May 2008
May 30, 2008Start the summer music seasonShirtless sweaty dudes, plastic beer cups, wristbands--it must be summer, even though it doesn't feel like it out there. But the tunes will be blasting soon enough, starting June 1 with Grand Old Day. I've always had mixed feelings about this mother of all street festivals on St. Paul's Grand Avenue, block upon block of (usually) heatstroked masses along with an unusual number of cops--unusual until you see, as I have, fights breaking out toward the end of the afternoon. But the music has typically been worth it. And this year I'm still of two minds: just a couple years ago, you'd have to toggle between stages to catch nationally known acts like the Hold Steady, the Hopefuls, and Soul Asylum. Now, some of the bands seem more youthful, edgier perhaps, but also less distinctive:... Read more » Posted on Friday, May 30, 2008 in Front & Center | Permalink | Comments (0) |
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May 23, 2008Artsy summer: Golf at the Walker and more
For those of you who wouldn't be caught dead in plaid pants and white shoes strolling the green of a golf course, the Walker Art Center has brought back its popular artist-designed mini-golf (open to 8 pm most days now through September) in the Sculpture Garden. The lines were long the last time I tried, a few years back, but it's worth it: a 12-foot-tall Paul Bunyan, a heap of debris in the Pacific, and a Japanese Pachinko-style pinball deal with a human-powered elevator for the ball. It's the backyard you wish you had. Posted on Friday, May 23, 2008 in Front & Center | Permalink | Comments (0) |
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May 16, 2008Get Art-A-WhirledFull disclosure time: I don't just play an arts writer in a magazine, I'm foolish enough to practice what I preach. I share a studio in the Northrup King Building in northeast Minneapolis, showing photography, and this weekend Art-A-Whirl--the neighborhood's multi-building open studio tour--will sweep through, bringing thousands of browsers, buyers (one hopes), and dudes who just want to drink our beer (sorry, that'll be a buck). But even if I wasn't on the tour, I couldn't imagine why any local arts fan would want to be anywhere else this weekend, at least for a few hours, soaking up 500 artists' work in what's arguably the largest artist enclave in a four-state area (no, I'm not... Read more » Posted on Friday, May 16, 2008 in Front & Center | Permalink | Comments (0) |
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May 9, 200862 reasons to go out this weekend
As all the artists in town scramble to get ready for Art-A-Whirl next weekend, you've got a week left to entertain yourself (but don't spend all your money before Art-A-Whirl, and I'm not just saying that because I'm in the show; seriously it's time to take down those couple-kissing-in-Paris posters and get some local art on the walls--you don't live in Nebraska, folks, and be grateful for it). Where was I? Posted on Friday, May 9, 2008 in Front & Center | Permalink | Comments (0) |
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May 2, 2008Review: "Gem of the Ocean" shines
I’ve always thought of the new Guthrie Theater, with its waiting lounges and glowing directionals, like an airport: where do I want to go today? In the case of the two shows currently on stage at the theater, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Gem of the Ocean, you’re going to similarly magical places--realms only the theater can offer in full immersion, where the spiritual and pragmatic dramatically converge to explain our otherwise ineffable humanity. You’re going deep. Damn, it’s good to be a Minnesotan. Posted on Friday, May 2, 2008 in Front & Center | Permalink | Comments (0) |
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