April 6, 2017, Thursday - Big Ideas: Can Literature Make a Damn Bit of Difference? at The Guthrie

Time:  7:00pm - 8:30pm

Location: Guthrie Theater, Dowling Studio, 818 Second Street S

Big Ideas: Can Literature Make a Damn Bit of Difference?

Imagine a world where everyone read an hour each day. What would that world look like, and would it be better than the one we're living in? Join the Loft as we host Man Booker Prize winner Marlon James and Executive Director of the National Book Foundation Lisa Lucas for a wide-ranging conversation about the importance, issues, and opportunities that books bring to our lives and culture.

Co-presented with the Minnesota Book Publishers' Roundtable, and with generous venue support from the Guthrie Theater. 

General tickets are $15 ($10 members).

There is also a special pre-reception at Spoonriver with Lisa Lucas and Marlon James for $160. It includes a reserved ticket to the event, appetizers, and a complimentary drink. Learn more about this special reception through this link. 

Lisa Lucas is the Executive Director of the National Book Foundation. Prior to joining the Foundation, she served as the Publisher of Guernica, a non-profit online magazine focusing on writing that explores the intersection of art and politics with an international and diverse focus. Lucas also serves on the literary council of the Brooklyn Book Festival.

Marlon James was born in Jamaica in 1970. His most recent novel, A Brief History of Seven Killings, won the 2015 Man Booker Prize. It was also a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and won the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature for fiction, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for fiction, and the Minnesota Book Award. It was also a New York Times Notable Book. James is also the author of The Book of Night Women, which won the 2010 Dayton Literary Peace Prize and the Minnesota Book Award, and was a finalist for the 2010 National Book Critics Circle Award in fiction and an NAACP Image Award. His first novel, John Crow’s Devil, was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for first fiction and the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and was a New York Times Editors’ Choice. James is a Loft board member and lives in Minneapolis.

About Big Ideas
"The purpose of art is to lay bare the questions that have been hidden by the answers.” James Baldwin said that. And we agree.

April 6, 2017, Thursday - Special Reception with Marlon James and Lisa Lucas at Spoonriver

Time:  5:00pm - 6:30pm

Location: Spoonriver, 750 South 2nd Street

Special Reception with Marlon James and Lisa Lucas More Info

Before Marlon James and Lisa Lucas take the stage for Big Ideas: Can Literature Make a Damn Bit of Difference?, a lively discussion about the importance, issues, and opportunities that books bring to our lives and culture, please join us for an intimate pre-event reception with the featured guests at Spoonriver (next door to the Guthrie).

Your ticket to the reception includes one complimentary drink, delicious appetizers, and admission to the main event at 7 p.m. (as well as seating in the front section of the theater).

All proceeds benefit the programs for readers and writers at the Loft. ($115 of each ticket is tax-deductible.)

If you have any questions about the reception, please contact Katriona Molasky at kmolasky@loft.org or 612-215-2598. 

April 6, 2017, Thursday - The Assassination of the Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand at Southern Theater (3 nights)

Time: 7:30pm

Location: Southern Theater, 1420 Washington Avenue South

Sheep Theater presents: The Assassination of the Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand

Sarajevo, June 28, 1914. Gavrilo Princip, with the help of five other members of Young Bosnia, assassinated the Austrian-Hungarian heir apparent, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie.

General admission: $20 in advance ($24 at the door); Student (with ID): $12; ARTshare members free.

April 6, 2017, Thursday - Paint Night at The Pint Public House

Time: 11pm

Location: The Pint Public House, 430 N 1st Avenue

Swing Me Until the Moonlight at The Pint Public House

April 6, 2017, Thursday - Music and the Brain–A Perfect Orchestration Throughout Our Life Span at MacPhail

Time: 7:00pm

Location: MacPhail Center for Music, Antonello Hall, 501 S. 2nd Street

Music and the Brain – A Perfect Orchestration Throughout Our Life Span

LeagueAires Annual Symposium Featuring Keynote Speaker Melissa Wenszell

The LeagueAires Annual Symposium, sponsored by the Suzanne Holmes Hodder Legacy Fund, was established in 2012 to offer public educational events on the joy and healing power of music. Melissa Wenszell is the MacPhail Music Therapy department Co-Founder, Senior Music Therapist. She is a Neurological Music Therapist and is a Fellow through the Center for Biomedical Research in Music at Colorado State University. Melissa will present current research, best practices and experiential opportunities and will utilize brain scans to demonstrate the positive effects music has on the brain. No tickets required. Free and open to the public. Reception to follow.

For information: http://www.macphail.org/events/leagueaires-annual-symposium-featuring-keynote-speaker-melissa-wenszell/

April 5, 2017, Wednesday - Roomful of Teeth Featuring the World Premiere of Self one by Nick Zammuto at Aria

Time: Doors at 6:30pm | Music at 7:30pm

Location: Aria, 105 North First Street

The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra's Liquid Music, Walker Art Center and Schubert Club Mix present Roomful of Teeth Featuring the World Premiere of Self_one  by Nick Zammuto 

Grammy Award-winning vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth, and sonic experimentalist Nick Zammuto (The Books) assemble a custom-built evening of sound explorations in a world premiere collaboration commissioned by the SPCO’s Liquid Music, Walker Art Center and Schubert Club Mix. In addition, the vocal ensemble performs the Minnesota premiere of Partita for 8 Voices, group member Caroline Shaw’s mesmerizing Pulitzer Prize-winning composition. 

“We’re thrilled to join the line-up of world class, groundbreaking artists this year and are especially honored to be co-presented by Liquid Music, The Schubert Club and Walker Art Center, three of our favorite arts organizations in the country,” says Roomful of Teeth member Brad Wells. “Our collaboration with Nick Zammuto promises to elicit sounds and grooves that could only manifest in such a thoughtfully supported and artfully curated production.  Nick’s brilliance – creating intricate, tech-based grooves that seem to levitate – will be on full display in this new work. The piece features magical moments in which individual singers from Teeth are spotlighted as well as vast flowing musical tapestries for the whole group.” 

Nick Zammuto explains that Self one, his new piece for Roomful of Teeth, “cycles between solos sung through a pitch/delay unit with an analog synth accompaniment, and highly rhythmic ensemble sections.” Nick elaborates that the the piece is about “finding our identities within a digital house of mirrors.”   

“Roomful of Teeth’s Twin Cities’ debut is long overdue,” says Liquid Music curator Kate Nordstrum. “To make up for lost time, The Schubert Club, Walker and Liquid Music are banding together to commission a new work for the ensemble and jointly present the collaboration. We’re all great admirers of Nick Zammuto’s musical mind and so when we heard that Roomful of Teeth were hoping to work with him, we jumped on the opportunity. Caroline Shaw’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Partita for 8 Voices will also be featured on the program, a special and electric piece that will sound and feel amazing at Aria.”

TICKETS: $30 ($25 for Liquid Music and Schubert Club Mix subscribers and Walker Art Center members)

April 3, 2017, Monday - Career Fair at Central Library

Time:  9:00am - 2:00pm

Location: Minneapolis Central Library, 2nd Floor, 300 Nicollet Mall

Job-seekers can connect with actively-recruiting companies at a career fair Monday, April 3, sponsored by Hennepin County Work and Economic Resource Center. The event is free and open to the public.

Job-seekers are encouraged to dress professionally and bring copies of their resume.

This career fair is part of a series of events to pair employers looking for workers with employees looking for job opportunities. All participating businesses are aiming to fill multiple openings.

Recruiters from nearly 40 organizations will attend the career fair, including:
• ACR Homes  • Augustana Care   • Carefree Living  • City of Minneapolis  • CobornsDelivers  • Comcast • Cub Foods  • Delta Global Services  • Doherty Staffing  • Domino’s  • DoubleTree by Hilton - Bloomington  Minneapolis South  • DoubleTree by Hilton - Minneapolis Park Place  • DoubleTree by Hilton - Minneapolis North  • Ebenezer Society  • Family Dollar • FedEx Ground  • First Student • First Transit • Goodwill-Easter Seals  • HMSHost • Hennepin County • Hilton Minneapolis  • Hyatt Regency Minneapolis • Indrotec • Mall of America • Minneapolis Marriott City Center  • Monterrey Security • Options Family and Behavior Services • PeopleReady • Select Comfort • Sojos pet food • Super America • SUPERVALU Distribution Center • Swissport North America • Target (downtown) • United States Postal Service • UPS • WIS International
• YMCA of the Greater Twin Cities

This location is served by several bus routes. To find the best one, visit http://www.metrotransit.org/ or call 612-373-3333.

April 3, 2017, Monday - Twins Season Opener

Time: 1 PM - 7 PM

Location: Target Field, 1 Twins Way

Opening Day: Minnesota Twins vs. Kansas City Royals

Watch the Twins on Opening Day take on the Royals at Target FIeld! First pitch is at 3:10 p.m.

Giveaway
The first 30,000 fans will receive a Minnesota Twins Long Sleeve Hooded Tee (Adult M or XL.) Presented By Your Local Northland Ford Dealers. 

April 2, 2017, Sunday - Cold at The Southern Theater

Time: 7 PM - 8:30 PM

Location: The Southern Theater, 1420 Washington Avenue South

COLD Staged Reading

Dangerous Productions will be holding a staged reading of COLD which will be a part of this year's Twin Cities Horror Festival. We'll follow up the reading with feedback from YOU, the audience.

Admission is $Pay What You Can!

More about the project:

White privilege and white supremacy are woven into nearly every institution, process, and product in the United States. The country was founded on stolen land, built by slave labor, and continues to oppress people of color in overt and invisible ways.

DP has chosen to use the lens of horror to expose the true nature of white privilege, and show the damage it can do not only to people of color, but to the white community as well.

April 2, 2017, Sunday - Second Story Reading with Duchess Harris and Caren Stelson at The Loft

Time: 6:30pm

Location: The Loft Literary Center, at Open Book (Performance Hall), 1011 Washington Ave

Second Story Reading with Duchess Harris and Caren Stelson

The Loft presents Second Story with Duchess Harris and Caren Stelson. Second Story is the Loft’s reading series for young adult and middle-grade authors. Perfect for families and readers of all ages, Second Story pairs a first-time author with a more established voice in children’s literature.

Duchess Harris' fourth book, Hidden Human Computers: The Black Women of NASA is about the Black women who did mathematical calculations for John Glen to go to the moon. Harris was motivated to write this book with Sue Bradford Edwards because her grandmother was in the group of the first 11 recruited to work at NASA. Duchess Harris, is a professor and chair of the American Studies Department at Macalester College. Her o...ther publications are the co-authored book Black Lives Matter (Essential Library) with Sue Bradford Edwards, Black Feminist Politics from Kennedy to Clinton/Obama (Palgrave Macmillan), and an edited volume with Bruce Baum, Racially Writing the Republic: Racists, Race Rebels, and Transformations of American Identity (Duke University Press).

Professor Harris was a Mellon Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania. She earned a PhD in American Studies from the University of Minnesota. She spent her final year in grad school as a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute on Race and Poverty at the University of Minnesota Law School. She received her Juris Doctorate from William Mitchell College of Law. In 2015 the Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers chose her to receive "The Profiles in Courage Award."

Caren Stelson lives in Minneapolis and has worked as a teacher, educational consultant, and freelance writer. In 2009, Caren earned a MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Hamline University to refocus her writing career on matters that she felt most passionate. Sachiko: A Nagasaki Bomb Survivor's Story was published in October 2016 by Carolrhoda/Lerner Publishing Group. Among other awards, Sachiko is a 2016 National Book Award Longlist selection, a Robert F. Silbert Informational Honor Book, and is a finalist for a Minnesota Book Award. Caren visited Nagasaki five times to interview Sachiko Yasui and research the book. In January 2017, Caren returned to Nagasaki to bring Sachiko Yasui her own published copy of Sachiko.

Advanced tickets guarantee a general admission seat and help cover the Loft's costs to host the event. Pay-what-you-can tickets are available at the door 30 minutes prior to the event on a first-come, first-served basis. No one turned away for lack of funds. Doors open 30 minutes before the event. Seating is general admission (not assigned).

April 2, 2017, Sunday - Whiskey on Ice at The Depot

Whiskey on Ice 

  

April 1, 2017, Saturday - 30 Days of Biking Kick Off at The Commons

30 Days of Biking: MSP Kickoff Ride 2017!

Celebrate the beginning of 30 Days of Biking with this flagship kickoff ride.

Meet at 11:00am at The Commons, Minneapolis, enjoy artisan-roasted coffees from Bell Lap Coffee, and roll out around 12 Noon after opening remarks, thank-yous, and a big group photo, then hit the streets for a slow-paced bike stroll around the Twin Cities. The ride ends at Surly Brewing Company's Destination Brewery.

#30daysofbiking sign-up opens March 1, 2017, at http://30DOB.com/

April 1, 2017, Saturday - Washburn A Mill Tour at the Mill City Museum

Time: 1:00pm

Location: Mill City Museum, 704 S. 2nd Street

Washburn A Mill Tour 

$16 adults, $14 seniors and college students, $12 ages 5-17, $4 discount MNHS members, includes museum admission

Reservations: required, call 612-341-7555

Take an in-depth look at the historic Washburn A Mill complex and the award-winning Mill City Museum building. A guide will take visitors into the building's many nooks and crannies, highlighting the lives of the men and women who worked there, how the building functioned during its peak flour milling years and the many changes to the building over time. This is the only opportunity for a guided tour through the entire museum building and the only chance to see some of its nonpublic spaces.

April 1, 2017, Saturday - Secrets of the Gateway: A LGBTQ History Tour of Downtown Minneapolis at Central Library

Time: 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM

Location: Central Library, Doty Board Room, 300 Nicollet Mall

Secrets of the Gateway: A LGBTQ History Tour of Downtown Minneapolis

Explore the rich queer history of downtown Minneapolis with local author and historian Stewart Van Cleve. Following a presentation at Minneapolis Central Library, Van Cleve will lead a short walking tour of the area surrounding the library. An opportunity for questions and discussion will be held at the final stop on the tour. This project is funded with money from Minnesota's Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

April 1, 2017, Saturday - Community Connections Conference at the Convention Center

8:00am - 3pm (Check in starts at 7:30am)

Minneapolis Convention Center, 1301 2nd Avenue South

2017 Community Connections Conference

Through a strong program of influential speakers, robust conversations, interactive exhibits, and best-practices, this year’s conference reflects a central purpose to strengthen and diversify neighborhood and community organizations and to better connect residents to City resources.  The conference program will include break-out sessions of 60-75 minutes, and the program will draw upon the City’s Core Principles of Community Engagement and IAP2 principles.

Program Structure

Inform and Consult - 9:15 am-10:15am
Overview and understanding of topics followed by discussion or exploration for action

Involve - 10:30 am-11:45 am
Interactive session to further dive into topic areas

Empower - 1:45 pm-3:00 pm -
Active working sessions dedicated to tangible actions and take away
 
Learning Labs
Learning Labs are dedicated to exploring issues and ideas, sharing techniques, and developing solutions. This is accomplished through an experiential learning format that:
•Provides models, skills and tools for advancing equity which participants can apply in their daily lives, work, and institutional and community contexts
•Defines and creates innovative means for measuring organizational, institutional and community transformation in engaging under-represented communities and strengthening neighborhood organizations
•Helps participants identify and utilize best practices for engagement with under-represented communities, City departments, and neighborhood and community organizations. 

April 1, 2017, Saturday - Twin Cities Food Tours' Historic Northeast Minneapolis Food Tour

Times: 1:00pm

Twin Cities Food Tours' Historic Northeast Minneapolis Food Tour

The Historic Northeast Walking Food Tour takes place in the Minneapolis neighborhood known as Northeast, or Nordeast to locals! You’ll savor favorites from 6 locations including sausages also served at Twins Stadium, authentic Neaopolitan Pizza, traditional Greek desserts and gourmet cheeses, to name a few. You’ll also learn how these local establishments came to be, who owns them and some fun and interesting stories they have to share. The food sampled on the tour is included in the price of your ticket and is enough for a satisfying lunch.

March 31, 2017, Friday - Live Music at Aster Cafe

Time: 9:00pm $6

Location: Aster Cafe, 125 Main Street SE

Tonight: Billy Johnson (Pop Folk)

March 31, 2017, Friday - The Psycho Luau: Pig Roast & Dinner Show

THE PSYCHO LUAU: PIG ROAST & DINNER SHOW

Time:  6:30 PM - 9:30 PM

Location: Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge, 1900 Marshall Street NE

Don't just eat a pig roast, experience it. 'Eater'tainment.

Pre-show Feast
- A PIG ROAST (offered to the tiki gods)
- A LUAU SPREAD (done Suzi's way)
- RUM-SOAKED TIKI DRINKS
- KONA BREW Tap Takeover

Dinner Show Includes:
• FIRE • DRUMS • HIP-SHAKING HULA • DANCING • SAMOAN WARRIORS • KNIVES • 

Tickets available on Brown Paper Tickets for $49 each
http://suziluau.brownpapertickets.com/

March 31, 2017, Friday - Alternative Motion Project (AMP) opens at The Lab Theater (thru April 2)

Dates/times - see info link below.

Location: The Lab Theater, 700 1st North Street

Alternative motion project

Alternative Motion Project (AMP) continues its commitment to create and present new contemporary dance work with its sixth annual performance, AMP#SIX. Enter a different world with each of the 5 pieces performed by this dynamic company that offers relentless physicality and dedicated artistry. Includes choreography by Guest Artist Jennifer Glaws (Minneapolis), live original music by composer Dameun Strange (St. Paul) and photography by Ellen Gustafson (Minneapolis).

March 31, 2017, Friday - Mpls Elections 101 FB Live Q & A Hosted by the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition

Mpls Elections 101 FB Live Q & A

Time: 12 Noon - 12:45pm

It's a City election year in Minneapolis! The Mayor, all City Council Members, and Park Board Commissioners are up for election. These positions play a critical role in biking and walking in Minneapolis and being involved is a key role you can play to improve our city. 

Join us for a Minneapolis Elections 101 Facebook Live discussion with Annastacia Belladonna-Carrera, Executive Director of Common Cause Minnesota (http://www.commoncause.org/states/minnesota/). They will share details about the elections process in Minneapolis, including how Caucuses, Conventions, and endorsements work for different local political parties. 

If you have any questions you'd like answered, ask away in the comments.