Minnesota Arts and Culture
Minnesota arts and culture are well represented throughout the state. The Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis are recognized world-wide for their commitment to art, theater and music.
The Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum of the University of Minnesota stands on the banks of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis.
Designed by Frank Gehry, the Weisman introduces the structural and sculptural qualities that would become the hallmarks of his later works, including the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, the Experience Music Project in Seattle, and the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.
The Weisman's exterior has been described as a shiny ice castle with an interior that was declared by Herbert Muschamp of the New York Times to be "five of the most gorgeous galleries on earth."
Weisman Art Museum Site
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts has an impressive collection that spans more than 4,000 years and features art from all over the world. There's also a Family Center equipped with games, computers, and restrooms for some downtime from all the art and crowds in the galleries.
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts is dedicated to national leadership in bringing arts and people together to discover, enjoy, and understand the world's diverse artistic heritage.
Minneapolis Institute of Arts Site
The Walker Art Center is known for its major exhibitions of 20th and 21st century art, for its presentation of vanguard music, dance, theater, film and video and for its innovative education programs and visionary new media initiatives.
The Walker Art Center showcases contemporary paintings, photographs, and sculpture. Its Minneapolis Sculpture Garden presents scores of works, including Claes Oldenburg's whimsical "Spoonbridge and Cherry," a giant spoon balancing the ripe, red fruit.
Walker Art Center Site
The Minnesota arts and culture community in the Twin Cities area supports more than 100 theater companies.
The Guthrie Theater was founded in 1963. The Guthrie is an American center for theater performance, production, education and professional training.
Presenting both classical literature and new work from diverse cultures, the Guthrie illuminates the common humanity connecting Minnesota to the peoples of the world.
Called "a 21st century dream factory" by Time Magazine, the new Guthrie boasts three stages, a full-service restaurant, pre-show dining, numerous bars and some of the best views of Minneapolis to be found in the city.
Guthrie Theater Site
The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts is recognized as one of the U.S.’s leading not-for-profit performing arts center. The Ordway offers a wide variety of performances throughout the year that encompass the finest in American musical theater, world music, dance, jazz, and vocal artists on its Main Hall and McKnight Theatre stages. In addition, each year the Ordway presents its Flint Hills International Children’s Festival and serves over 50,000 children and adults through its Ordway Education programs. Since the Ordway opened, it has become known as Saint Paul’s most elegant and inviting performance space, attracting audiences from throughout the region to its diverse range of presentations.
The Ordway Site
The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, contributes to Minnesota arts and culture as the nation’s only full-time professional chamber orchestra and is widely regarded as one of the finest chamber orchestras in the world. In collaboration with four Artistic Partners – Roberto Abbado, Douglas Boyd, Dawn Upshaw and Christian Zacharias – the 35 virtuoso musicians present more than 150 concerts and educational programs each year, and are regularly heard on public radio’s Performance Today which reaches 1,101,000 listeners each week on 242 stations, and SymphonyCast reaching 218,100 listeners each week on 104 stations.
The SPCO has released 67 recordings, commissioned 127 new works, and performed the world premiere of 49 additional compositions. The SPCO has earned the distinction of 14 ASCAP awards for adventurous programming. The SPCO tours nationally and internationally, including performances in premier venues in Europe, Asia and South America.
Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Site
The Minnesota Orchestra, hailed by The New York Times as "an international orchestra of real accomplishment," isconsidered one of America's great symphony orchestras.
The Minnesota Orchestra ranks among America’s top symphonic ensembles, with a distinguished history of acclaimed performances in its home state and around the world; award-winning recordings, radio broadcasts and educational outreach programs; and a visionary commitment to building the orchestral repertoire of tomorrow.
There are dozens of CDs of Minnesota Orchestra performances available on amazon.com.
The Minnesota Orchestra, a legend in Minnesota arts and culture, gave its inaugural performance on November 5, 1903. The Orchestra played its first regional tour in 1907 and made its New York City debut in 1912 at Carnegie Hall, where it has performed regularly ever since. Outside the United States, the Orchestra has played concerts in Australia, Canada, Europe, the Far East, Latin America and the Middle East.
Minnesota Orchestra Site
The Minnesota Opera is regarded as America’s most exciting opera company. The Minnesota Opera was founded as Center Opera in 1963 when the Walker Art Center commissioned an opera for its performing arts program. Known as a progressive, “alternative” opera company through the early 1970s, The Minnesota Opera merged with the St. Paul Opera in 1975, and through the 1980s, began to shift its focus to include more “traditional” repertoire.
In 1985, The Minnesota Opera became a founding tenant of St. Paul’s Ordway Center, and in 1990, opened its own Opera Center in Minneapolis, combining scenic and costume shops, rehearsal facilities and administrative offices into three renovated warehouses on the Mississippi riverfront.
Minnesota Opera Site
The Schubert Club another Minnesota arts and culture treasure, is Minnesota's oldest performing arts organization. The Schubert Club promotes the art of music—particularly recital music, through performance, education and museum programs—and maintains a high standard of excellence.
Established in 1882, it is a non-profit arts organization that presents eight concert series annually, operates a Museum of Musical Instruments, runs an annual scholarship competition for music students, provides after-school music lessons, presents master classes, commissions new musical works by American composers, and produces recordings and books.
The Schubert Club Site
The Chanhassen Dinner Theater, just outside of Minneapolis, is a popular venue. It is the largest dinner theater in the country. The company first opened in 1968 with 90,000 square feet, and has grown ever since.
In 1970, the company began a production of I Do I Do. Twenty-two years later it became the longest running original cast production in the history of theater.
Chanhassen Dinner Theater Site
The Old Log Theater, originally the home of a summer stock company that opened in 1940, is the area's oldest theaters and one of the most popular theaters in the U.S. Located on the shore of Lake Minnetonka, the Old Log's accommodations, including a 629 seat auditorium and a 350 seat restaurant for pre-show dining. A charming Minnesota arts and culture tradition!
Old Log Theater Site
Children's Theater Company is proof that Minnesota arts and culture is not just for grownups. The CTC was established in 1965 and has become the leading professional theatre company for young people in North America. The award-winning Children's Theater Company in Minneapolis stages plays targeted to preschoolers through teens. The theater serves 275,000 to 350,000 young people and families annually in five key program areas each year: stage productions, new play development, community partnerships, theatre arts training, and an annual regional tour.
Children's Theater Company Site
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