MINNEAPOLIS SCULPTURE GARDEN 25TH ANNIVERSARY
Opening May 23: Walker Art Center celebrates with a new mini-golf course designed by Twin Cities artists. Highlights include such popular features as garden gnomes, a scale model of a French chateau, mazes, gopher holes and a contoured interpretation of the famous Augusta National Golf Club. (Open daily May 23-Sept. 8, weather permitting. 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Sun.-Wed.; 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Thu.-Sat., $12 adults, $10 students. 1750 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls. 612-375-7600 or www.walkerart.org)
'MARINE ARTISTS' & 'SACRED WATERS'
Opening May 31 & July 30: Water inspires two appealing summer shows at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum in Winona. Recent water-themed work by more than 100 painters features in the "15th National Exhibition of the American Society of Marine Artists," showing May 31-July 23. For "Sacred Waters: Photographs from the National Geographic Society" (July 30-Oct. 27), John Stanmeyer photographed water-associated rituals at sites as varied as India's Ganges River and Catholic religious ceremonies. (800 Riverview Drive, Winona. $6 adults. 507-474-6628 or www.minnesotamarineart.org)
'REVIEWING THE REAL'
Opening June 8: Notions of what is "real" in art change with time, style and cultural theory, as this Weisman Art Museum show will explore through examples from the museum's collection. (Through Sept. 15, free. University of Minnesota, 333 E. River Rd., Mpls. 612-625-9494.)
'WOMEN IN SOVIET ART'
Opening June 15: Officially equal to men under the Soviet constitution, women did it all in the Soviet era — rolled logs, welded steel, built roads, taught school, designed aircraft, birthed babies and broke ground on collective farms. But as their responsibilities grew, their personal freedom shrank, as seen in Soviet-era art from 1950 to 1990 at the Museum of Russian Art in Minneapolis. (Through Nov. 10. 5500 Stevens Av. S., Mpls. $9 adults. 612-821-9045 or www.tmora.org)
'MAYA: HIDDEN WORLDS REVEALED'
Opening June 21: Famous for their monumental pyramids and elaborate carvings, the Mayans of the Yucatan peninsula had developed vast cities, agricultural societies, trade routes, astronomy, writing techniques and sophisticated cultural systems centuries before European invaders appeared. "Hidden Worlds" will unveil Mayan civilization through archeological artifacts and interactive interpretations of Mayan life then and now. (Science Museum of Minnesota, 120 Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul. Ticket prices TBA. 651-221-9444 or www.info@smm.org)
'GENDRON JENSEN: THE BURNING YEARS'
Opening June 7: For a career retrospective, naturalist-draftsman Gendron Jensen will return from New Mexico to Itasca County where, more than 40 years ago, he launched his career drawing seed pods, berries, leaves and bones of forest creatures. (June 7-July 31, free. MacRostie Art Center, 405 1st Av. NW., Grand Rapids, Minn. 218-326-2697 or www.macrostieartcenter.org)
LAKE SUPERIOR ZOO
Ongoing: In the aftermath of last year's June flood, the zoo found safe harbors elsewhere for its polar bear, harbor seals, river otters and silver fox while their habitats are repaired. There's still plenty to see, though, including such exotic endangered species as a snow leopard, a goral (an Asian critter that looks like a cross between an antelope and a goat), and a ring-tailed lemur plus miniature deer, familiar barnyard animals and even a Chilean rose-haired tarantula. Wow! ($10 adults. Lake Superior Zoo, 72nd Av. W. and Grand Av., Duluth. 218-730-4500 or www.lszoo.org)
'MORE REAL? ART IN THE AGE OF TRUTHINESS'
Final weeks: As fact and fiction blur in contemporary entertainment, politics and news, artists have followed suit with a startling array of provocative photos, videos, installations and sculptures whose identities, purposes and origins are in question. The Minneapolis Institute of Arts' brilliant show lays it all out in the work of 28 contemporary international artists. (Through June 9. $12 weekdays, $14 weekends. 2400 3rd Av. S., Mpls. 612-870-3131 or www.artsmia.org)
