Weekend picks: Art with a conscience; an older musical is relevant again
Plus: Kim Benson paintings; Books in the Barn; New Order and Pet Shop Boys; and more.
Arts & Culture
Covering Minnesota’s theater, music, dance, literature and visual arts.
Minnesota Children’s Museum becomes ‘Pal Place’ for neurodivergent kids
The museum partnered with Pal Experiences to develop “know before you go” digital resources to reduce anxiety and help with communication.
Irene Gomez-Bethke bent the arc of history toward social justice
Gomez-Bethke served as Minnesota Commissioner of Human Rights, guided boards and commissions as a volunteer, and co-founded both Centro Cultural Chicano and Instituto de Arte y Cultura.
Lambchop’s new album is an homage to Kurt Wagner’s Minneapolis connections
On Friday and Saturday night at the Walker Art Center, Wagner will perform what are probably the most ambitious concerts of his iconoclastic career.
Weekend picks: A soul-ified Euripides; Wynton Marsalis; music of Iran
More highlights this week: an exhibition of Black photography at the Katherine E. Nash Gallery, eclectic contemporary sounds at the Walker Art Center, and a way to support the beloved Drag Story Hour.
Grand Marais author Staci Lola Drouillard’s new book chronicles how seven aunts shaped her
In “Seven Aunts,” Drouillard paints a beautiful, loving picture of seven of her Anishinaabe and European aunts that isn’t afraid to reveal harsh truths — about addiction, abuse, and illness, while also sharing moments of levity and deep care.
Pat Bellanger: A half century of fighting for Indigenous rights
Though she often escaped the public eye, her work survives through her children and community, the attendees of survival schools, and the children protected by the Indian Child Welfare Act.
Weekend picks: Art in the St. Croix Valley; Lucibela; a tribute to Peter Ostroushko
Plus, a food-themed theatrical and music by Ray Bonneville and the Killers.
Local author Will McGrath takes the reader traveling in new book
“I’ve long joked with her that, like any of my good ideas I get, I’ve just stolen from anthropology,” McGrath says. “In a similar way to journalism, (it’s) about paying attention.”
Rainy Lake island cabin an artifact of the opening of northeastern Minnesota to tourism and recreation
The rustic cabin was built by Jun Fujita, one of the first prominent Japanese Americans in the Midwest.
Weekend picks: Gallery events; a play about Assata Shakur; Gary Numan; and more
This week’s picks include visual, performance and musical events across the Twin Cities.
MinnPost Picks: How automakers shaped our cities for cars; ranchers vs. beavers; and the story of Booker Wright
Our roundup of recommended reading, listening or viewing by MinnPost’s staff and contributing journalists.
Ellen Hart to be honored at upcoming world mystery book convention in Minneapolis
“My editor told me that I should be very grateful that I started as a writer in Minnesota, because there are so many opportunities through the library system, through bookstores, through reviews, through book groups, that kind of thing,” Hart says. “We are a state that reads, and I think that’s really wonderful.”
Mark Andrew’s retirement from State Fair food among many vendor transitions this year
Writer and State Fair aficianado Joe Kimball was shocked to find the World’s Greatest French Fries is no longer operating. Fish tacos are in its place, and it’s just one of many vendor transitions at the fair this year.
Weekend Picks: Soul at the Dakota, healing from loss and Free First Saturday with Heart of the Beast
September brings music, poetry and ceremonial arts events in the Twin Cities.
Indigo Girls’ Emily Saliers talks environment, activism ahead of Duluth festival
The folk rock duo is among the acts featured in the Water is Life Festival, which starts Sunday in Duluth.
The origins of the Minnesota State Fair
Agricultural societies held fairs in Minnesota Territory as far back as the early 1850s.
A welcomed throng of fairgoers flocked to the Minnesota State Fair on Opening Day
Tens of thousands wandered the fairgrounds in Falcon Heights, just north of St. Paul. Official first day attendance not yet announced, but vendors and fair officials said it looked like a giant opener.
Weekend Picks: FAWK-ish humor, imaginary oral history and ITS Fest
An eclectic mix of soul, comedy and arts of all forms on tap for this weekend.
Piotr Szyhalski depicts living through COVID-19 and other ‘extreme historical phenomena’
Szyhalski came up with the notion of investigating “extreme historical phenomena” in the 1990s. The concept was to acknowledge the experience of living through an “all consuming, massive epic event,” he says.
