Should you dress up to go to the opera? Unlike some other companies, Minnesota Opera hasn’t taken a position on the question. They haven’t felt they need to, said Minnesota Opera president and general director Ryan Taylor. Some traditional operagoers, Taylor said, feel they need to clearly state, “This is a substantial piece of art, … [ Read more]
The Dark Arts: Graffiti walks the line between petty vandalism and complex art form
May 31, 2017 by
Provocative bursts of bold colors. Wild, distorted lettering. An urban canvas full of lines, shape, and form, soon to be wiped away—reconditioned to a beige, gray, or whitewashed surface. It’s the nature of the art—atypical, public, transient. It’s graffiti. But is it art? Building an identity in Philadelphia in the late 1960s, graffiti truly exploded … [ Read more]
For Art’s Sake: What the average Minnesotan stands to lose if NEA funding is cut
May 31, 2017 by
The budget battles over federal funding for cultural programs and organizations have tangible, pressing implications for the cultural economy and community access to the arts in Minnesota. If your kids got to see “The Sneetches” at the Children’s Theatre through a field trip at school, you’ve reaped the benefits of public funding for arts and … [ Read more]
Water is Life: Northern Spark builds on last year’s theme with an art festival along the Green Line
May 30, 2017 by
Water is Life” became the rallying cry of the water protectors trying to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock, and now those words flow between St. Paul and Minneapolis via the Green Line train. Andrea Carlson’s colorful train-wrap design, which reads “Mni Wiconi” (water is life, in Dakota) on one side and “Nibi … [ Read more]
Minnesota Spoon: Baja on the Lake with Billy Tserenbat and Zach Schugel
May 30, 2017 by
Billy Tserenbat arrives at our house with the odds stacked against him. We are here to create a kind of Baja California beach party as a way of getting to know Billy’s new Wayzata restaurant, a beach-centric, Mexican-influenced, fish and seafood celebration called Baja Haus. Except that a sunny May sky has turned suddenly woolen … [ Read more]
Artist Profile: Leslie Barlow
May 30, 2017 by
Art doesn’t instruct you what to think—it just tells you to think. In today’s ever-shifting political, economic, social, and cultural climate, we’re sometimes left speechless. But Leslie Barlow shares her art as a language—thought-provoking topics rendered through colorful, realistic, life-sized portraits that you can stand face-to-face with and look right in the eye. “I like … [ Read more]
