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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A storytelling road trip from Grand Marais to Winona

Rose Arrowsmith is a storyteller and children’s book writer from Grand Marais, and for the second year in a row, she’s making the six-hour drive to Winona to attend the Sandbar Storytelling Festival.

The festival, held on Friday and Saturday, features seven storytellers from around the country, including local talent, offering a series of storytelling events at the Page Theatre.

There are also free events Friday through Sunday at the Historic Mason Theater, the Winona Public Library and two Winona churches. Find the schedule here.

Rose describes the transportive nature of storytelling: This is oral storytelling, so oftentimes it's going to be one person up on stage, and they might be telling a story from their own life. They might be telling a folktale or a myth or some combination thereof.

Some people are really theatrical storytellers and do voices and a lot of physicality. And some people, it feels like you're in a really intimate conversation until you realize you're lost in a story.

Rose is particularly excited to see Elizabeth Ellis, whom the NEA named an American Masterpiece Touring Artist.

Rose says: If you're in the storytelling world, you've known her name for forever. She doesn't really travel anymore, but she tells these traditional stories from her experience in Appalachia.

— Rose Arrowsmith

A play about care, connection and humanity

Twin Cities theater-maker Shanan Custer is looking forward to seeing Martyna Majok’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Cost of Living” staged by Full Circle Theater.

The show runs Oct. 10–18, including accessibility matinees Saturdays at 1 p.m., at 825 Arts in St. Paul. The play lasts an hour and 45 minutes with a 10-minute intermission. Tickets are pay-as-you-are-able.

Shanan says: It's an incredible acting show. You really get to know the characters. And the show has two characters [out of four] who have disabilities. And in this particular production, we have two characters who are using wheelchairs. They both require caregiving, but the show isn't about disability.

All of the characters are fully realized, and the show is asking us to think about all the ways that we intersect, whether it be how much money we make in a year, or how we're able to move about in the world, or how others perceive us.

— Shanan Custer

Glamour, vintage, and Prince-inspired fashion on the runway

Leslie Firkins is a wardrobe stylist living in St. Paul, and she’s looking forward to Glam Jam, a vintage fashion show and corresponding clothing market, both held at The Hennepin in Minneapolis. It’s a Prince-inspired event as well as a fundraiser for Hennepin Arts.

The high-glam 80’s style fashion show kicks off at 7 p.m. Friday night.

Leslie says: The stylist is Richard Anderson. He's a really well-known icon and stylist here in the Twin Cities, and I just can't wait to see what he pulls together.

And then on Saturday, there is a vintage market where you can shop a lot of the vendors that provided a lot of the clothes and pieces that we saw in the show the night before.

I think it'll be a really good time to be inspired to maybe pick up some vintage to mix and match with your modern clothes.

— Leslie Firkins