Sheila Regan is a Twin Cities-based arts journalist. She writes MinnPost’s twice-weekly Artscape column. She can be reached at sregan@minnpost.com.
Plus: exhibits of two emerging Black Minnesota artists, International Day of Music in and around Orchestra Hall, Artaria performs the Razumovsky quartets, Dakota Spirit Walk at Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary and an Asian American ‘Death of a Salesman’ at the Conn.
Even today, the majority of mainstream theaters in the United States continue to be led by white people. That reality leads to inevitable skewed power dynamics within the form.
Plus: new paintings by John Gaunt at Rosalux, Uniquinox’s puppet festival, ‘Warming Show’ outdoor concert and Japanese Breakfast at First Avenue.
Lazarus saw some of the need in the country as the Minnesota Orchestra traveled to different townships in 2018. He also heard a very high level of music.
Plus: a new “Emma” at the Guthrie, the last chance for “Impact Theory of Mass Extinction” at Heart of the Beast, Minnesota Pops at Harriet and She Rock She Rock.
“These captains of trading ships were very much interested in super flamboyant pieces of clothing,” says Mia curator Andrea Marks. “They wanted to look freakin’ cool.”
Plus: the Pride festival and march, Indigo Girls and the Minnesota Orchestra, Jonatha Brooke, Rebecca Arons and Adi Yeshaya at Hennepin Avenue United Methodist, Cornbread Harris at the Icehouse, Film @ Franconia and a taste of SF art in NE Minneapolis.
There’s a strong cohort of young musicians in 2022, Heckler says. For example, Friday’s headliner is 21-year-old Matthew Whitaker, a B3 organ player from New Jersey.
Plus: Violinist and composer Ariana Kim at the Parkway, Hari Kondabolu at the Cedar, “AFROPUNK Live: Minneapolis,” a Midsommar party at the Swedish Institute and Juneteenth performances at the Dakota and at Crooners.
The play’s mix of utopia and dystopia, set in the 1980s, isn’t so dissimilar to today, two years after the murder of George Floyd.
Plus: Lela Pierce at the Bockley Gallery, Davu Seru at Jazz Central Studios, Teatro del Pueblo’s “Real Women Have Curves” and “Take Root Among the Stars: Black Abstraction in the Midwest” at SooVAC.
The story centers around a Khmer Rouge survivor who returns to Cambodia when his daughter is prosecuting a war criminal some 30 years after the genocide.
Plus: “Hairball! A Bigfoot Musical Adventure” at the Bakken, “The Roommate” at Mixed Blood, “A Blinding Strangeness” at Red Eye, a June lawn party at the Swedish Institute and Ecosex Walking Tours.
The work explores healing and resilience, drawing on a Black social dance called ring shout, which was invented by enslaved Africans.
Plus: The Minnesota Cuban Film Festival, an immersive “Traviata,” Saturday night jazz at kj’s hideaway and Sigur Rós.
“It’s one thing to get a grant for a project,” says Vongsay, “it’s another thing to get a fellowship that will allow you to really be bold with the work that you do.”
Plus: Art-A-Whirl, Poem-a-Whirl and WhirlyGig, Cey Adams in a solo show, Chroma Zone Mural & Art Festival, PaviElle French and Friends at the Fitz, and Kurt Vile and the Violators.
While ACC worked to have online shows during pandemic shutdowns, that format wasn’t ideal for showcasing one of the appeals of craft art: how an object feels in one’s hand.
Plus: the Bossa Nova Trio at Icehouse, The Singers’ “Considering Matthew Shepard,” Robin Wall Kimmerer at Northrop, and zAmya Theater Project’s dialogue on health care and homelessness.
The play is layered with stories drawn from 230 real people who have been touched by the system in some way — whether as prisoners, workers, family members, policymakers, survivors, lawyers, activists and more.
