Arts & Culture

Indigenous people in Minnesota - like Indigenous people in places all around the country - are rewriting the narrative these days.

They're telling their own stories. They are letting the world know that they're very much a part of contemporary life in this country. 

Opening Reception: Metamorphose:  Annie Dugan says Sara Brokke's exhibition Metamorphose, opening Friday at the Prøve Gallery, is a "raw and vulnerable" exhibition of paintings - or as the gallery calls it, "a personal mythology." 

The protagonist in Konnie Ellis's book Picnic in Venice "finds her way in the world through art."

Perhaps the same could be said of author-painter Ellis.

She's in the midst of a painting jag now, but she's still considering which of the Venice characters she might like to revisit in a future novel.

Picnic in Venice is published by Rocket Science Press.

"On this episode we meet with Sam Levar of Duluth Coffee Company. We dive into the dark roast vs light roast myth, the numerous processes that ultimately affect the flavor of your coffee, and why Lake Superior’s water makes for a such great cup. " 

Artisan Tax Talk: Not many people are excited about doing their taxes, but when you combine "the artistic personality" with a fairly unstructured occupation, it can become, in the words of Annie Dugan, "daunting, confusing and surprisingly unfair."  Never fear: the Superior Artisans are here with tomorrow's Artisan Tax Talk, an evening with an artist-friendly tax expert to help answer all your questions.

You have too much to offer to let this gift go. This gift is a blessing, but it can also be a burden and a curse. When Jake plays the piano, there’s something in there that makes me cry. Every single time. Your drawings and your artwork have that same power. When you create something, it shows others what is inside you. But more importantly, it shows them what is inside them.

Our guest this morning is Mark Munger,  and he's written the final chapter in his Finnish American trilogy, Kotimaa: Homeland.

Annie Dugan suggests some interesting diversions during this holiday week:

A book on the women of the Bauhaus movement,

A podcast series about the 1990 art heist at Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston,

A film about the 2004 library heist at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky,

He turned on the amplifier and I expected to hear the twangy sounds of the 1950’s. Poodle skirts and ducktail haircuts were in my mind, but what came out of the guitar was the blues.  Not just any blues, but the heart-wrenching blues from a life that didn’t deliver what was expected. I could hear his anguish and the guitar moaning as he was saying goodbye to an old friend who was moving on and leaving him behind.

"An embarassment of riches."

That's what retired MNHS Press editor Marilyn Ziebarth and exhibit curator Brian Horrigan had to wade through when they concieved of a book to tell the stories of Christmas in Minnesota through a variety of voices: old, new, men, women, contemporary and pre-statehood, funny, sad, poignant and more.

"Christmas in Minnesota," edited by Marilyn Ziebarth and Brian Horrigan, is published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press.

count. map. pulse. breathe.
Kathy McTavish's new exhibit opened at the Joseph Nease Gallery Friday ...

Tonight, you can try your hand at your own creating with the  DAI Printmaking Club at the building in Lincoln Park.

Curiosity, collaboration, the language we all speak - artist and author Tara Sweeney talks about it all.