Updated: 9:35 a.m.

Daniel Doktori and his wife moved to Minneapolis and found painter Evan Abrahamson's work at local art fairs. 

“We kept running into Evan and his booth and his work. And we really fell in love with it,” Doktori says.

“His work is oil on canvas. And it combines this kind of really impressive skill in terms of rendering lifelike images of both landscapes and people with this kind of blurring technique that results in a kind of a haunting or like a dream-like type image and we think it's really quite wonderful.”

The show at Gallery 360 in Minneapolis runs through May 28.

Merritt Olsen recently moved to Minnesota from the West Coast and recommends the Rochester Civic Theatre’s production of “The Miracle Worker” on stage through Sunday.

Olsen recommends the play not only because it's a “wonderful, timeless play,” but also because there's an exhibit called “Child in a Strange Country” that accompanies it.

“This exhibit highlights the Innovations in Education for the blind and the low-vision,” Olsen explains. “It outlines an alphabet of touch that opened the door for learning in the fields of geography, biology, chemistry, physics, you name it. And Helen Keller's curiosity and lifelong commitment to furthering the learning of others influenced these educational efforts. So it's a wonderful marriage of the play and the exhibit.”

The exhibit is open through April 29.

Jere Lantz is a longtime music conductor in the Twin Cities and Rochester. He is excited about the debut of a new musical organization, The Classical Music Project.  

“It's put together by a bunch of professional musicians who feel that music from the Classical period is not as focused on by the public as it used to be,” he says.

The Classical Music Project debuts this weekend with two musical pieces: Beethoven's Sonata for Orchestra No. 7 in C Minor, Op. 30, and No. 2b Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58.

The Beethoven sonata will be conducted by Yaniv Segal, with an arrangement by composers Garrett Schumann and Segal. 

The second part of the program, Piano Concerto No. 4, is performed by Nachito Herrera, who also is known for his Afro-Cuban jazz virtuosity, playing at the Dakota in Minneapolis, among other venues. 

The Classical Music Project will perform at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis on Sunday.

Correction (April 20, 2023): In an earlier version of this story, an artist’s name was misspelled. This has been corrected.

Nancy Crocker of Minneapolis recommends the musical “How to Avoid Burnout in 73 Minutes: A Minimally Invasive Musical Procedure.” 

“I saw this show in its initial run. This is a wonderful, life-affirming show,” Crocker said.

The show was created by Dr. Stuart Bloom, who also performs. It depicts his journey from a comedian in New York to an oncologist in Minnesota. The show is built around a simple premise: Bloom reads from a questionnaire designed to determine if someone is experiencing burnout at their job.

“And of course, doctors – and especially oncologists – have one of the highest burnout rates of any profession,” Crocker explains. “And so he goes through this questionnaire, one question at a time, but his answers are always in the form of a song.”

The musical is at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis from April 19-23. 

John Orbison of Minneapolis is an amateur musician. He recommends the season finale of the Bakken Ensemble at Antonello Hall at MacPhail Center for Music.

“All of the composers on the program are people that I'm not very familiar with … They delve into music that you might not hear anywhere else, featuring some of the finest musicians in the world that we're so blessed to have here in Minnesota.”

The season finale is Sunday.

Stillwater-born Patrick Hicks is the writer in residence at Augustana University. He’s looking forward to a pair of readings by author Christopher Vondracek, who will be reading from his latest book, “Dancing With Welk: Music, Memory, and Prairie Troubadours.”

“This book engages with Lawrence Welk, that cheesy and inescapably popular television bandleader of the 1960s and ’70s,” Hicks said, but also describes the book as “a funny and poignant coming of age story.” 

Vondracek will read at Fair Trade Books in Red Wing and Paperback and Pieces in Winona on Saturday.

Pamela Lundstrum is a member of the Cultural Centre of Bird Island, which brings fine art to central Minnesota, south of Willmar.

The center is offering an exhibit by wildlife painter Bradley Donner called “Wild Art,” which continues through the end of the month. Donner explains on his website that he enjoys going to the “wilds of northern Minnesota, Canada and the Driftless trout streams of southeast Minnesota and Wisconsin” to research art.

“I am so excited about the newest exhibit,” Lundstrum says. “It's very exciting to see something that is just so beautiful and so perfect. And we only have to go to Bird Island to see it.”

“Wild Art” will be on display at the Cultural Centre of Bird Island through April 22. 

Bonnie Stewart is the executive director of the Fosston Community Library & Arts Association. She is looking forward to attending performances by singer/songwriter Dan Rodriguez, who she calls “an amazing performer. He's a talented musician. He writes his own songs, he sings beautifully. And he is probably one of the most engaging entertainers.”

Rodriguez was raised in Detroit but moved to Minneapolis at age 18 to study music. His varied career includes the song "When You Come Home,” which played as part of a Budweiser commercial during the Super Bowl in 2014.

“He just brings joyful, new, awesome music,” Stewart says.

Rodriguez will play at the 318 Cafe in Excelsior Saturday.

Annie Deutsch of Minneapolis recommends artist Sadie Ward, whose exhibition, “Midwest Women” will be on display at the Second Floor Gallery in Coffman Memorial Union in Minneapolis.

Ward “has been making portraits of women throughout history out of bras,” Deutsch explains. “Brart. You put ‘bra’ and ‘art’ together.”

The works are of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Michelle Obama, and Jane Goodall among others.

“Her first one that kind of inspired it all was Anna Dickey Olson, who was the first woman from Minnesota to run for Senate.”

“Midwest Women” runs through April 23, with a reception Friday.

Catherine Glynn is artistic director of Audacious Raw Theater in Lanesboro. She was able to see a preview of the play that opens Commonweal Theatre’s 35th season: “Bernhardt/Hamlet” by Theresa Rebeck. Glynn calls the play “a love letter to the theater and the art of collaboration.”

The play is a work of historical fiction about actress Sarah Bernhardt, who was wildly celebrated in her time. Set in Paris in 1899, when Bernhardt’s theater has become riddled by debt. In order to save it, she decides to play the lead role in “Hamlet.” All of Paris is up-in-arms over whether she can pull off a “pants role.” Bernhardt herself is daunted by Shakespeare’s language.

Glynn notes that this a perfect show to cap off Women’s History Month, having been written, directed, costumed and sound-designed by women. Glynn says that the role of the famous actress is beautifully played by Commonweal company member Adrienne Sweeney, who herself is no stranger to playing roles originally written for men. Sweeney played Ebeneezer Scrooge in the theater’s staging of “A Christmas Carol” in 2021.

After final preview performances tonight and Friday, the show opens April 1 and runs through June 24.

George Roberts, artistic director of Homewood Studios, recently attended the opening of a gallery exhibit at the new, nearby Northside Artspace Lofts. The building was designed as an affordable space for artists to live and work, complete with dance space and gallery. Roberts said he appreciated the variety of works in that gallery show, which is titled “Works in Progress.”

The exhibit “speaks about supporting young and new artists to have a space to show their work. And it speaks about a place where more accomplished mid-career artists have a place to act as mentors,” says Roberts, adding that beginning works that “show promise” were happily positioned next to accomplished, finished works. 

The exhibit “Works in Progress” is on view through May 7. Roberts notes that, since the building is also residential, the doors are locked. But if you ring the doorbell to enter, the gallery is accessible and easy to find.

Educator and art lover Kris Prince of Minneapolis plans to be at the Sundin Music Hall Friday evening to hear the Minneapolis Guitar Quartet perform in St. Paul. 

Prince calls the quartet “wonderful, entertaining” performers, and she loves the range of styles and sounds the four produce with their guitars. Their upcoming series of performances includes music from Spain, Finland and Macedonia; new arrangements of music by Bob Dylan, Nick Drake and Japanese jazz composer Hiromi Uehara. They will also perform a new, commissioned work by Twin Cities composer A.J. Isaacson-Zvidzwa.

In addition to Friday evening’s concert, founder Joseph Hagedorn, Maja Radovanlija, Ben Kunkel and Milena Petković will kick off a series of performances this spring. The Minneapolis Guitar Quartet will perform Sunday, April 2, at the Walker Community UMC; Thursday, April 13 at the White Bear Center for the Arts; and Saturday, April 29 at the Heart of the City Music Factory in Anoka.

Minneapolis actor Nissa Nordland was drawn to the play “Wish You Were Here” because of the premise: It’s a one-act improvised comedy about grief.

A group shares memories about a friend who has died some time before. The show, which tends to vary each night, considers how their relationships have changed since the loss.

“I love that it's the idea of bringing joy to a situation that we often are looking at with a sad lens,” said Nordland. “We are celebrating the person… and finding the joy in remembering them, and then figuring out, where do we go now?”

The show was created and directed by Mike Fotis, a co-founder of Strike Theater, which is dedicated to building a community of sketch comedy, storytelling and the spoken word.

Nordland says the cast features a group of Twin Cities “comedy legends” who are sure to bring a funny and heartfelt show.

“Wish You Were Here” runs March 10-11 and 23-25 at 7:30 p.m. at Strike Theater in Minneapolis.

Actor Meghan Kreidler of Minneapolis is a big fan of JuCoby Johnson’s plays, which she says explore heavy, thought-provoking topics through the lens of love. She’s looking forward to seeing his new play, “5,” at the Jungle Theater, co-produced with the Trademark Theater.

Johnson acts in the play he authored, about two close friends who own a convenience store. When a real estate developer offers to buy the store located in a rapidly changing neighborhood, the two friends face decisions that will test their friendship.

Kreidler says it’s a show about family legacy, gentrification, and what happens to friendship as environments evolve.

“I think the thing that excites me also about this piece is where it's being done,” adds Kreidler, “because the Lyndale Lake Street area [where the Jungle Theater is located] has so rapidly changed over the last five to 10 years, and I feel like audience members will be able to engage with the show in a different way based on where they're seeing it.”

“5” opens Saturday and runs through April 16.

Molly Anthony of Richfield is an artist and teacher who lately has focused on teaching art for self-care, and she loves the meditative process of creative Joleen Emery.

The Spring Grove resident creates flowers, wall decorations, and other eye-catching designs out of old books and magazines. It’s a process that involves the repeated folding and cutting of paper — and sometimes taking a bandsaw to old books. Anthony watches Emery on Tik Tok as she walks through her creative process.

Emery runs yoga and artist retreats at Big Raven Farm in southeastern Minnesota, which also operates as a bed and breakfast. You can check out the space during the Bluff Country Art Studio Tour the last weekend in April.

Correction (March 9, 2023): An earlier version of this story incorrectly spelled an actor’s last name. This has been corrected.

Updated: 2:55 p.m.

St. Cloud-based concert pianist Mark Ochu is looking forward to an eclectic evening by vocal and musical trio Partly Tame, presented by the Granite City Folk Society.

The trio consists of the group’s founder Mariénne Kreitlow, violinist Cristina Seaborn and Susan Schleper, vocals.

“All three musicians are authentic performers … comfortable in multiple genres ranging from classical to folk, to slap stick comedy, to the introspective and spiritual,” Ochu said, adding that he never knows quite what will be on the program. He said Kreitlow, a composer, is an intuitive performer, shifting to incorporate poetry, jazz improv, and more as the mood of the show requires.

The one-night show starts at 7 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in St. Cloud.

Art lover Doris Rubenstein of Richfield is excited that after several difficult years, the Artistry Theater and Visual Arts is in full swing. This week galleries will feature visual art shows by local artists, which Rubenstein says makes March a good time to discover or rediscover the Bloomington Center for the Arts.

Landscape photography by Marc Ye of Lakeville, whose subjects and photo shoots range all over the world, opens his fine art show in the Atrium Gallery. An artist reception Thursday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. is free and open to the public. The exhibit runs through April 23. 

In the Inez Greenberg Gallery, Roshan Ganu, Chris Rackley and  John Swartwout’s show uses art made both by hand and through technology to explore memory. Their show, “Hyper Memory,” runs through April 7.

Artistry also helped mount an exhibit at Confluence Gallery, located at the Minnesota Valley Wildlife Refuge, of the wildlife paintings by Kat Corrigan. “Wild and Precious Life” runs through April 5.

Sarah Prindiville, director of fine arts in the Robbinsdale public schools, recommends “Once on This Island, Jr.” It’s a 60-minute version of the Broadway musical packed with songs created by the same music-and-lyric team behind “Seussical!” and “Ragtime.”

Set in Haiti, it’s the story of Ti Moune, a peasant girl, who falls in love with a wealthy boy from the other side of the island. Gods and goddesses are part of the story about class, culture, and the power of love.

The production at Stages Theatre in Hopkins is directed and choreographed by Twin Cities theater-maker Kelli Foster Warder. Prindiville says students, some from her district, are part of the ensemble.

“Once on This Island, Jr.” runs March 3 though March 19 and is recommended for ages 7 and up.

Correction: A previous version misstated where an exhibit connected to the Bloomington Center for the Arts was taking place. The above version has been updated.

Retired science teacher Ellen Fahey says art galleries are her refuge, and she’s gone three times to see Peyton Scott Russell’s retrospective exhibition at the White Bear Center for the Arts. The show features 40 years of Russell’s work, from elementary school through today.

A graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Russell is perhaps best known for his murals, including one painted in 2020 of George Floyd, entitled “Icon of a Revolution.” The exhibit features that work as well as examples of Peyton’s Graffiti art, stenciling, jean jackets and sculpture.

The exhibit runs through March 3, with an open house March 2 at 6:30 p.m.

Jendayi ‘Jedi Maji’ Berry of Minneapolis loved creating abstracts to live music back in September as part of MacPhail’s Spotlight Series: Musical Explorations in Spectral Colors. He strongly recommends seeing the next installment of the series, “Translucent Beauty” Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Antonello Hall in Minneapolis.

This performance will feature visual art and short films of Eyenga Bokamba, created and projected in response to live music that includes Bach’s Suite for solo cello No. 5 and “electronic soundscapes".

Berry says it’s exciting to experience the two art forms combined and speaking to one another in a live setting.

Your Classical MPR is a media sponsor for this series.

Writer Dave Walbridge from St. Paul suggests keeping your eyes open for a Free Little Art Gallery. Like the Little Free Libraries, anyone can set up a box to house a miniature art gallery. People may simply take in the art, or take a piece they enjoy. And as with Little Free Libraries, artists may leave work in the galleries.

The movement began in Seattle and has spread across the world, inside art galleries and community centers as well as outside. In Minnesota, Free Little Art Galleries have popped up in and around St. Paul as well as Duluth, Willmar, Waconia and Hawley, a town east of Fargo.

Writer Tyler Tork of Plymouth, Minn. has come up with an online map of Free Little Art Galleries.

Rachel Coyne, an author and artist in Lindstrom, Minn., plans to attend the opening artist reception this Friday for Robert DesJarlait’s show “Woodland Visions” in Hinckley.

The solo show at the East Central Regional Arts Council Gallery features 21 watercolor paintings describing Ojibwe stories and culture. Coyne loves DesJarlait’s brightly colored paintings of dancers whose movement seems to leap off the canvas. Coyne looks forward to standing in the middle of this gallery and taking in the energy of the whole show.

DesJarlait is a member of the Red Lake Nation. He’ll give an artist talk at 5:30 p.m. Friday. The exhibit’s opening reception takes place from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The show runs through March 17.

Lucy Soderstrom, director of the Ely Folk School, loves seeing the streets and businesses of her town transformed into an outdoor art gallery for the annual February Ely ArtWalk.

A team of dedicated volunteers coordinate around 100 artists, whose work is on display in the storefronts of 40 local businesses.

Soderstrom says she notices new details every time she passes by. With the warmer weather recently she was able to take time looking. Some of her favorite window displays include Ely’s Old Fashioned Candy Store, where stained glass hangs over locally-made pottery, and Mitska’s Market, where Alexia Springer’s porcupine quill earrings are on display.

The Ely ArtWalk will be up through the end of February.

Theater-maker Ashawnti Sakina Ford of Plymouth, Minn., is looking forward to seeing Nora Montañez Patterson’s new play “Code You,” which opens Thursday in St. Paul. Ford was able to attend an earlier reading of the play, and she was captivated by its humor and rollercoaster of emotions, which shone even in a Zoom format.

The in-person production by Exposed Brick Theatre takes place at Dreamland Art’s intimate 40-seat theater in St. Paul.

The play is set during the height of the pandemic with a twist that turns the collective experience on its head. In this play, the main character is the only one who’s heard of the pandemic, and when three unmasked friends show up at her apartment for a party, parallel worlds unfold. The show runs through Feb. 25. 

Mina Leierwood is a Minneapolis art teacher who creates art and puppets of recycled materials. Recently, she saw a retrospective of Anita White’s work entitled “Journeys” at Vine Arts Center in Minneapolis, and was fascinated by White’s documentary art style and the stories told.

White has a daily practice of capturing the people and images she sees with marker and watercolor. The exhibit includes White’s world travels, her spiritual journey and her navigation of the medical system.

The artist learned as an adult that her grandmother was Jewish, a fact hidden in order to avoid Nazi persecution in Europe. One series of drawings explores her Jewish identity and family history, incorporating old family photos and her travels to her ancestral home in Romania, as well as sparks of the divine.

Leierwood was also struck by White’s drawings of her medical journeys as she documented her husband’s illness and death. “Her way of dealing with a crisis was to draw your way through,” said Leierwood. White’s journal images from this period show medical workers, ambulance interiors, and ticking clocks of a waiting room, often with notes in the margins. White later returned to HCMC to create a series documenting a day in the life of the hospital.

The Vine Arts Center is open Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., as well as by appointment. White will be present during portions of both Saturdays, as well as at the closing celebration, which takes place Feb. 18 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Keila McCracken, a weaver in Turtle River and owner of sustainable design business, Bare Cloth, looks forward to the art show of a fellow Bemidji-area creator, Diamond Knispel. Knispel combines intricately painted animals with whimsical backgrounds in art that McCracken says captures the energy and magic of the Northwoods.

The paintings in the exhibit are arranged to represent the course of a day, beginning with vivid colors and ending in richer tones.

Diamond Knispel’s show “Wild Whimsy of the Northwoods” opens at the Watermark Art Center in Bemidji on Friday with an artist reception from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The show runs through April 28.

Actor David Beukema of Minneapolis is a huge fan of the Twin Cities theater group, Transatlantic Love Affair. He loves their simple staging and the way the actors use their bodies to suggest props, setting, and character details. He recalls being deeply moved by the theater group’s play “These Old Shoes” during the 2013 Fringe Festival, and he can’t wait to see it again during its current February run.

Beukema calls the play “a beautiful show about aging, lost love, and refinding love.” Transatlantic Love Affair’s players created the play, inspired by their family stories. It’s directed by Diogo Lopes with original songs by the Minneapolis-based duo The Champagne Drops.

“These Old Shoes” runs through Feb. 19 at the Illusion Theater in Minneapolis.

A discussion at Open Book in Minneapolis explores artist Sam Robertson’s illustrated art-book take on the King James Bible. Sarah Nassif’s hands-on “Weaving Water” workshop connects the ancient art of indigo dyeing and spinning fiber with local water systems. And at The Southern Theater, the group Cumar combines West African rhythms and Celtic dance to create something new.