Art Hounds

By: Minnesota Public Radio
Listen for free

  • Summary

  • Each week three people from the Minnesota arts community talk about a performance, opening, or event they're excited to see or want others to check out.
    Copyright 2025 Minnesota Public Radio
    Show more Show less
Art Entertainment & Performing Arts
Show more Show less
Episodes
  • Art Hounds recommend art by museum staffers, mental health professionals and prisoners

    Art Hounds recommend art by museum staffers, mental health professionals and prisoners
    Feb 20 2025
    From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.Artists at work Diane Richard of St. Paul worked for 21 years at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia), and she wants people to know about “Artists at Work: the Mia Staff Art Show.” It’s tucked away in the community commons area just past the cafe and the family center (pro tip: you can bring your lunch with you to the exhibit!) The show runs through April 13. Diane explains: You might never have thought about it, but the people who work in museums are often artists themselves — and good ones, too. They work as security guards, and they create public programs, hang art on the walls, help you figure out where you’re going, and sell you stuff in the shop. And they work in everything from oil painting to watercolor and prints, ceramic sculpture to embroidery, video and collage. There’s even a tarot card created from crop seeds. One work waves from the wall: the menacing loon flag was security guard Rob McBroom official entry into the state’s flag contest. As I strolled around, Cara O’Connell's portrait of Myrna drew me over. It’s from O’Connell’s series on caregivers. Myrna is a beatific presence under a halo of robins. For me, the showstopper was Adam White’s “It Came with the Room.” White’s triptych collage is layered with thousands of cartoon bubbles filled with intriguing messages, many about the hellhound Cerebus. You could spend hours in front of it searching for meaning. Overall, the show gives insight into the mostly unseen hands responsible for MIA’s daily operations. What comes through is their passion for art.— Diane RichardThe art of mental health Carla Mansoni is the director of arts and cultural Engagement at CLUES, one of the largest and oldest Latin organizations in Minnesota. She wants people to know about “The Art of Mental Health,” a group show of art created by people who work in the mental health field, curated by Kasia Chojan-Cymerman and Thrace Soryn. The exhibit at the Vine Arts Center in Minneapolis opens this Saturday, Feb. 22, with an artist reception from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. featuring a performance by psychologist/musician Mindy Benowitz. The show runs on Saturdays through March. There is a performance by bluegrass Americana trio Echo Trail on March 15. Carla says: The idea is to focus on the mental health professionals who also use art to heal themselves. This is a wonderful opportunity to showcase the diversity of art forms and how art and culture also heals the healer, elevating the humanity of those working in mental health spaces. — Carla MansoniSEENJennifer Bowen, founder and director of the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop, was deeply moved by the exhibit “SEEN” currently on display at the Weisman Art Museum on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis. Curated by Emily Baxter of We Are All Criminals, this show is half a decade in the making. Seven artists partnered with seven incarcerated artists to create installations. The show runs through May 18, with a panel conversation planned for Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 6 p.m. Some installations respond to incarcerated life, such as work by Sarith Peou and Carl Flink, which reflect the steps of traditional Cambodian dance Peou used to keep himself active and healthy while on COVID lockdown in his cell. Jennifer says: There’s another exhibit of a poet named Brian, who’s got a massive chandelier of bird cages hanging from the ceiling with some of his poetry being read and voiced over by himself and other folks that he lives with. And I think the title of the poem is “We Can’t Hear Ourselves Sing,” and it’s about the kind of chaos and cacophony of life inside a prison. It was the first thing I saw when I walked into the exhibit. And it literally took my breath away, the way that it speaks metaphorically not just to the pain that incarceration causes, but to the kind of human need to still find beauty in the midst of that pain. But then there are other artists who chose to think about what the future would look like, or what healing might look like. There’s an artist named Ronald who has a garden reminiscent of the garden his grandfather grew when he was in Detroit that’s meant to be this kind of healing look forward. It’s a really heavy but beautiful exhibit. And one thing this exhibit does is offers the community, not only a chance to listen on phones to the artists’ voices and to see interviews, but it also gives the public a chance to write notes to them that will go back to them. — Jennifer Bowen
    Show more Show less
    4 mins
  • Art Hounds offer Valentine’s recommendations: A murderous plant, a rom com and math art

    Art Hounds offer Valentine’s recommendations: A murderous plant, a rom com and math art
    Feb 13 2025

    From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above.


    Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.


    Take your valentine somewhere that’s green

    Writer and art lover Susan Montag recommends the work of Theatre 55, a Twin Cities-based theater company whose shows all feature casts of actors over age 55. Their production of the musical “Little Shop of Horrors” is playing at the Gremlin Theatre in St. Paul through Feb. 22.


    She’s particularly looking forward to hearing vocalist Patricia Lacy, who is known for her work with Luther Vandross and with Sounds of Blackness, sing out “Feed me, Seymour,” when she plays the hungry plant from outer space, Audrey II.


    Susan says: I’ve seen a lot of the Theatre 55 shows. They are always so much fun. I like to see on the stage the folks who represent someone in my age group, showing that people over 55 are still very vibrant, very energetic and have a lot of talent to share!


    — Susan Montag


    Take your Valentine to see a rom-com play in Duluth

    MacKenzie McCullum is a writer and podcaster living in the Twin Cities, and she suggests taking your Valentine to see a Minnesota-original rom-com play at Zeitgeist Theater in Duluth.


    “String” opens tonight and runs through Feb. 22. There is an ASL-interpreted performance Wednesday, Feb. 19. The play was a runner-up for the Kennedy Center Mark Twain Comedy Playwriting Award.


    MacKenzie says: I like to say that this play is like your favorite Nancy Meyers or Nora Ephron romantic comedy that you see on screen, but it’s on stage. It’s just a beautiful showcasing of genuine love that you can find every day.


    It’s an unlikely courtship between a poet and a pizza delivery boy. It’s a great ensemble play: there are lots of great characters that will make you laugh out loud.


    The playwright, Jessica Lind Peterson, is a Duluth native. She actually wrote this play while she was in school at the University of Minnesota Duluth. She went on to co-found Yellow Tree Theater based in Osseo. “String” had kind of a life of its own in productions all over the country, and now it is back in Duluth for the 20th anniversary.


    — MacKenzie McCullum


    Match made in heaven: Mathematics + art

    Freelance mathematics writer Barry Cipra of Northfield recommends a solo art show that celebrates the connections between mathematics and art.


    John Shier’s exhibit “From Order to Chaos” features visual art created from equations. The show at the Steeple Center in Rosemount runs through March, with an artist reception and talk on Wednesday, Feb. 19 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.


    Barry points out art and mathematics are both fundamentally creative endeavors, adding that John is part of a long tradition of artists using mathematical thinking to create their work. Leonardo da Vinci, anyone?



    Barry offers this introduction: John Shier’s a retired physicist. He taught for many years at Normandale Community College here in the Twin Cities, and has been doing his own kind of art, using equations and algorithms to create interesting, colorful [works], everything from landscapes to completely abstract works.


    He also uses a lot of randomness. He calls it stochastic geometry — a term of art in the mathematical world. You let chance play a big role in what you get. He then, of course, uses his own eye to make selections. If he doesn’t like what the computer produces, he’ll try it again and see if he gets something that looks better.


    — Barry Cipra
    Show more Show less
    4 mins
  • Art Hounds: The history of Gospel music, spring flowers and a play about immigration

    Art Hounds: The history of Gospel music, spring flowers and a play about immigration
    Feb 6 2025
    From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.Somebody Say HallelujahLinda Sloan of Hopkins, Minn., is the executive director for the Council for Minnesotans of African Heritage. She predicts audiences will be on their feet at the Fitzgerald Theater in St Paul this weekend, moved by “The Sound of Gospel: An Anthology Depicting the Rich History and Evolution of Gospel Music.”The play is written by Rev. William H. Pierce of 2nd Chance Outreach and directed by Academy Award-nominated artist Jevetta Steele, with musical direction by Grammy Award-winning artist Billy Steele. The all-ages show will be performed Saturday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 9 at 3 p.m. Linda says: I cannot say enough about this performance. It is amazing. When I went to the show a couple years ago, I was just blown away by the caliber of the talent and then the meaning of the songs. It’s just a phenomenal show. You’ll hear anything from spirituals to praise and worship. It is just an opportunity for individuals who maybe have never really experienced gospel to understand the roots, the roots of where it comes from and why it is spiritual music. It’s so energetic. There are a couple little somber moments, because it is a history of gospel music, and there have been things in the past that maybe occur that required spiritual music. But for the most part, it’s just one of those “toe-tapping, get-on-your-feet, clapping, as if you were in a Baptist church” shows. — Linda Sloan A play about DREAMers navigating life Actor and singer Anna Hashizume of Minneapolis recommends seeing Frank Theatre’s current production of the play “Sanctuary City,” about two undocumented teens growing up in Newark, N.J., post 9/11. She describes the play as a series of very short scenes performed by an outstanding three-person cast. The play runs in the intimate Open Eye Theatre in Minneapolis through Feb. 23. Masks are required for the Feb. 7 and Feb. 16 performances. Frank Theatre, which mounted the play, specializes in works that spark conversation, and Anna says this show feels incredibly timely.Anna says: I know when [director] Wendy Knox first chose the play we didn’t know the political climate that was going to be happening at this moment in time, but it is a very timely play for what is happening in our nation right now. Theater has a lot of different functions. It can just be entertainment, which is also lovely at a time like this, but also being able to be educated and see different life experiences in front of your eyes in a relatively safe space can open something up in all of us. — Anna HashizumeA breath of spring Donna Winberg of Deephaven, Minn., loves to walk the trails at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska, so she’s been able to pop inside the visitor center to watch preparations for the Spring Flower show. The enchanted garden displays are now open to viewers with an Arboretum ticket daily through March 16. In addition to the Spring Flower show, Donna recommends continuing through the Synder Building to the Conservatory, which is currently packed with orchids and tropical blooms, with a stop at the Rootstock Café for a bite to eat. Additional ticketed events include an Art Fair on Feb. 15 and 16, After Hours with Flowers and Afternoon Tea events. MPR chief meteorologist Paul Huttner is also a fan; see his pictures in a recent Updraft Blog here. Donna describes the scene: You’ll be amazed when you see the huge tree trunks they’ve brought in there, and the mosses and the lichens and the mushrooms. It’s just like a breath of spring, which we all need this time of year! What I really love is the local artist work that is incorporated into the displays. There’ll be different artists coming in [through the course of the show.] [This week] there are mosaic glass birds and ceramic birds and all sorts of wonderful little fairy houses, bird houses. So you have to stand there and look at things for a while to have it all revealed to you, which is fun.— Donna Winberg
    Show more Show less
    4 mins

What listeners say about Art Hounds

Average customer ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Audible.com reviews

Amazon reviews
No Reviews are Available