Arts and Culture

Arts Briefs: Printmaking guru bids adieu

A graphic with the state of minnesota and pieces of art
The MPR News arts and culture team's arts briefs offer a weekly guide to the ever-evolving art scene in Minnesota.
Sam Stroozas | MPR News

Cole Rogers, co-founder and artistic director of Highpoint Center for Printmaking in Minneapolis, has retired.

The organization was founded in 2001. It offers printmaking classes, publishing opportunities, a print shop co-op and creative residencies, fellowships and scholarships.

Highpoint Center is now forming a search committee to find a replacement for Rogers.

Carla McGrath and Cole Rogers
Carla McGrath and Cole Rogers opened Highpoint Center for Printmaking. Rogers is now retiring.
Marianne Combs | MPR News

Sweet moves: Dance festival at Southern Theater

The Candy Box Dance Festival starts April 24 at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis.

This seven-year-old festival will last for five days and will feature emerging and established artists, including performances from choreographers and dancers. The festival will also offer workshops and masterclasses.

The event’s featured artists are Berit Ahlgren of the Minnesota dance organization HoneyWorks; dancemaker, poet and arts administrator J’Sun Howard; and multidisciplinary artist and choreographer Megan Mayer.

Arts patron and son of Minnesota's first Black millionaire dies

Archie Givens Jr., 79, died Wednesday in Minneapolis after a long period of living with Alzheimer's disease.

Givens was president of the Legacy Management & Development Corporation and has deep roots in the community.

Longtime friends of Givens describe him as a humble and compassionate leader. He was a significant supporter of Minnesota arts, including having served on the Penumbra Theatre board.

Funeral services are being arranged.

Get ready for magic: New fantasy novel by Minnesotan

A Sleight of Shadows” by Minnesota author Kat Howard will be published on April 25. It is a continuation of her fantasy series that began with “An Unkindness of Magicians” in 2017, which was named one of the best books of the year by NPR.

The story is about a secret society of New York magicians and follows the adventures of Sydney, formerly a magic user who is now almost powerless after a confrontation with the society.

“A Sleight of Shadows” is published by Saga Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.

Join the vinyl revolution: Record Store Day

Saturday is Record Store Day, a national event honoring independent record stores.

Among many events planned for the day, Greg Norton of the legendary St. Paul punk rock band Hüsker Dü will be at the Electric Fetus in Minneapolis at 10:30 a.m. Soul Asylum’s Dave Pirner will be deejaying in the store at 4 p.m.

A more comprehensive list of events can be found on the Current website.

A punk band plays on a stage
Hüsker Dü
Steve Hengstler

Virtual meeting on disabled artists

Springboard for the Arts is hosting a virtual meeting on April 25 called "With Us: Artists with Disabilities on Adaptability.”

The meeting will discuss how disabled artists have adapted to their disability in adulthood and in their artistic practice. Participants include theatermaker Nicole M. Smith, poet Andrea Jenkins, writer Davida Kilgore and theatermaker Alejandra (Tobar Alatriz).

125 years of high notes

The Minnesota State Band, which has been the official band of Minnesota since 1898, is an all-volunteer 60-piece band that is celebrating its 125th anniversary with a free concert on Saturday at the Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul.

The concert will feature the winner of the Band's Brass Fanfare Composition Contest, an Earth Day piece and an opportunity to recognize the band's alumni.


Absolute Bleeding Edge

The MPR News arts team offers suggestions for the best in avant-garde, experimental and off-the-beaten-path arts and culture.

Music: Mats Gustafsson and Joachim Nordwall: “THEIR POWER REACHED ACROSS SPACE AND TIME​-​TO DEFY THEM WAS DEATH​-​OR WORSE”

Swedish saxophonist and flutist Gustafsson is often associated with free jazz, but that’s only true with this new album if he’s been completely freed from making music that sounds like jazz, or even sounds like music.

This isn’t a slight, by the way. Here he’s partnered with Joachim Nordwall, who co-founded the Swedish experimental label Börft Records and accompanies Gustafsson with a collection of synthesizers and analog and digital effects. Whatever they’re making is fascinating to listen to.

Gustafsson mostly blows through his instruments, producing amplified gasps and sighs instead of melodies, while Nordwall provides a surrounding wall of watery electronic clicks and menacingly ethereal noises. The resulting album sounds like somebody threw an old drum machine into a swamp and somehow a record burbled out.

Two people pose for a photo in pink light
Mats Gustafsson and Joachim Nordwall.
Courtesy photo

Correction (April 24, 2023): An earlier version of this story misstated the date of an event and misidentified the subject of a story. The story has been updated with the correct information.

This activity is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment's Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.