This weekend calls for scattered t-storms, but that ought not dissuade you from exploring the plethora of outdoor (and indoor) art extravaganzas on the schedule. Is there ever a bad time to treat yourself to some new pretties for your pad? We think not. Between art swaps and multiple art fairs, you and your discerning eye have your work cut out for you. Get us something nice, eh?
xo-l'étoile
THURSDAY AUGUST 4TH
Some Like it Hot: Supper and a Show
@ Old Arizona
2821 Nicollet Ave
Minneapolis
6-10 p.m. / Free
Like it’s not already hot enough, Old Arizona is about to crank up the heat. This Thursday saddle up your sassy and sultry side, snag your sweetie and head to Eat Street for the 2nd installment of the Feast and a Flick summer series. The show begins promptly at 7 p.m. so find your seat and feast your eyes; it’s a Marilyn Monroe kind of night with screenings of Some Like it Hot and The Seven Year Itch. Enjoy tasty eats, paletas included, and two classic films. We’ve all got a little Monroe or Newman in us, so come down and show off your best '50s duds! A Best Dressed Contest will commence during intermission (our pals at Blacklist Vintage are offering 10% off in honor of this event!). Beer and wine will be available for purchase at the bar and tasty treats are available as well.
Click HERE for more info
THURSDAY AUGUST 4TH (THROUGH AUGUST 14TH)
Fringe Festival
@ various theaters Minneapolis-St. Paul
single tickets $12 plus $4 admission button
If CONvergence is revenge for the local nerd world then let the Fringe Fest be heralded as 2 weeks of retaliation for local theater geeks. For those not familiar – and a tsk, tsk, tsk to you – the Fringe Festival is an annual 10-day long “anything goes” random romp into the land of local improv and theater. We say “random” because this performing arts event truly is “random.” Anyone from the most seasoned veterans to newbies to the stage may apply; every year's line-up is literally chosen lotto-style (just like ping-pong balls at your grannies bingo game) giving everyone a chance to try their talents at performing arts. A real “Fringe-for-All,” this year boasts 168 productions that twist the rules, break outta the playing field, stupefy, amaze, offend and, above all, entertain. You could download the Fringe schedule and blindly throw darts to determine which shows to attend or – if you're not into chance theater outings – the Fringe's website separates each show into genres catering to anyone looking for familiar categories such as comedy, drama, spoken word and dance, to the aberrant varieties like sci-fi/mystery, queer, puppetry and satire. Check the link below for a full schedule and info on multi-show passes. Viva la Fringe!
Click HERE for the Fringe Festival site
One of our personal Fringe picks is "Last Ditch" by Rockstar Storytellers Rob Callahan and Allegra Lingo:
THURSDAY AUGUST 4TH
Project Runway Weekly Screenings
@ Thom Pham's Wondrous Azian Kitchen
in the Caterpillar Lounge
533 Hennepin Ave S
Minneapolis
8 p.m. / Free
Join l'etoile and Thom Pham's Wondrous Azian Kitchen each Thursday as we host weekly 8 p.m. screenings of Project Runway Season 9 in the Caterpillar Lounge! This season features one of our very own: talented local designer Danielle Everine! Cheer Danielle on whilst sipping stylish drink specials (including the $6 special "Everine Fizz") and noshing upon Pham's delectable bar menu. Danielle herself, as well as season six contestant Christopher Straub, plan to flatter us with appearances from time to time as well, so bring your autograph books! Stick around afterward for a DJ set by Plain Ole Bill.
Click HERE for the Facebook event
FRIDAY ART PICK: HOLLIS COOPER
What's l'etoile admiring this week?
More often than not, we encounter paintings created within the space of a canvas, or across multiple canvases spread on gallery walls. Such is what makes the freestanding paintings of Hollis Cooper that much more compelling; they’re painted directly on the walls where they’re exhibited, sprawling and swirling in theatricality and vivid color. You could even say they breathe; little architectural creatures breaking free of the two-dimensional plane, activating the space and forcing the viewer to interact with them in unconventional ways. From each new angle, a new sense of place, motion, and sightline emerges. Here’s hoping they come to call (and crawl!) upon the walls somewhere nearby (Hint, hint, Hollis!)
Click HERE for the Hollis Cooper site
FRIDAY AUGUST 5TH
Unconventional: odds and ends, one-offs, and leftovers
@ Echo Arts
275 E 4th St
St. Paul
6pm – midnight / Free
Take it from us, art scraps are not anything like food scraps. Those leftovers you fed to Fido or hid covertly inside your napkin at dinner time were destined for the trash. But in the art world, the bits that remain, or at the time seem unwanted, can sometimes become tastier morsels than the final artwork. Tonight, join Echo Arts for an evening showcasing the new, unusual, the never before seen (and leftover) work from five progressive local photographers: Scott Demeranville, Chris Faust, Hilary Lund, Brian Hart and Rhea Pappas.
Sponsored by l'etoile!
Click HERE for the Facebook event
FRIDAY AUGUST 5TH
Fantastic Realities
@XYandZ Gallery
3258 Minnehaha Avenue South
Minneapolis
7 p.m. / Free
Cadillac Ranch, the UFO museums, the Jolly Green Giant – the US of A certainly has no shortage of strange roadside attractions. With “Fantastic Realities,” the latest exhibition at the XYandZ, artist Josk K. Winkler pay homage to these surreal places, while Brian Borlaug nods to a multitude of other national monuments, moments, and political figures. Using original photographs, TV stills, pages from history books, and stylized drawings, Borlaug’s work displays the discord between how an event happened and how it was documented. Winkler’s work focuses on national monuments and roadside attractions – specifically how silly human objects shape the land and how we take nature for granted when building them. The exhibit opens Friday, so be there, or be a giant ball of twine.
Click HERE for this art event and more at mplsart.com
FRIDAY AUGUST 5TH
Just Add Ink: A Comicbook Release Party
@ Altered Esthetics
1224 Quincy St. NE
Minneapolis
7 p.m. / Free
Superman, Spiderman and Batman simultaneously swoop up Betty Crocker and the dangerous, chocolate coated concoction heads straight for your kitchen…wait, what? Well, kind of. The Just Add Ink: A Comic Cookbook release party/sale kicks off this Friday! Imagine a compilation of comic strip recipes and cooking tips from a host of cartoonists from Minnesota and around the world from the likes of Big Time Attic, and Cartoonist Conspiracy (the folks who organized the details of the cookbook) and more. The release of this anthology of comic-strip recipes and cooking tips will be accompanied by a gallery show featuring the original artwork--it's a win-win! This Friday’s event allows you to meet n’ mingle with fellow artists and comic connoisseurs.
Bonus: There will also be an artists' discussion panel on 1 p.m. Saturday, August 20.
Click HERE for this art event and more at mplsart.com
FRIDAY AUGUST 5TH
Glamorama
@ Orpheum Theatre
910 Hennepin Ave
Minneapolis
8 p.m. / $60 - $175
Because not all of us can make it to the European runways for a taste of high fashion, Glamorama and Macy's once again bring the action to us offering an all expenses paid passport to music, haute fashion and the absolutely glam-est of the glam. This year, catch live performances from Grammy award-winner pop artist/record producer Bruno Mars and the group who permanently stuck the dance glitchy tune “Like a G6” in our heads, Far East Movement. Plus – and most importantly – peep the latest Fall collections from renown designers Jean Paul Gaultier, Marc Jacobs and Sonia Rykiel, not to mention Papi, Tracy Reese, Armani Jeans and more. And with a theme like “ARTrageous,” expect backdrops and visuals inspired by everyone from Bansky to Degas and every artist in between. Then, after the show, head over to the 8th floor of Macy's for the awesome ARTlandish After-Party featuring drinks, nosh and swanky surprises around every corner. The show benefits the Children's Cancer Research Fund so feel good about being stylish!
Click HERE for more info
FRIDAY AUGUST 5TH
Transmission presents: “Friday Night Videos”
@ First Avenue
701 First Ave.
Minneapolis
8 p.m. / $5
For the second time this year, Transmission is leaving its usual haunt at Club Jager for somewhere bigger and badder: the First Avenue Mainroom. And while Belinda Carlisle may not be hosting Minneapolis’ inaugural edition of "Friday Night Videos," it’s still going to be packed with the most danceable jams – and videos – from 1985 and beyond. And since Jake Rudh is doing the spinning, you know that means quite the mixtape of new wave, punk, Brit pop, electronic, and more. If you’re in the mood for some dance party hoppin', head upstairs to Get Cryphy in the Record Room, where DJs Jimmy 2 Times, Plain Ole Bill, and Last word will be spinning crunk, ghettotech, and tons of other obscure hip-hip hop all night long.
Click HERE for the Facebook page
COOL LINK: SAPPHOS & LIBROS BOOK CLUB
What's l'etoile peepin' on the web this week?
When this group popped up on Facebook earlier in the week, we were totally intrigued. Not only is it a book club with nods to Sappho – the ancient Greek poet admired as the first introduction to lesbian poetry – but once we dove even further into their schedule, we discovered the group has quite a lot to offer in terms of feminism, intellect and politics. Although self-proclaimed as book club for “women who love books and women,” the group seems multi-inclusive discussing books that poignantly address topics affecting women (queer, straight, trans or other) and society. Their first feature is Half the Sky by Nicholas Krisof which draws attention to three major women-related abuses: sex trafficking, forced prostitution and gender-based violence. Pick up the book from your local library or bookstore and join Sapphos & Libros for their first meeting Monday, August 8th at 6:30 p.m. at Common Roots Cafe in Uptown to share your insight.
Click HERE for the Facebook page
SATURDAY AUGUST 6TH
Art Swap
@ Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Target Park
2400 Third Ave S.
Minneapolis
10 a.m. – 2 p.m. / Free
Hey, remember that velvet etching you picked up at Savers a few years back? What about that strange oil painting you found in grandma’s basement? That cool, locally printed poster that you can't find a place for in your house? Or maybe even your own creation you're seeking a home for? Now you can get rid of one of them (or the likes of which we know you keep hidden under your bed) without feeling guilty! Dust off the frames and take those beauties to the M.I.A. Saturday (one object per person), where all afternoon long, Art Swap will trade out those offbeat works for something you’ll actually hang in your living room. There will even be music, popcorn, and drinks to sweeten the swappin’.
Click HERE for more info
SATURDAY AUGUST 6TH (THROUGH SUNDAY)
Powderhorn Art Fair
@ Powderhorn Park
3400 15th Avenue S.
Minneapolis
Saturday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Sunday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Summer is the season for art in the park and leisurely wandering around looking at pretty things. Especially when you’re in Minneapolis, and you have approximately 8 days to like, really enjoy it before the Abominable Snowman takes over our lives again. This weekend, treat yourself (and the fam, or your friends, or those little bastards you have to babysit now and then) to a few hours of culture at Powderhorn, where over 184 regional and national artists will be exhibiting, along with group showcases. There will be plenty of children’s activities, performances by Open Eye Figure Theatre and Articulture, and acoustic music including Dan Rein (Iranian stringed instruments), Tom Klein (Irish bagpipes), Ensemble Limousine (eclectic French mix), and so much more. Proceeds go towards programs and equipment at Powderhorn Park that benefit all ages. Why not enjoy the weather while it lasts at the pastoral landscape of one of our cities' most beloved parks?
BONUS: The Loring and Uptown Art Fairs are also poppin' off this weekend. Buses will run between the three!
Click HERE for the Powderhorn Art Fair site
SATURDAY AUGUST 6TH
“No Sleeves” Crunchy Kids Album Release Party
@ The Nomad World Pub
501 Cedar Ave
Minneapolis
4 p.m. / 21+ / $15 or FREE if you wear no sleeves
There are a lot of things going on with this event. First, PBR is presenting it, and that alone makes it cool and worthy, obvs. Second, there are two stages, indoor and outdoor, featuring a slew of bands including Blood N Stuff, Annandale Cardinals, Fetch the Warden, Hardcore Crayons, Antique Scream, Running Scared, The Tribe and Big Cats, and Spyder Baybie Raw Dog. Plus, the Crunchy Kids (who are releasing their new album today) are sure to inspire you put on your party paint and beat your chest like a warrior of fun. Much more is packed into this extravaganza, like a live art installation from Rogue Citizen, a Beer Belly competition, and bobbing for PBR Light. Buy a Crunchy Kids album for $5 and get a free beer. Sounds like our kind of party!
Bonus: Go sleeveless and get in free!
Click HERE for the Facebook event
SATURDAY AUGUST 6TH
Seated Heat EP Release Party
@ 7th Street Entry
701 1st Avenue
Minneapolis
8pm / 18+ / $5
Another weekend in Minneapolis, another weekend filled with excellent musical events to attend. This Saturday, Seated Heat play host to a fantastic gathering of local noise and experimental music at the Entry. The line-up includes the swoon-worthy tones of Mark McGee's new project Father You See Queen, former Gay Beast rockers Hasps, moody laptop jawns from Tender Meat, and of course one of our very faves, Seated Heat. The music starts around 9, rock & roll time.
Click HERE for more info
SATURDAY AUGUST 6TH
House Party 97
@ Honey
205 E. Hennepin Ave.
Minneapolis
10 p.m. / 21+ / $3
Ace of Base, Robyn, Madonna, Technotronic, Corona, LaBouche, Snap, Culture Beat, Ricky Martin – no other decade knows gettin’ jiggy like the 90s. And no other DJs know “all that” like Derube and Jonathan Ackerman, whose Saturday night sets at Honey will be chock full of (jock) jams to rival the best house parties circa 1997. So whether or not you were still playing in your Little Tikes hosue when these songs were released, this dance party is bound to be all that and a bag of chips. In fact, all your other Saturday night plans can eat our shorts. So get practicing your Tootsie Roll and your Robocop. Colorful denim, Doc Martins, and grungy t-shirts are also strongly encouraged.
Click HERE for the Facebook event
SUNDAY MUSIC PICK: DAVID WAX MUSEUM
What's l'etoile listening to this week?
You’ve tapped your boots to Americana, but there’s a new buckaroo in town: Mexo-Americana, the genre popularized by our latest folksy fave, David Wax Museum. What’s not to love about a band whose signature instrument is a donkey’s jawbone? And that’s not to mention their knack for joyful virtuoso and down-home harmony, for lyrically exquisite blends of sounds both fiery and heart-wrenching. Having spent time volunteering in La Huasteca, Mexico, singer-guitarist David Wax learned how to listen – and emulate – the rhythms and song structures of son mexicano, a sensibility that, for its rare appearance in indie music, really kicks up dust. But while DWM’s sound is made distinct by fiddle, clapping, call-and-response hollering, and the occasional accordion, it’s the spirit of their music that’s truly captivating. Like the legendary Spirit of the West, perhaps, it’s as much a mystery as it is a household tale. Which is to say, even their YouTube video leaves us soaring.
Click HERE for the website
Editor in Chief: Kate Iverson // Contributors: Juleana Enright, Tara Sloane, Natalie Gallagher, Kate Iverson, Robyn Lewis, Jahna Peloquin, Stefani Arden
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