Arts
The region is second only to New York City in live theater per capita and is the third-largest theater market in the U.S., supporting the Theatre de la Jeune Lune, Illusion, Jungle, Mixed Blood, Penumbra, the Brave New Workshop, the Minnesota Dance Theatre, Theater Latté Da, In the Heart of the Beast Theatre, and the Children's Theatre Company. French architect Jean Nouvel designed a new three stage complex for the Guthrie Theatre, the prototype alternative to Broadway founded in Minneapolis in 1965. Minneapolis purchased and renovated the Orpheum, State, and Pantages Theatre vaudeville and film houses on Hennepin Avenue now used for concerts and plays. In 2007, a fourth renovated theater will join the Hennepin Center for the Arts to become the Minnesota Shubert Performing Arts and Education Center, a home to twenty performing arts groups and a provider of Web-based art education.
Minneapolitans support a dozen large art, cultural, science, and historical museums alongside smaller galleries and museums, four large ballet, dance, and folkdance companies, as well as filmmakers groups and numerous theater companies. The city publishes updates to The Minneapolis Plan for Arts and Culture which has produced results such as the formal recognition of the Northeast Arts District in Northeast Minneapolis.
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, built in 1915 in south central Minneapolis is the largest art museum in the city with 100,000 pieces in its permanent collection. A new wing designed by Michael Graves was completed in 2006 for contemporary and modern works and more gallery space. The Walker Art Center near downtown doubled its size with an addition in 2005 by Herzog & de Meuron and is continuing its expansion to 15 acres (.06 km²) with a park designed by Michel Desvigne across the street from the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. The Weisman Art Museum, designed by Frank Gehry for the University of Minnesota, opened in 1993. An addition, also designed by Gehry, is expected to open in 2009.
The son of a jazz musician and a singer, Prince is Minneapolis' most famous musical progeny. With fellow local musicians, many of whom recorded at Twin/Tone Records, he helped make First Avenue and the 7th Street Entry venues of choice for both artists and audiences. The Minnesota Orchestra plays classical and popular music at Orchestra Hall under music director Osmo Vänskä who has set about making it the best in the country. The Minnesota Opera produces both classic and new operas. Celebrating its 100th year, the MacPhail Center for Music is building a new facility near the riverfront.
Tom Waits released two songs about the city, Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis (Blue Valentine 1978) and 9th & Hennepin (Rain Dogs 1985). Home to the MN Spoken Word Association, the city has garnered notice for rap and hip hop and its spoken word community. The underground hip-hop group Atmosphere frequently comments in song lyrics on the city and Minnesota.
(Source: Wikipedia.org)
