What happens when local artists, curators, UMN students from a "Curating Disability Justice" course, and community members come together to "dream together what is yet-to-be?" You might get this: a community-curated group show exploring the meaning of disabled life in the Twin Cities. Under AmplifyMN's leadership, this vibrant curatorial process uses principles of the Disability Justice Movement to not only display disability justice but to enact it along the way.

How do we find a new place of belonging? This is the question reanimating the dancers of James Sewell Ballet and singers of MPLS (imPulse) in a new choral ballet on the classic tale of Frankenstein. Played by three dancers, this "unfashioned creature" is less monster and more a communal struggle for something new to emerge. What exactly? Viewers and performers can explore answers together with a talk-back afterwards. “Unfashioned Creature” is part of the Performing Arts Series at Westminster Presbyterian Church.

Art takes time and energy to make—and money too. "Exhale: Reflections on Guaranteed Income" is a group show exploring the labor of artmaking—and a possible future where financial support is a given. With the support of Springboard for the Arts and the Emerging Curators Institute, guest curators will discuss the art hanging in Minneapolis Central Library’s Cargill Gallery and reflect together on what it might feel like if every artist had what they need to thrive.

“Collage is for everyone.” It’s the manifesto of Twin Cities Collage Collective, and they mean it. Not only do they put on accessible shows, they also publish open-theme, fee-free anthologies, host welcoming gatherings at Fresh Eye Gallery, and put on NORTH STAR COLLAGE—an annual exhibition and anthology celebrating local artists. The show is currently on display at the cozy Boiler Room Coffee, and it features 40 Minnesota-based collage and mixed media artists. Take in the art, grab a drink, and follow up the art-viewing by meeting the artists in person at the Collective’s gathering later tonight.

Have a favorite pair of pants you don’t wear anymore because you don’t know how to mend? You'll want to be here. Presented in collaboration between the Hennepin County Library's Crafty Minnesota series and the Textile Center, learn mending techniques from local fiber artists so you can avoid the landfill and wear your own sustainable fashion. UPDATE: Registration is now full, but you can still sign up for the waiting list and explore the whole Crafty Minnesota series.

During the uprising following George Floyd’s murder, business owners around town covered storefronts with plywood. Artists, protestors, and community members saw a blank canvas, and Leesa Kelly, founder of Memorialize the Movement, began collecting and preserving the artworks that emerged. Years later, the organization has collected over 1000 works of art. With the support of U of MN’s Katherine E. Nash Gallery, “Art and Artifact” displays a selection of murals from this time in order to ask viewers to reflect on the impact of this time, and the living archive and movement that still continues today.

Ope, didn’t see ya there! Want to meet local artists, art leaders, and the team behind TWIN CITY LIFE? Let’s get together and talk about how much we love the art and culture and people who give the Twin Cities so much life and texture. Slow and steady, people. Sloooooow and steady.

NOTE: Location and additional details will be revealed here on the morning of November 20th.

Join the Loft Literary Center and the McKnight Foundation as they celebrate the 2023 McKnight Fellows in Creative Prose: Naomi Cohn, Hilal Isler, Gen Del Raye, and Kao Kalia Yang. Each author will read selections from their current work they’re developing through the support of the Artist & Culture Bearer Fellowship. The fellowship offers these mid-career writers the gifts of community, financial support, and no restrictions on how they decide to use the funds. “This community will be what we make it,” the McKnight Foundation writes. “Our aim is to collectively create an experience in which all artists and members of the community thrive.”

Theater Mu’s play-reading festival has been around since 1993, serving as a showcase of new Asian American work, and an artistic incubator for thoughts and ideas. This year, they’ve opened the submission process to a national audience—the first since 2006. The results are brand new stories: love quadrangles and arranged marriages, a queer Dracula coming to plant roots in a new home, and the slow violence of language loss. Staged readings are lose, somewhere between a table read and a dress rehearsal. Come prepared to see the growing edge of Asian-American storytelling.

The Bach Society of Minnesota’s "Outside the Box" series creates new dialogues between Bach’s stately style and fresh musical forms. This time, listen as classical music finds new rhythm and melody through the Charles Gorczynski Tango Quartet, a local mainstay for all-things tango. On the surface, classical and tango seem utterly unrelated, but that's the gift of music, right? In “Baroque Tango: Rhythms of Desire, Longing and Passion,” we can hear new and fresh sounds—and we might even imagine new social rhythms along the way. 480 Arts is a collaborative organization dedicated to advancing music and arts.

Forma’s flexible, fun ceramics programs are designed or all ages. During these “potter hours,” humans aged 9 and up have space to explore and learn this ancient art form at their own place. Young artists can spin on the wheel and build by hand, all with “guided independence” and the thoughtful guidance of Forma’s instructors. Forma exists to build community out of learning, clay, and play. “Kid/Teen Potter Hours” is part of their Multi-Week Kiddo Clay series.

Twin City-native and musician Mike Lewis knows how to collaborate. He is a founding member of Happy Apple, Fat Kid Wednesdays and Alpha Consumer, and can be heard with the likes of Bon Iver, Bonny Light Horseman, and others. A musical collaborator, he’s always looking for ways to share the stage. In this month-long Icehouse residency, listen in as this local musical treasure makes new sounds with his old friends. This Monday includes Sean Carey and other special guests—these musicians are no strangers to collaboration.

Have you seen community seed libraries around town and not known if you’re allowed to open a drawer? Have you felt anxious approaching a Master Gardener? Do you look away from your screen and out your window at those dying plants you keep trying to remember to water? You’re not alone. In fact, you can meet others interested in gardening and looking for a place to start at Wild Roots, a regular free gathering of green thumbs and new thumbs, offered by the St. Paul Public Library.

In this exhibition Roshan Ganu, a multimedia narrative artist and MCAD faculty alum, uses immersive videos and paintings to explore the mythology and contemporary celebration around Diwali ritual and her own fascination with the night. She seeks “to recontextualize history, culture, and biography into dynamic and immersive experiences,” and viewers to this show supported by the Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program will be invited to immerse themselves in ancient ritual, art, and the global cultural life refracting through the Twin Cities.

A multi-faceted project, the 1983 Circle of Water Circus used puppetry to honor the Mississippi River,  foster community, and raise awareness of ecological distress. Produced by In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre, (HOTB) this traveling show featured 150 puppets and original music to explore the corrosive impact of colonial history and to imagine a shared future. Four decades later, this show presents historical puppets, original footage, music, interviews with performers, and more.

Join the Joyful Riders Club’s for the “Leftovers Ride,” their tenth annual Black Friday tradition. The Joyful Riders Club gathers biking enthusiasts for social rides at a friendly place. No need to race here—make new friends as you ride around scenic spots, share leftovers, and burning a table. Yes. They started a Burning-Man-style ceremonial burn: “Now, every year,” they say, “we bring a new table to burn as a symbol of our gratitude and joy.” Sounds like just the blend of joy and mischief.

Public Functionary is playing the long game. Not only are they regularly presenting artwork from marginalized voices in their two-story art-cafe space in the Northrup King Building. They’re also supporting a whole local community of working artists every year through PF Studios. They aren’t just displaying art and culture—they’re making it. Slowly, with determination, and joy. Don’t miss out on this annual exhibition of new work. Visit and you’ll catch a glimpse of the future of art in the Twin Cities.