June 14, 2002 - Tomorrow marks the grand opening of a Frank Lloyd Wright inspired bridge in South Minneapolis. The bridge with tall vertical points and a rounded railing crosses Interstate 94 at Third Avenue, just south of downtown. The project was funded by Marshall Field's department stores to give an artistic feel to a standard highway overpass. A few blocks south of the bridge on Third Avenue, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts is featuring an exhibit of Frank Lloyd Wright bridge designs. Curator Jane Hession (Heshen) says the new Marshall Field's Frank Lloyd Wright Bridge is not an actual Frank Lloyd Wright design, but rather a concept based on various bridge designs made by the famous architect.
June 17, 2002 - MPR’s Jeff Horwich reports on soccer culture in St. Cloud, where sport and community are inseparable for ethnic teams. Immigrants who've come to Minnesota have brought their favorite game along with them.
June 17, 2002 - Richard Russo's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "Empire Falls" takes readers into a struggling blue-collar town in Maine. The textile factories have been shut down and the residents are waiting for a financial savior. The book's main character is Miles Roby. He's been managing "The Empire Grill" for 20 years and is hoping the town's matriarch will die soon and leave him the restaurant. Miles is struggling with a pending divorce, a teenage daughter and a father who ignores conventional grooming and manners. Russo told Minnesota Public Radio's Greta Cunningham, the book was influenced by a Maine college town in which he once lived.
July 1, 2002 - The July edition of MPR's Voices of Minnesota series features resigned bishop James Shannon and Pam Costain, the retiring head of the Resource Center of the Americas.
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July 15, 2002 - MPR’s Greta Cunningham interviews Minnesota author Brian Malloy about his debut novel "The Year of Ice," which is set in the Twin Cities in 1978. The story revolves around 17-year-old Kevin Doyle, a boy struggling with the death of his mother, his isolation from his father, and coming to terms with his sexuality.
July 16, 2002 - The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts has named David Galligan as its new President and CEO. Galligan will oversee the Ordway's business operations. Past President Kevin McCollum, now the Ordway's artistic producer in charge of programming, will oversee the Center's creative work. Galligan has been second-in-command at the Walker Art Center since 1986. He says he's looking forward to joining the Ordway at such a pivitol point in its history:
July 16, 2002 - Prior Lake, Minnesota is the inspiration for the fictional town of Acorn Lake, Minnesota in Jean Harfenist's new book "A Brief History of the Flood." The book is a collection of short stories set in the 1960's and centered around the Anderson family. The stories follow the developement of the Anderson's daughter, Lillian--from young child to young adult. Lillian is a small town girl dealing with an alcoholic father and a mother who views the world like a romance novel. Lillian is also trying to avoid her mother's mistakes and is focusing on becoming a self-sufficient working woman. Harfenist grew up in Prior Lake and says Minnesota is an essential element to "A Brief History of the Flood." Jean Harfenist is the author of "A Brief History of the Flood." The book is published by Knopf.
July 17, 2002 - This week, the League of Historic American Theatres is holding its annual convention in Minneapolis. A delegation from the organization is touring some historic theatres in rural Minnesota. On the itinerary was Austin's Paramount theatre. The 73 year-old Paramount Theatre is one of the few remaining historic buildings in Austin. The amount of money needed to restore the building pales in comparison to some of the theater projects proposed for the Twin Cities. But as Mainstreet Radio's Rob Schmitz reports, to the handful of people struggling to restore the theatre, the project is every bit as important . {Turrets, spires, and Moorish arches spread across the interior walls to Austin's Paramount Theatre...representing a village courtyard in southern Spain. The Paramount was built in 1929. It's on the national list of historic sites. It's one of Minnesota's few remaining atmospheric theatres...an architectural style that makes visitors feel like they're outside. High above the Paramount's auditorium is the faint light of tiny holes punched in the ceiling, creating the illusion of thousands of stars, stretching out for miles into the night. But for Paramount Theatre manager Scott Andreson, the feeling of infinite space ends there.
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