Arts and Culture

Arts Briefs: Leadership change at Minnesota Orchestra

Plus: Black grandmothers in White Bear Lake and the Minnesota Dance Theatre and School picks a new program director

Michelle Miller Burns
Minnesota Orchestra's President and CEO Michelle Miller Burns.
Courtesy of the Minnesota Orchestra

The MPR News arts and culture team's arts briefs offer a weekly guide to the ever-evolving art scene in Minnesota

MN Orchestra leadership change

Minnesota Orchestra president and CEO Michelle Miller Burns has accepted a new job. Starting in the fall, she will be president and CEO of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in Texas.

Burns has been in her current role at Minnesota Orchestra since 2018. She led the organization through the pandemic, overseeing outdoor and streaming concerts.

She will continue in her position until Sept. 13. The Orchestra has announced it will soon begin a search for her successor.

Curating in White Bear Lake

The White Bear Center for the Arts in White Bear Lake is hosting an exhibition of art telling stories of Black grandmothers and mothers, curated by Eshay Brantley.

The exhibition is titled “Ode to my Umi.” It displays work by five artists, with a focus on "intergenerational resilience and comfort."

“Ode to my Umi” was curated in partnership with the Emerging Curators Institute in the Twin Cities, an organization that supports curators from diverse backgrounds.

The exhibit runs through Aug. 3.

Curator Eshay Brantley
Curator Eshay Brantley.
Courtesy of the White Bear Center for the Arts

New dance leadership

The Minnesota Dance Theatre and School in Minneapolis has announced new leadership.

The 62-year-old nonprofit dance school announced Tuesday that Lauren Post will be the program’s director. Post is a former company dancer at the American Ballet Theatre in New York.

Post will begin the position on Aug. 15.

Power to the people

The Minnesota African American Heritage Museum and Gallery in Minneapolis is currently home to an exhibit looking at the history of Black, Indigenous and Chicano movements from the northside community in the late sixties.

The exhibit is titled “Soulforce: The Movements of Memory” and was curated by historian and filmmaker James Curry.

It will be on display through Aug. 8. The series will coincide with community dinners in the coming weeks featuring Indigenous, Mexican and African American cuisine.

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