Uptown Art Fair is canceled; State Fair Grandstand schedule is complete
ALSO: A Native Music Series from the Cedar; the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community to exhibit at the State Fair; and more.
Arts & Culture
Covering Minnesota’s theater, music, dance, literature and visual arts.
The Walker’s Hillside music eases us back into going out; American Ballet Theatre at the Arboretum
ALSO: “Fanfare for the Commons” at Excelsior Commons; “Mr. Tornado” on PBS; and more.
From vaudeville to nightclubs: Drag performance in Minnesota at the turn of the 20th century
Theater allowed drag performers to evade laws banning “cross-dressing.”
What’s up with the M? And good news for the Weisman
ALSO: 18 full concerts by the Minnesota Orchestra available virtually; where to find July 4 fireworks displays.
The M makes a major acquisition: the MPLSART 2020 sketchbooks
ALSO: First Avenue is back with a bang; Rain Taxi presents J. Michael Straczynski; and more.
Theatre Unbound bows out; NEA adds $80 million in pandemic relief
ALSO: Skyline Mini Golf at the Walker; a “Lakewood 101 Wednesday Night Walking Tour”; and more.
Even as they reopen, Minnesota event venues remain frustrated over struggle to get aid
Despite the end of Minnesota’s indoor capacity restrictions — and what increasingly feels like the end of the pandemic — venue advocates say the struggle for survival is far from over.
New work by Native artist to rise where ‘Scaffold’ stood
ALSO: Local theaters share in $1.5 million Mellon grant; “The Music Man” at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres; and more.
Why a new statue of Ojibwe leader Shaynowishkung was created to stand on the shores of Lake Bemidji
The statue replaced a 1952 wooden sculpture that some saw as an offensive caricature of a Native American man.
Leslie Barlow solo show to open at Mia in July; Great River Shakespeare Festival in Winona
ALSO: Minnesota Orchestra’s “Season Finale: A Summer Prelude”; Twin Cities Jazz Fest at Crooners; and more.
MSP Film Society returns to in-person screenings; Green Roof Poetry on the Walker’s hillside
ALSO: Meet a Musician/ACCENT: Osmo Vänskä and Erin Keefe, a virtual event; Al Franken: The Only Former U.S. Senator Currently on Tour Tour, Oct. 2 at the Pantages; and more.
Your guide to outdoor summer music in the cities
Is there more outdoor music now than there was pre-COVID? Or does it just seem that way because last summer was so quiet? Here’s our attempt at a roundup, minus the breweries.
Three premieres, a classic and a ‘Wimpy Kid’ to light up CTC’s 2021-22
ALSO: An evening with Stacey Abrams; the Minnesota Northwoods Writers Conference Reading Series goes viral; Rita Moreno documentary now showing locally; and more.
How publisher Cecil Newman made his mark on the Minnesota newspaper industry
In both the Minneapolis Spokseman and the St. Paul Recorder, Newman pledged to “speak out fearlessly and unceasingly against injustices, discriminations, and all imposed inequities.”
Penumbra’s Sarah Bellamy on MacKenzie Scott’s $5 million grant: ‘This is just a huge green light’
ALSO: “Alchemy & Intention: Summer Solstice Performance Arts Festival” at Franconia Sculpture Park; Minnesota Boychoir’s “Spring Sings”; and more.
Arts Midwest, Penumbra share in MacKenzie Scott grants; SPCO to perform with Joshua Bell in Vail
ALSO: “LOG JAM! A Paul Bunyan Musical Spectacular” at the Bakken Museum; the American Swedish Institute’s Midsommar Celebration 2021; and more.
The SPCO’s 2021-22 season: More than 70 concerts (so far), more input from musicians, and PaviElle’s second commission
Concerts will be shorter: 60-75 minutes, without intermission. Audiences will be limited to 50% at first, with the hope of returning to full capacity by January or sooner.
Pulitzers with Minnesota ties; Stone Arch Bridge Festival returns
ALSO: The Stone Arch Bridge Festival is back; Father’s Day With Cantus at Lake Harriet Bandshell; and more.
Remembering the Uptown Theatre’s early days
In 1916, In an effort to appeal to a middle-class audience that considered movie-going not quite respectable, the theater promised it would show “high class pictures at all times, including Metro, Fox, and Triangle productions.”
Churchwoman, suffragist, organizer, singer: The life of St. Paul’s Nellie Francis
Francis pressed the limits of what an African American woman was permitted to achieve in early twentieth-century Minnesota.
