Visual artist Alison Price says she is regularly struck by the power of A. Drew Hammond’s paintings and collages. Some of Hammond’s works are fun and playful — she particularly likes his anthropomorphic frogs — while others take on Black history and current events in a way that stops her in her tracks.

Case in point, she says, is his work “Melon Colony,” in which watermelon seeds are packed in the formation of people on a slave ship. His thoughtfully layered collages always encourage a closer look, says Price. 

A. Drew Hammond shares a studio with his wife, artist and dancer Beverly Hammond, in the Northrup King Building in northeast Minneapolis. His work is also on view in the Ramsey County Courthouse, the Grandview Square Financial building in Edina, Minn., and at the Community Commons at the Mall of America.

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Guitarist and vocalist Julian Manzara was a Cedar Commissions artist in 2017-2018, and he recommends checking out this year’s contingent when they perform this weekend.

This year’s six Cedar Commissions artists will each perform 30 minutes of original work, drawing upon Welsh bardic tradition, African stringed instruments, Hmong folk song and more. 

“It's kind of like a musical buffet of stuff you've never tried before,” says Manzara. “I would say just go, don't worry about wrapping your mind around exactly what you're going to see. You can trust the Cedar in terms of their curation, and it will be a great experience that you can just dive into regardless of how familiar you are with these emerging artists.”

Following last year’s virtual event, artists this year will be back on the Cedar Cultural Center stage in Minneapolis.

Friday’s show features Carlisle Evans Peck, Nyttu Chongo and Maddie Thies. Saturday’s lineup is Vie Boheme, Alicia Thao and Kat Parent. The concerts start at 7:30 p.m.

Gospel singer Robert Robinson has performed at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Community in Minneapolis in the past, and he knows the strong lineup of performers who will take the stage on Sunday evening for a concert celebrating Black History Month.

The event is entitled “Oh Let us Build This Place,” and it’s an evening of music and historical vignettes that examines 75 years on the south side of Minneapolis. T. Mychael Rambo, Thomasina Petrus, Carmen Michelle and Gwen Matthews will perform with Dan Chouinard as host and band leader. 

Robinson says the evening will be “education and entertainment all wound up into one,” as the artists and others reflect on the experience of African Americans in the area where the church is located. Included in that history is the building of Interstate 35W, which displaced thousands of south Minneapolis African American homes and businesses beginning in the late 1950s. 

The event takes place 7-9 p.m. on Sunday. Masks are required, as is proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test result from within 72 hours.