From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above.
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Alight-a-Whirl
It’s Art-a-Whirl weekend! The Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association (NEMAA) puts on the annual celebration of all things local art, with three days of open studios, live events, music and food vendors. Hours are Friday 5-8 p.m., Saturday 12–8 p.m. and Sunday 12–5 p.m.
It's a favorite event for Molly Reopelle, a muralist who works under the name “Made by Molly Jo.” One space she’s particularly looking forward to seeing is Alight-a-Whirl, an annual art sale fundraiser for Alight. The nonprofit supports displaced people and refugees in the U.S. and across the world.
Alight-a-Whirl features a 500-piece art sale with work by local, international and refugee artists, as well as pop-up events, including a Friday happy hour and portrait painting. All profits from the art sale support Alight.
Molly says: One of the people I’ll be looking at [at Alight-a-Whirl] is Lora Hlavsa.
She might be recognizable because she developed the artwork with NEMAA for the Art-a-Whirl branding this year, and she's got a really cool new series called The People's Pantry, which is using really familiar objects like foods and pantry staples to explore some of her lived experience and then reflect on migration and cultural access.
— Molly Reopelle
Gender Joy Art Show
Jenn Watters in Duluth recommends seeing the annual Gender Joy Art Show, whose creative works are expressions of joy made by female and gender expansive people of all ages.
The exhibit is put on this year by the YWCA of Duluth and the Program for Aid to Victims of Sexual Assault (PAVSA), and the show will include work created by PAVSA’s weekly art group. New this year is an interactive art exhibit entitled “The Elephant in the Room,” hosted by Rachel Gilbertson of Art of Presence.
Visitors to the exhibit are encouraged to write words or phrases they’ve received that were harmful to their gender identity, which Gilbertson will transform into a brightly colored work with an elephant’s face emerging from the chaos. The exhibition runs until June 27 in the Atrium of Zeitgeist in Duluth.
Watters who particularly enjoys seeing the work created by children.
Jenn says: This is one of my favorite art shows each year.
— Jenn Watters
One Subject Press
Deborah Keenan, a Twin Cities poet and former longtime teacher at Hamline’s MFA program, is trumpeting the work of former student Zach Czaia, who runs One Subject Press.
A year ago, Czaia bought a Chicago-based press and moved it to Minneapolis, through which he publishes a wide range of work from poetry to fiction to theology. On Friday, May 15, the press will celebrate its one-year anniversary with an evening of literary readings and food.
Czaia will read, along with poets Greg Watson and Suzanne Swanson, and attendees are invited to bring a poem to share. The event runs from 6-8 p.m. at Inkwell Booksellers in northeast Minneapolis. It is open to the public, though registration is requested through the press.
Deborah says: It’s called One Subject Press after a Richard Rodriguez quote: “There is only one subject: what it feels like to be alive. Nothing is irrelevant. Nothing is typical.” That's the flag Zach carries into battle, and it's a great flag.
I think lots of people who love poetry and essays should absolutely show up [to this event.]
— Deborah Keenan
