Heart of Whirl

When you see the poster, it transfixes you, its inexplicableness almost grotesque. It's modeled on an Olan Mills-style family portrait, with a heavily made-up blonde laboring to hold a stilted pose. Seated lovingly beside her is a grizzly bear, its musculature weirdly human and its mouth set in a dignified frown. This masterpiece of creepiness, well known to anyone who frequents St. Paul's Turf Club, was designed by the great Miss Amy Jo, and is one of many prints available for purchase at the 13th Avenue screenprinting studio Who Made Who.

"I like to think that it's Lisa Hartman," says Miss Amy Jo, studying the Stepford Wife in the poster. "But Dale thinks it's the woman from 'Night Court.'"

Dale is Dale Flattum, aka TOOTH, a fellow screenprinter who, along with Amy Jo and Lonny Unitus, opened Who Made Who in 2007. Together, the trio has created some of the most memorable rock posters in recent memory. Designs from both Miss Jo and Flattum have been selected to appear in the forthcoming "Gig Posters Volume I," a compilation of the 101 best prints from www.gigposters.com, widely regarded as the nation's premier resource for concert art.

For Art-A-Whirl: The crew will open its studio to visitors, allowing gallery crawlers to get a peek at the screenprinting process and maybe buy some prints while they're at it. (www.myspace.com/whomadewhostudio)

Bike shops seem to decorate every corner of Minneapolis, so it takes dedication and a little spunk to keep customers pedaling back. Behind Bars bike shop is in its fifth year of business, and the wheels are turning faster than ever before. The busy spring-summer season has arrived, and Northeast's only full-service bike shop is stacked with repairs and custom orders. Owner Chuck Cowan says it's his favorite time of year.

"Well, it's a love-hate relationship. We look forward to summer while we're bored all winter, but when it hits, it can get a little overwhelming -- just at first," Cowan says. "It could always be busier."

A commuter-centered shop, Behind Bars also attracts a lot of single-speed riders and caters to the mountain-bike crew, as well. BB's spacious garage shop rocks out with various tunes and an open-door policy. All types of riders are welcome, as are dogs.

For Art-A-Whirl: Be sure to cash in on the Behind Bars annual Art-a-Whirl sale, which offers a 1 percent discount for each year of the fest's existence. That makes this year's bargain 14 percent off every tangible item in the store. "Next year will be 15 percent off and that's when the discount-scale ends," Cowan says with a laugh.

Unwind after a day of gallery hopping at Northeast eatery Erté and its adjacent Peacock Lounge. Erté's dining room serves some of the best-priced brisket ($16.50) and steak ($17.50-$26) in town, along with a respectable menu that features a sunflower seed-crusted walleye ($18) and an organic salmon steak ($20.50). From 7 to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, you can take in live jazz and lounge music while you dine. If you're just in the mood for a drink, the laid-back yet elegant Peacock has one of the best Northeast happy hours: From 4 to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, get $2 off its vintage-styled cocktails, half-price beer and half-price bottles of wine. (612-623-4211.)

The landmark bright yellow box on the corner of University and 13th Avenues not only stocks a healthy supply of booze, but a colorful calendar of naughty surprises. Adult-friendly games, free live music, a greasy menu and nightly specials make this quintessential Northeast hangout cool for hipsters and everyone else.

Back in the day, the 331 was a seedy dive and a scandalous hot spot -- until 2004, when Jon Oulman (also owner of the namesake salon upstairs) took charge and cleaned house. Today the place still rocks the dive-bar scene, but in a more welcoming fashion. The shotgun saloon is always dark and cozy, with big round booths and a mess of tables in front of an intimate stage.

"It's a great venue with no cover. You can see bands play on an intimate stage, in an intimate room," says Noah Paster, a 331 barback and booker.

For Art-A-Whirl: The 331 hosts its annual back-lot bash. Friday night the party stays indoors, with Sicbay, Daughters of the Sun and France Has the Bomb. On Saturday the show moves outdoors at noon, with a list of local favorites including Lookbook, Mystery Palace and Lucy Michelle.

View the full Art-A-Whirl listing

Before Northeast transformed itself from a primarily Polish community into the art epicenter of Minneapolis, before the 331 Club was lacquered in gold-yellow paint and declared a neighborhood anchor, even before Northeast had Home Depot or Target (yes, there was such a time), the Modern Cafe opened for business, in 1994. The eclectic dining room still swells night after night, filling bellies with hearty dishes made from local organic ingredients. The wine list is selected with both quality and value in mind, and every Tuesday is half-price bottle night, as it has been for years.

Look beyond the Modern's signature pot roast dinner -- served with a side of traditional Polish horseradish sauce -- to find delicate chevre-potato ravioli (no doubt a nod to Polska's pierogi) or a lunchtime grilled cheese with creamy havarti and sweet apple butter. The menu rotates faster than most, so pay attention when your server describes the specials. Chef Phillip Becht's creativity peaks along with the growing seasons, delivering some of the most memorable meals you'll have all year -- meaning you might wait as long to have them again.

The newly restored Ritz Theater might be the center of cultural life in Northeast. Designed and built as a movie theater in the 1920s, the Ritz fell into disrepair over the decades. But with the help of local dance troupe Ballet of the Dolls and $500,000 in city and federal grants, the theater was renovated and reopened in 2006.

For Art-A-Whirl: The current production is "Venus," an original musical by Chan Poling, of the Suburbs and the New Standards, choreographed by Dolls mastermind Myron Johnson.

View the full event listing

The oldest gallery on the block, ArTrujuillo opened on 13th Avenue in 2004. But its history stretches back at least a decade earlier, when Alejandro Trujillo founded a multicultural artist collective in south Minneapolis.

An excitable man prone to energetic speech, Trujillo embodies a frenetic eclecticism that defines his space. He's been a history instructor and a law student, and though he's produced more than 28 murals in the Twin Cities, he only learned his artistic practice "by mistake, man -- painting by doing." Recent shows have featured work from Haiti, the Netherlands, Russia and Iran. Trujillo insists on exhibiting work from children alongside that of established artists. "Diversity, that's really the beauty of the gallery," he says. The result is a bazaar atmosphere: thematically a little messy, maybe, but pretty good at turning up unexpected treasures.

For Art-A-Whirl: Trujillo has mounted a group show of graphic artists from the Mexican city of Oaxaca. The treasure here is a graffiti artist named Guillermo Heredia. He rocks a Jean Michel Basquiat style, a vibrant, visual jazz that pairs drawings of Mexican wrestlers with stencils of African-American rappers. The show also includes a dozen or so lithographs from Oaxaca children ages 10 to 13.

You know Harper's work -- the stretchy necks, the Victorian gloom, the waifish heroines of ghost story romance. Even in May, his portraits (always of women) go down with a cool spookiness. But they always end in sensuous pleasure, like a chilled liquor that warms in the belly.

For Art-A-Whirl: Harper treats us to seven new paintings. One finds Harper dabbling in brighter tones, setting his ashen subject against a background of warm saffron, as if the artist wants to see if his girls can tolerate a little sunlight. An odd celebrity portrait of Prince also appears in the show, his mug suffocating in heavy darkness. Buddha regulars Michael Thompson and Kyle Fokken also appear in the show.

What do you get when three childhood friends work in the finest Twin Cities restaurants for a decade, spend their nights off in the blue-collar bars of Northeast and take trips around the globe whenever time allows? You get the just-opened Northeast Social, the labor of love from Sam Bonin, Joe Wagner and chef Eddie Hayes Jr., where the M.O. is making you feel at home when you don't feel like going home.

To see true hospitality in action, stop by for High-Five Mondays or Heart-to-Heart Wednesdays, when staff is required to slap some skin or chest bump one another before calling out a request. What does all that bromance do for the guest's experience? "We want you to be as comfortable as possible here," says Bonin, "like our place is your place."

Three of next-door neighbor Nicholas Harper's oversized, baroque portraits hang on one long wall. A restored tin ceiling draws the eye upward, where a pair of gorgeous, cylindrical frosted glass light fixtures hang. A long marble bar mirrors a dark wood banquette along the opposite wall, and straw-colored woven chairs and barstools lighten up the room.

For Art-A-Whirl: The Social will have expanded hours (9 a.m.-midnight Fri.-Sat., closed Sun.), with live piano and guitar inside.

Related links