George Morrison, “Spirit Path,” pastel on paper, courtesy of MMAA. This touring show is coming to the Minnesota History Center on February 14, 2015 After more than three years covering the city’s cultural scene for Knight Arts, I’m moving on. Beginning in December, my friend and colleague Levi Weinhagen will cover St. Paul’s arts and […]
Article · November 26, 2014 by Susannah Schouweiler
Raoul Deal, “DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals),” Immigration Series #10, woodcut, 2013. In light of President Obama’s executive actions on immigration, announced last week, Raoul Deal’s exhibition of new and recent work in Macalester College’s Law Warschaw Gallery seems especially timely. At the center of his show, “Ni De Aquí Ni De Allá (From Neither […]
Article · November 24, 2014 by Susannah Schouweiler
The crew behind Saint Paul Almanac and Cracked Walnut have been busy since early October, hosting readings in venues all over the city – 16 in all – for the 2015 Saint Paul Almanac Literary Festival. The lit fest concludes this year with events on Thursday, Saturday and next Monday, at Common Good Books, Amsterdam […]
Article · November 19, 2014 by Susannah Schouweiler
Here in St. Paul, new music has never been so accessible. Uninitiated listeners looking for inviting points of entry and seasoned fans alike need not look far to find a variety of offerings, thanks to the efforts of folks like Kate Nordstrum (curator of Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra’s fabulous Liquid Music series), and artist-led organizations […]
Article · November 17, 2014 by Susannah Schouweiler
Paco de Lucia (b. 1947 – d. 2014). Photo via the artist’s website Forget Christmas music. This time of year, as the temps start to plunge, I’d rather listen to Latin music – takes the chill off, I guess. And we have a great variety of ways to scratch that itch around here: For masterful Cuban-inflected […]
Article · November 12, 2014 by Susannah Schouweiler
This Saturday, 7 p.m. at Bedlam Lowertown If you follow contemporary dance, you need to be at Bedlam Lowertown this Saturday night. The collaborative duo Fire Drill (Billy Mullaney and Emily Gastineau) are presenting “an evening of pop-up experimental choreography,” bringing together dance-makers from Portland, Ore., Oakland, Calif. and the Twin Cities. “Absolute Bliss” will […]
Article · November 10, 2014 by Susannah Schouweiler
Zeitgeist’s new music festival is this week, Thursday through Sunday, November 6, 7, 8 & 9. Zeitgeist’s annual New Music Cabaret is always well curated, but this year’s line-up is particularly intriguing. For four days at Studio Z this week, Thursday through Sunday, in-the-know audiences will be treated to a wide variety of “cutting-edge performances from the […]
Article · November 5, 2014 by Susannah Schouweiler
“I Vote, I Sing” happens over the lunch hour on Election Day, November 4, at City Hall. As the mid-term elections draw near, the rhetorical extremes of the campaign season are starting to get to me. There are some hotly contested, important seats up for vote in Minnesota at every level of government. Between wall-to-wall […]
Article · November 3, 2014 by Susannah Schouweiler
Photo from “Carry On!” 2013 by Farrington Starnes. Courtesy of BareBones Productions This weekend, BareBones Productions will open the first of five showings of “Metamorphosoup,” the 21st iteration of the performing arts nonprofit’s “Annual Halloween Outdoor Puppet Extravaganza.” Billed as a “community-created spectacle” the all-ages production is as much a ritual pageant marking the waning […]
Article · October 22, 2014 by Susannah Schouweiler
The Creole Choir of Cuba. Photo courtesy of the Ordway The Creole Cuban Choir is on stage at the Ordway (a Knight Arts grantee) for a one-night-only performance this week. The 10-person ensemble also goes by the moniker “the Desandann” (literally, “the descendants”), so named for their dedication to keeping alive the songs passed down […]
Article · October 20, 2014 by Susannah Schouweiler
Katherine Turczan, “Line” (detail), 2014, archival pigment prints, dimensions variable. Courtesy of MMAA This weekend, Minnesota Museum of American Art (a Knight Arts grantee) will close its public transportation-themed exhibition, “From There to Here,” with a “mobile theater” performance of a new, crowd-sourced play written for the occasion by Jessica Huang in partnership with artists […]
Article · October 15, 2014 by Susannah Schouweiler