Minneapolis honors Prince with concerts, block parties and new museum

Prince fans will paint Minneapolis purple this weekend as concerts, block parties and a new museum opening celebrate his musical legacy and what would have been his 68th birthday Sunday. 

In St. Paul, roller skaters will head to Rice Park for a weekly disco night, while a new exhibit at Indigenous Roots showcases work by Black and Indigenous artists. In Maplewood, food trucks will roll into the Asian Street Food Night Market. 

A weekend tribute to Prince

Fans will have multiple opportunities to celebrate Prince across Minneapolis this weekend. A concert at the Armory will bring together members of his backing bands alongside performers Morris Day, Miguel, Bilal and more. 

Saturday’s events include a block party and sing-along at the downtown Prince mural, followed by late-night gatherings at Union Rooftop and First Avenue. On Sunday, fans can take part in a Lake Minnetonka tribute cruise. 

This weekend also marks the grand opening of the People’s Museum for Prince at Roberts Gallery in north Minneapolis. The museum’s “Let’s Work! A Labor of Love” exhibit at the Capri features artwork created by community members inspired by Prince’s life and music. 

Artists reflect on humanity’s ties to nature

A new exhibit at Indigenous Roots brings together Black and brown artists from the Twin Cities to explore the natural world as a source of guidance. 

“Force of Nature” is the curatorial debut of Afro-Indigenous artist Dizi Lawrence. The show features more than 25 works that examine humanity’s complex relationships with land, water, wildlife and plant life. 

“Nature itself, and the Earth are teachers,” Lawrence said. “In this time in particular — from a social and political lens — we have so many questions of how to solve certain problems or how to move through certain tragedies. The Earth holds a lot of the answers that we seek.”

The concept for the exhibit grew after Lawrence participated in “Where the Seed Remembers,” a group show at the Minnesota Arboretum. 

The exhibit includes a range of media, from collage work by Pau Perez to three-dimensional pieces by Jaali Griffin, along with large-scale paintings by Maiya Lea Hartman and Linnea Kingbird-Martini. 

Lawrence will also present 11 of her own paintings, shaped by her interest in Indigenous ways of living and Christian creation stories, including Genesis, Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden. 

Indigenous communities “have origin stories that completely encapsulate a reciprocal relationship to nature,” she said. “I would like people to come away from [“Force of Nature”] examining their own relationship to nature and honoring all the ways that it provides for us.” 

The opening reception on Saturday will feature poetry readings from Kira Bunkholt and Isavela Lopez; live music from Jada Lynn and Brandyn Lee Tulloch; and a performance by the Mexica Aztec dance group Kalpulli Yaocenoxtli. Plant-based meals will be catered by Heal Minneapolis. 

Skating and disco at Rice Park

An annual roller-skating series, “Roller Disco,” returns this Friday with free skate rentals, music by DJ Presto, line dancing led by Coach Rahn Oz and food trucks. Twin Cities Skaters also plan to introduce themed skating nights later in the summer. 

Three days of street food, music and dance

The Asian Street Food Night Market returns to the Pan Asian Center in Maplewood for a three-day festival.

The weekend will feature a talent show, lion dances, a beer garden, and music and dance performances. More than 35 food vendors will serve Thai dishes, sushi, egg rolls, Korean corn dogs and more.