Recent announcements of still more cancelled concerts, now stretching through December for both Minnesota Orchestra and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (a Knight Arts grantee), hit the news last week in the face of as yet-intractable contract disputes between the musicians and board/management for both vaunted institutions. Even so, there’s still plenty of live classical music […]
Article · November 28, 2012 by Susannah Schouweiler
This Wednesday evening, Milkweed Editions will celebrate the publication of its inaugural collection from the Lindquist & Vennum Prize for Poetry, a competitive annual award of $10,000 and a book contract, open to writers currently living in Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. The first of the Lindquist & Vennum Prize-winners is St. […]
Article · November 26, 2012 by Susannah Schouweiler
TU Dance 2012. Photo by Brandon Stengel. For their eclectic fall season performance at the O’Shaughnessy this weekend, TU Dance (a Knight Arts grantee) offered four very different dance works, including one world premiere, “Feather and Bone,” choreographed by TU Dance Cofounder Uri Sands. The night started strong with “Amusement of the Gods,” a cerebral, […]
Article · November 19, 2012 by Susannah Schouweiler
Pictured: Hanna Sprout and Ryan Levin as the young lovers Wendla and Melchior. Photo by Bailey Anderson I saw a remarkable play in the basement of St. Paul’s First Baptist Church late last week: blank slate theatre’s all-youth production of the multiple-Tony-winning musical, “Spring Awakening.” There are just four performances left, and let me say, […]
Article · November 14, 2012 by Susannah Schouweiler
The work you’ll find in St. Paul’s grand performance halls – like the Ordway and O’Shaughnessy, Fitzgerald Theater and Landmark Center – commands such a large share of critical and audience attention, it’s easy to overlook what’s happening on the smaller stages. And we have so many terrific, intimate venues for performance: History Theatre, Lowry […]
Article · November 12, 2012 by Susannah Schouweiler
Before it became the Walker Art Center, it was just lumber baron T.B. Walker’s home. Photograph: T.B. Walker Art Gallery, 807 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis. Photograph Collection ca. 1890. Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society A few years ago, in 2009, Andy Sturdevant wrote a wonderful essay for mnartists.org (where I serve as editor) on […]
Article · November 7, 2012 by Susannah Schouweiler
Cory Loven, “Please Vote.” Courtesy of the artist’s website www.coryloven.com. It seems only appropriate, as this campaign season (at last) draws to a close, that I spent the last Saturday before election day browsing through politically-charged poster designs – in “Poster Offensive 6” at Big Table Studio, and in the affiliated retrospective of work from […]
Article · November 5, 2012 by Susannah Schouweiler
Qeej player at a Lee clan funeral in Fresno, CA, 2007. Photo by Joel Pickford, courtesy of the author’s website California photographer and filmmaker Joel Pickford will be in the Twin Cities this week and next to discuss his new book, “Soul Calling: A Photographic Journey through the Hmong Disapora.” It’s the first such photo-documentary […]
Article · October 31, 2012 by Susannah Schouweiler
In the Irrigate-sponsored project “Resurrecting of Beauty” artists Yang Mee-Moua Yang and Nonmala Xiong worked with the Center for Hmong Art and Talent to make use of unconventional materials found along the light rail, from origami to glass jars, and transform them into fashion. Photo courtesy of Irrigate Arts This Saturday’s crisp, clear afternoon was […]
Article · October 29, 2012 by Susannah Schouweiler
SPCO musicians played in St. Paul’s Rice Park on October 16 as part of a “Don’t Stop the Music” rally – alas, the music has indeed stopped, at least for now. Photo courtesy of the Musicians of the SPCO Facebook page It’s official: As of this week, both of the Twin Cities internationally regarded orchestras […]
Article · October 24, 2012 by Susannah Schouweiler
Installation view, “Between Echo and Silence.” Pictured: “Lustral Bowls” and “Pendulum” by Harriet Bart. Photo courtesy of Macalester College Harriet Bart’s “Between Echo and Silence” is the first major exhibition in Macalester College’s new Law Warschaw Gallery, situated in the school’s beautifully renovated Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center. The show is elegant and somber, an […]
Article · October 22, 2012 by Susannah Schouweiler