Art Hounds

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. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here. An ice-fishing comedy at Commonweal in Lanesboro It's an all-theater Art Hounds this week. Let's start with Commonweal Theatre in Lanesboro, which opens "Eelpout," written by Paul Kruse of La Crosse, Wis., on Saturday. Writer Rayson Lorrey of Rochester saw a preview of the queer comedy about an ice fishing bachelor party gone awry. Its Lake Mille Lacs setting and take on Midwestern culture will feel familiar to audiences, Lorrey said. It runs through Nov. 1. Friday's preview show is County Free Night, where residents of Fillmore and Houston counties can attend free of charge. Lorrey appreciated the icehouse set, the takes on Midwestern male bonding and the unique costumes: "[The show] uses the conceit of a talking eelpout that interacts with the three main male characters: Sven, Ole and Lars. It's a hilarious idea that the Commonweal pulls off really well. There are beautiful eelpout costumes that most of the cast wears at one point, and Laurie Roberts does an amazing job of choreography. You get the idea that there is a school of fish under the ice, dancing. I've never seen anything like it." Morton: The Forgotten (Finnish) Founder As an immigrant to the U.S., actor Patrick Bailey of St. Paul says he's gleaned much of his knowledge of American history from books, screens and theater. He's looking forward to a new opportunity to learn a bit about a lesser-known founding father, John Morton, in a new historical play this weekend. Morton, of Finnish heritage, was a signatory to the Declaration of Independence. "Morton: The Forgotten Founder" was written by Laurie Flanigan Hegge and directed by Wendy Knox of Frank Theater. The free historical play with music takes place for one night only at the Minnehaha Park Pavilion, near the falls. The show is part of FinnFest, which takes place Thursday through Sunday in Minneapolis. The show is followed by live music and dancing with Twin Cities Finnish folk band Lauluaika. Bailey says: "It's kind of a gift from the Finlandia Foundation because it's a free show by Frank Theater, one of the most awesome theater companies in town. It's a fully rehearsed, fully staged [show], costumed with music, hour long. What's not to love?" A staged reading of a new play in Moorhead Derek Dahlsad of Moorhead loves the theater scene in his area, and he recommends seeing a staged reading by local playwright Em Christie. Dahlsad says: “‘Living the Dream’ is about employees at four different businesses trying to get through their day and not go crazy at the end of the world.” The reading is Friday, Sept. 18 at 7 p.m. in the FMCT Community Stage at the Hjemkomst Center in Moorhead.

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. A Teen Musical in the 4-H Building Erik Ostrom of Minneapolis is an improviser, composer and musician—and he always makes a point when he goes to the State Fair to see the 4-H State Arts-In Musical. The program brings together teen thespians from around the state, who spend three weeks creating an original musical, including sets, props, and costumes. Ostrom describes the show as a half-hour song-and-dance production with a live band. They perform three-to-four times a day in the 4-H Building through Labor Day. Ostrom loves seeing the kids’ passion for theater: “I was a small-town theater kid, and I had friends who were other small town theater kids, but it can be isolating, and I like the idea that there are these theater kids coming from all over the state and meeting each other and finding new friends who are excited about the same things they are." Meximalismo Mary Thomas is an art historian and Deputy Director of US Latinx Art Forum. She recommends visiting the exhibition "Meximalismo" at Northeast Sculpture Gallery in Minneapolis, which runs through Sept. 12. Here’s how she describes it: “’Meximalismo’ is a lively and thoughtful exploration of maximalist aesthetics within Latinx art. Curated by Silvana Agostini and Maria Cristina Tavera, this exhibition features a wide range of artists working in mediums that span photography, painting, installation, and multi-media work. The exhibition brings forward multi-dimensional understanding of the social and political significance of maximalism that resonates deeply in a moment that has been overdetermined by narratives of fear and scarcity.” Landscapes with unexpected points of view Looking for a space of beauty to take a breather before the fall arts season swings into action? Doris Rubenstein of Richfield suggests visiting Laura Andrews’ exhibit The Transparent Eye. These “dreamlike” paintings often adjust the viewpoint of typical landscape paintings inviting viewers to look up at the tree canopy or consider the natural world in a new way. The show is on view at the Kolman & Reeb Gallery in the Northrup-King Building in Northeast Minneapolis through Sept. 26. "No one is forcing you to buy a painting, but hold on to your wallet when you see these!”

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. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here. Austin ArtWorks Festival brings visual art, music, books and film downtown Gretchen Ramlo has been involved with the Austin ArtWorks Festival since the beginning, but lately she has stepped back and is looking forward simply to attending this year. The free annual festival takes place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 28, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 29. The festival includes more than 80 juried artists working in a variety of artistic media as well as a stage with live music. This year’s author’s tent includes authors writing romance, crime and thrillers, and Austin history. The festival kicks off Friday at 4 p.m. with a talk by mystery writer William Kent Krueger. Ramlo says she is looking forward to that event as well as a film screening of the documentary “The Life & Art of Eric Anfinson.” Artists respond to Operation Metro Surge in Northeast Minneapolis exhibition Tricia Heuring is artistic director of Public Functionary in Northeast Minneapolis. She’s excited about a group show taking place in her neighborhood at a nontraditional space: findfurnish on Central Avenue. Titled “The Radical Act of Having Each Other’s Back,” the exhibit features the work of 26 artists created during and since U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements' Operation Metro Surge. There is an opening reception Thursday, Aug. 27 from 6 to 9 p.m., and the exhibition remains on view through Sept. 20. At the center of the exhibit, four graffiti writers have created their own black-and-white version of Picasso’s painting “Guernica,” his response to the Nazi bombing of Guernica, Spain, during the Spanish Civil War. Heuring says this version, and the show, allows artists to reclaim the narrative following the height of ICE enforcement activity during Operation Metro Surge. Visitors can add magnetic pieces to the Guernica mural as a way of interacting with the story it is telling. “I really hope this is the first of many, many shows by artists processing what's been happening in our cities and and in our country. And I really hope that it inspires more artists to start opening up about the narratives that they want to share, so that we can continue just resisting and talking about the things that are happening.” Dede Decker transforms latch hook into contemporary fine art Jes Reyes is an artist and arts administrator in St. Paul. She wants people to know about Dede Decker’s latch hook exhibit at Fresh Eye Gallery in Minneapolis, which runs through Sept. 27. Reyes says: “I'm drawn to artists who embrace intuitive making, blur the boundaries between craft and fine art and create work that is both joyful and deeply personal. As a fiber artist myself, I feel a particular connection to Dede's practice. I'm fascinated by the way she transforms latch hook — a medium many people associate with craft kits — into contemporary fine art through her own original designs. Dede's work also resonates with my own belief that fiber belongs firmly within contemporary art.” (Correction Aug., 27, 2026): A previous version of this story contained a misspelling of Jes Reyes. It has been corrected.

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. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here. A twilight circus takes over Raspberry Island Erinn Liebhard, artistic and executive director of Rhythmically Speaking, is looking forward to a one-night-only circus and cabaret performance Sunday, Aug. 23. Insomnia Salon Vol. 3: The River Night Circus takes place from 7 to 9 p.m. at Raspberry Island in St. Paul. The free event begins at twilight and is staged by Deeper Water Arts & Jackson Street Arts in partnership with St. Paul Parks. Liebhard notes that there's abundant free parking a short walk from the performance site. Liebhard says: "This show has brought together more than 45 performers to build an amazing twilight river circus, including fire dancers, aerialists, installation artists, giant puppets, food trucks, all manner of dancers and singers and musicians, tarot card readers, and a mysterious woman who tells your fortune by creating a custom fragrance for you. I'm so excited to bring my whole family to this. The show is going to be a totally delightful end-of-summer treat." Opera, drag and burlesque share the stage in St. Paul Isa Condo-Olvera is an actor and singer and St. Paul. She's a fan of both opera and drag, and she says these two high-drama performance styles combine to form "an absolute blast" in An Opera Theatre's Divas & Drag: Young, Sexy, and Baroque. Now in its fifth year, An Opera Theatre has partnered with the Bach Society of Minnesota, which will provide the musical accompaniment to opera, drag, and burlesque performers. The show takes place at the Historic Mounds Theatre in St. Paul, Aug. 21 – 24. Condo-Olvera says the combination "makes for really diverse audiences. There's the opera fans and there's the drag fans, and there's people that love both, like me. It makes for introducing new forms of art to both of those audience members, which is just so exciting and fun. It's also really fun to witness people discovering those new art forms, because the audience is such a huge part of drag." An upcycled quilt collects memories of Lake Superior Kristen McCoy creates designs from used clothes and textiles in Minneapolis under the brand ReThink and she wants to highlight two interactive, upcycled art opportunities at the Flock ArtFest taking place Aug. 21 and 22 at Bayfront Festival Park in Duluth. Resource Renew is hosting a Free Store where people can take gently used art supplies that were locally donated. Visitors can also contribute to Minneapolis-based artist Sadie Ward's Lake Superior memories quilt project by writing their memories of Lake Superior on denim from upcycled jeans. Ward will sew the pieces into a quilt in the shape of the lake. The choice of denim is intentional, McCoy says, not just for its shades of blue, but because cotton is a very water-thirsty crop. According to reporting from the U.N Environment Programme, making a single pair of jeans can take 800 to 1,000 gallons of water, with less efficient jeans soaking up as much as 2,600 gallons. "I like... everything coming together on this art project for Sadie. Having that parallel of using the denim to tell the stories of water, and also [having] a place where we can hold our memories close to us as climate change is making changes to our waterways and also with human impact changing our waterways too."

This week, Art Hounds is devoted to the Minnesota Fringe Festival. More than 100 individual plays will run on stages across Minneapolis Thursday through August. Fringe is the largest non-juried theater festival in the U.S.; amateur and professional theater makers alike pitch shows that are chosen by lottery. Each show must be fewer than 60 minutes, and there are up to seven slots a day for shows to run. For many, it's the wild diversity of shows itself that is the draw. Performances this year span from musicals to improv, dance to clowning, one-person shows to full casts. Most performers are local, but there are visiting performers who travel to Minnesota to take part. Each show runs five times throughout the 12-day period. Interested in going? There are ticketing options for single shows as well as a range of multi-show options. Check out the shows and ticketing options on the Minnesota Fringe website. For those attending with families, each show page includes recommended minimum ages and content warnings. And while it's hard to select just one or even a few shows to highlight, we asked Art Hounds to do just that. Tech: What could go wrong? Actor Taj Ruler recommends the improv comedy show, Tech. Set on the night before an opening Fringe show, anything can and will go wrong in this ensemble led by Mike Fotus at Strike Theater. "I'm excited because I think it is a stellar cast of improvisers, the best in the Twin Cities. So I think you're in for a good time, and it'll be different every time for the five shows that they have." Watership Down: An authorized musical based on the classic novel Actor and writer Isabella Dunsieth is looking forward to seeing "Watership Down." The musical is based on the 1972 novel by Richard Adams; Rachel Ropella and Timothy Kelly worked with Adams' estate as they adapted it for the stage. Bee Davis of Minneapolis wrote the music and lyrics. The novel tells the story of a band of rabbits on a perilous journey to find a new home. This show by Melancholics Anonymous runs at the Rarig Stoll Thrust Theatre. "I can't wait to see what they do with this. 'Watership Down' with Melancholics Anonymous is a little something different for that company. Typically, they're doing silly tongue-in-cheek coming-of-age type stories. Last year at Fringe, they did Joan of Arc for Miss Teen USA, which was, you know, very funny, but also really grounded in community and girlhood and caring for others. It was very beautiful. I feel like Watership Down is maybe a little darker for melancholics, and so I'm very interested to see how they make that tonal shift." And three more ... Sarra Beckham-Chasnoff and her wife treat the Fringe as a staycation, taking time off work to see a show in every time slot over the next 12 days. Pressed to name a few shows she particularly wanted to see, she cited "Watership Down" and "Tech," as well as these: Bay Creek by the Miller Company, written and performed by Derek Lee Miller, at the Barbara Barker Center for Dance "I've seen this show performed at another fringe festival and at the Twin Cities Horror Festival, and in my mind, I forget that he's the only person on stage. It's creepy and well-acted, written beautifully, and has some surprises in it." A Confluence of Magical Arseholes by the Winding Sheet Outfit, at Rarig Stoll Thrust Theatre. "Winding Sheet Outfit have always done beautiful productions that really highlight why coming to a theater is so much different than going to a movie or listening to music. They often have music in their performances. Their presentations are beautiful, and I always come away feeling moved and learning something new. It appears that this one may be more comedic, and I'm really excited to see how they weave comedy into their shows." Leave Room for Jesus by Hannah Wydeven, at Barbara Barker Center for Dance "It's an improvised comedy musical where Hannah Wydeven takes on the role of a pastor who believes that she is very charismatic and does a revival. Her hang-ups become very clear early in the show, and she, of course, uses some information that she gets from the audience. It's just a wild romp."