From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here. Click here. Exploring the artistic journey Dive into the captivating world of Stuart Loughridge, a local artist renowned for his mastery in etching, painting and drawing. Recommended by Gary Korlin, an independent fine artist in the Twin Cities. Gary says: I’d like to introduce — or basically maybe...

From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here. Click here. Confronting shadows Full Circle Theater Company’s thought-provoking new production “They Wear Teal Ribbons Around Their Tongues” delves deep into the dynamics of a family grappling with the aftermath of their patriarch’s death. St. Paul actor Chris Collier had a chance to read the script for Full...

From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here. Click here. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/art-hounds/id525807829 Future stars shine Experience the talent and dedication of tomorrow’s musical stars at the Schubert Club student scholarship competition winners' recital. Aimée Baxter of St. Paul loves the arts, and one of her favorite concerts of the...

From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what's exciting in local art. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here. Click here. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/art-hounds/id525807829 A tribute to Jim Denomie Explore the vibrant legacy of Minnesota artist Jim Denomie in "Conversations with Jim," an exhibition at ArtsReach St. Croix in Stillwater. This showcase features 60 new works by artist Dougie Padilla, Denomie's...

From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what's exciting in local art. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here. Click here. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/art-hounds/id525807829?mt=2 Crafting tales in silver Discover the enchanting world of Norwegian folk tales reimagined through contemporary jewelry at the Nordic Center. Renowned artist Liz Bucheit's exhibition "Hand of Huldra" showcases the tradition of silver...

Fiber and textile artist Shannon Twohy of Minneapolis recently saw the Northern Clay Centers exhibition “Edible,” which she found thought-provoking. The show brings together works by five Asian American artists, including Anika Hsiung Schneider of Minneapolis, all investigating food and culture through clay. Twohy appreciates that each artist explores the medium differently, creating sculptures that vary from stylistic representations to creations that look good enough to eat.  “Edible”...

Phil Schenkenberg is an attorney practicing law in Minneapolis and a resident of New Brighton. He recommends “The Doctor Wee-Woo Show,” although he admits, “I don’t know quite what to expect.” It’s a call-in show, of a sort, that, according to the website, “follows the eponymous Doctor Wee-Woo and his friends (Mailbag, Mrs. Apple Tree, Sedrick the Sasquatch and more) as they perform their award-winning and long-running children’s television program.” Audiences were asked to send in their...

Michelle Wegler of Duluth recommends seeing the exhibit of fellow plein air painter Cheryl LeClaire-Sommer. Her current show, “Scents to Scenes: A Project Space Exhibition” consists of oil paintings of landscapes inspired by scent.  LeClaire-Sommer used essential oils to inspire her choice of location for each painting. Balsam or cedar scents, for example, might lead her to paint a cedar grove. The oil paintings, created from locations across Minnesota specifically for this show, range...

Performance artist and musician Tri Vo loves the work of Theater Mu, and he’s looking forward to seeing them take on the horror genre in the world premiere of Keiko Green’s play “Hells Canyon.” As with many classic horror pieces, we’re headed to a cabin in the woods with a group of unsuspecting friends. They’ve booked a weekend trip in eastern Oregon, near Hells Canyon. In 1887, it was the location where white gang members massacred 34 Chinese gold miners, an actual event called the Hells...

St. Paul actor, vocalist and community organizer T. Mychael Rambo wants everyone to know about “The Sounds of Gospel” presented by 2nd Chance Outreach this weekend at the Cowles Center in Minneapolis.  The two-hour show highlights the range and evolution of gospel music, from spirituals to psalms to contemporary songs. Rambo says to expect an evening of music that will have you clapping your hands, stomping your feet and raising up a shout for more. The performances are Friday and Saturday...

Myron Johnson of Minneapolis, former artistic director for Ballet of the Dolls, recommends “The Conference of the Birds” from Zorongo Flamenco Dance Theatre. The dance piece is based on an epic poem by 12th-century Persian mystic Farīd al-DīnʿAṭṭār. “It’s been performed and created by one of my absolute favorite artists in this community, Susana di Palma,” Johnson said. “I can’t imagine anyone taking this story and doing an interpretation any better than Susana and her live musicians and...

Puppetry artist Sandy Spieler plans to attend Minneapolis author Patrick Cabello Hansel’s book launch Thursday night for his poetry collection, “Breathing in Minneapolis.” The collection arises from the tumultuous events of 2020: the COVID pandemic, the murder of George Floyd, the destruction along Lake Street and the challenges immigrant communities faced. It’s Cabello Hansel’s third collection, and he draws in part from his work as pastor of a bilingual Spanish-English speaking church in...

Opera lover Miluska Novota of Minneapolis says she’s “saltando en dos patitas — jumping on two feet” for joy as she looks forward to seeing Venessa Becerra in Minnesota Opera’s “Elixir of Love.” Novota loved the soprano’s performance in “The Daughter of the Regiment,” and she’s happy to see a Latina performer take the lead role as Adina. In Gaetano Donizetti’s popular comedic opera, lowly farmer Nemorino (Andrew Stenston), tries to win the heart of the beautiful, strong-willed Adina, and...

Carleton College senior Esme Krohn loves the Perlman Teaching Museum on campus, and she was at the opening night of its new exhibit “Towards a Warm Embrace” by Finnegan Shannon and Ezra Benus. The hands-on, interactive exhibit explores themes of ableism and disability as well as the power of touch in a post-pandemic world. Both artists are New York-based, though Shannon is a Carleton grad, and some of the pieces were created in collaboration with Carleton art students. One such piece that...

Theatermaker Joe Hendren wants people to know about History Theatre’s Raw Stages new works festival, taking place through Sunday in St. Paul. There’s a reading of a new work-in-progress each day. These are plays and musicals commissioned by the History Theatre, and this festival is an opportunity for the shows’ playwrights and artistic team to see how an audience reacts, and for the audience to ask questions and offer feedback in a Q&A following each performance. Find the line-up...

Maricella Xiong of St. Paul admires the work of Urban Roots, a nonprofit community and safe space that serves local youth. This November, around the Hmong New Year, local Hmong youth dressed in their traditional Hmong clothes and took photograph portraits at the Urban Roots’ Rivoli Bluffs Farm. Youth at Urban Roots then selected the final pictures for the show.  “I thought it was a phenomenal expression of cultural revitalization, indigenous solidarity, and Hmong indigeneity in general,"...

Skylark Opera Theatre performs “The Gift of the Magi” this weekend, and members of the Armstrong High School Opera Club from Robbinsdale will be in attendance. Opera Club adviser Mark Mertens and student officer Grace Pawlak recommended this show for Art Hounds.   They appreciate Skylark Opera Theatre for its short, accessible operas, typically sung in English. This 90-minute opera, based on the O. Henry story, tells of a newlywed couple who each make sacrifices to try to buy the other the...

Singer and retired vocal teacher Mary Heston Dahl of White Bear Lake has a special place in her heart for the St. Croix Valley Chamber Chorale. She sang with them for about eight years, but this year she’s looking forward to hearing the performance from the audience. Now in its 49th season, the VCC is the longest-running amateur choir in the Twin Cities, and in that time it’s only had two artistic directors. The chorale includes some 40-50 singers across a range of ages.   This weekend is...

Art lover Bill Adams was delighted to visit the Kaddatz Galleries to see Charles Beck: Rarities and Masterpieces. The Kaddatz and other Fergus Falls venues have been celebrating “A Year of Beck” throughout 2023, marking what would have been the Minnesota artist’s 100th birthday. Charles Beck (1923 – 2017) created woodcuts, paintings, and other artworks that often celebrated the landscape of Ottertail County in west central Minnesota.  This is the final show in the series, and it runs...

Artist and photographer Theresa Drift of Cook, Minn., and theatermaker Payton Counts of Net Lake, Minn., both saw the “Native American Art: Past and Present” gallery show at the Northwoods Friends of the Arts in Cook. It’s a mixture of contemporary and historical pieces by local artists, including paintings, metalwork, birchbark baskets, beadwork and quilting. The show also includes a few pieces from Grand Portage artist George Morrison, a well-known mid-century painter.  Counts...

"History repeats itself,” says Twin Cities actor James Craven. That was one of his takeaways after he saw a workshop of Combustible Company’s production of “The Hairy Ape” last summer. Written in 1922 by Eugene O’Neill, this play about labor rights and immigration feels just as timely today. Combustible’s production, staged with the company’s signature focus on actors’ physicality, will be performed Nov. 10-18 at the Center for Performing Arts in Minneapolis.  “It aggravated me. It...

Minneapolis art lover Ali Kennedy is a huge fan of the DaDa Duende Record Club, a subscription box by Twin Cities creators Chris and Hannah Lynch. Each quarter, subscribers receive a lathe-cut record hand-made by the Lynches, a glossy zine containing photography, poetry and other visual arts and a limited edition 8x8” print of one image from the zine.   “It looks like something you’d buy in a museum gift shop because it’s so beautifully put together,” says Kennedy. According to Hannah...

Maria Asp is the director of education and community engagement with the Speaking Out Collective. She’s a huge fan of Frank Theatre, which for more than 30 years has focused on mounting plays that address social, cultural and political issues. The theater is staging its first live production since the onset of the pandemic, and the new play by former Twin Cities resident Trista Baldwin is certain to spark discussion.  “FETAL” is set in a clinic that provides abortions in Texas on June 24,...

Twin Cities arts enthusiast Florence Brammer loves Girl Friday Productions and Open Eye Theatre’s production of “Life Sucks,” a play she called “smart and funny and poignant.”  The play was loosely adapted by playwright Aaron Posner from Anton Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya.” “First of all, when I walked into the theater, I was blown away by how gorgeous the set design is,” Brammer says. “And the performances are so good.” Brammer was struck by the broadness of the performances — but says it...