Arts advocates rally for creative jobs lost during pandemic Arts advocates gathered Tuesday at the state Capitol to rally for a bill that would fund the rehiring of jobs lost in the creative sector during the pandemic. From the state's budget surplus, the legislation would direct $190 million to the State Arts Board for grants.  Sarah Fossen of Minnesota Citizens for the Arts says that arts and culture is the only sector to not have received state relief funds. “It helps 1,500 organizations in the arts, culture and entertainment sector, rehire jobs that were lost over the last three years ..read more

Minneapolis actor Nissa Nordland was drawn to the play “Wish You Were Here” because of the premise: It’s a one-act improvised comedy about grief. A group shares memories about a friend who has died some time before. The show, which tends to vary each night, considers how their relationships have changed since the loss. “I love that it's the idea of bringing joy to a situation that we often are looking at with a sad lens,” said Nordland. “We are celebrating the person… and finding the joy in remembering them, and then figuring out, where do we go now?” The show was created and directed by ..read more

St. Cloud-based concert pianist Mark Ochu is looking forward to an eclectic evening by vocal and musical trio Partly Tame, presented by the Granite City Folk Society. The trio consists of the group’s founder Mariénne Kreitlow, violinist Cristina Seaborn and Susan Schleper, vocals. “All three musicians are authentic performers … comfortable in multiple genres ranging from classical to folk, to slap stick comedy, to the introspective and spiritual,” Ochu said, adding that he never knows quite what will be on the program. He said Kreitlow, a composer, is an intuitive performer, shifting to i ..read more

Retired science teacher Ellen Fahey says art galleries are her refuge, and she’s gone three times to see Peyton Scott Russell’s retrospective exhibition at the White Bear Center for the Arts. The show features 40 years of Russell’s work, from elementary school through today. A graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Russell is perhaps best known for his murals, including one painted in 2020 of George Floyd, entitled “Icon of a Revolution.” The exhibit features that work as well as examples of Peyton’s Graffiti art, stenciling, jean jackets and sculpture. The exhibit runs throug ..read more

Rachel Coyne, an author and artist in Lindstrom, Minn., plans to attend the opening artist reception this Friday for Robert DesJarlait’s show “Woodland Visions” in Hinckley. The solo show at the East Central Regional Arts Council Gallery features 21 watercolor paintings describing Ojibwe stories and culture. Coyne loves DesJarlait’s brightly colored paintings of dancers whose movement seems to leap off the canvas. Coyne looks forward to standing in the middle of this gallery and taking in the energy of the whole show. DesJarlait is a member of the Red Lake Nation. He’ll give an artist talk at ..read more

Mina Leierwood is a Minneapolis art teacher who creates art and puppets of recycled materials. Recently, she saw a retrospective of Anita White’s work entitled “Journeys” at Vine Arts Center in Minneapolis, and was fascinated by White’s documentary art style and the stories told. White has a daily practice of capturing the people and images she sees with marker and watercolor. The exhibit includes White’s world travels, her spiritual journey and her navigation of the medical system. The artist learned as an adult that her grandmother was Jewish, a fact hidden in order to avoid Nazi persecution ..read more

A discussion at Open Book in Minneapolis explores artist Sam Robertson’s illustrated art-book take on the King James Bible. Sarah Nassif’s hands-on “Weaving Water” workshop connects the ancient art of indigo dyeing and spinning fiber with local water systems. And at The Southern Theater, the group Cumar combines West African rhythms and Celtic dance to create something new ..read more

Megan Arney Johnston, an independent curator and contemporary art enthusiast based in Stillwater, recommends a trip to Winona to see Water Stories: New Work by Anne Labovitz at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum. Johnston says Labovitz, who is based in St. Paul, goes to the “next level,” involving large-scale paintings and an even larger scale installation that evoke the essence and the importance of water. At the entrance, visitors see Labovitz’s large scrolls responding to the Winona area and landscape. Subsequent rooms reveal a series of large abstract paintings, each a different hue,  an ..read more

Raul Gomez, longtime publisher of the High Plains Reader in Fargo recalls rushing to put the paper to bed by midnight so they could drive over to Ralphs’ Corner Bar in Moorhead to cap off the week. Ralph’s was a fixture of the music scene in northwest Minnesota, drawing big names from the punk and indie music scene. The bar was demolished in 2005. Gomez says he was pleased with the way the Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County paid homage to the venue in its Ralph’s Corner Bar exhibit at the Hjemkomst Center in Moorhead. Each of the four rooms in the exhibit “captures different styles ..read more

Ashley Hanson wants you to know about an exhibit that celebrates rural Minnesota artists and stories. Hanson, executive director of the nonprofit Department of Public of Transformation in Granite Falls, recommends “Field Notes: 7 Truths about the Rural,” which draws together the work of seven artists of various disciplines. They explore subjects that make up our rural places, including small-town newspapers, post offices, mining and extractive economies, relationship to the land, and more. Laura Youngbird of the Minnesota Chippewa, Grand Portage Band uses mixed media to investigate “issue ..read more