Arts and Culture

MPR News has you covered with news and stories about local art and culture happenings across Minnesota.

Art Hounds: Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what's exciting in local art. You can explore arts events here, or become an Art Hound today.

Art Reviews: Our arts team offers insight on the latest in theater, music, visual arts and more. We explore the breadth of creativity and innovation found throughout Minnesota, offering audiences a deeper understanding of the works and artists shaping our cultural landscape. Read more here.

Art Friend: Everyone needs an art friend. Art Friend is a new segment with our arts team. Art spaces can feel exclusive and art can be confusing, obtuse, and even boring. But, especially with the right context, everyone can be a critic. So let us be your guide- your Art Friend. Listen or read Art Friend stories here.

Our arts coverage is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment's Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.

4 facts about 'I Feel Down Today,' the new single from Ponderosa
Minneapolis musician Josh Lavonn says his latest album came from one place: love. The Ponderosa frontman credits his wife and the relationships around him as the spark behind “Woman,” a retro-soul record built on devotion, vulnerability and long-term partnership.
The Lumineers, The Strokes, Matchbox Twenty to headline Minnesota Yacht Club music festival
The third annual Minnesota Yacht Club Festival is set for July 17-19 and will return to Harriet Island Regional Park with performances from The Lumineers, Matchbox Twenty, The Strokes and many more.
Not so fast, Netflix. Paramount launches hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery
Paramount has launched a hostile bid for the company that's home to Casablanca, Batman and CNN. Just Friday, Netflix and Warner Brothers executives were celebrating a deal they had struck. 
Oral histories and lullabies in Sing Again project speak to Somali resilience
Educator and author Marian Hassan captures the oral history and lullabies of Somali culture. Through her “Sing Again” project, she has recorded and documented many songs in their original tongue.
Frank Gehry, the most celebrated architect of his time, dies at 96
Groundbreaking architect Frank Gehry who was behind the acclaimed Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, and Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles has died. Gehry received architecture’s top honor, the Pritzker Prize, in 1989. He was 96.
Catherine Newman’s witty, warm and wary Rocky returns in ‘Wreck’
If you devoured Catherine Newman’s 2024 novel “Sandwich,” you’ll love her just released sequel, “Wreck.” Newman joins Kerri Miller on this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas for a laughter-soaked conversation that covers parenthood, aging, mortality and the peculiarities of a long and enduring marriage.
How a Carleton College alum went from Northfield to ‘Saturday Night Live’
Claire McFadden, a Carleton College graduate, talked with MPR News about how she got started in comedy, her decision to pursue it as a career, and how her time in Minnesota prepared her for this highly coveted opportunity.