April 15, 1978 - Frederick Gutheim, a Washington-based planner, who heads the graduate program in historic preservation at George Washington University, speaking at The Livable Winter City Conference. Gutheim joined planners, architects and others from cold weather climates gathered at the Spring Hill Center in Wayzata to discuss "The Livable Winter City", with focus on how the Twin Cities can be made more liveable in winter.
April 22, 1978 - MPR’s Tom Meersman profiles the local efforts of the small book press, highlighting the second annual Small Press Book Fair at Macalester College in St. Paul book.
May 2, 1978 - MPR’s Bill Siemering profiles Minnesota poet Robert Bly. Program includes Bly reading from his book This Body is Made of Camphor and Gopherwood at Augsburg College, followed by an interview with Siemering.
May 3, 1978 - University of North Dakota in Grand Forks hosted the 9th annual Writers Conference in March 1978. MPR’s Arts and Cultural Affairs reporter Nancy Fushan attended the conference and presents this, the first of three programs, with an overview on the theme of conference “Literature as Lamp and Mirror.”
May 3, 1978 - This Midday program deals with the shape of literature in our society with emphasis on writers in the Midwest. Presented is a portion of keynote speech at Midwest Writers Festival and Book Fair in the Twin Cities by Lucien Stryk, English professor at Northern Illinois University.
May 8, 1978 - Mini-Conference on art held at the University of Minnesota with guests Philip Guston, artist; Marcia Tucker, curator and director of the New Museum of New York; and Harold Rosenberg, art critic for the New Yorker. Conference was titled “The Big Question: Art/Not Art?” Philip Guston is considered one of the pioneers of post-World War II American painting. He worked on a number of projects for the WPA, has exhibited internationally, and has taught at Boston, Brandeis, and Columbia Universities. His works have been represented in collections at the Guggenheim, Whitney, Metropolitan and Modern Museums of Art in New York, as well as the Tate Gallery of London. Marcia Tucker, curator and director of the New Museum in New York. She has assembled exhibits for artists including Lee Krasner, Joan Mitchell and Al Held. Many of the New Museum shows have been the focus of controversy both in content and style of the art displayed. For example, Tucker's exhibit called "Bad Painting" included canvases depicting subject matter not generally seen in more traditional galleries. Noted critic and social philosopher Harold Rosenberg, has been resident art critic for the New Yorker magazine since 1967. The 72-year-old Rosenberg has authored a number of books on art criticism, including "The Tradition of the New".
May 8, 1978 - Harold Rosenberg, art critic for the New Yorker and social philosopher, speaking at the “The Big Question: Art/Not Art?” mini-conference, sponsored by the University of Minnesota Studio Arts Department. In speech, Rosenberg presents his definition of art.
May 16, 1978 - MPR's arts reporter Nancy Fushan and Jazz Image host Leigh Kamman prepared this sound portrait of the Twin Cities jazz scene as it existed from the late 1920s to the 1950s, collecting stories on the musicians who played it and the people who listened to it.
May 16, 1978 - MPR’s Nancy Fushan reports on the resignation of Stephen Sell, general manager of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Sell has decided to become the Executive Vice President of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
May 16, 1978 - MPR’s Nancy Fushan reports on a shake-up in The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra's leadership. This includes James Halland's contract to be general manager not being renewed and Dennis Russell Davies leaving after the 1979-1980 season to conduct in Europe. Report includes phone interview with Davies.