Twin Cities weekend: Hamm's Fest, welcome herons, death cafe
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Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios
Plenty of new exhibitions are opening at local museums just in time for spring. Here are three to check out this weekend.
🎨 "Abstraction and Ourselves"— Cafesjian Art Trust Museum: The Shoreview museum's latest exhibition features large-scale abstract paintings, mixed media and glass pieces by artists like Dyani White Hawk and Georgia O'Keeffe.
- Curators say it's the first abstract painting and glass sculpture exhibition at this scale in the United States — and every painting but one is by a woman artist.
- Open now through July 31. Free walk-in admission on Friday evenings and all day Saturday, with guided tours available by reservation.
🔈 "Christine Sun Kim: All Day All Night" — Walker Art Center: Artist and activist Christine Sun Kim — whose native language is American Sign Language — examines sound's place in society across drawings, videos, sculptures and large-scale murals.
- The exhibition surveys work from 2011-2026 and "challenges the assumption that spoken languages hold greater value than those that are signed," per the Walker.
- Open March 28 through August 30. $18 adult admission, free for ages 18 and under.
📡 "Unseen Signals" — Pavek Museum of Electronic Communication: The unique St. Louis Park museum, which has one of the nation's largest collections of antique radios, televisions and broadcast equipment, is hosting a traveling show exploring the life of radio pioneer Edwin H. Armstrong.
- The exhibition showcases the cultural and political impact of broadcasting during World Wars I and II. It also features unique ephemera, like the original superheterodyne receiver from which modern radios are descended.
- Now through Aug. 22. $12 adults, $7 ages 4-17.
More things to do ...
🧸 Meet the Hamm's Bear at Saint Paul Brewing's first Hamm's Fest, an all-day tribute to the Minnesota-founded beer.
- Activities include tours of the brewery by a local historian and a collector's market with vintage memorabilia. Six local breweries will brew tribute flights in hopes of winning the Hamm's Crown. Free entry, tours are $19.61
🐦 Greet great blue herons at the Mississippi River this Saturday during the annual Welcome Back The Herons party, celebrating the return of herons, cormorants and egrets to their rookery in Northeast Minneapolis.
- Park rangers will be on-site giving education talks and assisting with spotting scopes, but plan to BYOB (bring your own binoculars). Free
- 💭 Audrey's thought bubble: I went in 2024 and was astonished by the sheer number of herons. Even if you're not a regular birdwatcher, it's quite a sight!
🏎️ Watch 56 handcrafted cars (potentially) crash at the return of the Pintwood Derby, a display of "creativity, craftsmanship and just a little chaos" this Saturday.
- Cars will attempt to race down Fulton Taproom's custom track in a double-elimination showdown to win the Pintly Trophy and a $200 travel voucher. Competition spots are sold out, but spectating is free.
🪦 Discuss all things death (and life) at the March Death Cafe this Sunday in Minneapolis.
- The groups, which meet all over the world, offer participants a place to have "a tangible, factual, honest conversation around death," Axios' Carly Mallenbaum writes.
- Note: It's a discussion group, not a grief support circle. Free