Opens Thursday 6/7

Before he directed the movie "Shaft," wrote an opera, chronicled the civil rights movement for Life and photographed Parisian fashions for Vogue, Gordon Parks (shown in a 1945 self-portrait) was just another kid dreaming big in St. Paul. One of the more accomplished African-American artists of the 20th century, Parks got his start in the Twin Cities, where much of his extended family still lives. His prolific legacy will be celebrated on the centennial of his birth in "Gordon Parks: At 100." Featuring 40 of his vintage black-and-white photos, the show will follow his career from rural Kansas to St. Paul and on to New York. For more than 20 years he covered the news of the day in compelling images for Life magazine, from the streets of Harlem into the boxing ring with Muhammad Ali, the subject of one of his most iconic images. (Opening reception, 6-8 p.m. Thu., free. Weinstein Gallery, 908 W. 46th St., Mpls. Ends July 28, free. 612-822-1722 or www.weinstein-gallery.com.)