Spring and summer arts and entertainment: These gallery shows and museum exhibitions bring creativity and reflectiveness to the 2024 season

This spring and summer are good times to immerse yourself in the thriving Twin Cities art scene.

Several gallery exhibitions this season focus on individual artists, from renowned names such as Keith Haring to lesser-known but influential figures such as Karin Larsson, Anatoly Zverev and Hendrick Goltzius. Others, like a Weisman Art Museum exhibition on “the other four” nonvisual senses, use a variety of mediums to bring us on interactive journeys.

Here’s a selection of museum exhibitions worth a visit this season:

Spring

Openings

April 5, Book Arts Exhibition — Friedli Gallery, St. Paul: Now in its third year, book artist Erin Maurelli’s curated showcase of letterpress, zines, paper sculptures, and other printed works returns to the Friedli Gallery. The opening reception (free) is from 6 to 8 p.m. April 7, and the show runs through May 25; 943 W. Seventh St.

April 6, “Goltzius & Co.” — Minneapolis Institute of Art: This exhibition examines the work of 16th-century Dutch printmaker Hendrick Goltzius, considered one of the most masterful copper plate engravers of his time, and other artists of the time who worked near him, learned from him and, occasionally, rivaled him. This exhibition, like museum entry, is free; 2400 Third Ave. S., Minneapolis.

April 27, “Keith Haring: Art Is for Everybody” — Walker Art Center, Minneapolis: This wide-ranging show includes more than 100 paintings, sculptures and murals by renowned pop artist Keith Haring, plus archival materials like videos and sketches from his personal journals. During his lifetime, Haring was known for his social advocacy and belief in democratizing his art, and the exhibition includes an ode to Haring’s immersive Pop Shop store. Included with required timed-entry museum ticket: $15 for general admission; $13 for seniors; $10 for students; free for kids, teens and Walker members. 725 Vineland Place, Minneapolis.

Last Chances

Go before April 21, “Edible” — Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis: Using ceramic sculpture, five Asian-American artists explore the links between food and cultural identity; between what we eat and the society in which we eat it. Free; 2424 Franklin Ave. E., Minneapolis.

Go before May 12, “Geneva Skeen: I can see a little further ahead” — Night Club: The downtown conceptual gallery presents a solo exhibition by the multimedia artist and composer Geneva Skeen that blends video, audio and image to explore “the experiences of love, loss, bewilderment, and longing that holds a spirit ‘in the drift,” the artist wrote on Instagram. Gallery open hours are 3–7 p.m. Fridays at Night Club; 340 N. Wabasha St.

Go before May 19, “The Other Four” — Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis: Artist John Schuerman curated this multimedia exhibition, featuring 21 contemporary artists, to highlight ways we can interact with art using not just sight but our “other four” senses: smell, taste, touch, sound. Free; 333 E. River Pkwy., Minneapolis.

Go before May 26, “Collective Alchemy II” — Argyle Zebra Community Gallery, St. Paul: All this year’s exhibitions at the Lowertown art gallery focus on the idea of alchemy as a metaphor for transformation. The second show, on view now, includes 63 artists’ work. The gallery is open weekends from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Also, there’ll be a public reception from 5 to8 p.m. Saturday, April 27; 308 Prince St., Suite No. 130.

Go before May 26, “Arctic Highways: Unbounded Indigenous People” — American Swedish Institute, Minneapolis: This exhibition brings together 12 Indigenous artists from North America and Sápmi, the cultural region that encompasses parts of northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. The show includes artwork and duodji, or traditional handicrafts from the Sápmi region, ranging from wood to embroidery to films. Entrance to the American Swedish Institute is $13 for adults, $10 for seniors, $6 for youth and college students; it’s free for members all the time and for the public after 3 p.m. Thursdays; 2600 Park Ave., Minneapolis.

Summer

Openings

June 8, “Karin Larsson: Let the Hand be Seen” and “Christine Novotny” — American Swedish Institute: The museum presents two exhibits alongside one another. Artist and textile designer Karin Larsson (1859–1928) had a significant influence in creating the simple, floral, colorful Swedish aesthetic that has been carried on by other designers and brands like Ikea. Meanwhile, contemporary weaver Christine Novotny is based in Grand Marais, Minn., and creates textiles that resist industrialization and showcase the value of handmade weavings in a modern world.

June 14, “From Origins to Horizons: The American Studio Glass Movement” — Cafesjian Art Trust, Shoreview: This museum made a splash when it opened in late 2022 with an exhibition of glass master Dale Chihuly’s works, and for this show — the museum’s fourth — curator Andy Schlauch and his team are tracing the relatively recent development of glassblowing as art. The museum is free, but timed reservations are required and they’re known to sell out super-quickly. 4600 Churchill St., Shoreview.

Last Chances

Go before June 2, “Portal to the Surreal: Vladimir Dikarev” — The Museum of Russian Art, Minneapolis: Born in the Soviet Union but now based in the Twin Cities, surrealist painter Vladimir Dikarev creates massive dreamlike scenes in pastel colors. Museum entrance is $14 for adults, $12 for seniors, $5 for students, free for kids and members; 5500 Stevens Ave., Minneapolis.

Go before June 23. “The Shape of Time: Korean Art after 1989” — Minneapolis Institute of Art: The museum bills this as the “first major showing of Korean contemporary art in the United States since 2009.” Most of the artists were born between 1960 and 1986 and grew up during major social and political change in South Korea, and work in a variety of mediums from paint to ceramics to video. An exhibition ticket is required; $20 for general admission, but youth and members at the Contributor level or higher get in free.

Go before June 23, “Anatoly Zverev: Under the Soviet Radar” — The Museum of Russian Art: Anatoly Zverev, who the museum describes as a “legendary figure of the Moscow underground art scene” between the 1950s and ’80s, created expressive work meant to convey a sense of constant change. He was dismissed and persecuted by Soviet authorities during his lifetime, and the works in TMORA’s show are ones that are rarely exhibited, the museum says.

Go before July 21, “The Experience of Expression” — Weisman Art Museum: Entire movements in art history have been devoted to the idea that art can be expressionistic. This is commonly interpreted as referring to the emotional expression of the artist — but what about the viewer? This exhibition “proposes that resonance belongs to the moment of a viewer’s encounter, rather than the work itself.”

All Season

“Together” — Minnesota Museum of American Art, St. Paul: The art in this exhibition was created by Minnesota families of a variety of ages and structures, the M explains, to “(uplift) mixed generational creativity by showcasing artists who have contributed hugely to Minnesota’s artistic community and their children who are integral influences to their practice.” The show runs through October, and there’s a family-friendly celebration from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, April 20. Free; 350 N. Robert St.