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.

Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.

“Summer of Love-In,” presented by Adventures in Hostessville at the Hive Collective in St Paul runs June 25-28. Shows will run Thursday through Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Jen Maren says: “This event is fascinating. Melanie Wehrmacher curates a themed evening that is part cabaret, part comedy, part TED talk, part cooking show, part trivia game, all with live music AND complimentary 1960s themed food and drinks. She takes a specific year and highlights food, music, style, trivia, and history from that year. There is also a deep dive into a specific event from that year, this one being Haight-Ashbury and the Summer of Love. It is one of the most unique events I have been to in a very long time.”

Aurora Webster, an artist and designer who works at the Duluth Art Institute, was delighted to attend the artist reception of Kelly Schamberger. Schamberger was recently named the 2026 Artist of the Year by the Depot Foundation, and she painted this year’s official Grandma’s Marathon 50th Anniversary Commemorative Poster. Her solo oil painting exhibit, “International Attentions” runs through Labor Day weekend at the Great Lakes Aquarium gallery in Duluth.

Webster says: “All but the largest of the vibrant, dreamy landscapes on view were done en plein air, often over the course of days, weeks, or months of trekking out to a remote North Shore vista with the full oil painting setup—quite the accomplishment. The aquarium's gallery is a hidden gem, featuring shows that connect visitors to the beauty of the natural world, and Schamberger's work in the space feels like a literal breath of fresh air.”

Rita Pelecis is looking forward to seeing “Land of 10,000 Ethnicities: Vol 2,” a folk-dance performance by Ethnic Dance Theatre. Shows are June 26 and 27 at 7:30 p.m. and June 28 at 2 p.m. at the E.M Pearson Theatre in St Paul. A Q&A will be held with the company following Saturday’s performance; Sunday’s performance has ASL interpretation.

Pelecis says Artistic Director Donald LaCourse “has traveled the world to find dances and buy costumes from very remote regions, a lot of them Eastern European and Northern European. From the dance to the story to the costumes, their performances are just stunning. I love the storytelling that goes along with it.”

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.

Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.

Joshua Gillespie, a Minneapolis drummer and storyteller who performs as Brotha Ase, wants everyone to know about the Fakoly Drum & Dance Conference this weekend, put on by Duniya Drum and Dance.

The conference includes classes in West African drumming and dance for beginners as well as experienced performers. Instructors are visiting from Guinea, Mali and Nigeria. Classes run Friday through Sunday at the Barbara Barker Center for Dance on the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Campus.

A culminating performance, “Bridges of Rhythm: A Path of Generations,” is open to all this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Duniya Drum & Dance also teaches weekly community classes.

Brotha Ase says: It's a great opportunity that you should take advantage of this weekend, if you're looking for something cool to do and getting some cultural healing in your spirit.

— Brotha Ase

Joshua Cunningham is a landscape painter in St. Paul who works primarily with Groveland Gallery in Minneapolis. He highly recommends the 20th annual Red Wing Arts Plein Air events taking place this month. Artists are painting within a 25-mile radius of Red Wing, including in the city itself, over the next week.

Opportunities to watch artists at work — and for kids to paint for free — include this Saturday from 9-11 at the Red Wing Arts. An exhibition of the work they create runs June 20 – Aug. 16 at the Depot.

Joshua says: They have had between 50 and 100 paintings done every year, so you can imagine the body of work that has been created over the last 20 years. Though some of those areas get painted more frequently than others, [each] day only comes once.

The light and the air of a given day is what defines all of the colors and the values — and often the mood of the place — so you're never really standing in the same place twice.

— Joshua Cunningham

Scott Pakudaitis, board chair of Revolution Dance Works, has been a fan of Corpus Dance Works since he saw their fringe show inspired by plant biology in 2022. He’s looking forward to their new dance show inspired by sports team culture, “Line of Scrimmage,” at Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis June 11-15.

He anticipates high energy and some comedy that will appeal to sports and dance fans alike:

Scott says: They create very innovative and frenetic dances that touch on a lot of things that everybody can relate to.

There will be things like mascots and a marching band and dancing referees, a look behind the locker room, tackles and lots of balls flying in the air from dancers who do not know how to catch footballs.

— Scott Pakudaitis

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.

Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.

Deborah Copperud of Minneapolis hosts the podcast “Read Minnesota Books.” She’s looking forward to a new event, the Festival of New SWANA Plays, this weekend.

SWANA stands for Southwest Asian and North African, and it's a culmination of the New Arab American Theater Works Playwright Incubator Program. Open Book in Minneapolis will host staged readings of six new plays by Midwestern SWANA playwrights.

Three play readings happen each day at 1, 4 and 7 p.m. with a moderated audience talkback following each show. Tickets are $15 per day.

Deborah says the plays are all different: There's a psychological thriller, a fairy tale adaptation, a domestic drama and a travel quest.

Sana Wazwaz is a playwright from Minneapolis, and she is presenting “Birthright Palestine” [Saturday at 7 p.m.]. The play was inspired by her experience organizing for Palestinian liberation as a college student.

— Deborah Copperud

Denise Voie de Vie is a working artist in Duluth specializing in mixed media and acrylics. She’s expecting to be part of a good crowd at Prøve Collective this Saturday for their 5-Minute Film Festival.

The free event will screen 17 or 18 very short films by local artists, ranging in style from animation to documentary to abstract and beyond. Doors open at 7 p.m.

Denise admires the work coming out of Prøve: There is a really lively art scene here in Duluth, and Prøve has carved out that niche for new and upcoming talent.

There are a lot of really young and talented people on the board, and they are willing to take chances on art. It's a place where some of the most exciting things happen.

— Denise Voie de Vie

Lauren Hutchinson lives in Rochester, having previously worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. She recently enjoyed seeing the exhibition “Forms of Care: The Art of Representing the Body” at Rochester Center for the Arts.

It’s a thought-provoking multi-artist exhibition that explores the field of medicine and its interaction with human bodies as well as the ethics of representing human bodies in medical texts. The show includes 2D work, sculptures and an opportunity for visitors to sit for portraits. It runs through January 2027.

Lauren says: It really makes you question: Can one body be used to represent an entire population of diverse individuals?

I hope lots of doctors and medical staff will get to experience the exhibition and see the creativity and artistry that's hidden behind a lot of their work.

— Lauren Hutchinson