News

Music Under Glass At The Marjorie McNeely Conservatory

Como Park Zoo & Conservatory presents “Music Under Glass,” a free concert series featuring local musicians inside the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory’s two-acres of tropical gardens. “Music Under Glass” will showcase live, local musicians from 4:30—6:30 pm every Sunday beginning February 24, 2013 through March 31, 2013. Escape the winter chill to the comfortable confines of the Conservatory for a perfect blend of musical styling ranging from a variety of genres—Zydeco to Cello & Gypsy to Jazz. Food, cocktails, beer & wine will be available to purchase.

February 28, 2013 – Soul Sounds Open Mic with Tim Blighton

Tim Blighton is a poet and musician. As president of the writers’ club at Minneapolis Community and Technical College, he helped publish “Quarter Mile from the Spoon & Cherry” a periodical of student and faculty writing. He hopes some day to win an paper airplane competition in Argentina. Tim currently lives in the East Phillips neighborhood with his wife Karen and their two orange tabbies.

ARTIST CALL: Send the Saint Paul Almanac your photos and artwork for the 2014 edition!

The Saint Paul Almanac has begun the process of looking for photos and artwork for the 2014 edition! Deadline for photos/artwork is the end of March 2013. We are looking for photos of: original/fresh/new views of old parts of the Saint Paul landscape (eg. State Capitol, bridges, landmarks, etc) • Saint Paul festivals and events (Cinco de Mayo, Grand Old Day, Winter Carnival, flower shows, etc) • Saint Paul parks, zoos, wildlife, nature, seasons, weather, etc. • Saint Paul places (bars, restaurants, museums, art galleries, etc.) • Saint Paul people doing what they do (the Saint Paul Almanac is a diverse project that intentionally seeks out and includes all cultures that live in the city, so be aware that people submissions depicting only white people are less likely to be included).

Photostory: Help Saint Paul break a Guinness World Record!

I had a meeting with Kimberly Nightingale in Lowertown two weeks ago and, sure enough, we got invited to play around with a Hasbro toy from our youth. Ta-coumba Aiken is the talent behind the world’s largest (they are going for the world record) Lite-Brite sculpture planned for the Union Depot. I am told that the bright sculpture will measure 9 x 27 feet and illuminate some 570,000 tiny blue, green, pink and red transparent pegs.

February 27th, 2013: Saymoukda Vongsay presents “When Poets Found Bass” at the Lowertown Reading Jam

The Saint Paul Almanac is pleased to announce the fifth in its 2012–2013 season of acclaimed Lowertown Reading Jams, which celebrate the rich literary history of Minnesota’s capital city. The “When Poets Found Bass” Lowertown Reading Jam will be presented on Wednesday, February 27th, 2013 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Black Dog Coffee and Wine Bar, 308 Prince Street in Saint Paul. This presentation of the popular and eclectic series, curated by Saymoukda Vongsay, features performances by Fres Thao, Desdamona, Truthmaze and Saymoukda Vongsay, with music by DJ Kool Akiem.

February 21, 2013 – Soul Sounds Open Mic with David “Dancin’ Dave” Marcotte

David “Dancin’ Dave” Marcotte could be considered a household name in the Twin Cities Hip Hop community. Dancin’ Dave became nationally known as one of the original Red Bull Beatriders after participating in weeklong workshops with Masters of Hip-Hop Dance, an event that was sponsored by Red Bull. He competes and judges competitions both locally and nationally and has even been brought to Europe several times in the last few years as a dance instructor, competition judge, and featured performer. David continues to teach and perform bringing with him wherever he goes a deep comprehensive knowledge of both his crafts as well as the various elements of Hip Hop culture.

Groundbreaking of Schmidt Brewery Artist Lofts

The City of Saint Paul has announced that the groundbreaking has begun on an exciting new near-Downtown Saint Paul affordable housing project, the Schmidt Brewery Artist Lofts. The historic Schmidt Brewery has featured in several editions of the Saint Paul Almanac. The $120 million project will redesign the historic Schmidt Brewery to specifically meet the needs of artists. Schmidt Brewery, built in the 1930s, will have 260 units after the full-scale renovations, including 121 units in the bottling house, 126 units in the brew house and 13 new construction townhouse units built on a vacant lot adjacent to the bottling house.

Introducing our new blog: Around the Editors’ Table

Around the Editors’ Table is the freshly-baked-pulled-from-the-oven-steaming-hot blog that will feature original writing by members of Saint Paul Almanac’s community editor group. We envision this blog as a place to get to know the editors, past and present, through their personal writing. It will feature poetry, prose, lyrics, interviews, articles, Spoken Word compositions and more. Text, photography, artwork are all welcome.

Lowertown Reading Jam Schedule 2012–2013

The full list of monthly Wednesday Lowertown Reading Jams For 2012–2013
. Events take place at the Black Dog Café, 308 Prince Street, 7-8:30 p.m., each with a featured curator.

PHOTOSTORY: Last week of AZ Gallery’s Winter Carnival Children’s Art Show

AZ Gallery’s annual Winter Carnival Children’s Art show is back! The show features artwork by elementary and middle school students from public and private schools throughout St Paul, in celebration of the St Paul Winter Carnival. Visit the Winter Carnival Children’s Art Show at the AZ Gallery, 308 Prince Street #130, St. Paul, MN 55101. January 24th–February 3th, 2013. Gallery Hours: Thursday & Friday 5:30-8:30pm, Saturday & Sunday 9:00am-3:00pm.

Photostory: At the Lowertown Reading Jam with Louis Alemayehu

Photos from the January 23rd “Nuevo Mestizos” Lowertown Reading Jam with Louis Alemayehu. “We will explore through song, story and spoken word some of the ideas of Gloria Anzuldua as to what it means to live in the border lands of culture, race, sex, class and nationality. There is a visionary identity that connects us to the world, ecologically, spiritually, politically, culturally in a new way… Nuevo Mestizos.”

The Sunrise

The sunrise hits the roof,
and turns it into peaches.