'Brilliance!' storefront displays

Opens Friday: Downtown Minneapolis will be ablaze with artful windows when "Brilliance!" flicks on. Modestly touting itself as "the largest storefront art project in the entire world," the endeavor consists of 38 displays in shop windows throughout the 15-block "cultural district" that encompasses Hennepin Avenue and nearby streets. The project involves 61 Twin Cities artists and a "bajillion lights," said organizer Joan Vorderbruggen, who works with the Hennepin Theatre Trust. A committee of 17 artists decided on the theme and then picked the talent to make it happen. Watch for a pop-up art gallery near the Fine Line Music Club at 318 1st Av. N., and a house-sized, artist-decorated gingerbread house in the courtyard of Marin restaurant at the Chambers Hotel. Expect the unexpected everywhere. (Free reception 6-7:30 p.m. Fri. at Marin, 901 Hennepin Av. S. Windows will be on display through March 30. Maps and more info at www.madeheremn.org.)

Mary Abbe