Weekend Best Bets: May 12–14

Mother’s Day, sheep shearing, Broadway, and Indigenous dance—this weekend around the metro area

Friday, May 12

“I Hate Modern Art.”

What: Gallery Opening: “Devil’s in the Details”
When: 6–10 p.m.
Where: Rogue Buddha Gallery, 357 13th Ave. NE, Minneapolis
You know that friend who hates contemporary art and will never step foot in the Walker? This new exhibit showcases four artists dipping into classical, traditional, representational art styles—although not without twisted modern insights. Candy-coated sanctuaries, multimedia sculptures, satirical fairy tales, and contemporary icons elevated to allegory await. Learn more

Word to Your Mother

What: Making Hand-Printed Mother’s Day Cards
When: 10 a.m.–2 p.m.
Where: Can Can Wonderland, 755 Prior Ave. N., St. Paul
Minneapolis screen-printing and design studio Husbands wants to inject a greater sense of humanity into the designs and messages we confront every day. So, this weekend the studio helps you prepare your own hand-printed card for Mother’s Day. You’ll witness live screen printing and walk away with more than a customized Hallmark card. Learn more


Saturday, May 13

Baa, Baa, Black Sheep

What: The Shepherd’s Harvest Festival
When: 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
Where: Washington County Fairgrounds, 12300 40th St. N., Stillwater
In Minnesota, sheep are usually sheared in the early spring, making this the time for urban and rural folks alike to learn how to turn wool into yarn at the state’s largest fiber festival—where more than 100 wool producers and artisans share their love of wool and other materials produced by animals in more than 25 demonstrations and exhibits, plus a few classes. Learn more

Dance, Protest, & Celebration

What: Indigenous Roots Cultural Arts Center Grand Opening
When: Noon–Midnight
Where: Indigenous Roots Cultural Arts Center, 788 E. 7th St., St. Paul
St. Paul’s first Native American arts center opens this weekend—a collective of artists and organizations dedicated to cultivating opportunities for Indigenous peoples and communities of color through arts and activism in Dayton’s Bluff. Check out local Native performers, including Native Pride Dancers and protest-inflected troupe Kalpulli Yaocenoxtli. Learn more


Sunday, May 14

Hollywood Blockbusters Comin’ Up Roses

What: Broadway Songbook: Hollywood and Broadway
When: 2 p.m.
Where: Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, 345 Washington St., St. Paul
One of the nation’s finest nonprofit performing arts centers goes all show tunes and movie stars in a look at the way Hollywood has influenced Broadway in recent years—how stories including Legally BlondeThe Little MermaidThe Color Purple, and more came to the stage. What happens when life becomes so urgent that all you can do is break into song? Learn more

A Tale of Turn-of-the-Century Women

What: Ragtime Women
When: 2:30 p.m.
Where: Dreamland Arts, 677 Hamline Ave. N., St. Paul
It’s your last chance to hit up the intimate, 40-seat, family-owned Dreamland Arts theater to see the world premiere of a show of original music that looks to the lives of four real women in the early 1900s who pushed against conventional expectations of women to find success in trombone-sliding music and performance—just in time for Mother’s Day. Learn more