and noticing it was 12:03 am, June 5th, my birthday.
Oh, and I tweeted for the first time.
See what I mean by adventure?
Art Hounds: Dengue Fever, Rochester art and a teen mystery novel
Posted at 7:00 AM on June 2, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Arts around the state, Books, Events, Music
"Why Can't We All Just Get Along?" by Tony Tasset
This week's hounds rave about an L.A. band specializing in Cambodian psychedelia, two exhibitions at the Rochester Art Center, and a young adult novel about two teenage super sleuths whose latest adventure takes them to the wilds of Kenya.
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Arts journalist Britt Aamodt gushes about St. Paul author Susan Runholt's latest teen mystery, "The Adventure at Simba Hill." It's a whodunit featuring heroines Kari and Lucas, set at an architectural dig in Kenya. Britt says it's another engrossing story from Runholt with spectacularly evocative writing.
Mix one part California surf rock with two parts '60s-era Cambodian psychedelic rock and Cambodian pop music and you have one of Greg Swan's favorite bands at the moment: Dengue Fever. Dengue Fever, five white musicians fronted by a Cambodian pop star, plays the 7th St. Entry, Friday, June 3. Greg, who writes about music for Perfect Porridge, discovered the group watching the documentary "Sleepwalking Through the Mekong," about Dengue Fever's Cambodian tour.
Visual artist and mnartists.org Project Director Scott Stulen says a rich art experience awaits anyone traveling to the Rochester Art Center this summer. Scott says a pair of exhibitions, "Tony Tasset: Life During Wartime" and "John Fleischer: ALLMOST" features the work of two aesthetically distinctive yet thematically similar artists. Tony Tasset is based in Chicago and John Fleischer is a Minneapolis native. The Tasset show runs through September 4 and the Fleischer show runs through July 31.
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Art Hounds: Project Bandaloop, Got It Made, and a backyard art bonanza
Posted at 7:00 AM on May 26, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Arts around the state
AP Photo/Cody Duty
The hounds have uncovered a dance troupe that uses the sides of skyscrapers as a stage, a musical about the modern workplace and an art exhibition that spans three south Minneapolis neighborhoods.
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Painter and Graphic designer Ronnie Droher says what's most exciting about "Constellation, A Backyard Art Exhibition" is that it takes the experiential phase of art out of the gallery and into the homes and living spaces of artists. "Constellation" features the work of more than a dozen DIY artists and 'creatives' in the south Minneapolis neighborhoods of Seward, Philips, and Powderhorn. It's happening May 27th - 29th.
Beth Comeaux didn't know what to expect when she went to see "Got It Made" at Pillsbury House Theater. She came away very pleasantly surprised. A musician and development officer with the Minnesota Opera, Beth says "Got it Made" is a sharp, satirical musical about the modern American workplace with clever, sometimes hilarious songs written in diverse musical styles. On stage through June 12.
Look! Up at the Lawson building in downtown St. Paul. Are they pigeons? Superheroes? No, says Christine Tschida, agent for touring performance groups, it's "Project Bandaloop." Project Bandaloop is a aerial dance group that stages breath-taking dances on the sides of buildings, bridges, towers and cliffs. As part of the Ordway Center for Peforming Arts "Flint Hills Childrens Festival," the group will hang suspended from the top of the Lawson building and dance, Wednesday June 1 at noon, through Sunday, June 5.
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Art Hounds: Dakota Tour, Man Man, and a jazzy 'Rite of Spring'
Posted at 7:00 AM on May 19, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds
This week's hounds hunt down a jazz trio with Minnesota roots tackling Stravinsky's signature work, an indie rock band from Philly that's part vaudeville, part Modest Mouse, a musical dialogue between Native American and classical musicians.
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Local jazz writer and commentator Pamela Espeland says it's no surprise a jazz trio such as The Bad Plus, which specializes in re-envisioning pop hits and classical masterpieces, would take on Stravinsky's best known ballet in its entirety. The Bad Plus is performing "On Sacred Ground: Stravinsky's Rite of Spring," Friday, May 21 and Saturday, May 22 at the Loring Theater in Minneapolis. On Saturday, there'll be an after-show party at the Red Stag Supper Club.
Allison Herrera, communications coordinator for Twin Cities Public Television's "Minnesota Original" series, will be in Mankato on Sunday, May 22, for a very special concert. "The Dakota Music Tour" features the Mankato Symphony, the Maza Kute Drum Group from Nebraska, MinnOrch principal trumpeter Manny Laureano and native storyteller M. Cochise Anderson performing the music of Twin Cities composer and flautist Brent Michael Davids. Davids wrote a piece commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Dakota/U.S. war of 1862. In December of 1862, 38 Dakota men were hung in Mankato, the largest mass execution in American history. The Dakota Music Tour will also make stops in Redwood Falls, Granite Falls, and Winona.
Gretchen Boyum is quite smitten with the music of the experimental indie rock band "Man Man." Gretchen, who manages the Kaddatz Gallery in Fergus Falls, saw Man Man play in its native Philadelphia and was impressed by all the instruments the members employed and their sense of performance as art. Her memories are so fond of that show she's making a three hour bee line from Fergus to First Avenue on Monday, May 23rd, to see Man Man live on the main stage.
Art Hounds tell "Small Tales"
Posted at 5:45 PM on May 13, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Video
Warm greetings to art lovers who appreciate a good story, well told in two minutes or less, and shot on iphone video. We call it "Small Tales."
It's a video series MPR's Art Hounds has launched, featuring our illustrious hounds as the storytellers. Two minutes and out. Funky video backdrops. No campfires needed.
We're having so much fun with "Small Tales," we've created a Vimeo channel to showcase them.
Watch our latest installment:
Small Tales: Record Store Miracle from MPR Art Hounds on Vimeo.
Art Hounds: Ethnic Dance, Zoe Keating, and "Danger! Will/Robinson"
Posted at 7:00 AM on May 12, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Music, Theater
Joshua Will and Jim Robinson of "Danger! Will/Robinson"
The hounds want you to know about a Minneapolis dance troupe that assumes different global folk identities, a D.I.Y. cellist who creates moody soundscapes for bands, films and fans, and a sketch comedy series that recalls a 1960s TV show in name only.
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As a dancer with the North Indian classical dance group, Katha Dance Theatre, Asha Sharma has an appreciation for dance companies that focus on the traditions of other countries. Asha thinks Ethnic Dance Theatre's spring concert "Then and Now" is something to be excited about, partly because it will re-interpret a variety of ethnic and folk dances using a modern dance vocabulary. "Then and Now" is on stage at the Ritz Theater in Minneapolis Friday through Sunday.
St. Paul composer Mike Croswell has been an ardent follower of cellist Zoe Keating since he discovered her on Myspace years ago. Keating uses pedals and a laptop to build her music live on stage. Mike describes Keating's sound as lush and cinematic with the potential to envelop an attentive listener. Keating makes a stop at the Cedar on Wednesday, May 18.
Minneapolis actor Nathan Tylutki admits "Danger! Will/Robinson" at the Bryant Lake Bowl sounds like a send-up of the classic 60s TV series "Lost in Space," the space version of Swiss Family Robinson. It's not. But Nathan says it is a hilarious sketch comedy series written and acted by Joshua WILL, and Jim ROBINSON. It's on stage at the Bryant Lake Bowl through Saturday, May 14.
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Art Hounds: Free comic books, Hot Jazz and Robert Johnson's birthday
Posted at 7:00 AM on May 5, 2011
by Molly Bloom
(1 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Books, Events, Music, Theater
Scotty Reynolds, Zena Moses and Reginald D. Haney in Interact Theater's Hot Jazz at Da Funky Butt
This week, the hounds take us to a a church/nightclub haunted by jazz musicians past, a happy land where comic books are free and a tribute to the legendary blues guitarist Robert Johnson.
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What's better than comic books? Free comic books! Screenwriter and director Ed Linder says Free Comic Book Day has become a tradition in his family. He and his son head to Uncle Sven's in St. Paul and leave with a big bag full of new comics to try and new characters to meet. Free Comic Book Day is this Saturday. Click here to find out more and find a comic book store near you.
According to music professor and pianist Sonja Thomspon, Hot Jazz at Da Funky Butt is a chaotic, messy good time. A band of visitng musicians from New Orleans helps to transport us to the birthplace of jazz and introduces us to the spirits of jazz musicians past. Intearact Theater's casts are made up of people with a range of disabilties, and Sonja says their performances celebrate our humanity and our differences. The show runs through May 21.
This weekend would have been the 100th birthday of blues legend Robert Johnson. To celebrate his life and music, music writer, artist and musician Sarah Moeding will be at Palmer's in Minneapolis this Saturday for the Robert Johnson Tribute show. Seven bands will be playing all 29 of the songs he recorded during his short life -- and will also play songs inspired by the guitarist. Sarah is most excited to hear The Fattenin' Frogs, whose vocalist reminds of Sarah of a sunny day on a backporch.
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Art Hounds: Zenon, Brutes and chasing windmills
Posted at 7:00 AM on April 28, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Music, Theater
Zenon Dance Company performs Before After by Uri Sands. Photo credit: William Cameron.
This week's hounds celebrate a production that 'dreams the impossible dream,' a dance company at the height of its powers, and an indie rock band that's big on tight, crafted power pop.
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Choregrapher and dancer Penelope Freeh thinks the Twin Cities has been blessed to have a dance troupe like Zenon Dance Company in its midst for the last 28 years. Penny says Zenon's 28th Spring Season concert is special, with its veteran dancers performing works by local heavyweights Uri Sands and Wynn Fricke, as well as pieces by New York choreographers Sydney Skybetter and Kyle Abraham. It runs through Sunday at the Ritz Theater in Minneapolis.
Minneapolis playwright, director and actor Aditi Kapil says Ten Thousand Things Theater has a unique ability to take the most ambitious material, be it a Shakespeare play or a musical, and reduce it to its most meaningful form. Aditi says that's what it's done with "Man of La Mancha," on stage at Open Book in Minneapolis April 29th through May 1, and the MN Opera Center, May 6 - 8. The advanced tickets are sold out, but a limited of number of tickets will be available at the door each night.
Billie Jo Konze says 'folkiness' is everywhere in indie music, which is why "The Brutes" are a beath of fresh air. Billie Jo, a local actor and singer, predicts the Brutes will impress you with their smart, highly crafted, infectious rock songs. The Brutes' next gig is Friday, April 29th, at the Kitty Kat Club in Minneapolis.
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Art Hounds: Women's work, Native bags, and an Afrobeat legend
Posted at 7:00 AM on April 21, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Craft, Events, Music
This week's hounds have set their sights on a performance series by and about women, a re-discovered collection of beautifully woven Native American bags in Winona, and the co-founder of 'Afrobeat' music, who's playing at the Cedar.
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"It's Women's Work," at Open Eye Figure Theatre in Minneapolis, deserves more attention than it's getting, says Art Hound Levi Weinhagen. Levi, co-founder of the kids/adult theater troupe "Comedy Suitcase," says the showcase features mainly female singers and performers dealing with material that pertains to women. It winds up Thursday, April 21 through Saturday April 23, with "Fearless and Fallen," a performance of 17th, 18th and 19th century folk songs. "Fearless and Fallen" features singer Prudence Johnson, guitarist Dean Magraw and cellist Michelle Kinney.
Retired arts educator Peter Flick of Winona wants to spread the word about a collection of re-discovered woven Native American bags at Winona County Historical Society. Peter says the beautifully woven bags from tribes around the Great Lakes region are gorgeous to look at and provide a glimpse into everyday life for Native people. The exhibition is called "Weaving Culture," and it's on display through May 22.
Minneapolis rapper M.anifest is so excited about this Saturday's Tony Allen concert at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis, he got on Skype to tell us about it from his native Ghana! M.anifest says Nigerian percussionist Tony Allen not only co-founded the infectiously rhythmic and influential 'Afrobeat' movement, he's probably the greatest drummer in the world, even at 71!
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Art Hounds: MN fashion, and the nature of reality
Posted at 7:00 AM on April 14, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Fashion, Music, Photography
(Left: Design by Emma Berg, photo credit - Emily Utne; Right: Design by Kevin Kramp, photo credit - Shuttertrip + Kevin Kramp)
The ever-curious hounds are interested in an artist who questions whether perception really is reality, two local designers whose fashion makes a statement, and a new CD from the Duluth indie rock stalwarts who harmonize as husband and wife.
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Artist Sasa Kolasnjaj's exhibition at the the Duluth Art Institute, "Reality: a Dialogue," seeks to launch a conversation about our perception of reality, and artist and writer Rob Kaiser-Schatzlein of Duluth is only too happy to dive in. Rob says Kolasnjaj's show of altered photographs tackles tough philosophical questions about the representation of reality in art.
It's Minnesota Fashion Week and Minneapolis make-up artist Julie Swenson has her eye on two local designers. Julie, the proprietor of Smart and Chic Beauty Lounge in Nordeast, says haute couture designer Emma Berg specializes in detail obsessed creations that are still practical, while Kevin Kramp's designs have a conceptual feel, almost like wearable sculpture. Berg and Kramp will display their wares on Thursday, April 14th at the MNfashion Atrium.
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Art Hounds: Heaven, Henry Cowell, and Bach's B-Minor Mass on the big screen
Posted at 7:00 AM on April 7, 2011
by Chris Roberts
(1 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Film, Music
(Copyright Guthrie Theater. Photo credit: V. Paul Virtucio)
A musical set during the Balkan war, an early music festival focusing on a forefather of 20th century composition, and a German filmmaker and VocalEssence give Bach's Mass in B-Minor a cinematic treatment.
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Get in touch with "Art Hounds." That's the first thing Children's Theatre Company Director of New Play Development Elissa Adams did after she saw the Flying Foot Forum's production of the musical "Heaven" at the Guthrie's Dowling Studio. Alyssa says with choreography by Joe Chvala and songs from Chan Poling, the show brings the Balkan War and its impact to life on stage in a truly moving way. It's on at the Guthrie through April 10.
Composer Randall Davidson says Henry Cowell played such an enormously influential role in the evolution of 20th century American composition, more people need to know about him. Randall will be in attendance all four nights at Studio Z in Lowertown, St. Paul, for Zeitgeist's "Early Music Festival," April 7-10. The festival will feature Cowell's music.
Patricia Mitchell, president and CEO of the Ordway Center for Performing Arts in St. Paul, is already a big fan of one of Bach's masterpieces, "Mass in B Minor." Patricia says German filmmaker Bastian Cleve and VocalEssence will make the work a feast for the eyes and ears in "The Sound of Eternity." VocalEssence will perform the piece while Cleve's 27 short dialogue-free films inspired by the Mass are shown on the big screen. "The Sound of Eternity" will be performed Friday and Saturday at 8pm at St. Olaf Catholic Church in Minneapolis.
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Art Hounds: Jack Klatt, Rogue Valley, and a painter's impressions of Minnesota
Posted at 7:00 AM on March 31, 2011
by Chris Roberts
(2 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Painting
Members of Rogue Valley at their "spring" show at the Fitzgerald Theater last April.
The hounds are following a "feel-good" musician whose style touches Tin Pan Alley, a prolific indie pop/folk band whose songs are tied to the cycle of the seasons, and a mildly impressionistic octogenarian painter who captures the subtle majesty of the land of 10,000 landscapes.
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As a blogger and booker for Merlin's Rest Pub in Minneapolis, Todd Ojala has a feel for crowd pleasing music, which is why he's high on Jack Klatt and the Cat Swingers. Todd says Klatt melds burlesque, blues and gypsy jazz in a way that inspires good vibes no matter what's being sung about. Jack Klatt and the Cat Swingers are at the Driftwood Char Bar on Thursday, March 31. They'll also be playing at Lee's Liquor Lounge on Tuesday, April 5.
Over the last year, Minneapolis playwright and Fringe Festival communications director Matthew Foster has enjoyed the changing seasons maybe more than ever because each one has been accompanied by a new batch of songs from Rogue Valley. Matthew has been entranced by the indie folk band's "album for every season" project, which culminates Friday, April 1, at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis, with the release of the group's "winter" record, "False Floors."
St. Paul woodworker Fred Livesay has known Faith Lowell's gentle, delicately muted Minnesota landscape paintings since he was a kid. For Fred, they conjure the beautifully familiar, still mysterious feeling of being outdoors in the bluffs of the southern part of the state, or the pine forests of the north. Faith Lowell's landscapes are on display at the Sivertson Gallery in Grand Marais.
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Art Hounds: The Residents, William Kentridge, and Minnesota originality
Posted at 7:00 AM on March 24, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Television, Theater
(Image courtesy of the Walker Art Center. Photo Credit: John Hodgkiss)
The hounds lead us to a veteran experimental music group that was multimedia before it was mainstream, a transformative piece from a pioneering South African puppeteer, and an original public television series that makes you proud to be a Minnesotan.
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Freelance arts journalist Christopher Jensen anxiously awaits a rare visit from the avant garde music/theater group The Residents, which is performing at the Cedar Cultural Center on Friday, March 25th. Christopher says to expect weird masks and costumes (after touring and recording for well over 40 years, band members have yet to reveal their identities) bizarre stage antics and undefinable music.
Talk about patience. Minneapolis sculptor and theater artist Irve Dell has been waiting a decade and a half to see his hero, South African puppeteer William Kentridge and the Handspring Puppet Company perform "Woyzeck on the Highveld." "Woyzeck" is an interpretation set in South Africa of a famous 19th-century German play about jealousy and murder in an indifferent society. Irve's wife, noted playwright Kira Obolenski, saw it 15 years ago and her perception of theater was forever changed.
After eight years in the state, New York transplant, musician and composer Christopher Cunningham (aka Neverwas) is starting to identify as a Minnesotan. Christopher credits the weekly Twin Cities Public Television artist profile series MN Original with moving that process along. He says he's been introduced to dozens of artists and feels closer to the local art scene thanks to the series' portrayal of the state's most creative people in startlingly vivid video and audio. By the way, Christopher will be glued to his couch this Sunday night at 10:00 for TPT 2's "Dessa: A Minnesota Original Special," a concert featuring Doomtree rapper Dessa.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
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EgoFest, 7 Shot Symphony, Super Mario meets Michael Bay
Posted at 7:00 AM on March 17, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Film, Theater
Image courtesy Live Action Set. Photo credit: Noah Bremer
This week's hounds sniff out an indie film fest in Brainerd, a western of mythic proportions and a Super Mario Brothers/ Michael Bay mash-up.
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It's not Sundance or Cannes, but Brainerd fiber artist Lisa Jordan thinks EgoFest is a pretty nifty short film festival. EgoFest, which is in its second year, will be held at the CLC Chalberg Theatre on the campus of Central Lakes College in Brainerd on Friday, March 18th and Saturday, March 19th. The festival features filmmakers from across the U.S. and Canada.
Improv artist, actor and musician Courtney McClean is in the mood for some comic relief this weekend, which is why Courtney's seeking out Comedy Suitcase's "Michael Bay's Super Mario Armageddon." Courtney says the show satirizes blockbuster action flicks and video game geekdom while reminding you why both are so popular. On stage through March 26 at the Bryant Lake Bowl.
Live Action Set's 7-Shot Symphony is like a movie western, says Twin Cities theater and improv artist Jen Scott, only the cowboys are mythic heroes from nearly every culture around the globe. Jen says Live Action Set's ability to create images with physical theater is magical. You can see it at the Loring Theater (formerly the Music Box Theater) in Minneapolis through March 27.
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Art Hounds: Pocket Lab poets, Habib Koite and mother/daughter issues
Posted at 7:00 AM on March 10, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Poetry, Theater
This week's hounds are staring up at tall poets, grooving to African acoustic music, and watching a portrayal of a mother/daughter relationship in all its ugliness and beauty.
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Amelia Foster has an afinity for introverted young poets because she is one. Get a bunch of them in one room, Amelia says, and their eccentricities begin to shine. That indeed will happen at Rogue Bhudda Gallery on Thursday, March 10 at 7pm, with another installment of the Pocket Lab Poetry reading series. It features such poets as Seth Michael Berg, Deborah Stein, Dobby Gibson and Steve Healey. It's entitled "Invasion of the Tall Poets," evidently because of their tall stature.
Andrea Satter thoroughly enjoyed the Table Salt Production of "Nest." Andrea, development manager for Coffee House press in Minneapolis, also saw herself reflected in it. "Nest" is about a troubled mother/daughter relationship that reaches a new plateau after the mentally ill mother shows up at her daughter's doorstep. "Nest" is on stage through March 12 at the Lowry Theater in St. Paul.
As host of Radio K's global music show, "Radio K International," Paul Harding keeps a close eye on African musicians passing through town. Paul says the second iteration of The Cedar's "Acoustic Africa" series will be special. It features Malian superstar and guitarist Habib Koite, along with guitarist and composer Afel Bocoum, also from Mali, and guitarist Oliver Mtukudzi of Zimbabwe.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
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Art Hounds: Hamlet, Malena Handeen, and a new arts mag
Posted at 7:00 AM on March 3, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Theater, Writing
The hounds are sweeping the state, uncovering a Duluth theater company specializing in Shakespeare, a songwriter in Milan (MN) who personifies creativity, and three artists in Minneapolis who are diving into the print publication business.
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Actor Lawrence Lee tells us about a welcome addition to the growing Duluth theater scene. Wise Fool Shakespeare, according to Lawrence, not only puts its imprint on the Bard's work, but also other classics. Wise Fool's inaugural production of Hamlet, is at Scottish Rite Auditorium in Duluth through March 20.
Emily Wright says listening to the songs of Malena Handeen will help you let go of your small town Minnesota stereotypes, if you have any. Emily, a folk musician and music teacher in Montevideo, says Milan, Minnesota's Malena Handeen fuses blues, zydeco and even hip hop on her new CD "Toothsome Favorites."
As founder and moderator of the open book club "Books and Bars," Jeff Kamin knows the challenge of matching writers with readers. Jeff applauds Meghan Suszynski, Jamie Millard and Regan Smith for venturing into the world of literary arts print publications with their handsome new magazine, Paper Darts. Paper Darts is holding a launch party celebrating its third volume at Honey in Nordeast, Saturday March 5th, from 7-10pm. Music by The Chord and the Fawn, plus readings by local lit heroes, including John Jodzio, Matt Mauch and Michelle Campbell.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
Art Hounds: Buddy Wakefield, The 4onthefloor, and exes play exes
Posted at 7:00 AM on February 24, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Poetry, Theater
The hounds are following a play about a chance meeting of two exes' that stars two exes, a mesmerizing performance poet from Seattle and a band which contains no shortage of kick drums.
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As the slam master for the all-women poetry slam "Punch Out Poetry," Cole Sarar can appreciate a performance poet who can tie the audience around his finger. Buddy Wakefield is that kind of talent. The Poetry Slam champion from Seattle will conduct a workshop Saturday, February 26 at 3pm at the Local in Minneapolis, with a performance later that night at Kieran's Irish Pub.
Looking for a night out at the theater in Superior, Wisconsin? Duluth writer Lucie Amundsen recommends "Shooting Star," on stage at The Shack, perhaps the upper Midwest's only dinner theater/liquor store. "Shooting Star" is the story of what happens when two exes unexpectedly cross paths at a snowed-in airport. What's interesting is that actor Lawrence Lee and his former wife Charlotte VanVactor are in the lead roles. You can see it weekends through March 19th.
Erik Funk rarely gets as excited about a band as he is about The 4onthefloor. Erik, member of "Dillinger Four" and co-owner of the Triple Rock Social Club, says the Minneapolis indie rock band has a special gimmick that really works. Each member, in addition to other instrumental duties, plays his own kick drum. The 4onthefloor takes its pounding 4/4 rhythm to the Turf Club on Friday, February 25.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
Art Hounds: Atmosphere, Earth Revealed, and the birth of A.A.
Posted at 7:00 AM on February 17, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Photography, Theater
"Minneapolis - St. Paul," Jonathon Wells
This week's hounds dig up a play about the relationship which grew into Alcoholics Anonymous, an art exhibit exploring urban landscapes literally from the ground up, and the state's premier indie hip hop group's statewide tour.
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Writer and poet Juliet Patterson of Minneapolis predicts that if you see photographer and geologist Jonathon Wells' exhibition "Earth Revealed," you'll have a new awareness of the ground you walk on. It's a series of digitally rendered urban landscape portraits which show the city above and its geologic profile beneath. On view at the Minneapolis Photo Center through Feb. 21.
"Bill W. and Dr. Bob" is back on stage at Illusion Theater and Twin Cities actor and writer Shanan Custer couldn't be happier. Shanan says the show was her favorite production of 2010. The remount portrays how A.A. founders Bill Wilson and Dr. Robert Smith used their friendship to cope with and overcome their addiction to alcohol. You can see it at Illusion through March 13.
Atmosphere is coming to Bemidji, which means long-time fan and rapper Junior Jourdain of Red Lake won't have to drive for hours to see them. Junior calls Atmosphere the most influential act in indie hip hop. Atmosphere is getting ready to launch its first ever statewide tour, called "Welcome to Minnesota." The tour stops in Mankato on Feb. 22, Bemidji on Feb. 23, St. Cloud on the 24th, Rochester on the 25th, and Duluth on the 26th.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
Art Hounds: Wee Cabaret, Puppet Lab, and more than a mass
Posted at 7:00 AM on February 10, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Music, Theater
This week's hounds focus on an art gallery that's become a performance venue, a world premiere of a choral work built on a mass, and new puppetry for adults.
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Twin Cities actress Amanda Whisner applauds Form + Content Gallery's foray into Twin Cities performance by presenting "Wee Cabaret" during the month of February. It's a weekend showcase offering dance, hip hop, improv and more. On Saturday Feb. 11, and Sunday Feb. 12, choreographer Justin Leaf, performance artist Kjellgren Alkire and "The Truant Lovers" are featured, with rapper Dessa Darling and improv artist Jill Bernard at the end of the month.
Puppetry for adults. For some that may sound like somewhat of an oxymoron, but for Inver Hills Community College Music professor Andrew Martin, something to celebrate and support. For Andrew, that means going to see In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre's "Puppet Lab," which is winding up this weekend (Feb. 11-13). Puppet Lab features four new works from up and coming puppetry artists.
Local composer David Evan Thomas can expect to have a great Saturday evening this weekend. That's because one of David's favorite vocal groups is singing a new piece by a composer he thinks highly of. The Singers will gather at First Lutheran Church in Columbia Heights at 8pm to perform Jocelyn Hagen's "Amass." It's a work that expands upon the traditional mass by adding spiritual poetry and new instrumentation.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
Art Hounds: "Four Little Girls," sculpted memories, and a Guqin virtuoso
Posted at 7:00 AM on February 3, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Galleries, Music, Theater
This week's hounds get behind a children's play about a horrific bombing of a black church in 1963, an artist who molds memories into objects and a master Chinese musician coming to the Twin Cities.
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In honor of Black History Month, Nordic Roots performer Kari Tauring is urging people to see Steppingstone Theatre's "Four Little Girls: Birmingham 1963." It's about four young African-American girls in Birmingham, Alabama, who were killed when their church was bombed by the Ku Klux Klan. Kari says remembering this event and the girls who died is an act of healing. "Four Little Girls" is on stage through Feb. 27th.
Fiber artist and arts educator Mimi Holmes greatly admires the work of sculptor and University of Minnesota landscape architecture professor Rebecca Krinke. Krinke has a solo show at Rosalux Gallery through Feb. 26th. "Visitation" is a sculptural installation inspired by lost and recovered memories. The opening reception will be held Friday, Feb. 4th and will feature an improvisational theater performance.
Gao Hong is one of the premier Chinese pipa players in the country. Gao, who teaches Chinese music at Carleton College, wanted to make sure people knew that Zhao Jiazhen was coming to the Twin Cities! Zhao Jiazhen is the world's foremost Guqin (seven-string Chinese zither) musician. She'll be performing on Wednesday, Feb. 9th, at the Loring Theater in Minneapolis. Jiazhen will also join the local world music group "Speaking in Tongues" in a concert on Sunday Feb. 13th at 3pm at O'Shaughnessy Auditorium in St. Paul.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
Art Hounds: Dallas Orbiter, insect drawings, and a performance smorgasbord
Posted at 7:00 AM on January 27, 2011
by Molly Bloom
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Drawing, Events, Music
This week the hounds dig up delicate insect drawings at the University of Minnesota, a multi-culti showcase at the History Center, and new music a Minneapolis electronic group is offering free-of-charge.
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Char Ellingson is a science teacher in Minneapolis who's always on the lookout for examples of art and science merging in beneficial ways. She found it at the University of Minnesota's entomology department in the form of intricate, detailed, vibrantly-colored insect drawings by grad students and faculty. The U offers a graduate-level insect drawing course every other year. Viewing opportunities for the drawings are by appointment only.
T. Mychael Rambo likes the idea of a family friendly multi-national performance buffet because, among other things, its 'community building' potential. That's one of the reasons the local theater artist and arts educator endorses "Global Hotdish" at the Minnesota History Center on January 29. This installment of 'Hotdish' will be hosted by a Hmong spoken word artist, and feature an Eastern European dance troupe, jugglers, and gospel singers.
Musician and visual artist Rich Barlow appreciates all artists who challenge themselves creatively, and he also likes it when bands do covers. Therefore Rich is very pleased with the Minneapolis electronic band Dallas Orbiter's plans to release a new song and a cover tune every month in 2011 to celebrate its tenth anniversary. They're available as free downloads at the Dallas Orbiter website.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
Art Hounds: Where the magic happens
Posted at 4:55 PM on January 26, 2011
by Molly Bloom
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Filed under: Art Hounds
Our Art Hounds are, quite simply, awesome. They are writers, artists, performers, illustrators, dancers, thinkers, bon vivants. In fact, we think they're kind of magical.
So we've been asking them to share photos with us that capture some of that magic and give us a peek behind the scenes of their art-making.
Here's our first magical mystery tour! (One magic reference too many? Sorry.)
Billie Jo Konze takes us into the dressing rooms at Lyric Arts Theater of Anoka's fall production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. She writes, "This is all of our cast pre-show surrounded by all the random stuff you find in a dressing room--flowers, makeup, clothes, etc. We had a big cast, so the dressing room was a big mess."
Here's a look at Claudia Poser's studio in the Northrup King Building as she makes a terra cotta wall sculpture.
This is composer Scott Miller's studio. But what he really wants us to notice is that little black box to the right of his laptop. That's Symbolic Sound's Paca. "In terms of the magic that happens in my studio, it is the alchemist's crucible of sound design and interactive music programming, the digital signal processor that runs Kyma software."
Keep an eye out for more glimpses of where the magic happens soon. But until then, send us yours!
Art Hounds: Art meets science, crates of vinyl and Babe, The Sheep Pig
Posted at 7:00 AM on January 20, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Photography, Theater
Peter Happel Christian, Blackholes and Blindspots, No. 8, 2010
The hounds look forward to rummaging through crates of used vinyl at the Cedar, an exhibition featuring a photographer whose work is at the intersection of science, history and art, and the CTC's interpretation of "Babe, the Sheep Pig."
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Local actor Sid Solomon says a production like no other in town right now is on stage at the Children's Theatre Company. It's called "Babe, The Sheep Pig," an adaptation of the childrens' book "Babe The Gallant Pig," upon which the 1995 movie "Babe" was also based. Sid is excited to see how a veteran CTC cast, led by Dean Holt and Reed Sigmund, tackles this kids classic. "Babe, The Sheep Pig" opens Friday, Jan. 21 and runs through Feb. 27th.
Artist Greg Fitz was drawn into photographer's Peter Happel Christian's world after appearing in a recent show with him, and has become a fan. Greg, who's also curator of Macalester College Galleries, says Happel Christian has a unique ability to make a viewer take notice of the ordinary. Happel Christian's new show, "Ground Truth" opens Thursday, January 20 at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, as part of the MIA's Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program. It runs through April 3.
To Jennifer Larson, it doesn't get much better than diving into crate after crate of used vinyl records, while being serenaded by some great local musicians. Jennifer, who blogs on music for "Girl Germs" and is an intern at the Current, says that's what Hymie's Record Fair at the Cedar on Friday, January 21 is all about. The used vinyl comes from Hymie's Vintage Records in Minneapolis and the music will be provided by Buffalo Moon, Rope Trick and the Annandale Cardinals.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
Art Hounds: Hungarian dances, The Vault, and remembering Rondo circa 1956
Posted at 7:00 AM on January 13, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Galleries, Music, Theater
The hounds discover traditional Hungarian folk dance in a St. Paul church, a new student run art gallery that's bringing a bohemian flavor to downtown St. Cloud, and a theatrical portrait of St. Paul's Rondo neighborhood just before it was annihilated by Interstate 94.
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Local songwriter Erik Brandt and his family lived for a time in Budapest, Hungary, and grew to love Hungarian folk dances or "Tanchazes." He's been able to re-live those experiences with the help of the group "Minnesota Hungarians," which is sponsoring a Tanchaz at Unity Unitarian Church in St. Paul on January 15th with music by the Madison-based band Szaszka.
St. Cloud visual artist Char Hopela predicts The Gallery Vault, a new St. Cloud State University-sponsored, student-run art gallery will bring a new aesthetic and creative energy to downtown St. Cloud. The Gallery Vault will feature mainly student exhibitions, with occasional faculty shows as well.
If you're looking for a meaningful and musical way to mark the upcoming MLK holiday weekend, uber-vocalist Maria Jette says you should strongly consider "Rondo 56: Remembering St. Paul's African American Mainstreet." Commissioned by the MN Historical Society and written by Dan Chouinard, "Rondo 56" is a look back at St. Paul's most prominent black neighborhood on the eve of its destruction by an interstate highway. It features an all star roster of local singers and will be performed at the Church of St. Joan of Arc in Minneapolis on Sunday, January 16th.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
Art Hounds: Real estate, oceans, and MC/VL's final show
Posted at 7:00 AM on January 6, 2011
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Photography, Theater
Stuart Klipper, "Swell, Southern Ocean, Antarctica" (1992)
The hounds are loose in 2011, on the trail of a quintessential David Mamet play, a photographer who shoots from sea to shining sea and some party-starter emcees who are taking the stage one last time as a duo.
Performer Patrick Dewane has a lot of questions he can't wait to have answered about Torch Theater's resurrection of the 1984 David Mamet classic, "Glengarry Glen Ross." Patrick, who's also Vice President of Advancement at the Minnesota Opera, is very curious to see how Torch interprets a play about a real estate company that in some ways foreshadows the housing crisis of the late "oughts." It's on stage at the Theatre Garage in Minneapolis Jan. 7 - Jan. 29.
Winona photographer Drake Hokanson suggests a trip to Winona's Minnesota Marine Art Museum in the next several weeks because its new show "The Watery Part of the World: Photographs of Stuart Klipper" is a must-see. Hokanson describes Klipper's photos as being able to capture oceans around the globe in all their moods and majesty. You have all the way until May 15th to see "The Watery Part of the World" at the M.M.A.M.
Before the Minneapolis rap duo MC/VL hangs it up for good, Cheapo clerk and voracious live music consumer Jon Gilbert plans to party with them one more time. Jon says the rollicking, crossover hip hop act will perform its final gig on Saturday, January 8, at the 501 Club. Incidently, the downtown Minneapolis bar will be hosting its final show that same night.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
Art Hounds: 2010 Highlights, part three
Posted at 7:00 AM on December 30, 2010
by Molly Bloom
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The third and final installment of Art Hounds' 2010 Highlights is here!
(Click to check out the first and second installments.)
"Dark Matters" by Kidd Pivot Frankfurt RM at the Walker Art Center
Part of the Walker's Adventures in New Puppetry series, a truly amazing evening that brings new meaning to the word 'performance.' An unforgettable dance/theatrical experience that was both haunting and inspiring. (Trailer for the show is above).
-Juliet Patterson, poet and essayist
Eclipsed at Frank Theatre
Seven women -- writer Danai Gurira; actors, Shá Cage, Hope Cervantes, Nisreen Dawan, Signe Harriday, Yeukai Mudzi; and director Wendy Knox brought the tragedy of the Liberian civil war to the stage with an unflinching honesty that made me feel closer to my Liberian and other African sisters now residing in the Twin Cities. The excellence of the piece was in the nuances which were recognizable to me as an African-American woman -- the nod of disapproval, fury in the curl of a lip, on point accent and cadence in repeated words, and hilarious arguments, pride and hope over fake hair, nail polish, pretty dresses, and stories of folks from far away places. I laughed and cried and left feeling powerful in my woman-ness and friendships.
-DeAnna Cummings, executive director of Juxtaposition Arts
The Slow Mirror and the Metronome
The Slow Mirror and the Metronome was a sprawling sound, video and sculpture event that took place the Sample Room during Art-A-Whirl. Bands played from boats amongst video projections, floating installations, and sound collages transmitted to floating speakers, that all combined to create an environment that reroutes and harnesses the river's acoustics and reflective surface. Simply mind blowing.
-Chris Cloud, executive creative director, MPLS.TV
Arek Tesarczyk with the Minnesota Orchestra
Hearing Arek Tesarczyk perform the premiere of the Rautavaara cello concerto with the Minnesota Orchestra for their season opening concert was my highlight of the year. Arek is a musician's musician -- he always gives sensitive, complex, nuanced, and simply effective performances. Rautavaara is one of the most interesting, haunting, and effective composers to come out of Finland (which is saying a lot!). The Minnesota orchestra is playing at an exciting, world-class level.
-Rolf Erdahl, musician
Kendra Shank at the Artists' Quarter
Kendra Shank performed with Bryan Nichols on piano, Terry Burns on bass, and Phil Hey on drums. New York-based singer Shank and Minneapolis-based pianist Nichols met only hours before performing together. Both are fearless improvisers. The combination worked and the night was electric--creative, magical, in-the-moment music.
-Pamela Espeland, jazz writer and commentator
Taking the Right Turns, a pair of Jean Matzke retrospective exhibits
Jean Matzke was the most approachable, talented and engaging fiber artist. She was tragically killed in 2009. Her life and work was celebrated in a weekend of exhibitions at St. Cloud State University. Her work at face value was simply a beautiful weaving but there were a million amazing techniques going on.
-Solveig Anderson, fiber artist, furniture designer
Art Hounds: 2010 Highlights, part two
Posted at 11:51 AM on December 29, 2010
by Molly Bloom
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We asked our Art Hounds to pick their arts and culture highlights of the year (you can see the first round here; the third and final will air tomorrow). Here is the second round of favorites:
Wing Young Huie's University Avenue Project
The portraits that Wing took were so evocative and provocative. These are the faces of Saint Paul and the words each person chose to express him/herself were so engaging; they invited us to learn more about them. The scope of the exhibit (with portraits placed on the windows of University Avenue businesses, large scale murals on the sides of buildings and the nightly screening with music) filled the city with art in a very big way. We went several times and brought out-of-town friends each time.
-Sharon DeMark, arts administrator
The Great Game: Afghanistan at the Guthrie
The Great Game: Afghanistan cycle of plays from the UK's Tricycle Theatre was equal parts education and art--it provided specific information about the checkered history of the West's relationship with Afghanistan that cast new light on our current situation there. It also provided so many moments of pungent writing, great performances and human insight.
-Elissa Adams, director of new play development at The Children's Theatre Company
The Arts Meander 2010 - The Upper Minnesota River Art Crawl
In one weekend, we had a chance to meet a wide variety of artists who live and work in West-Central Minnesota. One of them was an author, Brent Olson, who read two touching, funny stories to us from "The Lay of the Land," and "Papa, Figuring out what Matters," in a cozy space in Montevideo. The Arts Meander is a testament to the talented, amazing artists who live here.
-Emily Wright, musician
Mark Mallman's Marathon 3
We streamed Mark Mallmans Marathon 3 via the internet. We made a special trip to St Paul during the 48th hour. No other art motivated me with its message more than M3.
-Corey McNally, artist
The Mushroom Picker at the Open Eye Figure Theatre
Patrick Dewane's one-man show is the story of the author/actor and his grandfather, a Czech-American WWII vet. Their relationship expands when the author comes into posession of his deceased grandfather's war memoirs. It is glowing, circling story of a man developing a new understanding of his family, his heritage, and himself.
-Jackie Smith, singer
CSA (Community Supported Art)
The CSA program (an initiative of Springboard and mnartists.org) was a genius way to support local artists, get art into the world, and share excitement about the art being made in our lovely state. I loved getting each shipment and, much like a produce CSA, being surprised with the contents and figuring out how to use the items I received.
-Bethany Whitehead, arts administrator
Bernardo Atxaga reading at the Loft Literary Center
Two great writers--Charles Baxter and Bernardo Atxaga--brought together by an amazing local press, Greywolf Press, for a powerful night of literature. I was blown away by Atxaga's mastery of prose.
-Erik Brandt, musician
The Scottsboro Boys at the Guthrie Theater
The Scottsboro Boys was as courageous, difficult, and enthralling a piece of theater as I've ever seen. It walked a seemingly impossible line between flashy Broadway-style entertainment and the portrayal of a horrific moment in our nation's history, all the while co-opting the historically racist medium of the minstrel show. And yet, despite (and, perhaps, because of) the cognitive dissonance it provoked, the unavoidable sense of unease it elicited in its audience, and the story of humanity it portrayed, it is exactly the kind of work that the American theater should be producing.
-Sid Solomon, actor
The premiere of Urban Bush Women's "Uncensored" works, produced by the Northrop Auditorium
The choreography was sensual, evocative, and easily captured the ability to tell a story via movement and song. The colors and stage setting utilizing only fresh, ripe fruits of the fall season was innovative, while the sparcity of setting leant itself to more imagination. The performance featured works censored by the NEA in the late '80s/early '90s, making the production an important historical marker.
-Janis Lane-Ewart, executive director of KFAI Fresh Air Radio
John Jodzio's book of short stories, If You Lived Here You'd Already Be Home
John Jodzio totally knocked it out of the literary equivalent of Target Field with this quirky, hilarious story collection. More than just Jodzio's debut at bat as an author of quirky, hilarious books, If You Lived Here You'd Already Be Home is also the premiere publication of Replacement Press, a small, scrappy upstart nipping at the heels of the Twin Cities publishing scene.
-Brian Beatty, comedian, writer
Art Hounds: 2010 Highlights, part one
Posted at 7:00 AM on December 23, 2010
by Molly Bloom
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Craft, Dance, Museums, Music, Photography, Theater
We asked our Art Hounds to pick their arts and culture highlights of the year. Here is the first installment:
"Photographer to the Tsar: Revealing the Silk Road" at The Museum of Russian Art
In the early 1900s, Sergei M. Prokudin-Gorskii, reportedly a photographer and chemist, took black and white images and used red, green, and blue filters to create the highly detailed color images that were on display. The fabrics and landscapes memorialized in the slides are just stunning. What a lovely example of the powerful combination of color, science, site, and art patron.
-Jada Schumacher, designer
"Inter-Be" by Peter Wolf Crier
The music on the album covers so much territory, at once melancholy, pleading, relentless, sexy, sad, hopeful, and every other emotion you can think of. It's the type of album you just want to listen to over and over.
-Billie Jo Konze, actress
The evolution of the Scrimshaw Brothers
Seeing the Scrimshaw brothers evolve from a seat-of-the-(no) pants sketch comedy and improv duo into the creators of two full-fledged comedy production companies, Joking Envelope and Comedy Suitcase. Between the two of them, they're producing and performing in some of the finest original comedies in theater today.
-Scott Pakudaitis, theater photographer
The relocation of the American Craft Council
The ACC did their homework and found that the Twin Cities is a thriving and dynamic place for craft -- from individuals to organizations, from DIY to long-time artisans. Their presence here will bring even more attention to those who create beautiful things here in Minnesota.
-Nina Clark, singer and director of programs and exhibits and the American Swedish Institute
"Thinkingaview" by Jeffery Peterson Dance
Both kooky and graceful, it defied all expectations of what a dance show should or can be. Underwear dancing and unabashed public displays of affection onstage led to audience members making out throughout the theater!
-Robyn Hendrix, artist
Check back next week for the second round of highlights. In the meantime, tell us about your arts and culture highlights in the comments!
Art Hounds: Chinese fashion, The Shiny Lights, and a feast at Fezziwig's
Posted at 7:00 AM on December 16, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, FashionAdd category, Music, Theater
The hounds hunt down an exhibition about Mao suits and modern Chinese fashion, a veteran rock band that resurrects a '70s sound, and "The Christmas Carol" re-told by the family Scrooge clerked for as a young man.
Sonya Berlovitz, who designs costumes for local theater companies, had her curiosity roused by the Goldstein Museum of Design's latest exhibition, "Mao to Now: Chinese Fashion from 1949 to the Present." Sonya says it offers a fascinating look at, among other things, the evolution of the iconic Mao suit. Plus, it showcases Chinese designers who are making a splash in global fashion right now. It's at the University of Minnesota through January 17.
Twin Cities Daily Planet arts editor Jay Gabler was on the receiving end of some Victorian Christmas cheer when he went to see "Fezziwig's Feast," put on by the Actors Theater of Minnesota at Wigington Hall on Harriet Island in St. Paul. It's a re-telling of "The Christmas Carol" from the point-of-view of Scrooge's benevolent former employer, Old Fezziwig and his family. A roasted pork and butternut squash soup dinner comes with the ticket. It runs through this Sunday.
Minneapolis songwriter and Frank Randall has a lot of respect for veteran musicians who rage against the dying of the light and continue to make great music for music's sake. That's how Frank describes members of The Shiny Lights, who include such local notables as John Eller, Chris Lynch, Steve Price and Noah Levy. The Shiny Lights will unleash their epic '70s sound and unveil a new CD with gigs at The Fine Line tomorrow, The Varsity Theater on Dec. 23 (CD release show) and the Aster Cafe on Dec. 30th.
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And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
Art Hounds: Mila, Albert Park, and a choreography retrospective
Posted at 7:00 AM on December 9, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Music
The hounds lead us to a group of women vocalists raising their voices in Eastern European song, an artist enclave in and around the smallest dedicated park in the country, and a choreographer who's putting more than 30 years of work on display at Studio 206.
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As a member of the Swedish vocal group Flickorna Fem, Nina Clark has a deep appreciation for music from other cultures. One of Nina's favorite choral groups is the Mila Vocal Ensemble, which draws from the musical traditions of 30 countries, most notably Eastern European music. Mila will present a holiday concert Friday at Unity Church in St. Paul and Saturday at the United Theological Seminary in New Brighton.
Choreographer Kristin Van Loon considers herself a Laurie Van Wieren groupie in some ways. That's why you'll find her at "Who Made These Videotapes," a concert that functions as a retrospective of veteran Minneapolis choreographer Laurie Van Wieren's 30 years of innovative, idiosyncratic work. You can see and absorb "Who Made these Videotapes" Dec. 9,10 & 11 at 8pm, at Studio 206 in the Ivy Building for the Arts in Minneapolis.
St. Paul area writer Melissa Doffing would agree that West St. Paul's Albert Park, the country's smallest dedicated park according to "Ripley's Believe It or Not," seems like an unlikely location for an arts festival. But Melissa plans to rendevous with the artists of Albert Park beginning at 6pm tonight at Amore Coffee to celebrate the neighborhood's lively cultural scene. There will be a reading of a memoir inspired by the park, and music from the Albert Park Trio.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
Art Hounds: Hip Harlem, Toys in the Attic and a night of dance
Posted at 7:00 AM on December 2, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Music, Printmaking
The hounds follow their art-sensitive noses to a show by, for, and about toys, an exploration of the Harlem Renaissance led by a centenarian and a nonagenarian, and an unforgettable evening of dance.
Custom toys and toy-inspired posters will fill Gallery 122 in Minneapolis on Friday, December 3 and Chris Cloud couldn't be more excited. Chris, the executive creative director of MPLS.TV, says his childhood flashes before his eyes when he takes in the annual Toys in the Attic show. It features 50 print-based artists and celebrates both the joy and the darker side of toys and toy culture. It's also a benefit for Toys for Tots. Bring a toy and get in free or contribute five dollars.
Judith Brin Ingber is a dancer, teacher and writer in the Twin Cities who has very high regard for "Take Me Back to Hip Harlem," Dec. 4th and 5th At Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis. It features local dancer Ida Arbeit, who'll be turning 101 on Saturday the 4th, and 91-year-old tenor saxophonist Irv Williams, leading the Kairos Dance Company in an exploration of the movement and music of the Harlem Renaissance.
Performance artist and director Melissa Birch says members of the Twin Cities dance scene are holding an all-day party at the Southern Theater on Saturday Dec. 4th for a very important cause. It's a benefit to raise money for longtime dancer and mentor Krista Langberg and her husband Terry Chance. Both have been diagnosed with cancer in the last two years and have two daughters. The event will feature live music during the afternoon from Adam Levy and friends, and a concert that evening showcasing the finest in Minnesota modern dance, including members of Zenon Dance Company, Morgan Thorson, Hijack, Matthew Janzceski and Mad King Thomas.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
Photo of Chris Cloud taken by Robb Long.
Art Hounds: blue paint, Black Dub and acting prowess
Posted at 7:00 AM on November 18, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Painting, Theater
Yves Klein, People Begin to Fly, 1961
Oil on paper on canvas 98-1/2 x 156-1/2 in.
Courtesy The Menil Collection, Houston © 2010 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris
This week's hounds treat us to a sparse production with powerful performances, drench us in brilliant guitar licks, and then roll us around in some blue paint for good measure.
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Mike Croswell, a St. Paul composer and sound designer, cannot wait to see his personal guitar hero when he comes to Minneapolis this week. Daniel Lanois gained fame as a producer for acts like U2, Peter Gabriel and Brian Eno, but he's a brilliant, thrilling performer in his own right. You can see him with his band Black Dub at the Cedar Cultural Center on Wednesday, Nov. 24.
Rachael Davies is an actor and administrator at Open Eye Figure Theatre. She plans on taking advantage of the opportunity to see Ten Thousand Things' latest production, "Life's a Dream" at Open Book. This theater company usually performs at jails, homeless shelters and other places where they can reach those who may not have access to the arts. She loves how their minimalistic productions showcase the acting prowess of the company.
Kaywin Feldman, director and president of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, has a big crush on Yves Klein (yes, she's holding a container of the hue of blue paint that he developed). She fell in love with him all over again at the Yves Klein: With the Void, Full Powers exhibition at the Walker Art Center. It includes over 200 of his pieces that feature drawing, sculpture, film and naked bodies in blue paint. The show will be up through Feb. 13.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
Art Hounds: Autistic License, The 39 Steps and hues of blue
Posted at 7:00 AM on November 11, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Photography, Theater
A play that delves into the rigors and rewards of raising a child with autism, a photographer who makes eerie collages that look like blueprints, and a Hitchcock spoof at the Guthrie are all grabbing the hounds attention this week.
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Jane Strauss is a photographer with an intimate understanding of autism. Jane and her partner have Asperger's Syndrome, as do four of their children. Her 13-year-old son is autistic. So she's very anxious to see local playwright Stacey Dinner-Levin's play about a family with an autistic child called "Autistic License." It's at Gremlin Theatre in St. Paul through Nov. 15.
Wendy Knox may make a citizen's arrest when she goes to the Guthrie to see "The 39 Steps." She says two of the play's stars, Jim Lichscheidl and Luverne Seifert, shouldn't be allowed to be on the same stage in a furiously paced comedy that requires them to be in drag and make dozens of costume changes. Why? Because of the mayhem that will result. "The 39 Steps" is a spoof of the whodunnit Hitchcock film classic of the same name. It runs through Dec. 19th.
Megan Vossler has become an admirer of photographer Sean Smuda's work. Megan, a visual artist who teaches at MCAD and Macalester College, took in Smuda's "Blueprint Series" on the exposed brick walls of 801 Lofts in Minneapolis. The 3x4.5 foot photographic collages depicting surreal, post-industrial landscapes and objects, resemble blueprints in shades of gray and blue. The show is up in the 801 Lofts' three story atrium until Feb. 11.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
Art Hounds: Blissful harmonies, a cabaret for improvisers and a solo tour-de-force
Posted at 7:00 AM on November 4, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Theater
Nathan Keepers appears as Sam Peliczowski (and many others) in The Jungle Theater's FULLY COMMITTED: Nov. 5 - Dec. 19
This week's hounds sniff out a cabaret where improvisation rules, an actor 'fully committed' to over 40-roles and a pair of vintage country crooners who harmonize like they came out of the same womb...and they did.
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As an arts-based psychotherapist and music lover, Nancy Ruppenthal has a keen interest in jazz and new music. For Nancy, the annual Fall New Music Cabaret at Studio Z in downtown St. Paul is an autumnal highlight. It's sponsored by the ensemble Zeitgeist, and features a gathering of some of the best improvisers in the Twin Cities. The cabaret runs Nov. 4 - 6 and features three hours of live, local music each night.
"Fully Committed," a one man show at the Jungle Theater where the lead actor plays more than 40 parts, has drawn the intense interest of Danette Olson. Danette, executive director of St. Croix Festival Theatre, once directed the play herself, and is really anxious to see how actor Nathaniel Keepers tackles his role(s). The Jungle first staged it in 2002. You can see it Nov. 5 - Dec. 19.
St. Paul musician Peter Karman isn't shy about heaping praise on his favorite group in the world right now, the Cactus Blossoms. Peter says the brotherly duo incorporates exquisite Louvin Brother-style harmonies in its original songs and resurrect the sound of 1950s AM radio. The Cactus Blossoms will hold down happy hour at the 331 Club in Minneapolis, Monday, Nov. 8th, 6-7pm.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
Art Hounds: Master quilters, provocative prints and a room full of funny
Posted at 7:00 AM on October 28, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Printmaking, Theater
An internationally-known artist brings his juxtaposed prints to Highpoint, a play about Alabama slave descendants and their glorious quilts is at Park Square, and top-notch Twin Cities improv artists congregate at the BLB. We'll let the hounds tell you why they're excited.
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Miles Mendenhall has high praise for "Skeleton Images Tossed by Chance" an exhibition of prints by Mexican artist Carlos Amorales at Highpoint Center for Printmaking in Minneapolis. Miles, a printmaker, installation artist, and finalist on Bravo TV's "Work of Art" reality show, says Amorales' work is simultaneously provocative and accessible, and immaculately presented at Highpoint. The show is on view through November 20.
Pamela Broz, Interim Director of Communications and Marketing at the Textile Center in Minneapolis, was thoroughly entertained by "Gee's Bend" at St. Paul's Park Square Theatre. It's a play about a group of master quilters in Gee's Bend, Alabama, who are descended from slaves and use their stunning quilts to connect with each other and the outside world. Maybe the fact that Pam is a quilter made her feel she was in familiar company. "Gee's Bend" runs through Nov. 7 at Park Square.
Have you been looking all your life for the funniest people in Minne...strike that...the funniest and most brilliant people in Minneapolis? Local improv artist and actor Tom Reed says they can be found on the Bryant Lake Bowl stage every Monday night at 8pm as part of "Show X!" Tom says it's an audience-fueled long-form improv show which can't be beat for hilarity, comic genius, and maybe even a little pathos.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
Art Hounds: Accordion-O-Rama, Flyway Film Fest, and a master abstract painter
Posted at 7:00 AM on October 21, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Film, Music, Painting
This week's hounds look beyond the Twin Cities for art, including a film fest on the shores of Lake Pepin, four accordionists on one stage in Zumbrota and an experimental painter in west central Minnesota.
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For local jazz writer Pamela Espeland, there can never be too many accordionists, even if it's on a small stage. Which is why she's plugging "Accordion-O-Rama," this Saturday, Oct. 23 at 7:30 at Crossings at Carnegie. Crossings at Carnegie is a refurbished former Carnegie Library in Zumbrota. "Accordion-O-Rama" will showcase the squeeze-box skills of Dan Newton, Simone Perrin, Patrick Harision, and Denny Malmberg.
Documentarian and 2010 McKnight Fellow for Filmmaking Dawn Mikkelson says you probably won't find the Hollywood star-making machinery at the Flyway Film Festival in Pepin and Stockholm, Wisconsin this weekend. But there will be a plethora of indie filmmakers and film enthusiasts from across the country to take in a festival that's generating a national buzz. The Flyway Film Festival contains 35 feature films and shorts from seven different countries and runs Oct. 21 - 24 in Pepin and Stockholm.
Artist Andrew Nordin, owner and operator of the New London residential gallery ARThouse (featured on Art Hounds just a few weeks ago), has more good news to report from west central Minnesota. A new gallery called ARTmeyerson is opening up in Atwater. Andrew's also thrilled with ARTmeyerson's inaugural exhibition, "Avant Garage, Four Decades of Art." It's a retrospective of noted regional painter Robert Mattson. The opening is Saturday, Oct. 23 from 7 - 10pm, with entertainment provided by Minneapolis blues legend Willie Murphy.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
Art Hounds: Brute Heart, Refugee Nation, and a critical mass of printmakers
Posted at 7:00 AM on October 14, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Printmaking, Theater
"Unfinished Invasion," Lloyd Menard, 1976. The exhibition "Outstanding Printmaker: Lloyd Menard 1970 to Present" is at the College of Visual Arts as part of the Mid America Print Council Conference.
This week's hounds are following a new play about the "secret war" in Laos, a Twin Cities celebration of printmaking and a female chamber pop trio that haunts and seduces.
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Local actor Heidi Berg was impressed by the panoply of emotions she felt and education she received watching "Refugee Nation." The production probes the causes and aftermath of one of the tragic by-products of the Vietnam war-- the Laotian Civil War, also known as the "secret war." "Refugee Nation" was designed by two Twin Cities' Laotian actors after conducting extensive interviews within the Lao community. It's co-presented by the Lao Assistance Center, Pangea World Theater, and Intermedia Arts, where it's on stage through Oct. 17.
Colleen Sheehy drove all the way from Fargo to immerse herself in the Mid America Print Council Conference. As director of Plains Art Museum, Colleen's kind of on a scouting mission. This week (Oct. 13 - 16) the Mid America Print Council Conference is gathering the best print makers in Minnesota and around the country to exhibit and discuss their art and to conduct workshops. The conference (it's less stuffy than it sounds) is based at the University of Minnesota's Regis Center for the Arts.
Soozin Hirschmugl has fallen under the spell of Brute Heart. Soozin says the female chamber pop trio combines viola, bass, drums and keys with enmeshed, mesmerizing vocals to craft haunting, ethereal songs. Brute Heart joins Chastity Brown and Mayda in a show at the Kitty Kat Club this Saturday, Oct. 16.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
Art Hounds: Haunted Basement, ARENA Dances and one-liners with line breaks
Posted at 7:00 AM on October 7, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Criticism, Events, Galleries, Poetry, Storytelling
This week the Hounds introduce us to a truly frightening haunted factory, an athletic dance company and the funniest man in Minneapolis.
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Betsy Maloney, a dance teacher at the Main Street School of Performing Arts, will be taking her students to see "not so good at standing still" by ARENA Dances. The company gets its name from the intersection of athletics and arts, and this is evident in their physical, kinetic style. There will three performances this weekend at the LAB Theater in MInneapolis, with a Q&A following Friday night's show.
For writer John Jodzio, there is no funnier man in Minneapolis than Brian Beatty. His very dry sense of humor is showcased in his "one-liners with line breaks." Beatty is a performer as much as a writer, sometimes showing up to readings in a bear costume. Beatty will be reading at Magers and Quinn this Saturday, along with poet John Tottenham.
Looking for a truly frightening experience to get you in the mood for Halloween? Videographer Ben McGinley highly recommends you pay a visit to the Haunted Basement at the Soap Factory in Minneapolis. This artist-designed haunted house contains shocks, but plays with your mind more than anything else. And don't worry -- you can always cry uncle if it gets to be too much. It's open every weekend through the end of the month.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
Art Hounds: Julie Buffalohead, Lazerbeak, and the world's oldest story
Posted at 7:00 AM on September 30, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Painting, Theater
This week's hounds look at unsettling art about childhood nostalgia, listen to new beats and rhymes from a Doomtree DJ, and soak up the oldest story in the world at the Southern.
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University of Minnesota theater and video professor Megan Lewis took her theater class to see Theatre Novi Most's "The Oldest Story in the World" at the Southern Theater, and they were enthralled. Megan calls this re-telling of the ancient epic of Gilgamesh, one of the hottest, sexiest productions she's experienced in a while. You have until this Sunday, October 3, to see it.
Will Lager says Julie Buffalohead's latest paintings at the Bockley Gallery in Minneapolis put him back in touch with his formative years in a somewhat unnerving way. Will, who serves as information and membership manager for High Point Center for Printmaking, says Buffalohead's use of iconic childhood images, such as Snoopy and a Tonka Truck, alongside fantastical forest creatures is funny and slightly dark at the same time. Buffalohead's work hangs on the Bockley walls through Oct. 16.
Egypto Knuckles, aka Ali Elabbady, has high praise for the latest record from the Doomtree Crew. "Legend Recognize Legend" is the debut release from behind the scenes player and Doomtree producer Laserbeak. Egypto says Lazerbeak, who's actually Aaron Mader, former guitarist for the now defunct Minneapolis indie band "The Plastic Constellations," combines rock melodies and sensibilities with hip hop beats to create a fresh sound.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
Art Hounds: Gershwin film gems, folkie pop hooks and ARThouse
Posted at 7:00 AM on September 23, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Film, Music
"Duet" by Lisa Bergh, image courtesy of the artist
An old home in New London that houses new artworks, one of the nation's premier film archivists shares some gems at the Heights Theatre, and a folkie with a knack for pop hooks, all get the coveted Art Hounds endorsement this week.
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If you have a tank full of gas and maybe a little wanderlust, you can join Jamie Lang's caravan to New London, Minnesota to experience ARThouse. Jamie, who's the exhibition director for the Northern Clay Center, says ARThouse is actually the home of artists Lisa Bergh and Andrew Nordin. Four or five times a year, they convert it into a gallery and invite artists from across the region to show their work in a one-night only exhibition. This Saturday, Sept. 25th, 5-8pm, ARThouse owners Bergh and Nordin will be the featured artists.
Elk River arts writer Britt Aamodt calls Bob DeFlores one of the foremost film preservationists in the nation. DeFlores' personal film archive goes deeper than many of the major studios' in Hollywood. On Sunday, Sept. 26, you'll likely find Britt at the Heights Theatre in Columbia Heights to see some of DeFlores' rare footage of composer George Gershwin, as well as the last movie Gershwin wrote the music for, "Damsel in Distress." Be there, so you can wish Gershwin a happy birthday.
One of St. Louis Park singer-songwriter Dan Israel's favorite artists, John Prine, will make a return visit to the Orpheum Theatre on Saturday, Sept. 25th. Dan says Prine's extensive catalog of material, hook-laden folk songs, heady lyrics, and hilarious banter will make for an incredible evening of music.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
Art Hounds: Frank Theatre, Ojibwe stories and new life for old objects
Posted at 7:00 AM on September 16, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Galleries, Theater, Writing
"Reclamation Project: Repatriation Exercise #1 (Procyon lotor)" 2010 by Pamela Valfer
This week the hounds take us to Liberia during the civil war, a fictional reservation in Northern Minnesota and to an alternative future.
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Gregory J. Scott is an arts writer for the Downtown Journal and Vita.mn. He's excited about the new work being shown by Allen Brewer and Pamela Valfer in "Alternative Futures" at SOO Visual Arts Center. He particularly likes how Valfer's work, which involves returning things like fur and rodent-shaped piggy banks to some form of a natural state, plays with people's reactions. The "cuddly yet repulsive" work reclaims objects that could easily be forgotten and gives them new life. The show runs September 18 through October 31, with an opening reception this Saturday, 6-9pm.
Claire Wilson, a writing teacher at the Loft Literary Center, is always eager to see the plays put on by Frank Theatre. She knows that they will take her somewhere she's never been before, and even if it's uncomfortable or difficult, she knows it will be worthwhile. "Eclipsed," Frank's latest production, will take Claire to Liberia during the civil war. The play, written by Macalester alum Danai Gurira, opens today and runs through October 10 at the Playwrights' Center.
Ben Kimball is an engineer by day, and by night a book reviewer for Minnesota Reads. He loved Linda LeGarde Grover's collection of inter-connected short stories, The Dance Boots. The stories span several decades and are set on a fictional Indian reservation in Northern Minnesota. Ben loves Grover's powerful writing, her use of Ojibwe language and the complexity of her characters. Grover, a professor at University of Minnesota - Duluth, will be reading from her book this Friday at Birchbark Books in Minneapolis.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
Art Hounds: Films in Wadena, father-daughter theater, and a music salon
Posted at 7:00 AM on September 9, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Film, Music, Theater
This week's hounds highlight a film festival along the banks of Whiskey Creek, a searing drama about a father and daughter and a 19th-century-style salon with lots of music and a little conversation.
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Wadena artist Kent Scheer says the Whiskey Creek Film Festival has spiced up the cultural life in his neck of the woods for the last five years. This year the festival runs September 10-16 at Wadena's art deco movie house, the Cozy Theatre. All six films being screened are brand new, including "Winter's Bone," "The Kids are Alright," and "Around a Small Mountain." It also includes short films from Minnesota filmmakers. Kent Scheer has even offered to help with your travel arrangements; contact him here.
Jane Froiland thinks the Phoenix Theater Project has chosen a great play for its inaugural production: "Proof." It's about a daughter who's wondering and worrying about the genetic legacy of her recently deceased father. Jane, a Twin Cities actor, says the characters of the father and daughter will be played by an actual father/daughter duo, Kurt and Amy Schweickhardt. The show will be at the People's Center Theater in Minneapolis through September 25, with a pay-what-you-can performance on September 13th.
How about a salon done the old fashioned way, with less talk, more music? Minnetonka Civic Orchestra Music Director Scott Winters recommends Muse Salon's next installment at the Schubert Club in St. Paul's Landmark Center. It'll feature the music of Quilter, Schumann, Argento, Shostokovich and others performed by such standouts as vocalist Maria Jette, cellist Tom Rosenberg and violinist Orieta Dado. There'll be lots of room for discussion as the performance proceeds on Wednesday, September 15th at 7pm.
For more Art Hounds' recommendations, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.
And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
Art Hounds: Closing Open Field, funny people and a folk opera
Posted at 7:00 AM on September 2, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Museums, Music
Futurefarmers setting up the giant megaphone that will be used for "Auctions Speak Louder Than Words" at the Open Field on Saturday. (Photo credit: Gene Pittman)
This week's hounds praise the Walker's 'cultural commons,' wonder who'll be the last comic standing in Minneapolis, and get sucked into a Vermont songwriter's folk opera.
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Minneapolis painter Pete Driessen has a great deal of respect for poet and writer Lewis Hyde, who'll be speaking at the Walker tonight at 7pm. One of Hyde's favorite topics is the idea of a cultural commons, a communal marketplace of ideas that can enliven social discourse. Pete says the Walker's summer long experiment, "Open Field," which is based on Hyde's concept, has been a great success.
Photography enthusiast Audra Williams loves a good comic, but she also appreciates the work that goes into developing a comedy routine. Audra says the "Funniest Person in the Twin Cities" competition at the Acme Comedy Club has all the hilarity and pathos you'd expect from amateur local comedians trying to turn three minutes of stand-up into gold. The finals will be held Tuesday, Sept. 7, at 8pm.
One of Ellen Stanley's favorite singer-songwriters has made Ellen's favorite record of 2010. Ellen is the frontwoman for Mother Banjo and also handles publicity for Red House Records in St. Paul. She says in "Hadestown," Vermont singer-songwriter Anais Mitchell has created an at-times rollicking and mesmerizing folk opera based on the Greek myth, "Orpheus." Mitchell is playing Thursday, September 2 at 7:30pm at the Ginkgo Coffeehouse in St. Paul; Friday September 3 at 7:30pm at the New York Mills Regional Cultural Center; and Saturday, September 4 at the Storyhill Festival in the Brainerd Lakes area.
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Art Hounds: A bicycle built for film & time traveling photos
Posted at 7:00 AM on August 26, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Film, Photography
Image courtesy Timothy G. Piotrowski
This week's hounds hunt down a fashion photographer who travels back in time, top-notch Middle Eastern dance from Minneapolis, and a bicycle built for music and cinema.
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Two-time Guggenheim fellow and photographer Stuart Klipper doesn't normally traipse into beauty salons seeking art. But Stuart recently went to Rue48 Salon on 48th and Chicago in Minneapolis to see photographer Timothy G. Piotrowski's vintage fashion shots and, needless to say, was extremely impressed. Piotrowski employs young women who wear vintage clothing in his pictures.
One of Carstens Smith's favorite dance groups in the Twin Cities is Jawaahir Dance Company, which specializes in Middle Eastern dance. Carstens, who's development coordinator for the St. Paul Art Crawl, says she lives vicariously through Jawaahir's dancers, who are performing a piece called "The Dark Nightingale" through September 5 at the Ritz Theater in Minneapolis. It focuses on the music of the late Egyptian vocalist Abdel Halim Hafez.
Jenny Jenkins is a photographer and textile artist in Minneapolis who often uses her bike to get around. A few weeks ago she was riding on the Midtown Greenway when she ran into Andrea Steudel and Luke Anderson of "Urban Caravan." Steudel and Anderson ride on a specially equipped bike with turntables and a projector, creating soundtracks on the fly and screening films on the sides of buildings and bridges. Cool, eh?! You can ride along and catch Urban Caravan's next 'performance' this Saturday night, Aug. 28. They'll be meeting at 9:45pm at the Martin Olaf Sabo bridge on the Greenway.
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Art Hounds: Duluth theater reopening, grafitti cover-ups and veteran rockers with a new sound
Posted at 7:00 AM on August 19, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Public Art
Graffiti painted over on a bridge at the corner of St. Anthony and Prior in St. Paul.
This week the hounds show us the unintentional beauty of graffiti that's been painted over, an old vaudeville theater Duluth that's getting a new life, and a new group of veteran rockers that are creating a new sound.
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Duluth artist and arts writer Ann Klefstad is happy to report the famed NorShor Theatre is back in the public domain. The city of Duluth purchased the 100-year-old former vaudeville theater and one-time strip club and asked the Duluth Playhouse to provide programming. Duluth mayor Don Ness will celebrate the NorShor's centennial with a $100 plate benefit to raise money for its restoration on tonight at 7pm. On Saturday, Aug. 21 at noon there will be an open house commemorating the NorShor's vaudeville history and that night, an evening of live music featuring the Duluth area's hottest bands.
If you happen to be stuck in traffic, painter and MCAD and CVA instructor Allen Brewer suggests you be on the lookout for graffiti that's been painted over. Allen says you can find it all over the Twin Cities -- on overpasses, the sides of buildings, railroad bridges, etc. He describes it as taggers and clean-up workers engaged in an accidental collaboration that results in unintentionally beautiful, completely pure abstract art.
Holly Newsom has discovered a band she wants the rest of the world to know about. Holly, the frontwoman for the Minneapolis indie rock band Zoo Animal, says Satellite Voices consists of a group of veteran local rockers and creates a sound all its own. She's especially impressed with the band's eccentric yet charismatic leader, singer-songwriter Knol Tate. Satellite Voices' next gig is at St. Paul's Turf Club on Thursday, Aug. 26. The group plans to release its first CD this fall.
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Art Hounds: Comic book art and bluegrass music
Posted at 7:00 AM on August 12, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Galleries, Music, Theater
Listen as the hounds wax poetically on a local comic book convention in a box, a Pakistani "Sex in the City" at the Fringe, and the premier Minnesota bluegrass event of the year.
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It makes sense that St. Louis Park illustrator Chris Lyons stopped by Altered Esthetics Gallery in Minneapolis to check out "Lutefisk Sushi Vol. D." It's a mini comic book convention featuring bento boxes of comics from more than 60 local artists. It also includes a display of comic art on the walls which Chris was very impressed with. "Lutefisk Sushi Vol. D" is at Altered Esthetics through Aug. 26.
Mizna board member Nahid Khan likes shoes, wears a headscarf, and is an American whose parents emigrated from
Pakistan, which is partly why she's drawn to the Minnesota Fringe Festival production of "That Sara Aziz!" It's about four modern Pakistani-American women who want to embrace the bounty of American life while maintaining their their globally dispersed family relationships. You can see "That Sara Aziz!" Aug. 12, 14, and 15 at the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis.
It's one of Marv Menzel's favorite times of the year, when pluckers and pickers converge on the campground El Rancho Mañana in Richmond, Minnesota for the annual Minnesota Bluegrass and Old-Time Music Festival. Marv, who's proprietor of the Homestead Pickin' Parlor in Richfield, is especially looking forward to hearing national headliners Blue Highway and local heroes The High 48s on the main stage during the four-day celebration, which begins Aug 12.
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Art Hounds: A pop-up publishing house and eye-popping theater magic
Posted at 7:00 AM on August 5, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Books, Events, Galleries, Music, Printmaking, Theater
Hot Off The at the Soap Factory
This week, the hounds track down a day full of blues and roots music, magical (and free) theater for all ages and zinesters running a temporary publishing house.
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Rolf Erdahl is a bass teacher and bassist in the Vecchione/Erdahl Duo. He liked Open Eye Figure Theatre's Milly and Tillie so much that he's planning on seeing it for a second time this weekend. Rolf loves how this slapstick, magical show reminds him of the feeling of possibility that he had as a child. The show is free and can be seen tonight, tomorrow and Saturday at 7pm.
Tom Haakenson, chair of liberal arts at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and one of the editors of the online journal Quodlibetica, thinks you should try to get published this weekend. Hot Off The is a pop-up publishing house that is offering a behind-the-scenes look at publishing, from taking submissions to printing and binding books. They'll be at The Soap Factory every Thursday, Friday and Sunday through Aug. 22.
Danette Olsen is the executive director of Festival Theatre in St. Croix Falls, WI. She's really looking forward to this weekend's Red House Barnfest. Danette is impressed by the line-up of blues and roots musicians, but she's especially excited to see Danny Schmidt. This Austin, TX-based singer-songwriter is being compared to everyone from Bob Dylan to Greg Brown, but she thinks his unique voice should be heard live. The Barnfest starts at 1:30pm at the Hobgoblin Music Outdoor Amphitheater outside of Red Wing.
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Art Hounds: From University Ave. to Wadena
Posted at 7:00 AM on July 29, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Public Art, Sculpture
The hounds chase down teen art in Minneapolis that's making an impression, a sculptural oasis in North Central Minnesota, and a Central Corridor cabaret.
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Andrea Satter says photographer Wing Young Huie has made waves with his colossal series' "The Lake Street Project" and now "The University Avenue Project," which documents a six mile stretch of the Central Corridor. Andrea is anxious to attend Huie's monthly cabaret, held in conjunction with the project, scheduled for this Saturday at 1433 University Ave. It features talent from the University Avenue area.
If you think North Central Minnesota is devoid of grand scale outdoor art, you're wrong. Jamie Robertson says sculpture lovers will enjoy a sojourn to Wadena this Saturday, July 31, for the grand opening of Green Island. It's a 60-acre former farmstead that's been molded into a sculpture park. It'll be open seven days a week from sun-up to sundown for the rest of the summer. Admission is free.
Teen art exhibits rarely turn heads the way "SooFUZE" does. That's the opinion of Christopher James, Communications and Events Director at the Weisman Art Museum. Christopher says the multi-media show at Soo Visual Arts Center reflects the work of Twin Cities teen artists that's unusually sophisticated and thought-provoking. You have until September 5th to check it out.
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Art Hounds: Ladysmith, Liberia and dance
Posted at 7:00 AM on July 22, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events
This week's hounds are promoting an opera with small town Wisconsin roots, a pair of choreographers from NYC making their mark at the Southern, and the work of a Liberian installation artist at a local African market.
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Twin Cities composer Carolyn Elerding is going to Ladysmith, Wisconsin this weekend, by way of the opera. "The Ladysmith Story," conceived by local opera singer and Ladysmith native Brad Johnson Bradshaw, traces the evolution of a small town at an important point in its history. After having its world premiere at Ladysmith High School, "The Ladysmith Story" is on stage at the Red Eye Theatre in Minneapolis on Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm, and Sunday at 2pm.
Elissa Adams directs new play development at Children's Theatre Company, so it's not surprising she's drawn to performance that straddles the line between theater and dance. Elissa's going to see NYC transplant and choreographer Chris Yon's new work "The Infinite Multiverse," and a piece by NYC choreographer Johanna Meyer entitled "Stroll," featuring San Diego actress and director Judy Bauerlein. They're being performed at the Southern Theater, July 22 - 24.
Patricia Briggs, an arts writer based in Racine, WI, has tapped installation artist and Liberian native Catherine Kennedy as one of the rising stars in Twin Cities visual arts. Kennedy's mixed media exhibition, "Exit: Making it Through" explores the lives of women caught up in the Liberian civil war. It's on view at the African Food Market and Deli Afrique in Crystal, starting this Friday through August 23.
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Art Hounds: Ritter, Rosalux, Commonweal
Posted at 7:00 AM on July 15, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Theater
A revered singer-songwriter in an orchestral setting, an important Minneapolis gallery resurfaces in Nordeast, and a Steve Martin play as interpreted by a Lanesboro theater company all get the Art Hounds treatment this week.
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Rural Minnesota artist Karl Unnasch made a sojourn to the Commonweal Theatre in Lanesboro recently to see "Picasso at the Lapin Agile," and Karl says it was a fantastic production. The play was written by comedian Steve Martin and envisions Picasso running into Albert Einstein at a pre-WWII Parisian bar and getting to know each other. It's on stage through September 25th.
One of Crystal Nelson's favorite singer songwriters will be accompanied by one of the world's great orchestras tonight. Crystal, who writes for the Minneapolis music blog Borangutang, can't wait to hear Josh Ritter unveil his new record "So Runs the World Away," with the help of the Minnesota Orchestra at Orchestra Hall. The performance is at 8pm.
As coordinator of the Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Chris Atkins closely follows what's happening in the Twin Cities gallery scene. Chris is happy to report that Rosalux Gallery, which used to be housed at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts building before it closed last year, is reopening....in Nordeast! The new Rosalux, which is run cooperatively by member artists, opens its inaugural show in its new space on Saturday, July 17th.
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Art Hounds: Sweeney, Carmina, and Trombone Shorty
Posted at 7:00 AM on July 8, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Theater
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue. Credit: Jane Richey
This week's hounds highlight Fleet Street's demon barber as interpreted by Minnesota teens, medieval love songs in Ely and an explosive trombonist from The Big Easy.
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The Northern Lights Chamber Music Festival is an annual tradition Carol Orban of Ely has enjoyed for many years. Carol, a member of the Northern Lakes Arts Association, is especially excited about a performance of her favorite work, "Carmina Burana," which will headilne this year's festival. It's being performed Friday, July 9 at UMD's Weber Hall at 7:30pm, Saturday, July 10 at 7pm at Washington Auditorium in Ely and Sunday, July 11 at Roosevelt High School Auditorium in Virginia. Festival participants will be joined by members of the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra Chorus and the East Range Choral Society.
Twin Cities actor Jane Froiland is solidly behind the mission of the St. Paul-based Young Artists Initiative and its upcoming production of Stephen Sondheim's bloody musical, "Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street." Jane says the talent in Young Artists Initiative, a performing arts program for teens across the state, is on a par with many professional artists she's worked with. "Sweeney Todd" is on stage at St. Paul's Gremlin Theatre July 8 - 18.
If you wanna party like they do in the Treme neighborhood of New Orleans, Minneapolis jazz writer and commentator Pamela Espeland says make for the Minnesota Zoo Thursday, July 8 to see Trombone Shorty. Pamela says the 24-year-old trombonist became a professional musician at the ripe old age of five and has a wonderful new CD out called "Backatown."
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Art Hounds: Passion, the ordinary and indie rock
Posted at 7:00 AM on July 1, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Museums, Music, Theater
Adam Caillier, Antler Speaker, 2009, pigmented inkjet print
A five-week long soap opera for the stage, artists occupied by the ordinary, and an indie rock band that knows how to tell stories have all piqued the hounds' interest this week.
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St. Paul artist and MCAD and CVA instructor Pamela Valfer feels like she's found the extraordinary in an exhibition about the ordinary. "Ordinarily Here," at the Weisman Art Museum through October 10, features ten Minnesota artists looking for meaning among the ordinary objects that surround us.
"As the World Turns" may have ended its 76-year run, but Twin Cities theater and dance photographer Scott Pakudaitus recommends soap opera fans fill that gaping hole with Flower Shop Project's "River of Passion." It's a five-part serial theater production starring 15 core actors, that will keep you riveted every Friday in July at the Bryant Lake Bowl in Minneapolis.
What Twin Cities actress and arts administrator Andrea Tonsfeldt appreciates most about Minneapolis indie rockers Pictures of Then, is the band's ability to rock -- and hold her interest lyrically at the same time. Pictures of Then plays Saturday at Sauce Spirits and Soundbar in Minneapolis.
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Art Hounds: chamber music, aesthetic apparatus, Jose James
Posted at 7:00 AM on June 24, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Printmaking
This week's hounds endorse a chamber music jamboree in the north woods, a display of internationally-acclaimed hand-printed posters, and a buzzed-about jazz crooner from Minneapolis.
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If you're an amateur chamber musician, where can you go to find like-minded practitioners and some tips on how to play better? How about the North Shore? Duluth composer Robert Linnemann says the Woodland Chamber Music Workshop, taking place in Tofte through June 27, welcomes chamber musicians of all ages and skill levels, with coaching from the Gichigami Trio. The Trio will also perform a free concert open to the public tomorrow at 7pm at the Surfside Resort. The workshop is full for this year, but maybe next summer?
If you're looking for the future of jazz, Pillsbury House Theatre Co-Artistic Producing Director Faye Price says cast your gaze on Minneapolis native and South High alum José James. James, who now resides in Brooklyn, has made an exceedingly favorable impression on jazz critics around the globe, and Faye says he has a magnetic, almost hypnotic presence on stage. James has put out a new CD of standards called "For All We Know," and he'll be dipping heavily into that at his Dakota Bar and Grill gig tonight.
Artist and writer Andy Sturdevant was wowed by the latest MCAD show, "AAXI: A Decade of Aesthetic Apparatus, One Year Late." It features the internationally acclaimed hand-printed posters of the Minneapolis design duo Dan Ibarra and Michael Byzewski, who together make up Aesthetic Apparatus. Andy says the posters blend elements from the last 70 years of design, and the show also displays the tools Ibarra and Byzewski employ in their work. The exhibition is up until June 27 so you have one weekend left to see it.
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Art Hounds: Hair, Hindustani Music, Fitting the Profile
Posted at 8:24 AM on June 17, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Theater, Writing
Rikki Davenport playing tabla.
Writers and artists pondering their Jewish identity, tabla and sitar sounds at Gandhi Mahal and a teen revival of a musical about young people changing the world while not cutting their hair are all on the hounds' radar this week.
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Rachel Reiva is privy to the latest and greatest in local youth theater as Teen Fringe Festival Reviewer for the Twin Cities Daily Planet. That's why Rachel's looking forward to a production of the musical "Hair" by Blank Slate Theatre, a company by and for Twin Cities teens and young adults. Given Blank Slate's track record, and that hippie values and concerns might be making a comeback amongst the younger crowd, Rachel predicts this will be an awesome show. On stage at the Lowry Lab in St. Paul, June 18-26.
For Shahzore Shah, one of life's pleasures is going to the restaurant Gandhi Mahal in Minneapolis, and listening to North Indian Hindustani music on tabla and sitar. It's performed by Minnesotans Mark Ilaug and Rikki Davenport. Shahzore, who sings in the Twin Cities choral group Cantus, says Ilaug and Davenport have been studying Hindustani music for the last several years and are excellent musicians. They play this Friday, and most Fridays, from 5-9pm.
Beth Mayer is a writer in Lakeville who strongly recommends the latest linkage of writers and visual artists by the group TalkingImageConnection. "Fitting the Profile" is happening tonight at 7pm at the Tychman Shapiro Gallery in St. Louis Park. It's a juried art show featuring artists exploring diversity in the Jewish community, and local writers responding to their work.
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And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
Art Hounds: 3D Music, Redundancy Dept., Ander Monson
Posted at 8:25 AM on June 10, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Theater, Writing
Greta Grosch, Jim Robinson, Shanan Custer and Jeffrey Cloninger in "The Dept. of Redundancy Dept."
The hounds track down a sculptural music festival, a satirical sketch comedy show that tends to repeat itself and a memoirist who's somewhat anti-memoir.
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As editor of the online book review blog, "Minnesota Reads," Jodi Chromey reads...voluminously. When she encounters something fresh and innovative, it's reason to celebrate. That's why she's singing the praises of Ander Monson's new memoir or anti-memoir, "Vanishing Point." Jodi says it's short, experiments with form, incorporates the web in a unique way, and perhaps best of all, is published by Greywolf Press in Minneapolis. Ander Monson visits Magers and Quinn in Minneapolis, Tuesday, June 15th, at 7:30pm.
St. Paul actor Andrea Guilford knows great sketch comedy when she sees it, which is why she's a big fan of the Recovery Party. The Recovery Party is a troupe consisting of several former Dudley Riggs alums and its latest production, "The Department of Redundancy Department," is on stage at the Bryant Lake Bowl, Fridays and Saturdays during the month of June.
There are maybe 10,000 outdoor music festivals in Minnesota any given summer. Jessica Pack, executive director of ArtReach St. Croix, says they won't get any better than the 3D Music Festival at Franconia Sculpture Park. Jessica says over the course of eight Saturdays this summer, a broad range of Minnesota music will ring out from Franconia's new amphitheater, which is right in the middle of the park, surrounded by sculpture. The festival starts Saturday, June 12, with the old timey twang of the Roe Family Singers.
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And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
Art Hounds: Flint Hills, Sound Unseen, New Works
Posted at 8:25 AM on June 3, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Film, Music, Theater
Still from "Sounds Like Teen Spirit," screening Friday at Sound Unseen in Duluth.
It's an all-festival installment this week as the hounds look forward to an international childrens fest, a festival of films about music and an experimental theater festival.
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Sharon DeMark has gotten in the habit of going to the annual Flint Hills International Children's Festival at the Ordway in St. Paul, and her family is usually in tow. Sharon, the arts program officer for the St. Paul Foundation, says the five dollar ticket price for some incredible international children's acts is amazing, as is the number of free performances happening in Rice Park. The festival runs June 1-6.
Jean Sramek predicts the hipster-friendly yet encompassing Sound Unseen International Film and Music Festival will be a hit when it makes its inaugural appearance in Duluth June 2-6. Jean is a Duluth theater artist and music buff who describes Sound Unseen as a festival of films about music from around the world, coupled with live music, of course. Sound Unseen has migrated north after being a mainstay in Minneapolis for the last decade.
Minneapolis dance and theater videographer Ben McGinley says an unpredictable, rich experience awaits you at the Red Eye Theater in Minneapolis as its New Works 4 Weeks Festival unfolds during the month of June. Ben is particularly interested in the "Works in Progress" series, June 3 - 6, in which five artists will each have 15 minutes to give audiences a glimpse at new work they're developing.
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And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
Art Hounds: Pa's Hat, Jerome Fellows, Soundset
Posted at 8:25 AM on May 27, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Music, Printmaking, Theater
Slug of Atmosphere performing at Soundset '09. Photo Credit: Jules Ameel
The hounds preview a Liberian odyssey on stage, emerging printmakers at Highpoint, and Minnesota's hip hop Lollapalooza.
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Local actor Sid Solomon calls "Pa's Hat: Liberian Legacy," a compelling drama portrayed by one of the most talented casts on a Twin Cities stage this year. Written by Cori Thomas, the play is about Thomas' grandfather, who returns to his home in Liberia after losing everything during the coup of 1980. "Pa's Hat" is at Pillsbury House Theatre in Minneapolis through June 27th.
Bethany Whitehead tells us the Jerome Foundation's emerging printmakers program has produced another fine batch of artists, whose work will be on view at Highpoint Center for Printmaking in Minneapolis through June 26th. Bethany, who heads the Walker Art Center's membership department and is a member of the Women's Art Registry of Minnesota, is particularly interested in Jerome Fellow Miles Mendenhall's prints. Miles will be featured on Bravo's new show "Work of Art," which starts airing next week.
Looking for a "Coachella" style, hip hop infused concert in your own backyard? Ali Elabbady, CEO and producer for Background Noise Crew, emphatically recommends Soundset, which starts at noon on Sunday, May 30th at Canterbury Downs in Shakopee. Soundset is presented by Rhymesayers Entertainment and Rose, and features such big name local rappers as Atmosphere, Brother Ali, and P.O.S., alongside nationally known acts like Method Man and Redman. There will also be a car show, a DJ tent, and a B-Boy/B-Girl showcase.
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Art Hounds: Art/Science, Sonnets, Stardust Cowboy
Posted at 8:25 AM on May 20, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Music, Painting, Photography, Sculpture, Theater
Image from "The Life Story of Petroleum" by Susan Armington.
The hounds hunt down artists provoked by the mysteries of science, theater performers who transform Shakespeare's sonnets, and the rowdy, eccentric cowboy who inspired David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust.
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How do art and science relate to each other? Charlene Ellingson has spent many years as a science teacher in Minneapolis public schools pondering that question, and she's hoping a new exhibition at the Phipps Center For the Arts in Hudson will supply some answers. It's called "Shedding Light: Art Explores Science," and features paintings, drawings and mixed media installations that illuminate things normally left to scientists. Through June 6.
For many, Shakespeare's sonnets represent literary perfection, but they certainly weren't meant for the stage. Until now. Actor, director and playwright David Mann fills us in on the Classical Actors Ensemble's "Complete Sonnets Festival," at Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis May 21-23.
Sometimes-painter and musician Amanda Gullixson of Eagle Lake complains about the dearth of interesting music in nearby Mankato. But Amanda will have her hands full with a double bill at the Red Sky Lounge that features the Legendary Stardust Cowboy alongside the Fleshtones. The Legendary Stardust Cowboy led David Bowie to invent his Ziggy Stardust character. The show is a free 'listener appreciation party' for supporters of local community radio station KMSU.
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And you can get an early sneak peek at the Art Hounds' picks every week by texting the word ART to 677-677.
Art Hounds: N&E, M.C.M.E., R.J.Q.
Posted at 8:25 AM on May 13, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Music
It's a music-minded installment this week with a Minneapolis dance party/live jam session, a Chinese/American classical music exchange and a quartet of local jazz stalwarts all on the hounds' arts calendar.
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Drew Christopherson can't seem to stay away from the weekly guest dj set and live jam session at Nick & Eddie in Minneapolis every Wednesday night. It features local musicians spinning music and then a completely improvised jam session mixing electronic music and live instrumentation. Drew, a local drummer and operator of the Minneapolis record label Totally Gross National Product, calls it one the coolest weekly music events he's ever been to.
Minnetonka Civic Orchestra Music Director Scott Winters will be at St. Paul's Highland High School auditorium this Sunday, May 16 at 7pm to watch an act of musical diplomacy unfold. "The Age of Crossover" features the long standing Minnesota Chinese Music Ensemble trading repertoire and players with a pick-up group of local orchestral musicians.
If you value music made in the moment by some of the Twin Cities best jazz practitioners, printmaker and musician Joshua Norton says be sure to be at the Turf Club's Clown lounge this Monday night, May 17th. The Regional Jazz Quartet will be making a relatively rare appearance. The group includes revered Coon Rapids bassist Anthony Cox, saxophonist Mike Lewis, JT Bates on drums and guitarist Luke Polipnick.
Art Hounds: TU Dance, Pottery, Mayda
Posted at 8:25 AM on May 6, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Dance, Events, Music
The hounds want you to check out a sensual exploration of the elements through dance, incredible pottery sprinkled throughout the St. Croix Valley, and a singer-songwriter who's slight in stature but not in voice.
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TU Dance blends a wide array of styles in its first full-length work, "SENSE(ABILITY)," and Julie McGarvey promises it will be evening of innovative, energized, beautiful movement on stage. Julie, marketing director for Penumbra Theater and a freelance director, says "Sense(ability)" springs from a series of sketches TU Dance has created over the last three years that examine the relationship between the senses and the elements. It's at the Southern Theater beginning today through May 16th.
Mike Tonder will be wandering through the St. Croix Valley this weekend (May 7-9), reveling in some of the nation's best pottery. Mike, who's a glass artist from Two Harbors, never misses the annual St. Croix Valley Pottery Tour, which this year features 37 guest potters from across the country.
Jessica Gleason sings and plays keyboard in the Minneapolis indie funk group Dance Band. She's also a local costume designer. Jessica is in awe of the power-packed song stylings of St. Paul's Mayda Miller, who was voted best R&B artist in this year's City Pages poll. Mayda will overtake the 7th St. Entry stage tonight.
Art Hounds: James Luna, May Day, Hmonglish
Posted at 8:25 AM on April 29, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Getting ready for this year's May Day Parade. Photo credit: Alan Wilfahrt
A performance artist who contemplates the intersection of Native American and mainstream culture, a parade of puppets celebrating the sun's return and songs about the struggle of being young and Hmong in America are all on the hounds' 'must see' list this week.
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For months, Judy Fairbanks has been looking forward to James Luna's visit to White Earth Tribal and Community College in Mahnomen, Minnesota, April 28-May 1. Luna is a Native performance and mixed media artist from San Diego, CA, who's known in Indian communities across the country. Judy, a White Earth tribal elder and part-time art student, says Luna will perform at a free community forum this Saturday at 3pm at the Shooting Star Casino in Mahnomen.
The annual May Day Parade, presented by In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre in Minneapolis, is Amy Salloway's spring ritual. Amy, a Twin Cities actor and storyteller, isn't alone. An estimated 50,000 people come to the event each year, to see a parade of amazingly limber, larger-than-life puppets, stilt walkers and musicians march down Bloomington Ave., and to later witness the "Tree of Life" ceremony at Powderhorn Park. The parade begins at 1pm and the ceremony starts at 3:30.
Janis Lane-Ewart, Executive Director of KFAI Fresh Air Radio in Minneapolis, says "Hmonglish Musical" at Gremlin Theatre takes you inside the life of a Hmong American teen caught between the ways of his parents and the pressures and pleasures of American adolescence. It's onstage at Gremlin Theatre in St. Paul through May 2.
Art Hounds: New Music, StevenBe, Speech
Posted at 8:25 AM on April 22, 2010
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Image courtesy StevenBe
The hounds track down forward thinking classical music in Duluth, a fashion forward knitting wizard in Minneapolis, and some polished public speakers at the state high school speech tourney.
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The annual "New Music Festival" at the University of Minnesota-Duluth is one of Duluth composer Ryan Rapsys' favorite events of the year. Ryan says it helps keep northern Minnesota connected to the latest currents in contemporary classical composition. The New Music Festival, which happens April 23 and 24th, is highlighted this year with a performance by the celebrated Luna Nova New Music Ensemble from Tennessee, April 23 at 7:30pm at UMD's Weber Hall.
Twin Cities dancer, improvisor and poet Lori Crever gets goosebumps this time of year, anticipating all the wonderful speakers who will partake in the Minnesota High School Speech Tournament. Lori says the teens who compete in such categories as humor, dramatic duo, and extemporaneous speaking, will make one confident in the country's future. The tournament will be held at Gustavus Adolphus College on April 23 and 24.
Some don't associate knitting with the glamour of fashion, but Audra Williams says with local knitwear designer StevenBe, the two are, huh, intertwined. As part of fashion week, StevenBe will show off his creations with a runway show, tonight (4/22) from 6-9pm at 3448 Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis.
Art Hounds: Art-O-Mat, Salome, Harty Boys
Posted at 8:25 AM on April 15, 2010
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Art-O-Mat at the Meridien Chambers Hotel in Minneapolis.
The hounds tell us about swapping art the size of a cigarette pack, a Richard Strauss opera about the woman who falls in love with a biblical figure's severed head and a pair of intrepid, sibling sleuths who were a big hit at the Fringe.
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Satoko Muratake is a big believer in Art-O-Mat, a North Carolina-based project which converts cigarette vending machines into dispensers of original art the size of a pack of Marlboros. Satoko, who is arts project coordinator for Juxtaposition Arts in Minneapolis, reports that Art-O-Mat founder Clark Whittington will be at the Meridien Chambers Hotel (which is home to one of these Art-O-Mats) in Minneapolis on Saturday, April 17th from 1-4:30pm, to facilitate an Art-O-Mat 'Swap Meet.' Local artists are invited to view, trade and discuss their work.
Scandalous? Of course. Erotic? Check. Gruesome? Yep. "Salome" is an opera of biblical proportions with all the ingredients to keep Twin Cities improv artist Jill Bernard glued to her seat. Jill is excited to see how the Minnesota Opera interprets Strauss' classic work, which is on stage at the Ordway April 15th, 18th, 20th and 24th.
Jen Scott is an actress and improvisor in Minneapolis/St. Paul who teaches improv theater at Brave New Workshop and Childrens' Theater Company. Jen couldn't be happier that the number one hit from last year's Minnesota Fringe Festival, "The Harty Boys in the Case of the Limping Platypus," is returning to the stage at Bryant Lake Bowl in Minneapolis this weekend and next. She says it's family friendly with a stupendous cast including Ari Hauptman, Leslie Ball and Andy Kraft.
Art Hounds: Suite Havana, Mary Mack, Suburb
Posted at 8:25 AM on April 8, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Film, Storytelling, Theater
Photo courtesy of Filckr/Jana Mills
This week the hounds are pitching a non-narrated documentary about Cuba, a storyteller who embraces her inner Wisconsinite, and a musical steeped in suburban culture.
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What would you call a musical about life in the suburbs? How about "Suburb?" It's being performed by The Chameleon Theatre Circle at the Burnsville Performing Arts Center April 9 - May 2. Twin Cities theater artist Laura Bidgood predicts the production will make audiences not only laugh about suburban life but better appreciate its nuances.
A cold war and a trade embrago have gotten in the way of Americans learning more about Cuba. Nick Zdon, a graphic designer in Minneapolis, thinks one way to remedy that is to go see "Suite Havana." It's the culminating film of the Cuban Film Festival at St. Anthony Main Theater in Minneapolis. "Suite Havana" was made in 2003 by acclaimed Cuban filmmaker Fernando Perez, and relies exclusively on footage and music to tell the story of a day in the life of Havana. You can see it tonight at 7:30pm.
Molly Priesmeyer is an arts writer, storyteller and performer in Minneapolis. Molly is a big proponent of the storytelling stylings of Mary Mack. She says Mack crafts uproarious stories and sing-alongs that reveal the subtle eccentricities of upper midwestern culture. Mack is performing at the Acme Comedy Club in Minneapolis through April 10th.
Art Hounds: What's going on now
Posted at 8:25 AM on April 1, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Har Mar Superstar
On the hounds' agenda this week: A dramatic exploration of the 1979 Iranian revolution, a literary brawl in Minneapolis and a chunky, sex-obsessed R&B singer who drew his name from a quintessential Roseville shopping experience.
Electronic musician Caly McMorrow is also operations and program manager for Springboard for the Arts in St. Paul. Caly recommends the latest play from Table Salt Productions entitled, "Spring of Freedom, Summer of Fear." Written by Twin Cities playwright Ali G. Ravi, the play examines how quickly the hopes and dreams of the 1979 Iranian revolution gave way to fear, betrayal and chaos. "Spring of Freedom, Summer of Fear" is on stage at the Lowry Lab Theatre in downtown St. Paul through April 3.
A literary fight to-the-death is going down at Club Jaeger in Minneapolis on Tuesday, April 6, and Allegra Lingo will be there, satisfying her bloodlust. Allega is a writer, performer, musician and co-founder of the Minneapolis-based Rockstar Storytellers. "Literary Death Match" is a nationwide competition sponsored by Opium Magazine which features four local writers who perform their work in front of a panel of three celebrity judges.
Andrew Wilkowske is an opera singer who regularly performs with the Minnesota Opera, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Minnesota Orchestra. Andy may be a passionate purveyor of Puccini, Verdi and Bizet, but he's obsessed with the driving disco groove of R&B legend, at least in his own mind, Har Mar Superstar. Har Mar, aka Sean Tillman, is a Minnesota native and former Minneapolis indie rocker who will perform Saturday, April 3, at the Weisman Art Museum at 9:21pm, as part of the Weisman's WAMplified series.
Art Hounds: Thirst Theater, Michael Kareken, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Posted at 8:25 AM on March 25, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Gus Lynch in Thirst Theater's "Tales from Beyond," by Joseph Scrimshaw. (Credit: Scott Pakudaitis)
The hounds lead us to a company that re-defines 'dinner theater,' a drawer/painter who delves into junkyard detritus, and some psychedelic blues-rock your parents may or may not approve of.
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Mary Farrell is a wardrobe girl--ok, wardrobe technician--who's usually too busy to take in any theater other than what she's dressing up. But she has a dinner engagement Monday night, March 29 at Joe's Garage in Minneapolis to see Thirst Theater in action. Thirst Theater has been performing original playlets amongst the patrons at Joe's Garage for the last five years.
Jodie Ahern, senior editor at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, raves about the work of nationally known, multi-dimensional artist Michael Kareken. Kareken, who's made recyclable trash a main subject in his drawings and paintings, has a show, "Paper, Glass, Metal," at Groveland Gallery through April 10.
Music blogger and Perfect Porridge founder Greg Swan has watched Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's music change from Zeppelin-esque psychedelic blues rock into folksy Americana, and then back again to bluesy garage rock. BRMC's latest CD, "Beat the Devil's Tattoo," is an amalgamation of all those influences and more. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club takes the stage at First Avenue on Satuday, March 27th.
Art Hounds: Women and Water, Cheap Theatre, Johannes Quartet
Posted at 8:25 AM on March 18, 2010
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Johannes String Quartet
Water-inspired women artists, stories about hunger and dazzling chamber music in Duluth are on the hounds' agenda this week.
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Loretta Bebeau was intrigued to find two exhibits in Minneapolis featuring women artists meditating on the importance of water. "Women and Water Rights: Rivers of Regeneration" is at the University of Minnesota's Nash Gallery through March 25, and "WARM Currents," at the Northrup King Building through March 27, is sponsored the Women's Art Registry of Minnesota. Loretta, who's a Twin Cities artist herself and an art instructor, came away amazed at how many women artists have taken up water as a subject.
Carstens Smith is an arts grant writer in the Twin Cities. Carstens says the art of storytelling is boiled down to its essence by Cheap Theatre. The company stages storytelling performances at the Black Forest Inn in Minneapolis, based on a theme. For the event on Saturday, March 20, the theme is hunger.
Ann Klefstad is ecstatic that the esteemed Johannes Quartet will perform at Pilgrim Congregational Church in Duluth on Tuesday, March 23, at 7:30pm. Ann, who is a Duluth arts writer, is particularly excited about the evening's adventurous programming, which includes pieces by 20th-century composers Leos Janacek and Gyorgy Kurtag. The concert is part of the Matinee Musicale series in Duluth.
Art Hounds: Fox Tax, Garbage Dreams, Banality of Love
Posted at 8:25 AM on March 11, 2010
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"Societure" by Jesse Draxler and Hillary Berg. Part of ART FORM 1040: RE_ARTED
The hounds talk up an exhibition of new work born from assigned artistic partnerships, a film about an Egyptian village that subsists on recycled trash, and a 'true story' play about two lovers on either side of Hitler's 'Final Solution.'
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Christopher James is communications and events director of the University of Minnesota's Weisman Art Museum. Christopher was really taken with "ART FORM 1040: RE_ARTED," the latest exhibition at Fox Tax Gallery in Northeast Minneapolis. The curator asked local artists to pair up and collaborate on new work that displays the styles of either artist. It's on the walls of The Gallery at Fox Tax, a financial services business that caters to the creative community, through April 15th.
Dawn Mikkelson is a Twin Cities-based documentarian. Dawn thinks "Garbage Dreams," the opening film of this year's Arab Film Festival at the Heights Theater in Columbia Heights, is a 'must see.' It's a feature-esque documentary about an Egyptian village that recycles more than 80 percent of its garbage to survive. "Garbage Dreams" will be screened on Thursday, March 11 at 7pm. The Arab Film Festival, sponsored by the Minneapolis Arab American arts organization Mizna, runs through March 14.
Jason Peterson is Artistic Director of Yellow Tree Theatre in Osseo. Jason endorses Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company's latest production, "A Report on the Banality of Love." It's the true story of an unlikely, fiery romance between a Jewish student and a philosophy professor who joins the Nazi party. You can see it at the Hillcrest Center Theater in St. Paul through March 28.
Art Hounds: Theater, teen film fests and some local rock
Posted at 8:25 AM on March 4, 2010
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Mary Fox in "Anna and August," courtesy of Yellow Tree Theatre
This week's hounds will lead you to a cultural gem in Osseo, a pair of top flight teen film fests, and a local rock band that's been touched by the Irish.
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Jessie Rae Rayle calls the Yellow Tree Theatre one of the best-kept secrets in the local theater scene. It's located in a former furniture warehouse in an old strip mall. Jessie, a Twin Cities actress, went to see two one-act plays at the Yellow Tree, "Lena Long Legs" and "August and Anna," and loved them. Both are on stage through March 14th.
Rie Gilsdorf chairs The Blake School's arts department. For an interesting, even eye-opening glimpse into the lives of today's teenagers, Rie recommends two local film fests. The Walker Art Center's annual "Girls in the Director's Chair Film Showcase" takes place Saturday, March 6th. "Being 15" features short documentaries, made by teens, on what the teen years were like for previous generations. "Being 15" happens on the evening of Tuesday, March 9 at the Minnesota History Center.
If you're interested in a little pre-St. Paddy's day Celtic flavor, Kathleen Berquist says to consider the Twin Cities-based rock/Celtic outfit, Wild Colonial Bhoys. Kathleen, a musician from Wyoming, MN, says the 'Bhoys' make you want to throw down in an Irish kind of way. Wild Colonial Bhoys will spread its Celtic cheer at the Dubliner Pub in St. Paul on Sunday, March 7th.
Art Hounds: Akram Khan, Rachel Breen, Radical Powers/Children of Euler
Posted at 8:25 AM on February 25, 2010
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Image courtesy Rachel Breen
The hounds hunt down global dance from a London-born Bangladeshi choreographer, art made from charcoal dust and punctured paper and a math rock extravaganza.
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Howard Oransky is a painter and instructor at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Howard was transfixed by Rachel Breen's exhibition at the Conduit Gallery in Northeast Minneapolis entitled "Seven Meals." Breen creates delicate, haunting paper cut works using a sewing machine. Breen also uses some of the pieces as stencils and applies charcoal powder to make what she calls "reverse image drawings." "Seven Meals" adorns the walls of the Conduit Gallery through March 18th.
Nahid Khan serves on the board of Mizna, a Twin Cities-based Arab-American literary and arts organization. Nahid took notice when she learned choreographer Akram Khan's internationally-renowned dance company will perform Wednesday, March 3 at Northrup Auditorium. Though not related, Nahid and Akram share the same last name and grew up in London. And Khan's dance group has a reputation for employing performers from around the globe with varying degrees of dance experience, which Nahid finds intriguing.
Cole Sarar is a Minneapolis poet who manages the spoken word blog and calendar minnesotamicrophone.com. Cole says for a new musical perspective on math, check out the Radical Powers/Children of Euler show at Bedlam Theatre in Minneapolis, Tuesday, March 2. Radical Powers is a power pop five-piece and Children of Euler plays progressive heavy metal, but both devote all their songs to the beauty and mystery of math.
Art Hounds: Master Works, Childish Films, Field of Medicine Band
Posted at 6:45 AM on February 18, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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This week, the hounds lead you to theatrical presentations of a Dutch master's masterpieces, a funky childrens' film series, and a band in touch with its urban and rural roots.
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Laura Borgendale is a musician and songwriter from Montevideo. Laura loves the folky, funky stylings of the Field of Medicine Band, which features musicians from Montevideo and Minneapolis. The group performs Saturday night at the restored art deco Hollywood Theater in Montevideo. It's part of a benefit for the non-profit, Clean Up the River Environment.
Britt Aamodt is an arts journalist who lives in Elk River. Britt can't wait to see Commedia Beauregard's production of "Master Works: The Rembrandt Plays." It features 6 playlets from different local playwrights who translated Rembrant paintings for the stage. Commedia Beauregard is already held in high regard by Twin Cities' "trekkies" for its holiday show, "A Klingon Christmas." "Master Works" is on stage Feb. 19th and 26th at the Bryant Lake Bowl.
Malia Cole is communications manager for Childrens Theatre Company. As a parent who wants to help her daughter escape the wasteland that is Saturday morning T.V., Malia was overjoyed to discover "Childish Films." It's a series of high quality educational and fictional childrens' films screened every third Saturday of the month at 10:30am at the Minneapolis Central Library. The installment for this Saturday, Feb. 20th is "Playmation." It's a program of experimental animation curated by Walker Art Center staff.
Art Hounds: Chris Mars, Joanna Rawson, Hedda Gabler
Posted at 8:25 AM on February 11, 2010
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Copyright Chris Mars 2009; www.chrismarspublishing.com
This week's Art Hounds celebrate ghoulish portraits with religious overtones, a Northfield poet with an acute geo-political awareness and a new Ibsen interpretation from an up-and-coming director.
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Gregory Scott writes about art for Vita.mn and the Downtown Journal in Minneapolis. Gregory was mesmerized by the misshapenly ugly yet luminously beautiful paintings of Chris Mars at the Phipps Center for the Arts in Hudson, Wisconsin. Mars' work springs from his feelings for his brother, who, as a teenager was diagnosed with schizophrenia. "The Relinquishing" is Mars' first regional exhibition in five years and is up through Feb. 21.
Juliet Patterson is a Minneapolis poet and writer. Juliet wants to shed light on the award-winning yet under-noticed verse of poet Joanna Rawson of Northfield. Rawson's second collection of poems, Unrest, is up for a Minnesota Book Award this year. Juliet says the collection is challenging and stimulating, in this case linking the narrator's garden to a series of sociopolitical subjects, "giving us a side of humanity pushed to the limits." (You can read a poem by Rawson here, featured earlier this week by Marianne Combs).
Aditi Kapil is an actor, director and playwright in Minneapolis. Aditi says get yourself down to the Southern Theater this weekend and see Henrik Ibsen's masterpiece Hedda Gabler. The one-weekend-only production is being staged by the promising young director Genevieve Bennett, and stars critically-praised actor Annie Henneking as Hedda.
Art Hounds: Opera Auditions, Marguerite Duras, Keys Please
Posted at 8:33 AM on February 4, 2010
by Chris Roberts
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Still from Nathalie Granger, directed by Marguerite Duras, 1972
This week's hounds flush out an opera audition with 'Big Apple' written all over it, a French filmmaker who gets her due at the Walker and the annual get-together of some top-notch Twin Cities keyboard improvisers.
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Alison Young is a host and producer for Classical Minnesota Public Radio. Alison says you can glimpse the next generation of opera singers at the Metropolitan Opera's National Council auditions at St. Paul's Ordway Center on Saturday, February 6. The Upper Midwest Region Finals begin at noon and are free and open to the public. Singers between the ages of 20 and 30 compete for prizes of up to $4000 and advancement to the semi-finals in New York.
Sofia Nordenstam is an editor and contributor for the local music blog "Borangutan." She's also a fan of French writer and filmmaker Marguerite Duras, a figure in French New Wave Cinema who's gettting a closer look as part of the Walker Art Center's "Of Language and Longing: The Films of Marguerite Duras." Most of the films in the showcase, which runs from February 4th through the 7th, were directed by Duras herself.
Heather Barringer is a percussionist with the internationally-known and St. Paul-based new music group, Zeitgeist. One of Heather's favorite events of the year is the annual "Keys Please" concert, where notable local improvisers Carei Thomas, Todd Harper and Paul Cantrell make mischievous and mesmerizing music on their keyboards. "Keys Please #9" happens Saturday, February 6th at Macalester College's Jane Wallace Concert Hall at 8pm. This year, the three musicians will be joined by guitarist Bob Ockenden.
Art Hounds: Elements in Translation, Frozen River Film Festival, Glitter Ball
Posted at 8:33 AM on January 28, 2010
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Photo courtesy Arturo Miles
This week the hounds hunt down a hip-hoppy dance showcase, food-oriented cinema in Winona, and a glammy multi-band charity concert.
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Nancy Rosenbaum is associate producer for American Public Media's "Speaking of Faith," and a dance student and enthusiast. Nancy was floored by a recent hip hop dance show at Patrick's Cabaret in Minneapolis, which is why she's looking forward to "Elements in Translation" at Patrick's this Friday and Saturday at 8pm.
Peter Flick sits on the Winona Fine Arts Commission. Peter is proud of Winona's annual "Frozen River Film Festival," running Jan. 27th -31rst on the campus of Winona State University. This year's theme is food and the environment. The festival includes documentaries about pioneering environmentalist Rachel Carson, composting, and prairie chickens, among many others.
Mike Minehart is a freelance photographer who writes for the local music blog, Borangutan. Minehart guarantees that the Twin Cities band-infested Glitter Ball, will glam rock your socks off. Glitter Ball is sponsored by Rock the Cause, a local non-profit that organizes rock shows to benefit local charities. Glitter Ball 3, which happens Friday at the Music Box Theater in Minneapolis, is raising money for Big Brothers, Big Sisters. This year's musical guests include Minneapolis rockers' White Light Riot and the Melismatics, as well as the Blood Sugars, from NYC.
Art Hounds: Dancing at Lughnasa, Samplicity, Zeitgeist
Posted at 8:33 AM on January 21, 2010
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This week's hounds track down five Irish sisters on one stage, an arts oasis outside Lester Prairie, and new music from a renowned new music ensemble.
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Jon Skaalen works for VSA Arts of Minnesota, which makes the arts more accessible for people with disabilities. Jon gives his stamp of approval to Torch Theater's production of Dancing at Lughnasa, a play by famed Irish playwright Brian Friel. It's about five sisters trying to make a living on a little Irish farm. You can see it at the Theater Garage in Minneapolis through January 30th.
Margaret Long is a former design student and avid art collector who raises alpacas in Lester Prairie. Margaret discovered an out of the way arts haven in Glencoe called Samplicity Art Hovel. It's the store and studio of Samantha Bohnert, a multi-faceted artist who paints, sculpts, and works with wood and textiles.
Justin Busch is a St. Paul-based composer and writer. Justin raves about "In Bone Colored Light," the new CD from the internationally-known new music ensemble, "Zeitgeist," also based in St. Paul. He says the CD surprises the listener with all the unusual sounds the musicians coax from their ordinary instruments.
Art Hounds: The Room, Melody Gilbert, Sounds of Cinema
Posted at 8:08 AM on January 14, 2010
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Film still from "Urban Explorer," courtesy Melody Gilbert
This installment is geared toward the cinephile as the hounds lead us to a film that's become a cult hit, a you-pick showcase of documentarian Melody Gilbert's work and movie scores courtesy of Minn. Orch.
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Clarence Wethern is an actor in the Twin Cities. Clarence says "The Room," a black comedy about love, lies and betrayal that's become a cult classic, is deliciously bad. He says you can't go wrong taking in a midnight showing at the Uptown Theater on January15th and 16th, or on February 19 and 20th.
Randall Davidson is a Twin Cities composer and educator. Randall went looking for signs the local art scene is alive and well and found a potent example in "Movie Night." He says it's like a book club for films, only looser. It happens on a slightly irregular basis at Locus Architecture in the Northrup King building in Northeast Minneapolis. This Saturday, Jan. 16th, the group will pick one of St. Paul filmmaker Melody Gilbert's documentaries, watch it, then discuss it with Melody afterward. There's no "Movie Night" web site. People normally find out about it via e-mail only, so you'll have to show up Saturday to get on the list.
Laura Bidgood is a theater artist in the Twin Cities. Laura is a movie lover and thoroughly enjoyed the Minnesota Orchestra's Sounds of Cinema series. You can watch movie classics at Orchestra Hall while the orchestra plays the film's score, live. This Friday and Saturday, the orchestra tackles The Wizard of Oz. On Sunday, Jan.17th, the orchestra will accompany a montage of Oscar-winning films.
Art Hounds: Honey, New Eyes Festival, Amplified Life
Posted at 9:37 AM on January 7, 2010
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New Eyes Festival, photo courtesy Mu Performing Arts
The hounds kick off the new year with talk of a jazzy new eatery, some new plays being offered up for audience scrutiny and a hip hop showcase that reaches into Minnesota schools and prisons.
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Laura Zabel is executive director of Springboard for the Arts, an economic development agency for artists and arts groups. Laura can't wait to hang at Honey, a new eatery/venue in Minneapolis that will have a lot of jazz and cabaret music. Honey is located in the old Jitters location, the fondly remembered former coffeehouse and indie music space. Laura is particularly excited about seeing Twin Cities vocalist Jennifer Eckes perform at Honey on Wednesday, Jan. 13.
Bethany Whitehead runs the Walker Art Center's membership department and is involved with the Women's Art Registry of Minnesota. Two of Bethany's favorite arts groups are joining forces as part of the New Eyes Festival. Presented by Theater Mu, it's a new play reading series where audiences have input on how new works take shape. The festival features five readings in four days, from Jan. 7-10, at the 40-seat Dreamland Arts Theater in St. Paul's Midway neighborhood.
Justin Schell is a writer, filmmaker and grad student at the University of Minnesota. Justin is a strong proponent of Amplified Life, a Minneapolis group that seeks to create social change through hip hop. Amplified Life puts on four hip hop showcases a year and the next one is Sunday, January 10, from 8pm-1am at the Artists Quarter in St. Paul. The bill includes Maria Isa and her band, spoken word artist Tish Jones, and DJ Snuggles, among many others.
Art Hounds: Visual Art and Music Highlights of 2009
Posted at 8:08 AM on December 31, 2009
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This week, our Art Hounds look back at their visual art and music highlights of the year.
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Marya Hart, Minneapolis
Heiner Goebbel's "Songs of War I Have Seen," performed in Saint Paul last January by the London Sinfonietta and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment as part of SPCO's magnificent chamber orchestra festival. This piece, which uses spoken text from Gertrude Stein's "Wars I Have Seen" was marvelously performed and staged beautifully on a dark set lit with table lamps and dotted with the primary colors of the musicians' clothing. "Songs of War I Have Seen" is a moving, intellectually challenging and masterful reflection on the impact of war on civilians.
Matt Peiken, Minneapolis
Beyond the major open studio tours in Minneapolis and St. Paul, visual artists here took control of their own destinies and presented their work like never before. Many banded into collectives to throw single-evening events (Traffic Zone and the Grain Belt's VD09 in Minneapolis, the Dow Building in St. Paul). Others formed new co-op galleries (Sellout, Art of This). Even businesses got in on the act (Fox Tax and Conduit Gallery in the office of Dr. Sam). These and other examples kept the local visual arts scene vibrant from the ground up.
John Grider, Minneapolis
Save Canvas was public, free, and utilized vacant spaces that would have otherwise remained useless. Also impressive in that it was organized by people under 30.
Bill Simenson, St. Paul
Dafnis Prieto at the Walker Art Center was a stellar performance by an incredible musician who also happens to be an amazing drummer. A blend of traditional and modern Afro-Cuban music with jazz. A remarkable concert.
Dawn Mikkelson, Stillwater
Bobby McFerrin is incredible in his own right, but then directing an improvisational piece with the amazing musicians of Cantus was just too amazing. Then McFerrin directed the packed Orchestra Hall in 5+ part harmony singing Ave Maria and random other songs that we had no idea we all knew. Beautiful genius.
Lucy Yogerst, Minneapolis
Paul Metsa's contributions to the music of our times, with his network of gifted musicians, was enthusiastically appreciated by a sold-out house at his 30th anniversary concert. His unique blend of artistry, poetry, collaboration and showmanship kept the crowd jumpin' past 1:30a.m.
Drew Christopherson, Minneapolis
When Minneapolis's finest, Skoal Kodiak, played on the University foot bridge over the Mississippi in September. With the downtown skyline behind them and the blue glow of the 35W bridge above them, it really felt wonderful to be a resident here. About 75 people, all dancing, shared this wonderful experience with each other with huge smiles of joy.
Sarah Lovan, Minneapolis
13th annual arts and artist celebration at Franconia Sculpture Park had it all: Great sculpture, music, food, dancing, and people. And, a beautiful day...what could have been better?
Lin Nelson-Mayson, Golden Valley
The Goldstein Museum of Design exhibition "Good Design: Stories of Herman Miller." This all-encompassing exhibition told the inside story of the influential and innovative furniture company. It featured the people behind the classic designs and the overarching philosophy that created a people-centered business. The exhibition was a colorful, interactive history bursting with good design!
What were your arts and culture highlights of the year? Tell us in the comments!
Art Hounds: Theater and Dance Highlights of 2009
Posted at 8:08 AM on December 24, 2009
by Chris Roberts
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Image courtesy TU Dance
This week, our Art Hounds look back at their theater and dance highlights of the year.
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Kathleen Peterson, Winona
The Kushner 'immersion' at the Guthrie, with all 3 stages filled with his work, was a bold, risky move that paid off beautifully. It definitely paid off artistically because it showed Minnesota's theater-going public that the Guthrie really can put the work first and just do real theater as well as any other theater in the U.S.
Lucie Amundsen, Duluth
The Woman in Black at Teatro Zuccone. This two-person play was mesmerizing and honestly scared the pants off me. I screamed at one tense point of the play and didn't think a live production, without the benefit of movie special effects, could do that. Also, the actors had pages and pages of lines and they just hit them all.
Kristin Van Loon, Minneapolis
Demolition Boy, choreographed and performed by Karen Sherman. I saw it at a party at a fancy corporate office in downtown Minneapolis. Her dance was abrasively at home in this corporate environment. Her chunky fluidity was flattered by two ghosts that worked their way through this piece. One was Tyra Banks who appeared in the form of a magic trick - after bumping her butt against the wall for two minutes, Karen backed away and Tyra's name was magically written across her rear.
Penelope Freeh, Minneapolis
The most memorable for me were the two dance concerts by TU Dance at O'Shaughnessy Auditorium. The last work was especially moving. It was a section of what will become an evening-length work called Sensibility. The end was like an ancient tribal celebration, sweaty bodies kept the beat as snow began to fall. It was pure joy.
David Evan Thomas, Minneapolis
Minnesota Opera's production of Dominick Argento's opera Casanova's Homecoming. The production was beautifully conceived and executed, but the sheer wit and brilliance of the opera itself -- libretto and music both -- made wonderful and insightful entertainment. This revival of an opera that opened the Ordway 25 years ago celebrated both the work of Minnesota's finest composer and a venue that has added immeasurably to our cultural life.
Heather Meyer, Minneapolis
Flight by Kevin Kling with Open Eye Figure Theatre. Watching Kevin Kling tell stories is pure joy both in his spirit and in the audience's The piece was touching, funny and insightful; songs, puppets, music. Micheal Sommers' puppetry is always alive and delicate and causes pause in our thoughts.
Janis Lane-Ewart, Minneapolis
The content of Ruined at Mixed Blood Theatre was important to the current war-torn atmosphere across the world. The character portrayal was gripping and believable and the set and direction was so intense I thought I was in the Congo experiencing war and its immediate affect.
Ben Chadwick, Crystal
Corialanus at Intermedia Arts by Classical Actors Ensemble. The talent of this powerhouse acting ensemble brought the text to life and created one of the most powerful and cohesive Shakespeare plays I have seen -- and this was a staged reading! I was enthralled from start to finish.
Amanda Hunter, Minneapolis
Heart of the Beast Puppet Theatre's "A Path Home: A Story of Thich Nhat Hanh" was a beautiful and meaningful visual story. Timely in its description of the tragic costs of war, inspiring in its documentation of TNH's perseverance in living as an "engaged Buddhist" monk and activist, and full of the promise of reconciliation that comes from a life lived with joy, compassion, action and presence.
Billie Jo Konze, St. Paul
My highlight was the Fringe Festival. I saw my favorite shows of the year there: Four Humors' inventive "Sideways Stories from Wayside School," the amazingly funny "Jurassic Dork," and Walking Shadow's absurdly hilarious play about a penguin in the military. I saw 29 shows and I enjoyed nearly all of them. What better place to sample everything the Twin Cities theater scene has to offer?
What were your theater and dance highlights of the year? Tell us in the comments!
And next week come on back to the blog to share your favorite visual art, film and music happenings of 2009.
Art Hounds: Spiked, Allen Brewer, Dosh/Skoal Kodiak
Posted at 9:16 AM on December 16, 2009
by Chris Roberts
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This week's Art Hounds lead us to a holiday variety show a la Andy Williams, an illustrator who dives into his childhood memories and a double bill at the Cedar that's part noise rock, part instrumental brilliance.
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Leigha Horton is a stage and voice actress in the Twin Cities. Leigha holds the work of Table Salt Productions in high regard, as a performer and theatergoer. She'll be in the audience this weekend for Table Salt's holiday variety show, "Spiked," which is done in the style of Sonny and Cher, Carol Burnett and Andy Williams. This is the final weekend for "Spiked," on stage at the Lowry Lab Theater in St. Paul.
Andy DuCett is a mixed media installation artist and illustrator in Minneapolis. He also teaches art at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. Andy admires the intricate, precise drawings and artistic vision of Allen Brewer, who's latest show, "Remember This For Later," is up at Umber Studios in Minneapolis through mid-January.
John Henry is half of the Minneapolis party rap duo, MC/VL. John is drawn to the artistry and musical talent of two local acts who happen to share the bill at the Cedar Cultural Center on Friday, Dec. 18 -- Dosh and Skoal Kodiak. Dosh is a celebrated, loop building multi-instrumentalist who also plays with violin innovator and whistler Andrew Bird. Skoal Kodiak has both amazed and challenged with its harsh, yet imminently danceable noise rock.
Art Hounds: David Lefkowitz, Beauty and the Beast, Hot Pants
Posted at 8:08 AM on December 10, 2009
by Chris Roberts
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Photo Courtesy David Lefkowitz
This week's hounds recommend experiencing David Lefkowitz's sprawling artistic vision, watching a blockbuster musical loaded with local talent and throwing down at a soul music soiree.
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Tina Frederickson is a part time actor who teaches public speaking and performing arts at the University of Minnesota. Tina normally stays away from oversized productions that have words like 'musical' and 'Disney' attached to them. But she's drawn to the Ordway's production of "Beauty and the Beast" because it features so many local performers in meaty roles. Plus, her son is dying to go. "Beauty and the Beast" opens December 15 and closes January 3 at the Ordway.
Karl Unnasch is an artist from southeastern Minnesota. Karl has great admiration for the artistic practice of fellow regional artist David Lefkowitz. David's show, "Other Positioning Systems," in which he dissects the systems we employ to experience our world, occupies the galleries of the Rochester Art Center through January 10th.
Steven Renderos is a Twin Cities DJ who during the day serves as a media justice organizer for the Main Street Project in Minneapolis. Steven says get yourself down to Clubhouse Jager in Minneapolis this Saturday night for "Hot Pants." A number of local DJ's will be spinning rare soul and funk music that will leave you mystified as to why these tunes failed to register on the charts.
Art Hounds: Tetsuya Yamada, A Klingon Christmas Carol, Irvine Arditti
Posted at 8:20 AM on December 3, 2009
by Marianne Combs
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Tetsuya Yamada
Commuter, 2009
Multimedia installation
Image courtesy of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Run free and wild with this week's hounds as they track down an oversized optical illusion at the M.I.A., the Klingon translation of a Christmas classic, and a new music champion who's bringing his internationally renowned quartet to the University of Minnesota.
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Ruben Nusz is an artist and arts writer from Minneapolis who enthusiastically endorses a new installation by University of Minnesota ceramics professor Tetsuya Yamada at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Yamada's "Commuter," on display at the M.I.A.'s Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program gallery through January 24th, is an installation that transforms mundane repetitive movement into an oversized optical illusion.
Heidi Berg is an actor in the Twin Cities. Heidi can think of no better way to celebrate Christmas then to see Commedia Beauregard interpret Dickens the way a Klingon would in "A Klingon Christmas Carol." Don't worry if you're not fluent in Klingon. The dialogue will be translated back into English on a screen. The production is on stage at Mixed Blood Theatre through December 13th.
Jessica Narum is a graduate student in music theory at the University of Minnesota. Jessica says one of new music's best known and adventurous performers will be making a relatively rare visit to the "U" this weekend. British violinist Irvine Arditti specializes in the compositions of today, from composers around the world. Arditti will perform a guest recital on Friday, Dec. 4th at 7:30pm at Ferguson Hall. He's expected to play works from student composers. He'll perform again on Sunday, Dec. 6th at 7:30pm, at Ted Mann Concert Hall, accompanied by pianist and visiting "U" professor Noriko Kawai.
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Art Hounds: King Mini, Some Girls, The Books
Posted at 7:34 AM on November 27, 2009
by Marianne Combs
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"Sleepers Never Wakes" by Vincent Stall, aka "King Mini"
Follow the Art Hounds as they lead us to a mini-comic creator's sad, surreal landscape, a play about a soon-to-be groom who excavates his romantic past, and an east coast duo that creates listenable musical collages.
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Sarah Morean is a zinester, cartoonist, and mini comic reviewer for The Daily Cross Hatch. Sarah has long admired the work of the mini-comic artist Vincent Stall, aka "King Mini." She strongly suggests you visit King Mini's new show "Canyonland," which opens at the Pink Hobo Gallery in Northeast Minneapolis on Saturday, Nov. 28th.
Natalie Novacek is a freelance director and artistic associate at Theatre Pro Rata. Natalie's thumbs are way up in the air for Walking Shadow Theater Company's production of the Neil Labute play, "Some Girls." It's about a man who in the wake of his engagement travels back through his romantic past in a quest for self-knowledge and to make amends. "Some Girls" is on stage at Pillsbury House Theater in Minneapolis through Dec. 5.
Mike Croswell is a St. Paul composer who frequently works in the local theater scene. Mike's top music pick for December 2009 is "The Books" appearance at the Cedar on Tuesday Dec. 1. The Books are what Mike describes as a "folktronica" duo from the east coast that makes innovative collage music that's still highly listenable.
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Art Hounds: Vic Chesnutt, Dash Shaw and student art
Posted at 7:09 AM on November 19, 2009
by Marianne Combs
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This week's art hounds sniff out a new book by a local comic book artist who will soon be animating his creations, a gut-wrenchingly honest singer-songwriter who's coming to town and some great deals on art from artists at the start of their careers.
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Katherine Werner is an amateur artist and avid arts supporter who will be at the MCAD student art sale this weekend. She loves the sale because it offers a glimpse at the great art being taught and made locally and she always finds some amazing deals. She's pictured here with a piece she purchased at the sale in the '70s and has since made several cross-country moves with her.
Tom Kaczynski is a cartoonist living and working in Minneapolis. He thinks Dash Shaw's new book The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century A.D. represents why Shaw is one of the most innovative comic book artists working today. The book includes several short comics as well as designs for Shaw's upcoming animated series for IFC.com.
Wendy Lewis is a musician and vocalist with The Bad Plus. Vic Chesnutt is one her favorite singer-songwriters who will be appearing at the Cedar Cultural Center tonight. Wendy loves the recordings of his gut-wrenchingly honest songs, but she says he surpasses them when he plays live. He'll be playing with the musicians who joined him on his most recent album, members from the bands Fugazi, Thee Silver Mt. Zion, godspeed you! black emperor and Witchies.
Composer David Evan Thomas recommends checking out the Minnesota Orchestra's performance of "future classics," works by seven emerging composers.
Barbara Sibley suggests taking in the Brass Messengers with NOMO at the Cedar Cultural Center on Friday night.
Janis Lane-Ewart is looking forward to hearing the Afro-Cuban rhythms of Dafnis Prieto Sextet Saturday at the Walker Art Center.
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Art Hounds: Rod Massey, Arena Dances, The Blind Shake
Posted at 7:23 AM on November 12, 2009
by Marianne Combs
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Corner House, 2008 by Rod Massey
The 'hounds' track down a painter who's always a brush stroke away from the streets of South Minneapolis, a choreographer who's making a rare return to the stage as a dancer and a St. Paul punk band that values precision as much as volume.
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Stuart Klipper is a Minneapolis photographer and two time Guggenheim Fellow who's deeply moved by the paintings of fellow Minneapolitan Rod Massey. Stuart says Massey's pulsing, animated oil on panel depictions of the homes, buildings, and streetscapes of South Minneapolis show us how we live. Massey has an exhibition of new work on display at the Groveland Gallery in Minneapolis through Nov. 28.
Kim Motes is Managing Director of Theatre Latte Da. Kim also used to head up the Minnesota Shubert Center for Dance. Kim says this weekend audiences will have a rare opportunity to see choreographer Mathew Janczewski return to the stage as as perfomer. Janczewski's company, "Arena Dances," is holding its November concert, "Short Fall," at the Lab Theater in Minneapolis nov. 12th through the 15th.
Sean McPherson plays bass for the St. Paul hip hop group Heiruspecs. Sean also works for the Hip Hop Diploma program at McNally Smith College of Music. Sean was recently mezmorized by the unrelenting punk rock of The Blind Shake. Your next chance to see The Blind Shake unleash its raw yet ridiculously precise musical torrent is Wednesday, Nov. 18th at the Turf Club in St. Paul.
MIZNA, a forum for Arab American art, runs a literary journal, hosts a film festival, and brings touring musicians to the Twin Cities. Art hound Katie Ka Vang says she plans to go this Sunday to MIZNA's Ten Year Anniversary Celebration at The Depot in Minneapolis.
If you're in the Winona area this weekend, art hound Deanne Mohr recommends checking out theMinnesota Marine Art Museum. There are two exhibitions in particular that Mohr recommends; "Chased by the Light," a selection of Jim Brandenburg's photographs (which is up through Sunday) and Grand Marais artist Betsy Bowen's woodcuts, on display through January 16.
Art Hounds: La Crosse Chamber Chorale, Ruined, Bruce Tapola
Posted at 12:33 PM on November 5, 2009
by Marianne Combs
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An installation by artist Bruce Tapola
This week the 'hounds' lead us to La Crosse for some homegrown choral music, a play that exposes the horror and humanity in the Congolese civil war, and a serious artist with an absurdist take on life.
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Paul Dickinson teaches writing at St. Cloud State University and National American University. He's also a former art gallery owner and hosts the Riot Act Reading Series at St. Paul's Turf Club. Dickinson is drawn to the absurdist paintings, sculpture and mixed media work of St. Paul artist Bruce Tapola. Tapola's has a show at Art of This Gallery in Minneapolis which opens Saturday, November 7th.
Harry Waters Jr. is a professor of theater and dance at Macalester College and is also a Twin Cities actor, director and dramaturg. Harry was absolutely riveted by Mixed Blood Theatre's production of "Ruined." It's set largely in a brothel during the Congolese civil war, and takes an unflinching look at the horrific violence and brutality of that conflict, especially against women. Harry says somehow the play also managed to be entertaining and uplifting at the same time. "Ruined" is on stage through Nov. 22 at Mixed Blood.
Eric Heukeshoven is a music instructor at St. Mary's University in Winona, a musician, and an ardent fan of the La Crosse Chamber Chorale in La Crosse, Wisconsin. The nearly all volunteer Chorale is performing Saturday, Nov. 7th at 7:30pm at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in La Crosse and Sunday, Nov. 8th at 3pm at English Lutheran Church, also in La Crosse. Eric says the chorale stands out, even in a region bursting at the seams with choral music.
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Art Hounds: The Mayhem Poets, The Minnesota Eye, and Jazz Implosion
Posted at 8:29 AM on October 29, 2009
by Marianne Combs
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The Mayhem Poets
This week the 'hounds' are hunting down a showcase of the state's best photographers, some east coast slam poets who are capitivating local teen audiences, and a premier jazz event held in the basement of an iconic rock club.
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Sarah Smith is a sophomore at the Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists, a performing arts high school in the Landmark Center. Sarah fell under the spell of the Mayhem Poets when she saw them at the Childrens Theatre Company. The Mayhem Poets are a slam poetry and theater troupe from New York known for its high energy, in-your-face spoken word and audience interaction. It's on stage at the CTC through November 7.
Jay Burke is a Twin Cities realtor and amateur photographer who takes in a lot of shows. Jay strongly recommends "The Minnesota Eye: Contemporary Photography" at the College of Visual Arts in St. Paul. It features 17 of Minnesota's best known photographers, who are on the cutting edge of their art form. "The Minnesota Eye" opens with a reception on Saturday, Oct. 31rst, and runs through Nov. 14 at the CVA Gallery. Check back later today when I'll have a more in-depth look at "The Minnesota Eye."
Cameron Wittig is the Walker Art Center's staff photographer. He's also a big music fan, and often makes his way to the Clown Lounge in the basement of St. Paul's Turf Club on Monday nights to listen to jazz. Cameron says the weekly "Jazz Implosion" at the Turf transports him like few other shows in town. It's curated by members of Fat Kid Wednesdays and regularly features some of the most forward thinking players in local jazz. The music starts pretty late so make sure you get your naps in.
Looking for more to do? Carin Bratlie recommends checking out Ben Folds with the Minnesota Orchestra. Maggie Passmore wouldn't pass up the chance to see the Renegade Ensemble at Inver Hills Community College.
For all of you Halloweeners out there, Kathryn Grimes recommends getting an organic scare at the ArBOOretum, while Billie Jo Konze suggests getting a whiff of the disturbing smells at The Soap Factory's Haunted Basement. Both Betsy Mowry and Heather Meyer think it's worth braving the chilly weather to check out BareBones Halloween Outdoor Puppet Extravaganza. The name of this year's show? "Devoured." Mwahahaha!
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Art Hounds: Capri Theater, Shinders: An Exhibition, and Zeitgeist
Posted at 6:49 AM on October 22, 2009
by Marianne Combs
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The Capri Theater was built in 1927 and formerly known as "Paradise."
Image courtesy of the Capri Theater
This week's Art Hounds have art spaces on their minds, as they lead us to a restored theater in North Minneapolis, an abandoned downtown magazine store filled with art and a new performance space in Lowertown, St. Paul.
Linda Sue Anderson is an actor from North Minneapolis who wants more people to know about the newly restored Capri Theater on Broadway Avenue. She recommends Capri Theater's "Legends" music series, which starts this weekend with "Hot Jazz! Harlem Night!." The production features singers Dennis Spears and Charmin Michelle and starts at 7:30pm Saturday, Oct. 24 and 3pm Sunday, Oct.25 at the 250-seat Capri.
Patricia Briggs is an associate professor at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design and an art critic. Patricia is impressed with how the former downtown Minneapolis "Shinders" space has become the setting for an impromptu art show. "Shinders: An Exhibition," showcases the predominantly conceptual work of more than 30 local artists. and will occupy the walls and floor of the now empty space through Oct. 31. It was organized by Minneapolis artist, writer and art impressario, Matthew Bakkom.
Scott Miller is a Twin Cities-based composer and professor of composition at St. Cloud State University. Scott has long admired the work and musical advocacy of Minnesota's premier new music ensemble, Zeitgeist. He's also hailing the grand opening of Zeitgeist's new interactive studio and performance space in Lowertown, St. Paul. The space opens to the public this weekend, 10/22/ - 10/24 with a performance curated by composer Philip Blackburn on Thursday, the 22nd, at 8pm.
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Art Hounds: Othello, The Bat, and Times New Viking
Posted at 7:12 AM on October 15, 2009
by Marianne Combs
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James A. Williams as Othello and Stacia Rice as Desdemona in Shakespeare's classic tragedy, on stage at Park Square Theatre. Photo by Amy Anderson.
Faye Price is co-artistic producing director at Pillsbury House Theater. Faye says local theatergoers will receive the gift of two "Othellos" less than two weeks apart from each other. Ten Thousand Things' production, starring Ansa Akyea as Othello, runs at Open Book in Minneapolis Oct. 23-25, Oct. 30 - Nov. 1, and Nov. 6-8. It will also be staged at the Minnesota Opera Center, Nov. 13-15. Park Square's "Othello," featuring James A. Williams in the starring role, is on stage Oct. 16 - Nov. 8.
Jessica Pack is executive director of ArtReach in Stillwater. Jessica hankers to get in a halloween mood by watching the silent mystery film, "The Bat," at the Phipps Center for the Arts in Hudson, Wisconsin. There will be accompaniment by master Worlitzer organist Dennis James. Film experts say the evil bat character in the movie, inspired 'Batman' the comic series. The screening and performance gets underway Saturday, Oct. 17 at 7:30pm.
Annie Sparrows is a musician who plays and sings in the bands Awesome Snakes, and the God Damn Doo Wop Band. Annie is enchanted by the home recorded songs of the Columbus, Ohio indie rock group, "Times New Viking." The lo-fi outfit will visit the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis on Sunday, October 18. Doors open at 8pm, and they perform with Whitesand/Badland.
Meanwhile other art hounds have their tips to pass along. Nick Zdon recommends the Leaders of Design exhibition at the College of Visual Arts, which closes Saturday.
Jann Cather Weaver is going to take in The Bakken Trio's performance of "L'Histoire du Soldat" with dramatic reading by Stephen Epp at MacPhail Center for Music.
Betsy Mowry dares you to check out the "Intimate Apparel" exhibit at the Textile Center.
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About Art Hounds®
Posted at 2:47 PM on January 1, 2009
by Steve Mullis
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Each week, Minnesota Public Radio News asks people from the Minnesota arts scene to be "Art Hounds®." Their job is to step outside their own work, hunt down something exciting that's going on in local arts, and share it with the rest of us.
Interested in becoming an Art Hound®? Sign up!
Art Hounds: Julie Mehretu, Winona and Mississippi Volga III
Posted at 7:01 AM on October 8, 2009
by Marianne Combs
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Entropia (review), 2004 by Julie Mehretu
Published by Highpoint Editions
Jodie Ahern is senior editor at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Jodie was thrilled to see Highpoint Center for Printmaking's debut show in its new building called "Excavations: The Prints of Julie Mehretu." Mehretu is an internationally known painter and printmaker who's work received early notice from the Walker Art Center. "Excavations" is on view at Highpoint through November 21.
Greg Neidhart is a music professor and directs the arts administration program at Winona State University. Greg expects sparks to fly at the "Celebration of Words, Music and Image," a collaboration between area poets, folk and classical musicians and composers. They'll perform Sunday at 7:30pm, at an up and coming attraction in Winona, the Minnesota Marine Art Museum.
James Craven is a veteran actor at Penumbra Theater. James is very impressed with Open Eye Figure Theatre as a company and venue in South Minneapolis. His favorite artistic expressions, dance, music and light, will collide at Mississippi/Volga III, Friday and Saturday, Oct. 9th and 10th at 8pm. Mississippi/Volga III will feature performers from Russia, Hungary and Germany working alongside the local avant cello duo "Jelloslave" and the Minneapolis tap and percussive group "Buckets and Tap Shoes."
Not finding what you want here? Well don't forget, the St. Paul Art Crawl is this weekend. The Decemberists perform at the State Theatre on Friday. And Stuart Pimsler Dance and Theater presents its latest work "Tales from the Book of Longing," inspired in part by the poetry of Leonard Cohen.
Art Hounds: Dhvee, Marisol, and Hope Sandoval
Posted at 7:01 AM on October 1, 2009
by Marianne Combs
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Image courtesy of the Walker Art Center.
Each week Minnesota Public Radio News asks three people from the Minnesota arts scene to be "Art Hounds." Their job is to step outside their own work and hunt down something exciting that's going on in local arts.
Interested in becoming an art hound? Sign up!
Sandy Agustin serves as artistic director of the Neighborhood House on St. Paul's west side and is also an arts consultant. You'll find Sandy at the Walker Art Center on Friday, Oct. 2 for "Dhvee," a sprawling production blending the Indian movement of Minneapolis-based Ragamala Dance with the music of a Balinese gamelan orchestra. "Dhvee" opens Thursday night, Oct. 1 and runs through Sunday, Oct. 4.
Heather Meyer is a Twin Cities-based actor, playwright and improvisor. Heather has nothing but praise for the Jose Rivera's absurdist play "Marisol," and the company that's performing it, Theatre Pro Rata. The play focuses on what happens to the main character, Marisol, when her guardian angel leaves to join a plot to overthrow a god who's lost his grip on the world. "Marisol" is on stage at St. Paul's Gremlin Theatre from Oct. 3 - Oct. 18.
Bill Caperton is a musician, talent buyer for the Turf Club and 501 Club, and a graduate student at the University of Minnesota. Bill's gig of the week happens this Saturday, Oct. 3, when singer songwriter Hope Sandoval and her band The Warm Inventions make a stop at the Music Box Theatre in Minneapolis. You may remember Sandoval's old band Mazzy Star and its '90s alt rock classic, "Fade Into You."
Still not seeing something you want to check out this weekend? Then you might consider attending Highpoint Center for Printmaking's grand opening celebration on Saturday, or seeing Rob Fischer's new exhibition at Franklin Art Works. Take a look at yesterday's post on Penumbra Theatre's latest production "Radio Golf." And don't forget the music and movies festival "Sound Unseen."
Arthounds: Norwegians, poems, and early women plays
Posted at 8:54 AM on September 24, 2009
by Euan Kerr
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Fashion, Film, Music
So what are the Art Hounds recommending this week?
Veteran Twin Cities actor Joey Metzger gives the thumbs up to Theater Unbound's "Aphra's Attic: Plays by Early Women Playwrights."
Poet Juliet Peterson is recommending the upcoming reading by Kate Greenstreet and Norma Cole who bring their cutting edge poetry to Micawbers Books in Minneapolis on Tuesday evening. It's part of the Rain Taxi Reading series.
Composer and educator Randall Davidson says we should take to opportunity to check out the Oslo Chamber Choir, a world-renowned Norwegian vocal ensemble touring Minnesota this week..
Also worth checking out: The Pearl Fishers at the Minnesota Opera, and the special events with designer Zandra Rhodes tonight, and tomorrow.
The 1968 Project: The Minnesota Historical Society presents all 24 films made for its national competition to capture the spirit of 1968. There is a free screening from 1 to 4pm at the History Center in St Paul. Then at 5 pm the final awards ceremony will present the winners who will share $10,000 in prize money. Both events are free.
And check out The Global Roots Festival at the Cedar Cultural Center, starting tonight and running all weekend. The Cedar is bringing in world-class bands from all over the globe, as well as some local stars, for a weekend of incredible music.
Don't forget the 2009 Sound Unseen music film festival gets rolling on Tuesday with the world premiere of the new REM film "R.E.M.: This is not a show"
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Art Hounds: Breaking, popping, and styling
Posted at 7:27 AM on September 17, 2009
by Marianne Combs
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Image courtesy of Intermedia Arts
Each week Minnesota Public Radio News asks three people from the Minnesota arts scene to be "Art Hounds." Their job is to step outside their own work and hunt down something exciting that's going on in local arts.
Interested in becoming an art hound? Sign up!
Art hound Betsy Altheimer is the development program director at Springboard for the Arts in St. Paul. She's really looking forward to the B-Girl Be Block Party taking place at Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis on Saturday, Sept. 19.
Betsy thinks this afternoon of music, dance, art and film will appeal to everyone, from b-girls steeped in hip-hop culture to newbies seeking an introduction. She also loves the strong sense of sisterhood created at this gathering of female hip-hop artists from around the world.
Chris Bates is an engineer and visual artist in Sioux Falls. Chris wants to let you in on a little secret: Sioux Falls is home to some really fine jazz.
Every weekend, Touch of Europe features local and touring jazz musicians. Chris loves listening to the different styles of the artists who play there and the music helps him as he plans his own abstract visual artworks.
Laura Bidgood is a spoken word artist, storyteller, and freelance director in the Twin Cities. She was blown away by the Lyric Arts' production of Doubt, A Parable, which runs through Sept. 27.
She says she was nervous that this production wouldn't be able to live up to the big names and big budget of the recent movie, but she was amazed by the skill and talent on display on this Anoka stage.
Meanwhile, Accordo, a new Twin Cities classical music ensemble, featuring some of the finest talent from both the Minnesota Orchestra and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, performs at the Southern Theater this weekend.
The Walker Art Center launches its Coen Brothers film retrospective tomorrow night with "Blood Simple."
And in "Rise!" Twin Cities actor-vocalist-educator T. Michael Rambo take its audience on a centennial journey of African American culture, literature and civil rights activism, drawing from the writing of Langston Hughes, W.E.B. DuBois and Martin Luther King Jr., and incorporating the music of Billie Holliday and Nat King Cole, among others.
Art Hounds: We don't need no stinking tutus
Posted at 7:24 AM on September 10, 2009
by Marianne Combs
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There's enough dance out there this weekend to make even a ballerina's head spin... and yet not a single nutcracker in site.
Interested in trying out a dance concert, but haven't figured out yet which kind you prefer? Choreographers in Accord (CIA) present 8 @ 8, a smorgasbord of dance by eight different companies, including modern, ballet, belly dancing and flamenco.
Meanwhile, Ananya Dance Theatre presents the third and final concert in a trilogy exploring the effects of global warming and pollution on the planet. "Ashesh Barsha, Unending Monsoon," is a danced response to the overconsumption of electricity, energy, and natural resources. (Tip: check back here later today for a more in-depth report on this concert)
Local troupe Hijack joins forces with choreographer Scotty Heron to present SmithsonianSmith, the dancers' latest attempt at being even more "radical." In describing their work, they write:
We bounce to the bouncy music. We smash beer cans on our foreheads and bellies like frat boys. We glue-gun these cans into a Mardi Gras-worthy headdress. We are insects, drunk on nectar and having sex with plastic flowers. We are cleaning up after an oil spill on the Mississippi using absorbent pompoms and wearing cardboard boxes on our heads as sun shields.
Finally, British choreographer Wayne McGregor brings his dancers to Northrup Auditorium Friday night to perform "Entity." Based on collaborative research with psychologists, neuroscientists, and software engineers, "Entity" attempts to convey the complex relationship between the brain and the moving body.
Dance just not doing it for you? How about a music festival in downtown St. Paul? How about a festival celebrating the food and culture of Greece? Or India? Maybe pottery is more your thing? Or an art sale where nothing costs more than $99? How about spoken word?
Still not finding what you're looking for? (geez, you're picky) Check out what these art hounds are doing this weekend.
Of course we can always use a few more hounds to sniff out some great art. Join the pack!
Art Hounds: Time for the harvest
Posted at 7:00 AM on September 3, 2009
by Marianne Combs
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Many folks are enjoying trying their hand at vegetable gardening this summer as they search for ways to simplify their lives and reduce their carbon footprint. Well if you'd really like to see what simplicity looks like, pay a visit to Historic Fort Snelling this weekend as the "residents" (i.e. reenactors) put up crops and preserve foods for the winter. Salted pork, anyone?
This is the second and final weekend of the Minnesota State Fair. I'll just mention that a guy with the initals GK who's known for wearing red socks will be on the main stage Friday night.
The Cedar Cultural Center is hosting a couple of notable events this weekend. On Friday Junkyard Empire celebrates the release of its new CD, Rebellion Politik. The album is in part a reaction to last year's Republican National Convention in St. Paul. Then on Saturday, Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles celebrate the release of their aptly named cd "Special Party Time for Everybody."
Manwhile Triple Rock Social Club hosts the 5th Annual Minneapolis Punk Rock Bowling Awards Show. That's right - bowling to live punk music (played by The Dwarves). Is it just me, or does it sound like someone's going to get hurt?
Tonight, Minnesota author Norah Labiner reads from her book German for Travelers at Magers & Quinn in Minneapolis.
And Mixed Blood Theater opens its season Saturday with "The Romance of Magno Rubio" a play staged by Theater Mu. In it, Filipino farm worker Magno Rubio dreams of a romantic affair with a beautiful American woman while his friends chide his naivete.
Looking for more to do? Check out what these art hounds are up to.
While you're at it, join the art hound collective!
So what are you doing this weekend?
Art Hounds: Corn dogs and so much more
Posted at 7:23 AM on August 27, 2009
by Marianne Combs
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Yes yes yes I know - there's a certain large event opening today. The dairy barn and the fairway are likely to be on the to-do list of many this weekend. But let's look beyond the mini-donuts and buckets-o-fries and on to some other cultural goodies that await.
Today is mnartists.org Field Day at Walker Art Center. It's billed as a "daylong extravaganza for and by Minnesota artists, musicians, writers, poets, and community members." There will be dancing, readings and kick ball. Events run from 11am to 10pm.
Intermedia Arts presents Mama Said Knock You Out, a gallery exhibition in conjunction with B-Girl-Be, a celebration of Women in Hip-Hop. The exhibition showcases 28 female artists from around the world who are employing Hip Hop culture as a means of expression, education and social and political activism.
Need your art on the go? Stevens Square Center for the Arts presents Rush Hour, an exhibition of 400 works of art that use Metro Transit bus transfers as their canvas. But don't miss your stop! The show is one night only, Saturday from 7 to 10pm.
Finally if you prefer a more casual neighborhood stroll to the crowds at the fair, check out the first ever LoLA Art Crawl. LoLA stands for the League of Longfellow Artists, and the crawl features works by about forty of them.
Not seeing what you want here? Then check out what these Art Hounds are doing.
And of course, don't forget to sign up to be an Art Hound yourself.
Art Hounds: Faeries, fanfare and photography
Posted at 7:03 AM on August 20, 2009
by Marianne Combs
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This weekend marks the opening of the annual Minnesota Renaissance Festival. Back in the old days stalls would serve a slab of bread, a thick slice of cheese and a sausage, washed down with cider. Now you have your choice of fajitas, coconut shrimp, or a chicken teriyaki croissant (?!?!). Opening weekend events include a bellydancing contest, an arabian horse show and a martial arts demonstration.
20% Theatre Company presents "After Juliet," the story of what happens after Romeo and Juliet take their lives. The play's written by Sharman MacDonald, and she supposedly wrote the play at the prompting of her daughter, actress Kiera Knightley. The show runs August 20 - 30 at Sabes Jewish Community Center in Minneapolis.
Working through the Kulture Klub Collaborative, photographer Lauri Lyons and local teenagers are creating Home Is Where You Make It, a mobile exhibition of large-scale portraits of homeless youth. You can check out the portraits, and here Lyons talk, tonight at the Walker Art Center.
And on Friday, The Cabooze hosts a tribute to late pop icon Michael Jackson, featuring performances by JD Steele, Fred Steele, Ray Covington, Brandon Commodore, O'Dell, and more....
Not seeing what you want? Check out what these art hounds are up to.
Interested in becoming an art hound? Join the team!
Art Hounds: All That Jazz
Posted at 6:30 AM on August 13, 2009
by Marianne Combs
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It's a great weekend for music, especially if you like jazz.
Local tenor saxophonist Irv Williams celebrates his 90th birthday this weekend with performances Friday night at the Artists' Quarter in St. Paul and Monday night at the Dakota in Minneapolis. Williams first performed in Minneapolis when he was in the Navy in World War II, and still performs regularly around the Twin Cities. He's released four albums in the past six years alone, and shows no signs of slowing down.
The Ramsey Lewis Trio performs tonight at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis. Local vocalist Bruce Henry will make a guest appearance.
On Saturday you'll have to choose between Douglas Little and his group "Seven Steps to Havana" at the Artists' Quarter, and the Ginger Commodore Quartet at the Dakota.
If jazz is not your style, never fear, there's lots more to choose from. Tonight The Cedar hosts a screening of Bela Fleck's new documentary "Throw down your heart," in which he travels through Africa with his banjo, exploring the instruments historic roots. (You can also hear Bela Fleck discuss his documentary on Friday at 10am on Midmorning.)
Tracy Chapman is touring to promote her latest album "Our Bright Future." She lands at the O'Shaughnessy Auditorium in St. Paul on Saturday.
If all this music seems a little too soft and friendly, have I got just the ticket for you! Bedlam Theater is hosting a hardcore punk fest called "Distortion Days." The line-up includes the local acts "Cognitive Dissonance," "War/Plague," "Animals and Beasts," "Misery" and "Detonate." Sounds like it will be an angry, explosive, angst-ridden affair.
Finally, choreographer Cassandra Shore and her troupe Jawaahir perform a concert of arabic music and dance this weekend and next at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis.
Not seeing what you want here? Then check out what other art hounds are doing this weekend.
Also, let us know what you're doing this weekend...
Art Hounds: Three art fairs, two takes on apartheid, and second helpings at the Fringe
Posted at 7:09 AM on August 6, 2009
by Marianne Combs
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Sarah Agnew in "The Syringa Tree" at the Jungle Theater in Minneapolis
I've got the jingle for Doublemint gum stuck in my head, because this weekend good things seem to come in pairs.
"The Syringa Tree" continues its run at the Jungle Theater in Minneapolis. It tells the story of two families in South Africa, one white and one black, with actress Sarah Agnew performing all the characters (Euan Kerr has a full report on the show, which you can find here).
Lunga Sinuka offers a different take on life under apartheid in his one-man show at Dreamland Arts in St. Paul. "The Cool Train" follows Sinuka in his childhood in a Xhosa village with no electricity or running water, to working as a glass cleaner at one of South Africa's best hotels, and eventually joining the African National Congress in the violent struggle for freedom.
Latin jazz group Tiempo Libre performs for two nights at the Dakota in Minneapolis, and the first of those nights it's a double-header with legendary flautist Sir James Galway. Pairing a classical flautist with a latin jazz group may seem like a stretch, but since Tiempo Libre is known for its riffs on Bach, this could be pretty fun.
It's the second and final weekend of the Minnesota Fringe Festival, the weekend where people try desperately to get in to see the shows that have emerged as this year's faves. Some of the winners? "Alice Unwrapped," "The Harty Boys in the Case of the Limping Platypus," and "Parry Hotter and the Half-Drunk Twins."
Sometimes two just isn't enough, as in the case of this weekend's art fairs. There's the Loring Park Art Festival, the Powderhorn Art Fair and the Uptown Art Fair all in Minneapolis this weekend, with a Target shuttle bus offering rides between them. It's art-loving madness!
Not seeing what you want here? Check out what other art hounds are up to this weekend.
And let us know - what are you doing this weekend?
Art Hounds: Mixing it up
Posted at 9:17 AM on July 23, 2009
by Euan Kerr
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Culture, Events, Film, Museums, Music, Sculpture, Theater
One of the delights of the late summer is that it's time when local arts folks mix it up a little.
Take tonight at IFP Minnesota's Fresh Fete at the Varsity Theater. As the local organization devoted to independent film it will of course be showing films, but blending some chat and a lot of music too. The film comes from local writer director Emily Haddad who won IFP Mn's Fresh Film grant last year and used it to make "Egg Timer" which will premier at 6.30. There will be a conversation between Mystery Science Theater 3000's Bill Corbett and local playwright and screenwriter Jeffrey Hatcher. The evening will be rounded out by local icon Willie Murphy and the Angel Headed Hipsters and pianist John Sims.
If you haven't seen the Walker Art Center's examination of conceptual art "The Quick and the Dead" - or even if you have - it's worth a visit. There are some 90 pieces by 53 artists, some of which are designed to change over time, hence the value in returning. Take for example Claes von Oldenburg's "The Garden" which involved burying 100 objects and then exhuming and displaying one item per day. He didn't specify what the object should be, but the Walker staff chose lemons, and you can see the results in jars in the Center's lower lobby.
After sell out shows last week the Trylon Microcinema returns with another Buster Keaton film "The Navigator." Live accompaniment is supplied by the Dreamland Faces, complete with singing saws.
If you are considering a little road trip this weekend, there is the final weekend of the Great River Shakespeare Festival in Winona, and the always whacky Free Range Film Festival in Webster, about half an our south of Duluth. Movie shorts in a barn, how can you miss?
And for the truly dedicated sports fan the Riverview Theater in Minneapolis is presenting live coverage on the big screen of the Tour de France. You can watch the cyclists sweat while sitting in the finest art deco movie house the Twin Cities has to offer. Admission is free, although they are collecting non-perishable goods for local food shelves, or a $2 donation.
And of course there is all the great stuff ferreted out by the Art Hounds Want to be one of them? Sign up!
Art Hounds: Saving the planet, one show at a time
Posted at 7:00 AM on July 16, 2009
by Marianne Combs
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(Image courtesy of Brave New Workshop)
This weekend has a little something for everyone. Tomorrow night Brave New Workshop opens its latest improv show "Save the Planet; Yes we can, but do we have to?" It's a send-up of post-election lassitude and all issues in the shade of green.
If you're feeling the old political protest spirit move you, I hope you already have tickets to see folk singer Arlo Guthrie perform at the Fitzgerald Theater tonight in St. Paul. I say "hope" because last I heard the box office was sold out.
Elsewhere in the world of music, Sommerfest gets underway Friday, with a wide array of free concerts on Peavey Plaza, as well as an evening of Strauss and Mozart in Orchestra Hall.
Also, local band The Melismatics perform Friday night at The Entry along with guests Sick of Sarah.
It's also a great weekend for dance. You can see new dance works by Vanessa Voskuil and Sachiko Nishiuchi as part of Momentum: New Dance Works at the Southern Theater (the series continues next weekend with works by Sally Rousse and Megan Mayer).
If that isn't enough for you, head over to the Ritz Theater to see "Reeling Over Love" by the dance group Eclectic Edge Ensemble. It runs tonight through Sunday.
Finally, Intermedia Arts presents an Art Car show and workshop Saturday at Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis. Note: Art bikes are also welcome.
Not seeing what you want here? Check out what these Art Hounds are doing this weekend.
Want to be an Art Hound? Of course you do!
An Art Hound's call to action
Posted at 8:14 AM on July 14, 2009
by Marianne Combs
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You may have noticed that "Art Hounds" has different incarnations.
In addition to my regular Thursday post, there's an audio Art Hounds, that my colleague Chris Roberts produces for the news station (it airs every Thursday on Morning Edition and All Things Considered). This consists of three different "Art Hounds" talking about what they're excited to see and/or do over the weekend.
Well recently Chris Roberts invited actor/director Zaraawar Mistry to be an art hound. Mistry responded with this call to action for all of you.
Hi! This is Zaraawar Mistry... Instead of telling you about a show or an event that I'm excited about, I'd actually like to invite you to be an art hound for yourself.
The first thing that you need to do in order to be an art hound is the sniffing. An art hound loves the familiar scents, but it's the new ones that it discovers that are the most exciting. This means that you are not going to rely on a friend, or a reviewer, or some guy with an uncommon name on NPR to tell you what's worth checking out. You're going to do the digging yourself. You're going to read the papers, surf the internet and listen to the radio until you find something that catches your attention.The next thing you need to do in order to be an art hound is the digging. What is the event, where is it and who's involved in its creation? An art hound has some favorite digging spots, but every once in while it comes up with someplace entirely new. And that's what you need to do. Look for a show or an event in a genre that you might not typically attend, by groups and performers you've never heard of, at venues in neighborhoods that you've never been to. Be brave. Take a chance. Whatever the outcome, at least you will have tried something new and different.
Finally, an art hound always leaves its mark. You need to do this too. Don't be a silent spectator and politely leave when the event is over. Engage with the art that you witnessed and the community of artists that you experienced. Bark. Say hello. Give them feedback. Most artists love to know who their audience is and how they responded to the art. Hey, you might even make some new friends.
Of course, you can't be an art hound all of the time, but every once in a while it sure is worth a shot. Who knows? You might catch theater in a barn run on solar power, poetry on the capital city's sidewalks, or Morris dancers by the Mississipi River at sunrise.
So go on. Go for it. Take a chance. Start sniffing around and, just for once, make yourself your own art hound. Woof, woof!
Zaraawar Mistry is a theater artist and dog owner. He lives in St. Paul.
So now are you ready to take the Art Hound challenge? C'mon, give it a try!
Art Hounds: It's hot out there
Posted at 7:04 AM on July 9, 2009
by Marianne Combs
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Fire, sweat and damnation are all themes in this weekend's entertainment offerings. Get yourself a cold drink and take a look:
The Flowershop Project presents "Dawn's Inferno" - an update of Dante Alighieri's classic trip through Hell, re-invented as another kind of torture: a ten-year high school reunion in small town Minnesota.
Bedlam Theatre presents "The Burning Ones: Origin of the Flame." According to Bedlam "a mad scientist's experiment conjures a spark that ignites a whole town, changing the resident's lives forever." Think Road Warrior meets Dr Frankenstein meets The Princess Bride. The production, which takes place in the parking lot, features lots of acts involving - you guessed it - fire.
Patick's Cabaret presents "The Art of Sweat," a yearly festival to "celebrate the rhythms of our lives." This years line up includes Brazilian batucada, woodwind duets, hip hop, acoustic punk, and jazz opera.
The Walker Art Center presents Dirt on Delight: Impulses that form Clay. It's an exhibition of work by 22 artists based in clay and pottery.
Illusion Theater's Fresh Ink series gets underway this weekend with the stage adaptation of Willa Cather's book "My Antonia."
Poets Wayne Miller and Dobby Gibson read from their poetry collections at Magers and Quinn tonight.
Are you a lover of zines? Stevens Square Center for the Arts presents "Zinefest," a weekend long celebration of independent print publications. In collaboration with the Twin Cities Zinefest, the Minnesota Center for Book Arts is currently hosting a zine show called Independent Variables: Contemporary Zine Publications.
If you're looking for fun for the whole family, Steppingstone Theatre presents Hans Christian Andersen's "The Nightingale."
(Update: 8:45AM) Getting back to the "heat" theme, the Southern Theater presents a sultry weekend of Spanish guitar music and flamenco dancing featuring the Minneapolis Guitar Quartet and dancer Colette Illarde.
Not finding what you're looking for? Check out what these Art Hounds are up to.
Want to be an art hound? Step right up.
Think art is for the weekends? Think again.
Posted at 8:49 AM on July 7, 2009
by Marianne Combs
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It's Tuesday, not even Humpday, and yet when you look at what's going on, it feels like a Friday. Take a look:
If you're free at lunch you could head over to Sundin Music Hall at Hamline University in St. Paul. Today is the final quintet round for the International Piano-e-Competition, and six pianists will each play with the Rosalyra quartet, starting at noon. And it's FREE.
Fountains of Wayne play an acoustic set at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis.
At the Guthrie you can take in a performance of "When We Are Married."
Interested in cooling off? Take a walk through the Walker Art Center and stop by the lecture room for a screening of Bruce Connor's "Luke" - a behind the scenes examination of the filming of "Cool Hand Luke," starring Paul Newman. It plays on the hour, and runs 22 minutes.
Feeling sinful? Check out The Seven Deadlies at Bryant Lake Bowl tonight.
Art: it's not just for weekends.
Art Hounds: So many ways to celebrate
Posted at 7:17 AM on July 2, 2009
by Marianne Combs
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Hurray for three day weekends, national holidays, and all the cultural events that go along with them. Saturday the Walker Art Center is hosting a full day of FREE activities for the whole family, including a hula-hooping workshop, an art-bike contest, and musical performances by the Sumunar Javanese Gamelan Ensemble, Haley Bonar and M.anifest.
Taste of Minnesota is taking over Harriet Island in St. Paul tonight through Sunday, with performances by White Snake and Elvis Costello, among others. Fireworks nightly at 10pm.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention A Prairie Home Companion's 35th Anniversary party this Saturday at Lake Wobegon Park in Avon, Minnesota. It's FREE and features, according to Garrison Keillor, "a brass band, speeches, acoustic blues and rock 'n' roll, some reminiscences by old-timers, and the whole big crowd singing the national anthem, and our sound-effects man will make rockets go up in the air." (I'm guessing they might have some real ones, too)
The Minneapolis Photo Center is celebrating Independence Day with an exhibition on poverty in America titled "In Our Own Backyard." It's a touring exhibition of images by a group of photojournalists working to raise awareness about the issue.
A mild-mannered librarian ends up traveling the world in pursuit of the meaning of life and the person who returned a book 113 years overdue. "Underneath The Lintel" runs at Mixed Blood Theatre through July 25.
After so much family friendly stuff, why not something a little spicier? Friday night Lili's Burlesque Revue presents "The Underpants Show" at Bryant Lake Bowl. As the Star Tribune writes, "The singers are great, the band bumps and grinds with the beat and the dancers have just the right tongue-in-cheek attitude." Lili's motto? "We aim to tease."
Still haven't found something to tickle your fancy? Check out what these Art Hounds are up to. Want to join the Art Hound club? Come on in!
Art Hounds: Gay Pride, improv, Cosby and more
Posted at 7:20 AM on June 25, 2009
by Marianne Combs
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It's the end of June. How can I tell? Well, because most of the theaters in town are dark for the next two months, classical music has gone on holiday, and I'm being inundated with little postcards promoting shows at this thing called the Minnesota Fringe Festival, which is still more than a month away.
However there is quite a bit to choose from this weekend when it comes to your cultural life, especially if your culture runs queer. The annual Gay Pride festival and parade are this weekend. In conjunction with Gay Pride, the Queer Takes Film Festival at the Walker Art Center winds up tonight, and Outward Spiral Theater is presenting Queertopia, a cabaret celebration of queer love. Or, you can check out Robert Mapplethorpe's portraits of women (including a self-portrait) at the Weinstein Gallery.
In the mood for a musical? Theater Mu performs "Flower Drum Song" at the Ordway Center in St. Paul. It's a musical originally by Rogers and Hammerstein, and rewritten by David Henry Hwang of "M. Butterfly" fame. Euan Kerr has more on the show.
If you really need a good laugh this weekend, the Brave New Workshop is hosting its third annual Twin Cities Improv Festival. Local acts include the folks from BNW, Stevie Ray's Comedy Cabaret and the improv troupe Fingergun, as well as groups from Fargo-Moorhead, Texas and Utah.
Toki Wright releases his new hip hop/soul album "A Different Mirror" Friday at The Entry.
Because it's summer, and we're in Minnesota, there are lots of outdoor film series, including Minneapolis Parks and Rec's "movies in the parks." This Friday you can see "Iron Man" for FREE at McRae Park.
If you like new music, and you're anywhere near New York Mills, Zeitgeist is on the road, and will be performing at the NYM cultural center for FREE on Friday night.
And while you wont find an orchestra at Orchestra Hall, you will find Bill Cosby there on Saturday for two performances. Remember Fat Albert? Remember "I Spy?" Sigh...
Not finding what you're looking for? Check out what these Art Hounds are doing.
Interested in becoming an art hound? Sign up.
A few more events for your weekend: Ballet of the Dolls, White Pine Festival and Rock the Garden
Posted at 2:41 PM on June 19, 2009
by Marianne Combs
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events
Earlier this week President Barack Obama attempted to placate impatient gay rights activists by extending partial federal benefits to same-sex partners of US government workers. Perfect timing for Choreographer and Ballet of the Dolls Artistic Director Myron Johnson to bring back his piece "Romiette and Juleo," a re-telling of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliette with two men in the lead roles. Promotional materials for the show invite us to "join Ballet of the Dolls to see how things may - or may not - have changed in the past 17 years."
There's plenty of music out there this weekend for all types. For those who are mourning the loss of Jorjo Fleezanis as concert chair of the Minnesota Orchestra, they can see her tonight at the White Pines Festival. Also scheduled to perform this weekend are the Charles Lazarus Group and the Miro Quartet.
Then there's Rock The Garden tomorrow at the Walker Art Center. This year's guests include The Decemberists, Calexico, Yeasayer and Solid Gold.
And then of course there's everything I mentioned yesterday.
So what are you doing this weekend?
Image courtesy of Ballet of the Dolls
Art Hounds: Exploring Dreamlands
Posted at 11:52 AM on June 18, 2009
by Marianne Combs
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Tonight Wang Yanshu's exhibition of digital images called "Dreamland" goes on display at the Burnet Gallery, located in Chambers Hotel in Minneapolis. Yanshu, who lives and works in Beijing, writes:
"As I see it there is little pure color in our actual lives. Everything in our eyes, even in our hearts, is likely covered with a large murky gray veil. Only when closing our eyes and dreaming can we get to the one and only pure land which is doomed to pass away once we awake but leaves us a hazy memory, an engaging impression and a flash of memory. So I try my best to capture that wonderful dreamland in my photos."
The opening reception is from 6-9pm.
If your taste runs a little less colorful but more sentimental, check out the Robert Rauschenberg exhibition at the Weisman Art Museum, opening Saturday. The exhibition, titled "Au Courant," recreates an exhibition of newsprint collages that were shown in 1970 at the then Dayton's Gallery 12 in Minneapolis (this is before my time, but evidently the Minneapolis Dayton's had an international art gallery on the 12th floor in the late '60s and early '70s).
If you want to get out, Father's Day weekend marks the annual Stone Arch Festival in Minneapolis. The festival features artist booths, four performance stages, and even a few art cars on display.
"Nothing New" is going on at the Textile Center of Minnesota, and that's a good thing, at least for the environment. The Center's new exhibition, opening Friday night, features fiber art made entirely from recycled materials.
If the body moves you, TU Dance is premiering a couple of new works at the Southern Theater this weekend. Or you can enjoy Christopher Watson's Dance company in the great outdoors for FREE at Lake Harriet.
And for the science geek in all of us, there's "Robots vs Fake Robots," put on by Walking Shadow Theatre Company at the People's Center in Minneapolis. Here's their video trailer, which expresses more than I can possibly say:
Robots vs. Fake Robots - #2 from Ben Thietje on Vimeo.
If you still haven't found what you're looking for (I suddenly have a U2 song stuck in my head), check out what the Art Hounds of the air are doing this weekend.
Want to be an Art Hound? Sign up!
Art Hounds: To the lifeboats!
Posted at 11:45 AM on June 11, 2009
by Marianne Combs
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events
Certainly the biggest event opening this weekend is the Science Museum of Minnesota's "Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition". It includes over 200 artifacts from the fated ship, and local actors have been studying their history books in order to inhabit the roles of actual passengers and crew. They don't have any lines to memorize, per se, but will be able to tell visitors about their own lives. (i.e. don't ask the guy in the engine room "so how's the foie gras on this ship?") Oh and of course there's the movie at the Omni theater!
So far the weather forecast for this weekend looks pretty good. Which means if you're worried about catching a certain flu by hanging out with other people in closed spaces, why not try some outdoor theater? Cromulent Shakespeare Company performs "The Tempest" in four different Twin Cities' parks this weekend, starting tonight in Loring Park.
This is the last weekend for two exhibitions: "Live Forever: Elizabeth Peyton" at the Walker Art Center, and an exhibition of paintings by local artist Jil Evans at the Form and Content gallery in Minneapolis. Form and Content is having a "closing reception" and poetry reading on Friday night. And as I mentioned yesterday, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts is opening its new exhibition of Pre-Raphaelite paintings by William Holman Hunt.
In dance, Justin Jones presents "the SCREEN/the THING" and "RadioBrain" at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis.
Not seeing what you're looking for here? Then check out what other Art Hounds are doing this week.
Want to be an MPR Art Hound? No problem.
Image courtesy of the Science Museum of Minnesota
Art Hounds: What's going on this weekend?
Posted at 10:53 AM on June 4, 2009
by Marianne Combs
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Filed under: Art Hounds, Events
If you'd like dessert with your theater, get thee to Bedlam, which is hosting a production of King Lear. The catch is that each of the five acts is performed by a different theater company, and each company serves its own dessert to the audience. (What kind of dessert best suits a tragedy? A flambe? A trifle? A deflated souffle?)
If you're looking for laughs, Tom Segura is performing at the Acme Comedy club in Minneapolis, or you can see Harmon Leon in Ironic/Not Ironic at the Bryant Lake Bowl.
In the world of classical music, the SPCO is performing Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Ordway in St. Paul, while the Minnesota Orchestra performs Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky with Steven Hough at the piano.
Looking for other ideas? Check out what these Art Hounds are up to.
And be sure to let me know - what are you doing this weekend?
Image courtesy of Bedlam Theater
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Looking for ways to ensure your students are doing quality research from credible sources? Sound Learning is a launching point to Minnesota Public Radio's content on the Web. -
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Your daily note for good music, news and pop culture. With attempted jokes.
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