Recent content from Jenna Ross
6 Minnesotans who were voices of inspiration in 2019
As the year draws to a close, let's be inspired by people who aspire to connect, heal and support their communities.
St. Paul Chamber Orchestra finishes year with a surplus for its rainy-day fund
Donations hit a record level as the orchestra tackled future financial challenges.
Looking to expand, Minnesota's Great Northern winter fest hires a music innovator
Liquid Music founder Kate Nordstrum will lead an expansion of the Twin Cities midwinter festival.
Inside the University of Minnesota's secret meat and cheese market
A small shop on the U's St. Paul campus has been selling dairy and meat at bargain prices for decades.
Minnesota Orchestra reports biggest deficit ever, but says it's fiscally 'strong'
A strong year for fundraising built its endowment, but provided less support for day-to-day operations than expected.
Former poet laureate Tracy K. Smith rediscovered poetry's power while crisscrossing rural America
Smith, who might be poetry's most generous ambassador, will discuss that love Nov. 21 in St. Paul as the final guest of this year's Talking Volumes series.
Minnesota singers welcome South African choir into their homes
Singers from South Africa and Minnesota raise their voices together again.
Minneapolis church is split over a tapestry that some call insensitive
First hung in 1974, "Churchmen in the New World" depicts Pilgrims and Native Americans gathered around a table as well as a slave ship.
Creativity is the sugar in their coffee at a monthly event for Twin Cities talents
Twin Citians of all stripes gather once a month to get inspired.
Writer Lindy West tackles everything from abortion to Donald Trump
Fierce and funny writer Lindy West fights misogyny in the media, arguing that bad pop culture breeds bad politics.
Grand Rapids shows how the arts can boost small communities
As host for the Rural Arts and Culture Summit, Grand Rapids shared its successes and struggles with visitors from 25 states.
After Cuba and South Africa, next stop for Minnesota Orchestra is Vietnam
It was invited to perform in Hanoi for the 25th anniversary of restored diplomatic relations. It also will play South Korea for the first time.
Minneapolis Institute of Art turns to Texas, hires second female director
Katherine Luber has led the San Antonio Museum of Art for eight years and brings some business world know-how to the job.
Extreme example of the Norwegian art form 'rosemaling' found in a tiny Minnesota town
A Scandinavian-inspired home in quaint Milan is covered in a renowned painter's life's work.
Discovering Lake Superior's deepest, lost shipwrecks
Meet the group that plumbs the depths of North America's biggest lake to find sunken ships.
Minnesota Orchestra's Sommerfest gets a new face, and maybe a new name
Pianist Jon Kimura Parker will help design the shows, as well as host and perform.
Deal will preserve 'crown jewel' of northeast Minneapolis arts scene
Nonprofit will purchase Northrup King complex, home to 350-plus artists.
Minneapolis MayDay Parade will take a year off to regroup
A "redesign" is planned to make the event sustainable and bring in new voices.
Minnesota Museum of American Art gets $1.5M grant for St. Paul expansion
It is among six Knight grants meant to energize downtown St. Paul.
Lake Hiawatha's guardian artist uses sculptures to call attention to trash problem
In his Minneapolis neighborhood and at City Hall, Sean Connaughty has become known as the lake's outspoken caretaker.
Taylor Lieber, three-time cancer survivor, dies at 22
Athletic and musical, with a love for giraffes and the outdoors, Lieber received a diagnosis at 15 of Ewing's sarcoma.
Thoughtful new leader brings 'a nice shift in tone' to Walker Art Center
Sculpture is central to the story of Walker Art Center's new boss. But people skills may matter more.
Minnesota teen buys an island in the Mississippi for his beloved bunnies
On a Mississippi River isle, a teenager has created a haven for his beloved bunnies, and a healing place for humans.
Think choral music is bland? Minnesota Orchestra concert may blow your mind
International cast presents "La Pasión" as the finale of Minnesota Orchestra's Sommerfest.
'Best-kept secret': FBI spied on northern Minnesota park founded by Finnish radicals
Once spied on by the FBI, the co-op park on Minnesota's Iron Range just celebrated its 90th anniversary.
Minnesota pride takes a hit as our radio shows move to New York
With New Yorkers now at the helm of the formerly Minne-centric "Live From Here" and "The Splendid Table," some feel a sense of loss.
After years of losses, Minneapolis MayDay Parade has record-breaking year
The nonprofit behind it, which lost money on the event for years, announced steps to sort out its future.
How a decades-old shoe repair shop survived the Target-ization of Dinkytown
Fast Eddie's has been fixing shoes in the same small Dinkytown workshop for decades.
New opera targets a younger audience: babies and toddlers
Babies are the target audience for a Minnesota Opera work that dares to think small.
Agnostic Minneapolis painter gives the Old Testament a colorful, surreal new look
Struggling for a subject, an agnostic Minneapolis painter found his purpose in the King James Bible.
Facing revenue shortfall, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra cuts Liquid Music Series
The cost-cutting measure comes after the orchestra lost major sources of corporate funding.
Rochester maestro is the Johnny Appleseed of Minn. orchestras: 'Sleep is optional'
Wherever he goes, this Rochester maestro builds community around his passion for song.
As MayDay parade comes together, puppet theater struggles for survival
"The business model for midsize arts organizations just doesn't work anymore," Heart of the Beast's executive director says.
Minnesota arts groups worry about losing corporate funding: 'We were shocked'
As corporate giving is steered elsewhere, "the future is a little scary for the arts sector," says the author of a recent study.
Black culture takes the ice with Twin Cities skating troupe Brownbody
Modern dance meets African-American culture — on skates — in the work of Twin Cities troupe Brownbody.
For the late Woody Jewett, Lake Minnetonka was the center of a life spent on the water
There were the two years in the Peace Corps. The time in the Marines. But every other summer of his life Frank Greenwood Jewett III…
Hmong saga will be first to be translated to operatic stage
Minnesota Opera is adapting St. Paul writer's memoir "The Song Poet" for young audiences.
Minnesotan becomes White Castle royalty after serving up sliders for nearly 40 years
The 64-year-old Bloomington resident is known as "the heart and soul of that place."
110-year-old Polish dive bar is one of South St. Paul's hidden treasures
The Polish National Alliance outpost is tucked away in a basement.
Minneapolis fashion designer Joy Teiken takes latest collection to New York, Los Angeles
Rooted in the Midwest, fashion designer Joy Teiken's latest couture collection aims for a national stage.
Meet the Duluth woman behind hit Instagram feed selling 'elevated' secondhand fashions
It started with a pair of shoes: the Instagram story that's rewriting how women shop.
Ice jams, melting snow escalate flooding in Minn., region
Fueled by a powerful winter storm, the water overwhelmed infrastructure, threatened a nuclear power plant and cut off access to some towns and cities.
Giant golden egg-shaped sauna lands in Mpls. to spark sweaty conversation
The 16-foot-tall "Solar Egg" hatched this week at the American Swedish Institute where visitors can sauna in its steamy, 180-degree heat.
Dominick Argento, acclaimed Minnesota opera composer, dies at 91
"For me, it's been a love affair with my community here," he once said. "I do think of myself as a Minnesota composer."
'Voice of the Minnesota Orchestra,' Mary Ann Feldman, 85, illuminated music for all
Mary Ann Feldman didn’t step onstage with an instrument or a baton. She commanded Orchestra Hall with words. For decades, Feldman gave smart, funny pre-concert…
Twin Cities residents 'Say Home' in new work by SPCO composer in residence
What does home mean? A host of Minnesotans responded, for a work being debuted by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.
Mother's spirit moved soul singer to write a 'Requiem' for St. Paul Chamber Orchestra
PaviElle French wanted to "make a big sound" to honor her mom. SPCO granted her wish.
Auditor sees 'room for improvement' in State Arts Board oversight of Legacy funds
Report calls on State Arts Board to tighten up some of its funding practices.
For young composers, Minnesota Orchestra workshop brings blast of nerves and thrills
A Minnesota Orchestra workshop invites young artists to Minneapolis to challenge and celebrate their music.
Want to ogle chic vintage hats? Minnesota Historical Society unveils vast digital archive
Thanks to a dedicated staffer, the Minnesota Historical Society has a vast digital headwear archive.
For a diverse new generation, poetry is a 'growth industry'
More people are reading and buying the reinvented art form, with an assist from social media.
Native artist Rosy Simas pulls various threads to build a bold new dance work, 'Weave'
An ambitious dance work premiering Saturday in St. Paul is "an invitation to true inclusiveness."
Breaking from predecessors, Dayton picks a Minnesotan to paint his official portrait
Though reluctant to be painted at all, the governor chose a Minnesotan after Ventura and Pawlenty chose out-of-state artists.
7 favorite holiday movies picked by Minnesota film lovers and experts
From dark foreign films to comic classics, these features come highly recommended.
Tiny Minnesota town's historic jail-turned-B&B lets you sleep behind bars
Preston's Jailhouse Inn offers a "slumbering in the slammer" experience.
MIA director to become first woman to lead D.C.'s flagship art museum
Kaywin Feldman will be the National Gallery's first female director.
Yoga mats become concert seats for new Minnesota Orchestra workout series
Minnesota Orchestra musicians provide live, invigorating music for a new series of classes.
Osmo Vänskä will leave Minnesota Orchestra in 2022
Search for a new leader begins as he prepares for his departure in 2022, which is when his contract expires.
Minneapolis Institute of Art aims for 'surprise and delight' with new escape room app
Inspired by escape rooms, a new app sparks mini-adventures at the vast Minneapolis Institute of Art.
With new magazine, Minnesota writer curates stories for global Somali diaspora
Safy-Hallan Farah launches a platform for young Somali writers and artists.
Artist marks Mpls. homecoming with DIY exhibit of WWI photography
Matthew Bakkom marks his Minneapolis homecoming with an exhibit featuring hundreds of archival discoveries.
Minnesota artists remember World War I's 'enormous sacrifice'
With plays and music, Minnesota arts groups reanimate World War I 100 years after the armistice.
8 Minnesota music lovers reveal favorite movie scores, soundtracks
What are the undercelebrated triumphs in nearly 100 years of musical movie moments?
Todd Bol, creator of the Little Free Library movement, dies at 62
Todd Bol hammered together the first Little Free Library. Then he built a movement around it. Bol believed the now-ubiquitous little boxes of books —…
After terminal cancer diagnosis, Little Free Library founder feels like 'most successful person I know'
Todd Bol reflects on the movement he sparked, and the seeds he planted in neighborhoods across America — and beyond.
Rochester sauna evangelists say steamy Finnish tradition saved their marriage
The couple started a website and a Facebook group to share their obsession.
Feminist author Rebecca Traister talks 'female rage' ahead of St. Paul appearance
Her new book praises the revolutionary force of female anger.
Former St. Paul beer master tells hidden history of old Schmidt Brewery
As Schmidt Brewery is being restored to its former glory, one man never lost sight of the building's ancestry, and he gladly shares its secrets.
Legendary set designer for Guthrie, Dayton's, Holidazzle reveals lifetime of paintings
After decades designing sets for the Guthrie, Children's Theatre, Holidazzle and Dayton's eighth-floor auditorium, Jack Barkla is putting on his first gallery show.
Wetterling family expresses sorrow on eve of release of investigative files
Stearns County sheriff will release thousands of pages pertaining to the 1989 abduction and murder.
Minnesota hip-hop star Dessa breaks into NYC publishing with new memoir
Known primarily as a hip-hop artist, Dessa's latest release comes from a New York City book publisher.
After record attendance on Lake Harriet, Art Shanty Projects won't return this winter
The organization is running a shortfall after missing out on a major Minnesota State Arts Board grant.
Why autumn is the best time for a trip to the Boundary Waters
Autumn visitors to the wilderness area find fewer bugs, less campsite competition and a new season of beauty.
A young South African symphony takes its cue from the Minnesota Orchestra
After a 2014 visit, Osmo Vänskä had promised to return. He and his musicians gave the South African National Youth Orchestra a week of intense training — and a lot of confidence-building.
Concert in anti-apartheid Soweto church is an ode to joy — in many languages
The performance brought the crowd packed into the historic Regina Mundi Catholic Church to its feet, singing, stepping and clapping.
