Minnesota Humanities Center

St. Paul – Kumbayah, The Juneteenth Story: Special Edition
2025-06-27 14:00 - 16:00 (America/Chicago) | The O’Shaughnessy at St. Catherine University, 2004 Randolph Ave, St. Paul, MN, 55105, United States
This theatrical experience, written by Rose McGee, takes audiences on a journey into the past, addressing the origins of Juneteenth and the imagined impact on the lives of individuals hearing the news of the Emancipation Proclamation and that the Civil War was over.

Presented in partnership with Sweet Potato Comfort Pie.

Registration
This performance is free to attend, but registration is required.

Registration Questions: oshaughnessy@stkate.edu

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Thank you to our sponsors!

St. Paul - Summer on the Lawn: Shakespeare in Our Parks
2025-07-13 19:00 - 21:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
The Minnesota Humanities Center (MHC) enthusiastically welcomes Classical Actors Ensemble back to the MHC front lawn for the 11th season of Shakespeare in Our Parks. This season, the Classical Actors Ensemble will present one of William Shakespeare’s lesser-known comedies, “All’s Well That Ends Well.” Follow the trials and tribulations of the heroine Helena as she faces deception, duress, and death in her quest to win the heart of the snobbish and nowhere-near-good-enough-for-her Bertram. Guffaw, jeer, and cheer as a memorable cast of characters galivant through royal courts and battlefields and satirize social mores.
Picnics, lawn chairs, sun umbrellas, and blankets are welcome. Note that the performance is in an open field with minimal shade. Please plan accordingly. Restrooms will be available for use at the Minnesota Humanities Event Center. Can’t make it on July 13? Check out Classical Actors Ensemble’s full calendar for other performances across the Twin Cities this summer.
From Classical Actors Ensemble: “The Theater is a sacred place. It is a public forum where actors and audience gather to contemplate what it means to be human. Shakespeare and his contemporaries grappled with that question in some of the English language’s best poetry, leaving behind a canon of compelling stories with universal themes that provide invigorating challenge for actors and an awe-inspiring legacy for audiences. Classical Actors Ensemble performs the plays of the English Renaissance as they were originally intended: as popular entertainment for everyone. By demonstrating why these works of art are considered classic, we freshly prove their relevance in today’s world.”
This event is part of MHC’s 2025 summer “Summer on the Lawn” series.
Registration
Registration is encouraged but not required. There is no cost to attend.
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St. Paul - Summer on the Lawn: Outdoor Movie Night!
2025-08-01 21:00 - 23:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
The Minnesota Humanities Center’s 2025 Summer on the Lawn continues with a special movie screening under the stars! In partnership with TriLingua Cinema, MHC presents the early aughts classic, “Holes.” Based on the acclaimed young adult novel by Louis Sachar, “Holes” follows the trials and misadventures of Stanley Yelnats IV (Shia LaBoeuf), who is sent to a juvenile detention camp in the Texas desert after a wrongful conviction. The cruel camp staff force inmates to spend their days digging holes in search of a historic outlaw’s lost treasure. Through the efforts of Stanley and his companions, the mystery of the treasure and the history of the campgrounds are revealed, and injustices are brought to light in this comedy drama featuring performances by Sigourney Weaver, Eartha Kitt, Tim Blake Nelson, and Khleo Thomas.
This film is rated PG and runs for 111 minutes. Parents and caregivers are encouraged to consult Common Sense Media for more information on film content.
Showtime begins right after sunset (approximately 9:00 p.m.). Light refreshments will be provided by TriLingua Cinema and MHC. Picnics, lawn chairs, and blankets are welcome. Note that the screening is in an open field with minimal shade. Please plan accordingly. Restrooms will be available for use at the Minnesota Humanities Event Center. In case of inclement weather, the screening will be moved indoors to the Minnesota Humanities Event Center.
This event is part of MHC’s 2025 summer “Summer on the Lawn” series.
About TriLingua Cinema
TriLingua Cinema is a nonprofit traveling cinema with the mission of utilizing films to build community among the diverse residents of Saint Paul’s East Side. Their ultimate goal is to open a brick-and-mortar movie theater in Payne-Phalen or Dayton’s Bluff.
Registration
Registration is encouraged but not required. There is no cost to attend.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
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Duluth - Minnesota Writers Off the Page: Michelle Filkins, Margret Aldrich, Julie Gard, Jennifer Hopkins & Leslie Miller
2025-08-07 18:30 - 20:30 | Wussow’s Concert Cafe, 324 N Central Ave, Duluth, MN, 55807, United States
What can we discover when we reclaim the term ‘locker room talk’ and the intimate conversations between women in personal spaces? The Minnesota Book Award winning anthology, “Locker Room Talk: Women in Private Spaces,” lays bare some of these conversations shared by women from Minnesota and beyond, demonstrating how women show up and care for each other, and the power of women to create safe and supportive spaces. Join us for a discussion with editors Michelle Filkins and Margret Aldrich, and contributing author and Duluth resident Julie Gard and contributing authors Jennifer Hopkins and Leslie Miller for readings and a conversation about the book. Following the discussion, audience members are invited to participate in a Q&A session, and have further informal conversation with the featured speakers. The café will be open during the event with food and drink available to buy. Copies of “Locker Room Talk: Women in Private Spaces” will available for purchase, and the evening will finish with a book signing.
About the Speakers
Michelle Filkins is a founding editor of Spout Press and a contributing author to “The Evolution of Human Cooperation and Community Development” (Lexington Books), and “Creating a Transformational Community: The Fundamentals of Stewardship Activities” (Lexington Books). She is a Little Free Library steward and one of the Daunte Wright Memorial caretakers. Currently she is a professor and reference and instruction librarian at Metro State University in St. Paul. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband and two teenage sons.
Margret Aldrich is the author of “The Little Free Library Book” (Coffee House Press), a ten-year veteran of the publishing industry, recipient of an Innovator Award from the Book Industry Study Group, and former Princeton University writing fellow. She has published her work with The Atlantic, Utne Reader, Huffington Post, Book Riot, and others. Today Margret is the director of communications and media relations at the Little Free Library nonprofit organization.
Julie Gard’s most recent prose poetry collection, “I Think I Know You,” won the Northeastern Minnesota Book Award and was a finalist for the INDIES Book of the Year Award. “Home Studies” (New Rivers Press) was a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award, and additional publications include “Scrap: On Louise Nevelson” (Ravenna Press) and two chapbooks. She lives in Duluth, Minnesota and is a Professor of Writing at the University of Wisconsin-Superior.
Jennifer Hopkins has a spectacular cast of characters in the story of her life. Her hope is that anyone reading her story is reminded to build communities of love, strength, and laughter. Jennifer has been in love with the ying to her yang for over twenty years, and they raised a son together. Both men impress her daily with their integrity, devotion, and comedic timing.
Leslie Adrienne Miller’s collections of poetry include “Y,” “The Resurrection Trade,” and “Eat Quite Everything You See” from Graywolf Press, and “Yesterday Had a Man In It,” “Ungodliness,” and “Staying Up For Love” from Carnegie Mellon University Press. Professor of English at the University of St. Thomas, she holds degrees in creative writing and literature from Stephens College, University of Missouri, Iowa Writers Workshop, and University of Houston.
This event is presented in partnership with Wussow’s Concert Cafe, an inclusive and supportive home for local artists, musicians, writers, and everyone in between, and Spout Press, a small, all-volunteer, non-profit literary publisher that publishes and promotes the finest in contemporary experimental writing — mentoring young writers and bringing new and/or under-appreciated voices to the attention of a larger audience. This event is part of the Minnesota Writers Off the Page series, bringing the inspirational voices of Minnesota’s writers directly to readers.
Registration
This event is free but registration is required.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

St. Paul - Summer on the Lawn: Puppets & Performance
2025-08-10 15:00 - 17:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
MHC concludes its 2025 “Summer on the Lawn” series with a fun-filled, festive, family friendly music and puppetry double feature! The event begins with a children’s concert by local favorites Rose Lani and The Rosie Posies, who will lead the audience in singalongs and games through musical storytelling. After that, Open Eye Theatre’s Driveway Tour performers will present “The Adventures of Juan Bobo,” a puppet show inspired by Puerto Rican folk stories. Open Eye performers will remain after the show to give curious kids and adults a behind the scenes peek and a closer look at the featured puppets.
Please note that this event will be outdoors, weather permitting. MHC will provide light refreshments during the event. Picnics, lawn chairs, and blankets are welcome. Both performances will be in an area with some shading, but audience members should expect exposure to the sun. Please plan accordingly. Restrooms will be available for use at the Minnesota Humanities Event Center. In case of inclement weather, the performances will be moved indoors to the Minnesota Humanities Event Center.
This event is part of MHC’s 2025 summer “Summer on the Lawn” series.
About Open Eye Theatre
Open Eye Theatre is nationally recognized for bringing a visual feast of evocative figure theater to the stage. The company’s whimsical yet profound work surprises and delights whether experienced in the company’s historic jewel box theater in Minneapolis or in neighborhoods throughout the Twin Cities with the Driveway Tour. From experimental object works to puppet shows in backyards to community pageants to miniature spectacles, Open Eye consistently creates a unique, contagious exchange between artists and audiences.
About Rose Lani and The Rosies Posies
Rose Lani is a children’s musician who combines her love for music & literacy with children of all ages! She delights kids and families with her ‘ukulele and fun, original songs which promote learning, positivity, and community.
Musician friends Caitlin Halmrast Lucic and Miz Kathleen are The Rosie Posies, who bring on the energetic beat! Caitlin (on drums and percussion) is a longtime music educator and musician in the Twin Cities and beyond. Miz Kathleen (on electric bass) is a Saint Paul librarian who performs music in libraries and other venues.
With upbeat and positive original songs, plus new spins on traditional tunes, Rose Lani and The Rosie Posies can’t wait to music-a-long with you!
Registration
Registration is encouraged but not required. There is no cost to attend.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

St. Paul - Minnesota Writers Off the Page: Mubanga Kalimamukwento
2025-09-10 18:30 - 20:30 | Black Garnet Books, 1319 University Ave W, St. Paul, 55104, United States
Join us for a special evening with Mubanga Kalimamukwento, author of “Obligations to the Wounded,” winner of this year’s Minnesota Book Award for novel/short story. Mubanga will be in conversation with Mona Susan Power, and along with readings from the book, their discussion will explore creative writing, the short story craft, family, culture, emigration, and more. Audience members will be invited to participate in a Q&A session, enjoy light refreshments, and have further informal conversation with the featured speakers. Copies of “Obligations to the Wounded” will be available for purchase, and the evening will finish with a book signing.
About the Speakers
Mubanga Kalimamukwento was born in Lusaka, Zambia. Her creative work has appeared or is forthcoming in adda, Aster(ix), Contemporary Verse 2, Kweli, Overland, The Ex-Puritan, Menelique, on Netflix, and elsewhere, and her editorial work can be found or is forthcoming in Shenandoah, the Water~Stone Review, Doek! Literary Magazine, and Safundi. She founded Ubwali Literary Magazine and co-founded the Idembeka Creative Writing Workshop. When she’s not writing or editing, Mubanga serves as a Mentor at the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop. She is a PhD student in the Department of Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies at the University of Minnesota (Twin-Cities), where she is also an Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change (ICGC) Scholar. Mubanga lives in Minnesota with her husband and their two children.
Mona Susan Power is the author of four books of fiction and has written short stories and essays that have appeared in publications and anthologies such as The Atlantic, The Paris Review, Ploughshares, and Granta. She received a bachelor’s degree and JD from Harvard University and earned an MFA from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her first novel, “The Grass Dancer,” was published in 1994.
Mona is an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe (Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna Dakhóta). She was born and raised in Chicago and now lives in Minneapolis.
This event is presented in partnership with Black Garnet Books, an independent bookstore in Saint Paul, MN that offers a curated selection of books and art by authors and illustrators of color in an environment that encourages learning, joyful interaction, and communal care for everyone who visits. This event is part of the Minnesota Writers Off the Page series, bringing the inspirational voices of Minnesota’s authors directly to readers.
Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
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Red Wing – Minnesota Children’s Book Festival
2025-09-13 11:00 - 16:00 | Anderson Center at Tower View, 163 Tower View Drive, Red Wing, MN, 55066, United States
The Anderson Center at Tower View is pleased to announce that the 26th annual Minnesota Children’s Book Festival will be held on Saturday, September 13, 2025 from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. This beloved event features presentations of new books by award-winning authors and illustrators writing for young readers through middle grade. Taking place at the Anderson Center’s beautiful, historic Tower View campus, the Children’s Book Festival is an ideal opportunity for families to connect, learn, and play.
Throughout the afternoon, each author or illustrator presents their work, reads from their book, and participates in a meet & greet and book signing booth. Taking place outdoors, the event also features hands-on activities that engage the mind, body, and imagination. With balloons, face painting, art-making, kid-friendly food trucks, and more, there’s something to delight the inner child in all of us.
This event is FREE and all ages are welcome!
The Minnesota Humanities Center will be tabling throughout the day — stop by to say hello, learn more about our book projects, and let us know you saw the event on our website to win a prize!
For a complete schedule of events, please visit the Anderson Center website.
Schedule of Events

Fort Snelling - Reconstruction Destructed Film & Community Conversation
2025-09-13 13:00 - 14:30 | Fort Snelling State Park, 101 Snelling Lake Road, St. Paul, MN, 55111, United States
To understand the challenges African Americans still face in being seen as full citizens in America today, it is important for us to understand the origin story of the path of formerly enslaved people becoming citizens. The past is not dead; it is not even really the past.
This film, created with our movie production partner OMG Studios, features Federal Minnesota District Court Judge Jerry Blackwell, author of Just Mercy and prominent civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson, Macalester University Professor Duchess Harris, and a cameo by Minnesota’s First Lady of Civil Rights, Dr. Josie Johnson.
K-12 educators will receive 2 clock hours.
Registration
Registration Questions: ftsnelling@mnhs.org
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Winona - Shorelines and Storylines: An Artist Gathering
2025-09-19 18:00 - 21:00 | Minnesota Marine Art Museum, 800 Riverview Drive, Winona, 55987, United States
Join us for a special evening of reflection, story, and shared warmth around the fire (weather permitting). This gathering offers an opportunity to connect with the artists of Once Upon A Shore through a special panel conversation moderated by guest exhibition curator, Heid E. Erdrich. Enjoy passed appetizers, and purchase drinks from Minnesota Marine Art Museum (MMAM)’s Water Bar Cafe & Provisions. The Minnesota Humanities Center is excited to partner with MMAM to highlight artists Gwen Nell Westerman, Tashia Hart, and Cole Redhorse Taylor who have contributed to the Native American Lives Series, books by and about Dakota and Ojibwe Minnesotans, for middle grade readers. Guests are also invited to purchase a variety of books created by exhibition artists, including the newest publications Ella Cara Deloria: Dakota Language Protector, Charles Albert Bender: National Baseball Hall of Fame Pitcher, Peggy Flanagan: Lieutenant Governor, and Carrie Cavender Schommer: Dakota Language Teacher, and have your copy signed and personalized.
Registration
Shorelines and Storylines is organized by the Minnesota Marine Art Museum. Registration through the Minnesota Marine Art Museum is required to attend.
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Fergus Falls - Reconstruction Destructed Film & Community Conversation
2025-10-02 18:00 - 19:30 | Westridge Theater, 2001 West Lincoln Ave, Fergus Falls, 56537, United States
To understand the challenges African Americans still face in being seen as full citizens in America today, it is important for us to understand the origin story of the path of formerly enslaved people becoming citizens. The past is not dead; it is not even really the past.
This film, created with our movie production partner OMG Studios, features Federal Minnesota District Court Judge Jerry Blackwell, author of Just Mercy and prominent civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson, Macalester University Professor Duchess Harris, and a cameo by Minnesota’s First Lady of Civil Rights, Dr. Josie Johnson.
K-12 educators will receive 2 clock hours.
Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
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St. Paul & Online - Minnesota Writers Off the Page: Bronson Lemer
2025-10-09 18:30 - 20:30 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
Join us for an engaging reading and discussion exploring the collection of contemplative essays that form “The Lonely Veteran’s Guide to Companionship” by Bronson Lemer. Bronson will be joined by poet and Veteran Jessi Atherton as they consider how the book chronicles a journey for a sense of self, community, and belonging, Bronson’s experiences of serving in the military, gaining awareness of his sexual orientation, and living abroad as a gay man. Following the discussion, audience members are invited to participate in a Q&A session, enjoy light refreshments, and have further informal conversation with the featured speakers. Copies of “The Lonely Veteran’s Guide to Companionship” will be available for purchase, and the evening will finish with a book signing. This is a hybrid event; participants can join in-person or online.
About the Speakers
Bronson Lemer served as a carpenter in the Army National Guard for six years, including deployments to Kosovo in 2000 and Iraq in 2003. Besides “The Lonely Veteran’s Guide to Companionship,” he is the author of “The Last Deployment: How a Gay, Hammer-Swinging Twentysomething Survived a Year in Iraq” (University of Wisconsin Press, 2011). In 2019, he was named a McKnight Writing Fellow. He lives in St. Paul and teaches writing at the University of Minnesota, Rochester.
Jessi Atherton is a mother, healer, Veteran, poet, lover of scrabble and charcuterie. Her writing touches on lived experiences and themes of motherhood, military, mental health, grief, healing, and humanity. Jessi is a Minnesota Humanities Center 2019 Veterans Voices awardee, a member and facilitator of Warrior Writers, a board member of the League of Minnesota Poets, and the Minnesota Assistant Counsel for Veterans. She is a 2023 Pat Tillman Scholar and US Army Veteran who served in Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Jessi’s work has been published throughout the years with Nodin Press, The Cuddy Foundation, Iliad Press, McGregor Publishing, the International Library of Poetry, and Middle West Press. Her first full collection, “The Time War Takes,” came out in April 2023 and received honorable mention in Senators Bob and Elizabeth Dole Inaugural Biennial Award for Distinguished Book in Veterans Studies, 2024 and made Community of Literary Magazines and Presses must read for Women’s History Month, 2024. Jessi is the mom to three amazing daughters, a mental health nurse, and works as a Psychiatric Mental Health nurse practitioner.
This event is part of the Minnesota Writers Off the Page series, bringing the inspirational voices of Minnesota’s authors directly to readers. This event is presented in partnership with Quatrefoil Library; based in Minneapolis, Quatrefoil Library collects, maintains, documents and circulates gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer materials and information in a safe and accessible space, in order to promote understanding, an appreciation of diversity and history, and the value of communities.
Registration
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

Duluth - Reconstruction Destructed Film & Community Conversation
2025-10-10 15:00 - 16:30 | Zeitgeist Center for Arts, 222 East Superior Street, Duluth, MN, 55802, United States

Edina - Reconstruction Destructed Film & Community Conversation
2025-10-21 18:30 - 20:30 | Edina Mann Theatre, 3911 W. 5th St., Edina, MN, 55424, United States
To understand the challenges African Americans still face in being seen as full citizens in America today, it is important for us to understand the origin story of the path of formerly enslaved people becoming citizens. The past is not dead; it is not even really the past.
This film, created with our movie production partner OMG Studios, features Federal Minnesota District Court Judge Jerry Blackwell, author of Just Mercy and prominent civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson, Macalester University Professor Duchess Harris, and a cameo by Minnesota’s First Lady of Civil Rights, Dr. Josie Johnson.
K-12 educators will receive 2 clock hours.
Registration
This screening is part of the Twin Cities Film Festival (TCFF). Tickets must be purchased through TCFF.
Register Now

Minneapolis - 50th Anniversary Joint Commemoration Immersive Digital Experience
2025-10-25 10:00 - 17:00 | Royalston Square, 501 Royalston Ave, Minneapolis, 55405, United States
Walk through a history of the shared – similar yet very different – journeys of the Cambodian, Hmong, Lao, and Vietnamese communities, and Minnesota’s U.S. Vietnam Veterans, as they navigated war, refugee camps, and their eventual new lives in the United States. Floor to ceiling images allow for an immersive experience that will transport you, educate you, and offer a new perspective on the resilience of these communities. Recommended for children older than 10.
https://www.mnhum.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/immersive_promo.mp4
This event is part of the 50th Anniversary Joint Commemoration programming recognizing the end of the Vietnam War, Secret War in Laos, and Southeast Asian conflict
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St. Paul - 50th Joint Commemoration Community Events
2025-11-01 12:00 - 19:00, 2025-11-02 10:00 - 17:00 | Union Depot, 214 4th St E, St. Paul, 55101, United States
Enjoy food concessions, craft vendors, entertainment, exhibits, artifacts, and much more, representing Minnesota’s vibrant Cambodian, Hmong, Lao, and Vietnamese communities, and Vietnam War era Veterans from their experiences in 1970s Southeast Asia to refugee camps and their harrowing journeys to Minnesota.
Schedule of Performances

Saturday, November 1

12:00p.m. to 12:30p.m. – National anthems (Cambodian, Lao, Vietnamese, United States)

12:30p.m. to 2:00p.m. – “America’s Secret War | Minnesota Remembers Vietnam” (Twin Cities PBS) film screening followed by a moderated panel conversation

2:00p.m. to 2:15p.m. – Lam Mahasay Dance, Lao Culture Dance Fashion MN, traditional Lao dance

2:15p.m. to 2:30p.m. – Ánh Hà, Vietnamese musical instruments

2:30p.m. to 3:00p.m. – Larry Johnson, 11 Times on the Vietnam Wall, storytelling

3:00p.m. to 3:15p.m. – Simon Ecklund, original music, vocal performance

3:15p.m. to 3:30p.m. – Open

3:30p.m. to 4:00p.m. – Trần Thị Minh Phước & Viet Youth Storytellers Troupe, storytelling

4:00p.m. to 4:15p.m. – Lao Culture Dance Fashion MN, Ket Insisiengmay, vocal performance

4:15p.m. to 4:30p.m. – Open

4:30p.m. to 4:45p.m. – Yan Roeun, One Man Band

4:45p.m. to 5:00p.m. – Ánh Hà, Vietnamese musical instruments

5:00p.m. to 5:15p.m. – Gigi Yau, vocal performance

5:15p.m. to 5:30p.m. – Open

5:30p.m. to 6:00p.m. – Ya Rath Official, Ya Rath and Rothana Seng, traditional Cambodian musical instruments and vocal performance

6:00p.m. to 6:05p.m. – Charles Yang, Hmong vocal performance

6:05p.m. to 6:10p.m. – Chee Nou, Hmong vocal performance

6:10p.m. to 6:15p.m. – Ryan Lee, Hmong vocal performance

6:15p.m. to 6:30p.m. – J2Smooth, Hmong vocal performance

6:30p.m. to 6:45p.m. – Sun Moon & J.I.M. Music, Hmong vocal performance

Sunday, November 2

10:00a.m. to 10:30a.m. – National anthems (Cambodian, Lao, Vietnamese, United States)

10:30a.m. to 10:45a.m. – Faith Xiongblaxang, Hmong vocal performance

10:45a.m. to 11:00a.m. – Wattanak Dance Troupe, classical Cambodian dance

11:00a.m. to 12:30p.m. – Moderated Veteran Panel Conversation

12:30p.m. to 12:45p.m. – Narate Keys, Khmer poetry and storytelling

12:45p.m. to 1:00p.m. – Open

1:00p.m. to 1:30p.m. – Hippee Song Revival, David West vocal performance

1:30p.m. to 3:00p.m. – “And a Time to Heal” (Twin Cities PBS) film screening followed by a moderated panel conversation

3:00p.m. to 3:15p.m. – Lao Culture Dance Fashion MN, Ket Insisiengmay, vocal performance

3:15p.m. to 3:30p.m. – “Aries” and “NkaujHmoob Ci”, Hmong traditional dance

3:30p.m. to 3:45p.m. – NewSONG, Nancy Thor, musical instruments

3:45p.m. to 4:00p.m. – Open

4:00p.m. to 4:15p.m. – Tu Bi Tu, Vietnamese Dragon Dance

4:15p.m. to 4:30p.m. – Official Lina Lee, Hmong vocal performance

4:30p.m. to 4:45p.m. – Saint Lydia, Lydia Yang vocal performance

Vendors

cacTEA House
Dearest Baker
Hello Boba
Jaidee Food Company
Jasmine

Kruncy Munchies
Mochinut
Oppa Sweets Cotton Candy
Papaya Witch
Ruam Mit

Ao dai Boutiques MN
Gaginang Greetings
TAKL Insurance
Ybeauty Nails

This event is part of the 50th Joint Commemoration programming recognizing the end of the Vietnam War, Secret War in Laos, and Southeast Asian conflict.
Learn More

Rochester - Reconstruction Destructed Film & Community Conversation
2025-11-01 13:00 - 14:30 | Historic Chateau Theater, 15 1st Street Southwest, Rochester, MN, 55902, United States

Red Wing - Art and War: A Conversation
2025-11-06 18:00 - 19:30 | Anderson Center at Tower View, 163 Tower View Drive, Red Wing, MN, 55066, United States
Join the Minnesota Humanities Center and Anderson Center for a moderated conversation with artists who either focus on the representation of war and armed conflict in their art, or who have created art that addressed these subjects. Artists will discuss their creative output, what it means to interpret experiences of warfare, what happens in the act of interpretation and artistic creation, and what the viewing public can learn from interaction with and communal discussion of these works.
About the Artists
Mary Horgan is an artist and retired Staff Sergeant (U.S. Army). Among multiple activations, she served in the Iraq War in 2006. Horgan’s art confronts the harsh realities of war and the honorable pursuit of peace for all. Since retiring, art has become her tool for healing, peace, and resistance. Horgan’s work includes the memorial to women Veterans, “You Will Not Erase Us,” commissioned by the City of Ramsey in Minnesota. She also creates a range of two and three-dimensional art pieces that explore themes of conflict, survival, resistance, nature, beauty, and truth-telling.
Besides her artistic work, Horgan is a mother and grandmother, and caretaker of animals and gardens. She is passionate about our nation’s democracy and creates work rooted in justice, resilience, and deep personal truth and recovery.
Justin Newhall is an American artist currently based in Minneapolis. His work has been exhibited at Museum of Contemporary Photography (Chicago), Walker Art Center (Minneapolis), Royal Academy of Arts (London), Galerie Lichtblick (Cologne), Museum of Art at Rhode Island School of Design (Providence), Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, and Jen Bekman Gallery (New York), among others.
Newhall is the recipient of artist fellowships from the McKnight Foundation, Minnesota State Arts Board, and Jerome Foundation. His work is represented in public and private collections, including the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Walker Art Center, and George Eastman House (New York).
Megan Rye is a visual artist and teacher. She was born in Seoul, South Korea in 1975, and currently lives in Minneapolis. Through paintings, drawings, photography, and artists books, Rye uses visual storytelling to explore themes of migration, citizenship, remembrance, war, and democracy. Rye’s first significant body of work, “I Will Follow You Into the Dark,” was a series of paintings based on photographs Rye’s brother took while serving in Iraq. This project debuted at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (2007), and was Rye’s first solo exhibit in New York City at Forum Gallery (2011). The aftermath of the Iraq War continues to reverberate, and the paintings have been studied and exhibited widely, including a recent exhibition at the Kunsthalle Emden (Germany).
Rye’s work has been sustained by significant support from the Bush Foundation, McKnight Foundation, Jerome Foundation, and the Minnesota State Arts Board.
About the Moderator
Monica Moses Haller is an artist whose work spans photography, writing, sound, and focuses on personal details that explore violence and possibilities within social and environmental systems. She has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, McKnight Foundation, Jerome Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts, among others. Moses Haller has exhibited and lectured at locations including Centre Pompidou, Paris; the Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei, Leipzig; and the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Her artist books are collected by intuitions ranging from the Tate Modern, London, to MOMA, New York. Moses Haller works internationally and is based in her hometown of Minneapolis, where she is an associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Department of Art.
This program is presented in partnership with Anderson Center at Tower View, a Red Wing-based arts and humanities organization that celebrates the imagination and support the development of new arts and ideas through residencies, studios, and public engagement.
Registration
This event is free to attend. Registration is encouraged. Light refreshments will be served at the event.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

St. Cloud - Reconstruction Destructed Film & Community Conversation
2025-11-08 13:00 - 14:30 | Atwood Memorial Center, St. Cloud University, 720 4th Ave. South, St. Cloud, MN, 56301, United States

St. Paul - Reconstruction Destructed Film & Community Conversation
2025-11-09 13:00 - 14:30 | Wilder Foundation, 451 Lexington Pkwy N., St. Paul, 55104, United States

The Great Northern Festival: Poets Building Community
2026-01-29 17:00 - 19:00 | The Loft at Open Book, 1011 Washington Ave S, Minneapolis, MN, 55415, United States
Join us at The Great Northern Festival for an evening of poetry, conversation, and civic imagination as The Loft hosts Poets Building Community, a special gathering of Poets Laureate from across Minnesota. This event is the culminating public program of Minneapolis Poet Laureate Junauda Petrus’s 2025–2026 laureate year.
Guided by Petrus’s central question—“What does community look like for you?”—Poets Laureate will share original poems and reflect on the civic and cultural work they carry into their communities. The evening will weave together art, storytelling, and public purpose, offering a rare glimpse into how poets help shape the places we call home.
Featured poets will include:

Junauda Petrus, Minneapolis Poet Laureate
Gwen Nell Westerman, Minnesota State Poet Laureate
Jean Prokott, Rochester Poet Laureate
Donte Collins, former St. Paul Youth Poet Laureate
Heid E. Erdrich, inaugural Minneapolis Poet Laureate
Joyce Sutphen, former Minnesota State Poet Laureate

The conversation will be moderated by Cristeta Boarini, Partnerships Manager at the Loft.
We will also take a moment to recognize Andrea Jenkins for her contributions as a poet and her pivotal role in establishing the Minneapolis Poet Laureate position – (City Council Member 2017-2025).
Come celebrate the power of poetry to build connection, spark change, and imagine new futures together.
Registration
This event is free and open to all, however registration through The Loft is required.
Registration Questions: loft@loft.org
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St. Paul - Objects of War: A Storytelling Circle
2026-02-26 18:00 - 20:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
The Minnesota Humanities Center invites you to join us for an engaging evening focused on stories of community, consolation, and courage. For Objects of War, participants are asked to bring an item connected to an experience of war and conflict — which could be dog tags, a service member’s good luck charm, or a family heirloom — and share the story of this item during the evening. Moderated by trained facilitators, the conversation will help participants understand why we hold on to certain objects, and how these objects help us better understand the human impacts of war.
About the Facilitators
Jovita Hernandez is a recently retired educator with 32 years of experience. Throughout her career, she approached teaching through a lens of equity, nurturing curiosity, and emphasizing the connections built through the power of story. She introduced Story Circle practice not only in her own classroom but also across the district, leaving a lasting impact on students and colleagues alike. Today, she continues to champion this practice, sharing it in both educational and community spaces as a dedicated story circle practitioner.
Pang Foua Xiong is a creative social entrepreneur, cultural conservator, and mother. She is a first-generation Hmong woman, born to refugee parents who arrived in Minnesota in 1980, and raised in the Rondo/Frogtown neighborhood on the homelands of the Dakhóta people in Mni Sóta Makoce (Saint Paul, Minnesota). Her work spans more than 25 years in grassroots advocacy and co-designing accessibility and equity opportunities in healthcare, education, and economic systems. Her identity and journey as a Hmong woman and efforts in cultural and language revitalization of her endangered native language and heritage continue to shape her sense of place and purpose. She is the founder of Community & Co Lifestyle, LLC, a cultural and creative social enterprise that facilitates and nurtures collaborative connections, leadership, community engagement, and facilitating systems of care. As a social entrepreneur, bilingual Hmong interpreter, creative and social impact consultant, and humanities facilitator, Pang Foua co-designs and leads thoughtful community-centered initiatives, creative solutions, and engagement through the lens of whole wellbeing, place-knowing, and place-based learning practices.
This event is presented in partnership with the Minnesota Military and Veterans Museum, an institution which seeks to strengthen public understanding of how armed conflicts and military institutions have shaped our state and national experience.
Registration
This event is free to attend, however registration is required. Dinner will be served at the event.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
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St. Paul - Meet the Finalists of the 2026 Minnesota Book Awards
2026-03-21 10:00 - 15:00 | George Latimer Central Library, 90 W. Fourth Street, St. Paul, 55102, United States
The Minnesota Humanities Center is proud to sponsor the 2026 Minnesota Books Awards category of Novel/Short Story. Join us to meet the finalists for this year’s award at a Meet the Finalists event, hosted by The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library.
This year’s finalists in the Novel/Short Story category are:

“Ashes to Ashes” by Thomas Maltman
“If the Dead Belong Here: A Novel” by Carson Faust
“Lucky Tomorrow: Stories” by Deborah Jiang-Stein
“The Many Mothers of Dolores Moore” by Anika Fajardo

Minnesota Book Award finalist authors from all nine awards categories will participate in readings, panel discussions, and other activities about their books and their work at this special event. Events will take place in different rooms of the library throughout the day. Come for one or stay for all! It’s your choice. Attendees can also buy finalist books and enjoy library activities.
Registration
Registration for this free event is through The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library.
Register Now

Roseville - Minnesota Writers Off the Page: Carson Faust
2026-03-24 18:00 - 19:30 | Autumn Grove Park, 1365 Lydia Avenue W, Roseville, 55113, United States
Minnesota Writers Off the Page and Makwa Coffee’s Native Author Book Club are joining forces for a special evening with Carson Faust, author of “If the Dead Belong Here,” which has just been shortlisted for the Minnesota Book Awards in the Novel/Short Story category! For this intergenerational, supernatural thriller, Faust will be in discussion with author Dennis E. Staples, and along with readings from the book, they will discuss ghosts, hauntings, the craft of horror/thriller, and how their Indigenous backgrounds inform their writing. Following the discussion, audience members are invited to participate in a Q&A session, and have further informal conversation with the featured speakers. Light refreshments will be available for purchase through the cafe. Copies of “If the Dead Belong Here” will be available for purchase, and the evening will finish with a book signing.
About the Speakers
Carson Faust is two-spirit and an enrolled member of the Edisto Natchez-Kusso Tribe of South Carolina. He is the recipient of artist fellowships from the McKnight Foundation and the Jerome Foundation. His fiction has appeared in TriQuarterly, ANMLY, and Waxwing, among other journals, and has been anthologized in “Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology.” He lives in Minnesota, where he works in philanthropy.
Dennis E. Staples is an Ojibwe writer from Bemidji, Minnesota, and the author of “This Town Sleeps” and “Passing Through a Prairie Country.” He holds an MFA in fiction from the Institute of American Indian Arts and is a graduate of the 2018 Clarion West Writers Workshop and a recipient of the Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship. His work has appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction and Nightmare magazine. He is a member of the Red Lake Nation.
This event is presented in partnership with Makwa Coffee, a community centered craft coffee shop in Roseville, MN. This event is part of the Minnesota Writers Off the Page series, bringing the inspirational voices of Minnesota’s authors directly to readers.
Registration
This event is free, however registration is required.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

Shoreview - Minnesota Writers Off the Page: Debra J. Stone
2026-03-25 17:30 - 19:15 | Emmet D. Williams Elementary School, 955 W County Rd D, Shoreview, 55126, United States
To celebrate Women’s History Month, Off the Page is pleased to feature author Debra J. Stone and her new book, “The House on Rondo,” which has been shortlisted for the MN Book Awards in the category of Middle Grade Literature. Debra will be in conversation with Terresa Hardaway, discussing the history of the Rondo neighborhood, what it means to be a writer, and their hopes for the future of Rondo. Following the discussion, audience members are invited to participate in a Q&A session, and have further informal conversation with the featured speakers. Copies of “The House on Rondo” will be available for purchase, and the evening will finish with a book signing.
Debra J. Stone is a 2023-2025 Jerome Hill Arts Fellow in Literature, essay, poet and novel author. More of her work has been published by Blue Earth Review, Indiana Review, Green Mountains Review, Under the Gum Tree, and other literary journals. In 2021 her poem, “year-of- staying–in place,” was nominated Best of Net and Pushcart nominated. She is a board member of the Hennepin History Museum. Debra is married and resides in Minneapolis.
Terresa Hardaway, Ph.D., is an abolitionist, design researcher, author, anti-racist facilitator, creative director, organizer, and educator based in Minneapolis. She is Creative Director of Blackbird Revolt— a social justice-based design studio; an Associate Professor of Graphic Design; McKnight Presidential Fellow; the Director of Design Justice at the University of Minnesota’s College of Design; and the owner of Black Garnet Books.
This event is presented in partnership with Black Garnet Books, an independent bookstore in Saint Paul, MN, that offers a curated selection of books and art by authors and illustrators of color in an environment that encourages learning, joyful interaction, and communal care for everyone who visits. This event is part of the Minnesota Writers Off the Page series, bringing the inspirational voices of Minnesota’s authors directly to readers. This edition of Minnesota Writers Off the Page will be held at Emmet D. Williams Elementary School in Shoreview.
Registration
This event is free, however registration is required.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

St. Paul - Hope is a Force
2026-04-04 14:00 - 16:00 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
Celebrate National Poetry Month at the Minnesota Humanities Center! In partnership with the East Side Arts Council, this free community gathering brings together a vibrant lineup of local poets sharing original work shaped by a range of perspectives and ways of seeing the world. Poets reading include:

Joe Alfano
Jan Borofka
Colleen Callahan
Diane Jarvenpa
Marla Kennedy
Diane Brady Leighton
Mem Lloyd
Sheila OKeefe
Romi Slowiak
Leslie Thomas
Roslye Ultan
Carol Wichers

Through an inspiring showcase of readings, this afternoon will highlight the richness of our local literary community. Poetry invites us to pause, listen, and connect. Light refreshments will be available—come enjoy an afternoon of words that resonate.
This event is held in partnership with East Side Arts Council (ESAC), a community arts organization offering accessible, low-cost, or free arts programs led by accomplished professional artists. ESAC celebrates the diversity of its neighborhood and builds appreciation of the arts.
Registration
This event is free, however registration is required.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

West St. Paul - Celebrate National Poetry Month
2026-04-06 13:00 - 14:00 | Thompson Park Activity Center, 1200 Stassen Lane, West St. Paul, 55118, United States
Celebrate National Poetry Month with Minnesota’s Poet Laureate, Gwen Westerman, at the Dakota Lodge in Thompson County Park! Join us for an inspiring afternoon as Gwen shares her personal story, reads from her powerful and heartfelt poems, and reflects on the creative journey behind her acclaimed book, “Songs, Blood Deep.” Gwen beautifully captures the landscape, history, and spirit of Minnesota life. Don’t miss this special opportunity to meet our state’s leading voice for poetry and be inspired by the ways language and storytelling connect us all.
About Gwen Nell Westerman
Gwen Nell Westerman is a poet, visual artist, and scholar. Her roots are deep in the landscape of the tallgrass prairie and reveal themselves in her art and writing. She is an enrolled citizen of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, and her father’s family is from the Heipa District. Her mother’s family is from the Flint District of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. Neither of her parents spoke English when they were sent as small children to boarding schools in Oklahoma and South Dakota. Singing and writing for as long as she can remember, Gwen understands from experience the important ways language and the land shape who we are. She was appointed as the Poet Laureate of Minnesota by Governor Tim Walz in 2021.
This event is in partnership with Thompson Park Activity Center, serving West Saint Paul.
Registration
Registration for this event through TriDistrict Community Education.
Registration Questions: help@isd199.org
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St. Cloud - Minnesota Writers Off the Page: Joyce Sutphen
2026-04-17 18:00 - 19:30 | Paramount Center for the Arts, 913 W. Saint Germain St., St. Cloud, 56301, United States
To celebrate National Poetry Month, MHC’s Off the Page is bringing together two of Minnesota’s Poet Laureates, Joyce Sutphen and Gwen Nell Westerman. Sutphen will be reading from her most recent collection, “Paper Camera: Poems, Poets, and Poetry,” which examines the many facets of poetry itself; reading, memorizing, writing, and what poetry can do for us. She will be joined in discussion by the current Poet Laureate, Gwen Nell Westerman. Following the discussion, audience members are invited to participate in a Q&A session, and have further informal conversation with the featured speakers. Light refreshments will be provided, copies of “Paper Camera: Poems, Poets, and Poetry” will be available for purchase, and the evening will finish with a book signing.
About the Speakers
Joyce Sutphen grew up on a farm near St. Joseph, Minnesota, and currently lives in Chaska. She has degrees from the University of Minnesota, including a Ph.D. in Renaissance Drama. Her first book, “Straight Out of View,” won the Barnard New Women’s Poets Prize (Beacon Press, 1995, republished by Holy Cow! Press in 2001). “Coming Back to the Body” (Holy Cow! Press, 2000) was a finalist for a Minnesota Book Award, and “Naming the Stars” (Holy Cow! Press, 2004) won the Minnesota Book Award in Poetry. In 2005, Red Dragonfly Press published “Fourteen Sonnets” in a letterpress edition, and in 2006 Sutphen co-edited the award-winning anthology “To Sing Along the Way: Minnesota Women Poets from Pre-Territorial Days to the Present” (New Rivers Press). Her poems have appeared in “Poetry,” “American Poetry Review,” “Atlanta Review,” “Minnesota Monthly,” “Water-Stone,” and many other journals, and she has had work featured in Ted Kooser’s “American Life in Poetry,” and on “The Writer’s Almanac.” She has also been a guest on A Prairie Home Companion, hosted by Garrison Keillor. In 2011 she was named the second Minnesota Poet Laureate by Governor Mark Dayton, following the tenure of Robert Bly. Her newest collection is “Paper Camera: Poems, Poets, and Poetry,” published by Nodin Press, 2025.
Gwen Nell Westerman is a poet, visual artist, and scholar. Her roots are deep in the landscape of the tallgrass prairie and reveal themselves in her art and writing. She is an enrolled citizen of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, and her father’s family is from the Heipa District. Her mother’s family is from the Flint District of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. Neither of her parents spoke English when they were sent as small children to boarding schools in Oklahoma and South Dakota. Singing and writing for as long as she can remember, Gwen understands from experience the important ways language and the land shape who we are. She was appointed as the Poet Laureate of Minnesota by Governor Tim Walz in 2021.
This event is presented in partnership with Paramount Center for the Arts, a multidisciplinary community arts facility whose mission is to engage, educate, enrich, and entertain through inspiring arts experiences. This event is part of the Minnesota Writers Off the Page series, bringing the inspirational voices of Minnesota’s authors directly to readers.
Registration
This event is free, however registration is required.
Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org
Register Now

St. Paul - Reading Without Words: Hidden Stories of Ethiopic Manuscripts
2026-04-23 15:30 - 17:30 | Minnesota Humanities Event Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States
For centuries, handwritten books have been part of everyday life in Ethiopia and Eritrea—used in homes, churches, mosques, and communities across the region. Created and cherished by both Orthodox Christian and Muslim communities, these manuscripts open a window onto more than 700 years of religious practice, daily routines, and artistic expression. But what if you can’t read Geʿez (Classical Ethiopic) or Arabic? Can these books still tell their stories? Absolutely.
In this illustrated, hands-on workshop, Dr. Jeremy R. Brown brings the world of Ethiopic manuscripts to life, showing how much we can learn simply by looking closely. Images, materials, layout, and decorations tell stories about how these books were used, who made them, and why they mattered. Participants will also have the rare opportunity to encounter Ethiopic manuscripts up close from the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library’s (HMML) remarkable collection. Following the discussion and workshop, participants are invited to enjoy refreshments.
About the Speaker
Dr. Jeremy R. Brown is the cataloger of Ethiopian Manuscripts at the HMML. He holds a BA in Biblical Studies from George Fox University in Oregon, a MA in Theological Studies from Portland Seminary in Oregon, and a Ph.D. in Semitic Languages and Literatures from the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. Prior to joining HMML, Brown was the Senior Researcher, Cataloger, & Translator for the Princeton Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Egyptian Miracles of Mary digital humanities project where he identified and translated miracles stories in manuscripts from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Egypt, Turkey, Iraq, and Syria.
This event is presented in partnership with the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML). Located on the campus of St. John’s University in Collegeville, MN, HMML preserves and shares the world’s handwritten past to inspire a deeper understanding of our present and future.
Above Image: Decorative Bible in Ge’ez on parchment. 15th–17th century(?). Collection of Addis Ababa University, Institute of Ethiopian Studies (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia), HMML project number IES 00721. Image courtesy of the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library.
Registration
This event is free. Registration through HMML is required.
Registration Questions: hmml@hmml.org
Register Now

Online - Youth Poet Laureate Commencement Live Stream
2026-04-25 19:00 - 20:00 | https://www.mnhum.org/event/online-youth-poet-laureate-commencement-live-stream/
Join us for the Youth Poet Laureate livestream, featuring current Youth Poet Laureates Chloe Chou (West/California), Malaya Ulan (Northeast/Philadelphia), Rishi Janakiraman (South/North Carolina), and Daniel Somotochukwu Umemezie (Midwest/Cedar Valley, IA).
The Minnesota Youth Poet Laureate will be announced, and you can watch with us as we celebrate this powerful moment for young voices across the country.
The National Youth Poet Laureate Commencement is presented this year by Urban Word and the Nebraska Writers Collective on Saturday, April 25 at 7pm CST (8pm EST). Tune in for an inspiring evening of poetry, culminating in the announcement of the 10th National Youth Poet Laureate, along with State Youth Poet Laureate winners from across the nation.
The Local Minnesota YOUTH POET LAUREATE® PROGRAM is a program of the Minnesota Humanities Center in partnership with Urban Word.
Watch livestream by clicking the play button below on Saturday.
