Art Briefs: Minneapolis marionette mayhem
Plus: A new printmaking center, lights on a greenway and linguistic humor at the Guthrie
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Arts Briefs is a weekly roundup of Minnesota Arts News compiled by the MPR News arts team.
Stop-motion memoir
The Soo Visual Arts Center in Minneapolis opens a new solo exhibition July 20 by local artist Hallie Bahn.
“Sequelae” features sculpture and stop-motion animation to construct autobiographical narratives based on Bahn’s life before and after a serious car crash in 2023.
Bahn uses the Pepper’s ghost — an illusion technique used in theater, cinema and amusement parks — which projects animation onto miniature sets, a world inhabited by “Mari,” a “ larger-than-life-size, uncanny papier-mâché marionette.”
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Sundance won’t dance in Minneapolis
Minneapolis applied to be the new home of the prestigious Sundance Film Festival, but Friday the city learned it didn’t make the cut.
Earlier this year, the festival began looking to relocate from their longtime home of Park City, Utah. In May, Minneapolis submitted a proposal to be the festival’s new home. It even promised $2 million per year in support.
That wasn't enough.
Six finalists, including Atlanta, Ga., and Boulder, Co., were just announced, but Minneapolis wasn’t on the list.
Ben Johnson, director of arts and cultural affairs for the city, issued a statement saying that even though Sundance will not be coming to Minneapolis, “we know that our city is a nation-leading hub of arts and culture.”
Linguistic laughs
The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis officially opens its last show of the season Friday night. It’s about learning a new language — a subject the show’s director knows well.
“English” by Sanaz Toossi won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2023. It follows a group of Iranian adults studying for the Test of English as a Second Language. Director Hamid Dehghani studied English in Iran before coming to the U.S. to pursue graduate studies. He says this influenced his work on the play.
“When I read it I said, I have to direct this play ... I know what’s going on inside these characters. Yeah, it’s a very, very personal motivation for directing this play.”
Audiences can catch the comedy through Aug. 18.
Alamo Drafthouse to reopen
The Alamo Drafthouse movie theater in Woodbury closed suddenly in June when the franchise owner declared bankruptcy. Friday, the parent company has announced the theater will reopen.
According to Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Texas, the Woodbury location will host a hiring fair for past employees on July 23, with rehired employees enjoying a “more robust benefits plan.”
The theater will open to the public on Aug. 27.
Editions etched
A new printmaking studio opened this week in Minneapolis. C&C Editions will focus on traditional fine art printmaking methods, including woodcutting and etching.
The studio was built by Cole Rogers, who co-founded the Highpoint Center for Print Making in Minneapolis (just a few blocks from C&C). Roger also serves as the director of the new workshop.
Radiant parade
Saturday, a section of the Midtown Greenway will be aglow.
The Semilla Center for Healing and the Arts in Minneapolis is hosting the Radiant Waves Lantern Parade. The all-ages event is free and attendees are encouraged to bring their own homemade lanterns. The parade starts at 7 p.m. on the greenway between 10th and 11th Avenue.
Artistic outdoors
A new yearlong program seeks to send Minnesota-based artists to parks across the state. It’s called “Creating Belonging in Minnesota Parks.”
It’s an initiative from Forecast Public Art, a St. Paul nonprofit, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and other stakeholders.
Artists will get a $40,000 stipend plus more for materials. Potential sites include Battlecreek Park in St. Paul and Tettegouche State Park in Silver Bay. The deadline to apply is July 21.
In other news
Bronx-born folk guitarist and singer Happy Traum died July 17. He was a fixture in the Greenwich Village folk scene in the ’60s and the later Woodstock music community. He also cofounded Homespun Music Instruction with his wife Jan brother Artie Traum, offering music instruction books and audiotapes since 1967.
Happy Traum frequently performed with Hibbing singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. In 1963, with his group The New World Singers, Traum released the first recorded version of Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind.”