THURSDAY-SUNDAY
Walker Wonderland
Turning 75 is a deal big enough to demand some serious gifts. Over the past three years, Walker Art Center staff solicited art in honor of the museum's 1940 rebranding as a contemporary art center. More than 120 supporters responded with 250-plus paintings, sculpture, drawings, videos and other art, a selection of it now handsomely displayed in "75 Gifts for 75 Years," opening with a weekend-long celebration that includes free admission, ice skating and a specialty cocoa bar. "Gifts" includes fresh pieces by such Walker stalwarts as Robert Indiana (a huge "LOVE" sculpture destined for the Sculpture Garden) and Chuck Close (a monumental 2015 self-portrait tapestry in which he's a lot better looking than in the famously gritty 1968 self-portrait on the building's exterior). (Opens Thu.-Sun. Exhibition through Aug. 2. Walker Art Center, 1750 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls. $9-$14; free this weekend and Thursday evenings. www.walkerart.org.) Mary Abbe
SATURDAY
'Friction Fiction: A Survey of Black Animation'
The entry of urban pop culture and hip-hop into art galleries continues with "Friction Fiction," a collaboration between the Soap Factory and African-American collective Obsidian Arts. Nine black artists from Minnesota to Kenya explore themes of alienation, urban decay and human interaction through hand-drawn, collage, oil-paint-on-glass, stop-motion and computer-generated animation. They include South African artist Nina Barnett, whose stop-motion animations and video installations depict social impacts made on urban landscapes; Africanus Okokon's staccato, hand-drawn films; and Tim Portlock's astoundingly lifelike, digitally generated illustrations of moody city scenes. Opening concurrently is "The Party's Over," a collaboration between the Chicago Artists Coalition and Soap resident artists. (Free opening reception 7-11 p.m. Sat. Ends March 8. The Soap Factory, 514 SE. 2nd St., Mpls. www.soapfactory.org.)Jahna Peloquin
ONGOING
'Beyond the Buzz'
