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The side entrance to the Northtown Mall in Blaine, MN

MinneCulture | Diverse Stores Add New Chapter to Minnesota’s Mall History

Minnesota and indoor shopping malls have a high-profile history, with the Mall of America getting all the love. But some slightly smaller spots, such as Northtown Mall in Blaine, are still finding their way in a world of online orders. That includes one mall near Minneapolis that’s bringing together BIPOC business owners and a more diverse customer base.
KFAI’s MinneCulture · New Brand Browsing: Diverse Stores Add New Chapter to Minnesota’s Mall History
“We felt like it was more our speed versus going to a bigger mall,” said Donna Green, owner of Northtown Mall’s Dreams and Diamonds. “We felt like it was very diverse. That’s another reason why we wanted to come here
Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Logo
Support for MinneCulture on KFAI has been provided by the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.
Photo credit: Mike Moen.

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An architectural drawing shows the projected new exterior of MSP Film at the Main. Photo courtesy of the project's architect, Marcelo Valdes.

MinneCulture | MSP Film Society Builds a Permanent Home for Cinema with Lease of St. Anthony Main Theater

The 2022 MSP International Film Festival (MSPIFF) returns May 5-19 —the first time in-person since 2020. This festival also marks the launch of MSP Film’s newest endeavor: taking over the St. Anthony Main Theater for good. They’ll relaunch as MSP Film at the Main. “The experience that the film festival has, and the energy that it creates with our audiences…is something that we want to be bringing on a daily basis here,” said MSP Film Programming Director Jesse Bishop.
KFAI’s MinneCulture · MSP Film Society Builds a Permanent Home for Cinema with Lease of St. Anthony Main Theater
To get ready for MSPIFF, MSP Film will host an open house on Saturday April 30 .They’ll show people around the theatre, feature trailers on the screens, and have concessions available, All staff and board members will be there to answer questions. For more information about MSPIFF or the expansion of MSP Film at the Main, visit MSP Film’s website is MSPfilm.org. Architectural drawing courtesy of the project architect, Marcelo Valdes.
Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Logo
Support for MinneCulture on KFAI has been provided by the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.

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A gravestone at Memorial Pet Cemetery in Roseville, MN

MinneCulture | Metro’s Oldest Pet Cemetery Reflects Enduring Sentiments towards Furry Friends

Less than ten yards from an onramp onto Highway 36 lies a small plot of land that serves as the final resting place for thousands of beloved pets. It’s the Memorial Pet Cemetery and has been there since at least 1924. It looks like a conventional cemetery but with slightly smaller tombstones and much more open hearted epitaphs. ‘Snuggles: Who Really Lived up to his Name…’. The cemetery was started by Dr Arnold Feist, a veterinarian, in the 1920’s and was later donated to the Animal Humane society.
KFAI’s MinneCulture · Metro’s Oldest Pet Cemetery Reflects Enduring Sentiments towards Furry Friends
You could be guilty of thinking that our forebears were less sentiment, that our love for our pets nowadays is a byproduct of modern luxury, but if you take a walk through the small cemetery on 694 Cope St you’ll find that though how we take care of animals has changed, our love for them certainly has not. KFAI’s Matthew Schneeman reports. Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Logo Support for MinneCulture on KFAI has been provided by the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.

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Sibley Park in Mankato, NOT the site of a massive hot springs complex

MinneCulture | The Not-Springs of Mankato, MN

If you believe everything you read on the internet, Mankato has one of the biggest hot spring complexes in the world. Only one problem: they aren’t actually there. This rumor was started in the 1990s by Minnesota State University, Mankato Professor Don Descy as a way to teach students about misinformation on the then-burgeoning internet. He created a very real page on city-mankato.us boasting a very fake 17.5 acres of hot springs. The site persists today, and it continues to fool unsuspecting visitors. “Fake as they are, they have drawn people to this community,” said Anna Thill, the former head of Visit Mankato.
KFAI’s MinneCulture · The Not-Springs of Mankato, MN
KFAI’s Tony Williams investigates an early internet hoax with some local flavor.
Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Logo
Support for MinneCulture on KFAI has been provided by the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.

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DJ Queen Duin

MinneCulture | DJ Queen Duin Creates Community Through Music

*** “DJing is a lot more than just throwing some songs together. It can be a very vulnerable thing to do,” says Vanessa Hernandez. Vanessa Hernandez, known locally as DJ Queen Duin is a music curator and former radio host who often DJs local events and drag shows. KFAI’s Emily Krumberger talks with DJ Queen Duin about the craft of DJ-ing and how it illuminates their own story. Click on the SoundCloud link to listen!
KFAI’s MinneCulture · DJ Queen Duin Creates Community Through Music
“People who do have the ability to hear can basically hear you putting your heart on a platter,” says Hernandez, “Music is just one of those things that is connected to your senses, it’s connected to your memory, it’s telling a story. As a DJ you’re telling a story of where you’ve been.” MinneCulture on KFAI is supported by the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund. Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Logo

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Author Jamie Schumacher

MinneCulture | Jamie Schumacher’s New Book is a Portrait of the Cedar-Riverside Neighborhood

**** The Cedar-Riverside neighborhood in Minneapolis, also known as the West Bank because of its location by the Mississippi River, is a rich cultural and artistic mixture of people. Butterflies and Tall Bikes, a new book by Minneapolis-based author Jamie Schumacher, captures the robust diverse activity and history of the neighborhood. “The butterfly is synonymous with migration and the immigrant community. And that being a part of the West Bank connection as well. It includes a variety of interviews with West Bank residents and business owners and staples of the community. All of those things were just a part of this collection of stories.“ KFAI’s Dixie Treichel reports for MinneCulture. Click on the SoundCloud link to hear the story.
KFAI’s MinneCulture · Jamie Schumacher’s New Book is a Portrait of the Cedar-Riverside Neighborhood
Schumacher weaves personal narratives throughout the work. “This is one of the first neighborhoods I hung out in after moving to Minneapolis. Hard Times is where I would hang out after shows. It’s where I studied when I went back to school for my master’s degree and the U of M so I got most of my studying and research homework done on the West Bank. And then I worked for ten years as the Executive Director of the West Bank Business Association. I still keep talking to folks and there could be another five books written about the West Bank and they would all be super interesting and fascinating ‘cause everybody that works here is great.” MinneCulture on KFAI is made possible by the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Logo  

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Signage on Auto Garage states "Dogs have family, Cats have staff."

MinneCulture | Mechanics Expound on the Perfect Roadside Quip

*** The art of writing a good joke welds a lot of power. A good joke can drive the plot of a TV sit-com, can spark political controversy … or, in this case, sell an oil change. KFAI’s Matthew Schneman spoke with a few auto mechanics about how they’ve made writing jokes part of their business. KFAI’s Matthew Schneeman has the story.
KFAI’s MinneCulture · Mechanics Expound on the Perfect Roadside Quip
Since 2013 Ethan Derhy Has been delighting St Paul residents and commuters with incredibly gentle, sometimes surreal, jokes on the sign in front of his family’s three Signal Garage Auto Care locations. Lighthearted jokes like ‘Cat Puns Freak Meowt’ and strange ones like ‘Cup Holders are just Cup Cups’ provoke laughs, smiles, or eye rolling depending on your comedic sensibilities. Ironically these signs have been an effective marketing tool. By not advertising your services people pay more attention and, according to Ethan, help People think of his business the next time they need their suspension checked out or oil changed. But the signs also serve the purpose of spreading general positivity, something Ethan’s dad, who originally did the sign, instilled in Ethan. Before Ethan took over his dad was just playing with alliteration, signs like, ‘If you value your Volvo We’re the place for you.’ Ethan took it up a notch and posted signs like ‘Domestic cars, foreign cars, alien cars…’ and ‘Try our pumpkin spice motor oil!’ When he ran out of car puns he branched out to anything that was short and funny enough to be on a sign like ‘I wonder what my dog named me?’ Ethan says running a business is hard but doesn’t have to be so serious. He’s shown that, in fact, running a business can be easier if you’re not so serious. Support for MinneCulture on KFAI comes from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Clear Water Land & Legacy Amendment

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Banner Image featuring 1980s photo of curly-headed Leif Brush, a Native Teacher instructing a child, A.B. Cassius grinning, and Ty Yule sitting on scaffolding at his gay bar in Minneapolis

MinneCulture’s Most Memorable Stories from 2021

*** 2021 tempted us to “get back to normal,” but the Twin Cities arts scene largely resisted and innovated by staging events outside, charging bouncers with the task of checking vaccination statuses, producing virtual art exhibits and fusing art forms to continue healing. Through it all, MinneCulture producers brought you timely arts stories as well as Minnesota history stories, told with modern and progressive voices. Here are some of the most memorable stories from 2021, as selected by the MinneCuture editorial team.
Emily Michaels King and Her Digital Detritus for the Zoom Era
Performance artist Emily Michaels King dropped a new production last wintercalled ‘Digital,” which invited the audience into the bedroom, into the computer screen, and into the body, for an immersive, tangible virtual experience for the zoom era. KFAI’s Sheila Regan reports.
KFAI’s MinneCulture · Emily Michaels King and Her Digital Detritus for the Zoom Era
The Sonic Legacy of Leif Brush and His Terrain Instruments
Duluth-based sound artist Leif Brush passed away in March of 2021. His Terrain Instruments were just some of the audible sculptures that isolated and emphasized the sounds of otherwise natural phenomena. KFAI’s Ben Heath celebrates the work of a remarkable Minnesotan.
KFAI’s MinneCulture · The Sonic Legacy of Leif Brush and His Terrain Instruments
Ty Yule Remembers Pi: “The Dyke Bar of Our Dreams” Pi Bar infused the Twin Cities with an ecstatic, high energy jolt of queerness for the year and a half it was open. They catered to lesbians and queer women, but was also open to the entire LGBTQ scene, making its embrace of the transgender community explicit. In his recent memoir, “Chemically Enhanced Butch,” former Pi proprietor Ty Yule reflects on Pi’s brief but impactful existence in the Twin Cities. KFAI’s Sheila Regan reports.
KFAI’s MinneCulture · Ty Yule Remembers Pi: “The Dyke Bar of Our Dreams”
Self-Determination and Other Teachings of the Red School House Created through a partnership between Migizi Communications and KFAI’s MinneCulture, First Person Plural used recordings from archived episodes of First Person Radio to tell Indigenous history stories rooted in Minnesota. In this edition, Dixie Treichel shares the story of the Red School House, formed in response to the discrimination experienced by Native youth in our education systems. Listen here:
KFAI’s MinneCulture · First Person Plural | Self-Determination and Other Teachings of the Red School House
Savannah Bustillo’s Tongue Twisters in Graphite In the world of audio recording, sound is visually represented in what’s called a wave form. They often look like tall ovals with vertical spikes. In the world of visual art, a Minnesota artist uses such wave forms to illustrate accents and tongue-twisters with printmaking and stencils. Get to know the artist, Savannah Bustillo, in this story by KFAI’s Sheila Regan.
KFAI’s MinneCulture · Savannah Bustillo’s Tongue Twisters in Graphite
Marking 100 years with Celebration and Reflection at Ingebretsen’s December is the busiest time of the year at Ingebretson’s, a Scandinavian market and gift shop on Lake Street in Minneapolis. As Ingebretson’s marks its 100th anniversary, it’s a time for celebration and a time for reflection at the shop. Britta Greene reports for KFAI’s MinneCulture.
KFAI’s MinneCulture · Marking 100 years with Celebration and Reflection at Ingebretsen’s
Ep. 30: The Godfather of Black Space in Minneapolis Season 5 of the MinneCulture Podcast was devoted solely to Minnesota history. Anthony Brutus Cassius was questioned by the FBI, fought to be the first Black person in Minnesota to get a liquor license, and his famous greasy burgers were once mentioned on the Johnny Carson show. But above all, starting in the 1930s, Cassius created space for the Twin Cities Black community to eat, drink, organize and connect. Hear Cassius’ story in this episode of the MinneCulture Podcast, produced by Nancy Rosenbaum and Mecca Bos.
KFAI’s MinneCulture · Ep. 30: The Godfather of Black Space in Minneapolis
Ep. 35: The Toonsmith: Dave Mruz, Minnesota’s Cartooning Historian
KFAI’s Britt Aamodt shared three tremendous feats of storytelling in Season 5 of the podcast, including a chronicle of Minnesota connections to famous comics and cartoons. Listen here and learn a thing or two about Donald Duck, Superman, Charlie Brown and more.
KFAI’s MinneCulture · Ep. 35: The Toonsmith: Dave Mruz, Minnesota’s Cartooning Historian
Fly Robin Fly: That Disco-Crazed Moment When The Gay 90’s Came Out Of The Closet 
In downtown Minneapolis, there’s a gay bar with several dance floors conveniently named the Gay 90’s.
But… the Gay 90’s hasn’t always been gay. The bar began as a supper club for a straight crowd. It opened in the 1950s and the name was a reference to an earlier decade, the 1890s.  Then, in 1975, the vibe changed in a big way. The owners of the Gay 90’s bought a disco ball, hired DJs, and turned the 90’s into a club catering to gay men.  In this original KFAI documentary by KFAI’s Todd Melby, you’ll hear a history of the bar featuring some of the people who worked, danced and connected at the Gay 90’s.
KFAI’s MinneCulture · Fly Robin Fly: That Disco-Crazed Moment When The Gay 90’s Came Out Of The Closet
MinneCulture productions on KFAI are supported by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Clear Water Land & Legacy Amendment

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