Pamela Ziegenhagen-Shefland of Minnetonka, Minn., is an animation features editor and textile artist. Recently, she made the trip to the Owatonna Center for the Arts, where she marveled at the multi-sensory, interactive installation that is “Legacy Dream Space.” The exhibit was created by composer Craig Harris and visual artist Candy Kuehn, in collaboration with Kym Longhi and Jim Peitzman. Photographs line the walls, as do scrims, which are overlaid with video of exhibit visitors. Two play spaces invite visitors to interact with the exhibit by pressing buttons to hear spoken words or write their own words that appear on the scrims.Harris’s original piano composition complements the experience. Taken together, the exhibit explores our hopes for the future and the legacy we leave behind. “There's things for everyone to enjoy,” says Ziegenhagen-Shefland. “It just made me feel really hopeful that the arts in this state and in this community are just so vibrant and exciting and explorative because it's not just the normal kind of going to a gallery show.” The show runs through Oct. 15, with an artist event scheduled on Oct. 8 from 1-4 p.m. Jaime Davis of Minneapolis says her current theater obsession is with the musical “Million Dollar Quartet,” currently playing at the Old Log Theatre in Greenwood, Minn. in the west metro. The show captures a real moment in musical history: the 1956 jam session of Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley at Sun Records Studio in Memphis, Tenn. Directed by Christine O’Grady Roberts and featuring all local talent, the show is packed with hit songs that Davis says have the audience tapping their toes and singing along. The actors’ voices and their high-energy performances are “phenomenal,” Davis says. If you attend the Thursday or Sunday matinee, she recommends getting brunch beforehand at the theater’s restaurant. “Million Dollar Quartet” runs Thursday through Sunday through Feb. 17. Janet Anderson recently moved to St. Peter, Minn., and she’s been enjoying discovering the local arts scene. One exhibit that captured her imagination has been Eric Ouren’s textile figures on the wall of The Smallest Cog Bike Shop. It’s a small show with about 10 pieces, but each one is intricately detailed and rewards close attention. The figures, which are about a foot tall, have stitched shoes and handmade clothing, and their faces are stitched with multiple colors of thread that reminded Anderson of an impressionist painter’s brushstrokes. Many of the figures are mounted in elaborate frames that resemble wooden furniture. “There's a folk quality to the pieces,” says Anderson, “as if they were figures whittled out of wood, but they're made of textiles.” Ouren’s show is viewable on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Oct. 7. 

Queen Drea of St. Paul describes herself as a sound alchemist. She loves the innovative, community-centered performances of Ananya Dance Theatre. The theme for this fall’s performance is processionals, which can both celebrate life and disrupt its flow when they take the form of protests. Ananya Dance Theater investigated its theme by performing several processionals in the Twin Cities this summer; Queen Drea had the opportunity to be involved with one during the George Floyd memorial service in May. She looks forward to seeing how that idea has developed into a staged dance show, marked by interruption, innovation and liberation.  Queen Drea appreciates that Ananya Dance Theatre’s works involve a confluence of artists alongside the dancers, adding, “Every year, I go, and there's just something unexpected.” “Michhil Amra: We Are the Procession!” plays Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at The O'Shaughnessy at St. Catherine University in St. Paul.  Zoe Cinel, curator at Rochester Art Center, recently saw a striking exhibit in Winona. “Googled Earth: Through a Looking Glass” is the work of artists Patrick Lichty of Winona State University and Negin Ehtesabian, who lives in Iran. The artists, who are married, have never been able to visit each other’s home countries. As they await visas, they use Google Maps and virtual reality to share their homes. This exhibit shares that experience with viewers through a combination of mixed media and virtual reality. One pair of mixed media prints by Ehtesabian, for example, hang facing each other on walls, depicting images and symbols from the U.S. and Iran, respectively. Cinel was particularly intrigued by a series of tapestries created using imagery from the geography where both artists have lived. She says the nontraditional approach to a traditional craft looks like “if glitch art had a baby with a rug.” Overall, Cinel appreciated the personal, colorful show that “speaks about borders and humans at the same time.” “Googled Earth: Through a Looking Glass” is up until Oct. 4 at the Watkins Gallery at Winona State University. David DeBlieck teaches dance in the theater department of the College of St Benedict and St John’s University. He loves the work of Sod House Theater, a Twin Cities-based company whose traveling annual productions invite audiences to engage with the space around them. Their current show “Table” integrates dinner — created by local chefs from local ingredients — and a show. Directed by Sarah Agnew, whose traveling food-centered shows have included “Arla Mae’s Booyah Wagon,” the show is performed by an all-female cast who also serve as wait staff for the meal. It’s an interactive show served up in courses, and DeBlieck looks forward to gathering with friends at the Hallock performance Saturday to enjoy time around a table.  Related Art Hounds: Comedy on the farm and in town “Table” runs through Oct. 1 in various communities across the state, including in Crookston, Minn., Sept. 21 in Waseca, Minn., Sept. 28, and in Rochester, Minn., Oct. 1. Please note that some performances have sold out. 

Katie Carter is an art lover and former arts reporter for Northern Community Radio. Recently, she made the drive to the Edge Center for the Arts in Bigfork, Minn., where she says she was blown away by Terry Leinbach’s show “Wonder.” The show includes 39 large, abstract paintings, which Carter calls “a feast of texture and color” that offers layered imagery whose meaning and emotion seemed to evolve the longer she looked. Leinbach leaves room for this wonder-led interpretation: she numbers — but does not title — each piece. At the center of the gallery space are small wood block creations marked with words that invite the viewer to stop and contemplate. “It struck me in my cells, when I looked at her art,” Carter says. “It just had such a vibrancy and energetic-ness to it ... To me, her stuff could be right next to Helen Frankenthaler.” Leinbach lives near Blackduck, Minn. A retired Head Start teacher, she taught herself painting during the pandemic, working on large canvases repurposed from secondhand stores or stretched by her husband. “Wonder” runs through Sept. 30.  Jim Robinson is co-founder of Table Salt Productions and an alumnus of the Brave New Workshop. He’s a big fan of writer and performer Josh Carson. Robinson is looking forward to seeing Carson’s show “The (Almost) Complete and (Mostly) Accurate History of Alcohol" which opens Friday at Bryant Lake Bowl in Minneapolis.  Best known for co-creating “A Very Die Hard Christmas,” Carson has also dived into history to create plays on John Wilkes Booth and Nellie Bly, among others. This show explores the way alcohol has shaped our lives, causing — and occasionally solving — problems from ancient Greece through today. “You walk away from these shows breathless because they are so packed with comedy and information,” Robinson says. “He’s a brilliant writer.” The show runs through Sept. 30. Poets & Pints marks its 100th show next Wednesday, and poet Charles Curry of Apple Valley says he “wouldn’t miss it for the world.” The monthly poetry event takes place at Sisyphus Brewing. Curry describes it as "an exceptionally welcoming show for poets," fostering a friendly environment. Both seasoned and novice poets are invited to perform a wide array of styles, including formal and free verse poetry, as well as spoken word and rap.Poet Tony Plocido is the host and curator of the events. At a typical event, poets fill out a quick form ahead of time for an opportunity to present their work; an open mic follows the scheduled readers. The 100th show features Minnesota poets Shane Hawley, Thadra Sheridan, Joe Davis and Khary Jackson, as well as Shawn Pavey of Kansas City.  The nonprofit show is part of the League of Minnesota Poets, whose local chapter is Cracked Walnut. Shows take place on the third Wednesday of the month. Register to read at future events here. 

Theater maker Grant Sorenson of Minneapolis is excited about the return of a unique theater project being staged at Norway House in Minneapolis.Local creative Kurt Engh adapted the Norwegian author Erlend Loe’s cult novel “Naïve. Super” into a one-person play where — here’s the twist — the show will be performed by a different actor each night.The play is about a 25-year-old who one day realizes they aren’t happy with their life. Through a series of small changes and discoveries, they piece their life back together into something they can enjoy.The actors include seasoned veterans and emerging talents. Sorenson, who saw the original pre-pandemic iteration of the show, is fascinated by the ways the play could shift nightly.As to the challenges of directing and performing a show with a shifting cast, Sorenson says “the show is built to support the performer. The script is available to them in a binder, but then also in books, in lists, in projections that happen throughout the space. Part of the fun is sort of seeing where the actor finds the text of the play.”“Naïve. Super” is 90 minutes without intermission. It runs Friday through Sept. 17.Art enthusiast Florence Brammer of West St. Paul has been attending Mixed Precipitation’s traveling outdoor operas for 15 years, having never missed a season. The company’s Pickup Truck Opera series offers inventive takes on famous operas, abridged and performed across the state at parks, vineyards, nature centers, and other beautiful spaces.There’s still time to see this season’s production of “Romeo and Juliet,” adapted and updated for modern times from Vincenzo Bellini’s 1830 opera, I Capuleti e i Montecchi (The Capulets and the Montagues). In Mixed Precipitation’s signature style, they combine opera sung in bel canto style with pop songs — in this case, works by such “star-crossed” bands as the Fugees, Fleetwood Mac, and the Pixies. Performances are Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. at Alexis Bailly Vineyard in Hastings. Other dates and locations include Sept. 8 at Dodge Nature Center in West St. Paul, Sept 9 at Swede Hollow Park in St. Paul, and Sept. 10 at JD Rivers’ Children’s Garden in Minneapolis. Editor’s note: The show was adapted by MPR’s Denzel Belin, who was not involved with this episode of Art Hounds. 

Luverne Seifert is a Twin Cities actor and acting teacher. He recommends going to see “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” from Dark & Stormy Productions.In this edgy production, set at Marcia Blaine School for Girls in 1930s Scotland, the lessons are less about math and reading than they are about love and sex. “It’s a very provocative play,” Seifert said. “And at times I think your jaw will drop.” The cast consists of University of Minnesota students making their professional stage debut, and the production runs through Sept. 17 at the Gremlin Theater in St. Paul.Duluth filmmaker Khayman Goodsky, of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, loves a good book. That’s why Goodsky suggests going to the “Meet the Artist” series at Two Loons Gallery in Duluth any time, but especially on Aug. 26, when Thomas and Betsy Peacock are the artists in question. The two co-own Black Bears and Blueberries Publishing, which specializes in Native written and illustrated books. “Everything they’ve put out has been researched and carefully developed, so, I mean you can’t go wrong with reading their books,” Goodsky said.You can meet Thomas and Betsy Peacock, Saturday, Aug. 26, at Two Loons Gallery, 2025 W. Superior St., Duluth.Luis Fitch is a Mexican artist, designer and creative entrepreneur based in Minneapolis. His recommendation is “Immigrant Roads,” a solo exhibition of largescale paintings exploring the legacy of Mexican-born families who built the Santa Fe railroad in the early part of the 20th century.“What I’m excited about in this exhibition is the hope that the artist brings to restore some of the stolen dignity from Latinx workers,” Fitch said.“Immigrant Roads” is on display through Sept. 22 at the CLUES Latino Art Gallery, 797 East Seventh St., St. Paul.

Meggie Moench is a Minneapolis-based musician and dancer who is excited to attend 10th Wave Chamber Collective’s upcoming event “At Dusk: Outdoor Chamber Music Concert Series.”“I love listening to local live music in Minneapolis, and 10th Wave Chamber Collective is a group whose performances I always make sure to see,” Moench said.This particular concert series is extra special, she said, because it features all BIPOC, contemporary composers with a modern flair playing outside in nature.There are two concerts. The first is at 7 p.m. on Aug. 19 at Lutherie Lab (2619 Ulysses St. N.E., Minneapolis). An additional performance takes place a week later at 7 p.m. on Aug. 26 at the University Lutheran Church of Hope Courtyard (601 13th Ave. S.E., Minneapolis).Karla Grotting is a local dancer, choreographer and dance educator who says Rhythmically Speaking’s event, “The Cohort,” makes jazz dance approachable and fun for any audience.“It’s very legible and accessible and captures all elements like jazz music does,” Grotting said.The show runs Aug. 17-19 at the Southern Theater (1420 Washington Ave. S., Minneapolis).Amy Tervola Hultberg is an education consultant from New York Mills, who loves to see the community come together for the town’s annual puppet pageant.“The children involved, the families involved, the residents involved are also very dedicated.” Hultberg said. “Children are learning how to walk on stilts … it’s a true puppet experience.” The pageant tells the story of Kalevala, which is based on the Finnish national epic poem, and tells a story of creation. The community has worked on the puppets for weeks and will get to debut their own latest creation to the public at 7 p.m. on Aug. 18 at New York Mills VFW Post 3289. An additional performance will take place at noon on Aug. 19 at the Finn Creek Open Air Museum.

Former St. Paul art critic Diane Hellekson came out of retirement to rave about Kathryn Nobbe’s exhibition “Indelible Vestiges: Mother, Her Mother, Me.” The exhibition attempts to capture the the blurred reality between the present and past through memory through a vareity of multimedia elements. “There’s old shoes that look like little ghosts walking alongside the gallery.” Hellekson said. “Indelible Vesitages” is open through Sept. 9 at Form + Content Gallery at 210 Second St. N. in Minneapolis. Special performances designed to complement the installations punctuate the run, including a spoken word event 4-6 p.m. on Aug. 19. West Coast transplant Juliet Parisi lives in Eagan, Minn., now, where she uses alcohol-ink and mixed media to turning everyday chaos into something beautiful. No wonder she is drawn to Caponi Art Park’s annual “Hot Art” event, where participants carve sand molds that are then used to create molten metal castings with help from Igneous Metal Arts. “They toss in scrap iron, like radiators, bits of pipe, iron sheets,” Parisi said, “toss it into a huge cauldron and they melt it down to hot, molten lava.”The 2023 event is Saturday, Aug. 12 at noon at Caponi Art Park in Eagan.Minneapolis musician Barb Brynstad is in the band Turn Turn Turn. Every year, she looks forward to the Downtown Minneapolis Street Art Festival. The event features mural art, food trucks and hosts a variety of different musical acts.“Something I really love about this event is that you can actually watch artists creating these unique, beautiful pieces,” Brynstad said. The 2023 Downtown Minneapolis Street Art Festival runs 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 12-13.

Nat El-Hai describes herself as a Minneapolis writer, organizer and lesbian commentator. She’s looking forward to the latest Southside Shtetl — an outdoor Jewish makers market that celebrates the local Jewish community and includes everything from pottery to political education. Plus: Anyone can join in the klezmer jam session from 6-8 p.m.“This month’s event is really grounded in the Jewish diaspora,” El-Hai said. “You’re not going to find any other Jewish event in Minneapolis like this.”Southside Shtetl takes place 4-8 p.m. Aug. 13 at 3103 Chicago Ave. in Minneapolis.Tinia Moulder is a fan of Sue Scott’s recurring variety show and podcast “Island of Discarded Women.” The actor, choreographer and teaching artist, who just wrapped a production of “Glensheen” at the History Theatre in St. Paul, said the show is a great introduction to all kinds of artists – writers, musicians, spoken-word artists, and more.“I especially love the interview that Sue does with a woman on each show,” Moulder said. In August, that special interview guest was violinist, composer and disability activist Gaelynn Lea. The live events take place in an intimate supper club setting. And the best part, Moulder said, is that if you can’t make it, you can hear it all on a podcast released a few weeks later.The episode of “Island of Discarded Women” featuring Gaelynn Lea was recorded on Aug. 3 at Crooner’s Supper Club in Minneapolis. The next live event, featuring former TV news anchor Pat Miles, happens Oct. 12.Duluth is going a little bit country for the North of Nashville festival. But most of the bands playing at the one-day country music fest didn’t have to travel far.“It features bands that are right on the cusp of making it from southern Minnesota and northern Minnesota,” said Duluth guitarist and songwriter Chris Allen, who is stoked for this outdoor summer concert and afterparty. On the lineup: Lexie Houle, Bo Allen, Luke Lynell. Plus, a blast from the past: 1980s act West Wind. North of Nashville happens 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5 at the Cast Iron Bar and Grill in Duluth; call 218-729-7514 for tickets.

Ian Francis Lah is an actor and the executive artistic director for the Northern Lakes Art Association in Ely, Minn. He’s currently in rehearsals for the musical “Songs for a New World,” but this week he took time out to sing the praises of another event. “I love this time of year in Ely, Minnesota, because it’s when the Blueberry Art Festival happens, he said of the festival, which features more than 200 artists and crafters, 25 food vendors, a beer garden, and freshly baked blueberry pies. “It’s a wild time. Ten thousand people pass through a day and that is triple the amount of citizens in Ely.” The Blueberry Art Festival takes place in Whiteside Park and runs from Friday, July 28, through Sunday, July 30.By day, Carolyn Cherry is an educator with the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District. In her spare time, she is passionate about nurturing her inner artist. She met fiber artist Deborah Foutch while taking a class built around the book “The Artist’s Way.” Foutch, whose work focuses on the natural world, spends a lot of time mentoring other artists. Cherry was delighted to get a sneak peek at Foutch’s exhibition “Nine Artists in Conversation,” which features the work of Foutch and eight of her mentees. ”It’s a nurturing exhibition for those who want to be creative in different ways,” Cherry said. ”In ‘The Artist’s Way,’ they talk about artist dates, and I think this is the perfect artist date.” The exhibition opens with a reception 6-8 p.m. Saturday, July 29, and runs through August at the On2 Gallery in the California Building in Northeast Minneapolis. Sasha Warren is a Minneapolis writer whose work has been published in the mental health magazine “Asylum.” “I try to pay attention to events both in the literature world and in the disability scene,” he said. Cowchella, put on by Cow Tipping Press “is the real big event that joins the two.” The literary festival features writers with developmental and intellectual disabilities. “Every year there’s some kind of surprise,” he said. “But the best part is just walking around, soaking in the scene and feeling the pervasive joy of the atmosphere.” Cowchella takes place 4-8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 3, at Springboard for the Arts in St. Paul.

Singer-songwriter Katy Vernon, who was born in London and now lives in White Bear Lake, Minn., recommends Theatre 55’s production of  “A Chorus Line – In Concert,” based on the 1975 musical about aspiring Broadway dancers.“Everything they do is geared towards performers 55 and up,” she says. “And as a performer myself, reaching that age in the next few years, I just really am encouraged and inspired by theater that shows none of us have an expiration date.”She adds: “‘A Chorus Line’ is all about putting yourself out there.”Performances run Friday through July 23 at Caponi Art Park in Eagan.Pamela McNulty of Minnetonka has been retired for four years after two decades of working in fundraising for women's higher education. Her recommendation, Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night,” is produced by The Gray Mallard Theater Co. and is their second production.“It is incredibly special, given the wonderful production, the fact that it's free and open to everyone in the community and presented by outstanding actors who are diverse,” McNulty says. “They provide Shakespeare in a brand new manner.”Performances will be at Sociable Cider Werks in Minneapolis in the parking lot. It runs July 20-August 6.Amanda Malkin of St. Peter, Minn., is an art conservator. She is also a lover of all things art and music and a mother of twins. Amanda is especially looking forward to the Minnesota Original Music Festival, a network of free concerts, workshops and events in St. Peter beginning July 19.Malkin highlights a unique opportunity at the festival: a 48-hour band challenge.“The challenge is a spirited contest, where all musicians playing original music are encouraged to participate,” Amanda explains. “Through a random draft process, new bands are formed for just 48 hours. The new bands then create a new song together for the event and compete in front of a panel of judges with their original tunes.” Winners showcase their music on the weekend mainstage at Minnesota Square Park. The weeklong festival culminates with concerts on July 22- 23.

Anastasia Hopkins Folpe of Rochester, Minn., first encountered the Minnesota Marine Art Museum in Winona several years ago.“I would describe it as a hidden gem,” Folpe said. “It's on the river in Winona, kind of behind the downtown. You have to hunt for it a little bit.” She credited the museum’s director Scott Pollock for investing in spaces devoted to younger visitors.  “It's just a very welcoming and mellow place. I just like to go there and hang out. I think people just don't know about it. So I hope everyone learns and goes there.”Peg Guilfoyle is a writer living in downtown St. Paul and a longtime arts enthusiast. She’s also a fan of sea shanties.“There is something about coming off the street into a room filled with singing,” she explained. “I'm here to testify to the flat fun of the sea shanty sing-along held monthly at the Dubliner Pub on University Avenue in St. Paul, and also in Minneapolis at Merlin's Rest on Lake Street.”“No band, no sheet music or lyrics and all volunteer singers,” Guilfoyle enthused. “Who knew there were so many people who love sea shanties?”The next sea shanty sing-along will be July 10 at the Dubliner.Katrina Knutson of Minneapolis is a teaching artist and muralist. “You should definitely go check out the Chroma Zone Mural and Art Festival,” she said. The event will feature new murals painted by six artists.“I'm really excited to see work by Sydney James, who is an artist who's visiting from Detroit,” Knutson added, “and Leslie Barlow, one of my very favorite Minnesota painters, will also be painting a mural.”She pointed out additional pleasures of the festival, its location in St. Paul’s Creative Enterprise Zone, between the two downtowns: “It's a great neighborhood to go around because there are dozens of murals within a few blocks of each other,” Knutson said, who takes friends and out of town visitors on a tour of the murals.Events related to the festival are scheduled through Sept. 16, including a talk by artist Sydney G. James at Urban Growler in St. Paul on July 14.