Artcetera: It took a village to make this book

The team behind the John Coy/Gaylord Schanilec picture book, "My Mighty Journey: A Waterfall's Story" has won this year's Minnesota Book Artist award. The collective efforts of papermaker Amanda Degener and artists Paul Nylander, Barbara Eijadi, Sorcha Douglas, Emily Pressprich, Greta Lapcinski, Paris Fobbe, Rayan Macalin, Kerri Mulcare, Ellen Janda, Hans Koch, Diane Wilson, Ernie Whiteman and Monica Edwards Larson will be honored April 28 at the annual Minnesota Book Awards gala. "My Mighty Journey" is the story of Owamniyomni — aka St. Anthony Falls — and the changes that have taken place over 12,000 years on the Mississippi River. The team of artists helped Schanilec craft the prints used as illustrations for the book, with text by Coy. The prints are on display through March at the Mill City Museum and an exhibit about the book will open Feb. 7 at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts.

LAURIE HERTZEL

KARE-TV is going to broadcast news' version of the Pulitzers. The local NBC affiliate has won two duPont Awards — aka the Silver Baton, handed out annually by Columbia University — for reporting by A.J. Lagoe, Steve Eckert and Gary Knox on how veterans have been shorted by the government and for "a gem of a documentary" by reporter Lindsey Seavert and photojournalist Ben Garvin examining race and poverty through a portrait of Lucy Laney Elementary School. What makes KARE's feat even more impressive is that the judges only granted 16 total honors. Eight are going to public-media outlets, including St. Paul-based American Public Media for "In the Dark, Season Two: Supreme Court Coverage," a podcast that tracked how the court overturned the conviction of death row inmate Curtis Flowers. The awards will be handed out Jan. 21 in New York.

NEAL JUSTIN

A new administration at Paisley Park means a new way of celebrating Prince. The first three annual "Celebrations" there coincided with his death anniversary on April 21. But "Celebration 2020" will take place June 4-7, culminating on his birthday. The move makes sense for a few reasons: April has meant conflicts with Easter and Passover, potential bad weather (yes, sometimes it snows in April) and the awkwardness of commemorating his death. Attendance at this year's Celebration was noticeably down from the previous two years. Since then, Alan Seiffert, a New York music business veteran, was hired to take over management of Paisley from Graceland Holdings, a company that also operates Elvis Presley's museum in Memphis. The new executive director apparently is gearing up for more regular special events, including a New Year's Eve party featuring the Funk Soldiers, Judith Hill and more.

JON BREAM

Organizers of the Minneapolis Comedy Festival are making good on their promise to return for a second year, and they're doing it with one of the biggest names in stand-up. Jeff Foxworthy will be among the headliners for the June 15-21 event at various downtown venues. He's scheduled to perform June 21 at the Orpheum Theatre. OutBack Presents, which also puts on the Nashville Comedy Festival, has not announced any other big-name acts yet, but it appears Whitney Cummings will be part of the mix, since she's scheduled to perform June 19 at the Pantages Theatre. Her addition may help temper criticism the festival faced last year for not including enough female comics. Jeanne Robertson and Bert Kreischer also have Minneapolis stops scheduled that week, with Robertson at the Pantages June 18 and Kreischer that same night at the Orpheum.

After recruiting a painter to open its "final" tour last year, Kiss has lined up one of rock's most famous cut-ups, David Lee Roth, for its 2020 U.S. dates, including a Feb. 24 stop at Xcel Energy Center. Kiss' farewell outing already stopped at Target Center last February and is confirmed to continue rolling through July 2021. Plenty of tickets to the St. Paul gig remain via Ticketmaster. Ol' Diamond Dave certainly adds intrigue. The 65-year-old singer hasn't been seen in the Twin Cities since Van Halen's last show at the X in 2012. His singing voice that night was even shakier than some of Kiss co-founder Paul Stanley's recent performances, but he remained as much a character as ever. There were rumors of a VH reunion tour last summer, but health issues with Eddie Van Halen and squabbling between members prompted Roth to declare the band "finished" and announce his own tour with a two-guitar-anchored new group starting with a Vegas residency in January. "I've inherited the band de facto — whatever that means," he said in a podcast a few months ago. "I think it means if you inherit it, carry this proudly."

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER