Caroline Mecklin’s studio in the JAX Building. Photo courtesy of the artist and Lowertown First Fridays on Facebook On the first Friday of each month, six artists’ spaces in St. Paul’s Lowertown neighborhood join forces to present an easily walkable assortment of arts events. In honor of Valentine’s Day, the February 7 Lowertown First Friday […]
Article · February 3, 2014 by Susannah Schouweiler
“The Black Snowman” runs from Jan. 31 to Feb 23. Production photo courtesy of SteppingStone Theatre This weekend, SteppingStone Theatre opens its revival of “The Black Snowman,” a play written for the company in the late 1990s by Deborah Torraine, with music by Gary Rue, based on a children’s book by Phil Mendez. The story: Jacob […]
Article · January 29, 2014 by Susannah Schouweiler
“Standing Place,” 2012, artist book by Fred Hagstrom, this year’s Minnesota Book Artist Award-recipient. On Saturday, January 24, the Friends of Saint Paul Public Library and 3M Library Systems announced the finalists in all eight categories for the 26th Annual Minnesota Book Awards. The finalists were chosen by a panel of 24 readers this year, […]
Article · January 27, 2014 by Susannah Schouweiler
Park Square Theatre’s latest production, “The School for Lies” by Tony-nominated playwright David Ives, is sly and delightful, a madcap romantic farce as ferociously smart as it is fun. The setting is 17th-century Paris, in the elegantly appointed drawing room of a much sought-after young widow, Celimene (Kate Guentzel), who’s as known for her barbed […]
Article · January 22, 2014 by Susannah Schouweiler
The Victoria Theater, 825 University Avenue. Photo: Kimmy Tanaka, courtesy of Historic Saint Paul “If a building could smile, this place would have an ear-to-ear grin today,” said a Frogtown resident at last week’s press conference about plans to turn the neighborhood’s historic but long derelict Victoria Theater into a community arts center. Another resident, […]
Article · January 20, 2014 by Susannah Schouweiler
History Theatre, in partnership with Minnesota History Center, begins 2014 with its annual weeklong festival featuring works-in-progress by Minnesota playwrights. For this year’s RAW STAGES showcase, the lineup consists of staged readings of four scripts, three of them new commissions. Individual, general admission tickets to each reading are $10; festival passes to see all four […]
Article · January 13, 2014 by Susannah Schouweiler
Did you happen to catch Alec Soth’s stint on the The New Yorker’s Instagram feed last week? (On a related note, Soth and his “LBM Dispatch” partner, writer Brad Zellar, were profiled by the magazine in late December 2013. That essay is also well worth a read.) From New Year’s day through January 5, the St. […]
Article · January 8, 2014 by Susannah Schouweiler
Installation view at Minnesota Museum of American Art. L to R: Susan Cipcic, “Flutter (Corvine Frippery),” deconstructed thrift store sweaters, 2013. Karen Ciaramella, “Centered,” wool roving, 2007. Katya Usvitsky, “Mama and Daughter,” nylon hosiery and fiber fill, 2002. Photo: Tim Rummelhoff Our state is a national hub for fine craft, home to a host of […]
Article · January 6, 2014 by Susannah Schouweiler
Photo courtesy of the University Club of Saint Paul All decked out for the holidays in twinkling lights, seasonal greens and flocked little trees, the University Club on Summit Avenue was also filled with bookish folks Tuesday night. They’d turned out for Carol Connolly’s annual Christmas shindig, a special themed edition of her beloved Readings […]
Article · December 18, 2013 by Susannah Schouweiler
Stephen Nova, “Invisible Cities III.” Image courtesy of the website for Melbourne, Australia art space, fortyfivedownstairs There’s a blog post I’ve noticed circulating through various social media feeds in the past few days: “The New Rules of Public Art,” as articulated by the team at Situations, an arts organization based in Bristol, U.K. It’s a list of […]
Article · December 16, 2013 by Susannah Schouweiler
Philip Brunelle will conduct VocalEssence with special guest Mariachi de Tierra for Welcome Christmas. It just doesn’t feel like Christmastime without choral music. But as luck has it, here in the Twin Cities we’re awash in renowned choruses, and it looks like they’re all putting on a holiday concert in the next two weeks. You […]
Article · December 11, 2013 by Susannah Schouweiler