Music brings cultures together. It can be therapeutic. Different songs tell a story that can resonate with the listener. Playing music together can unite seemingly different groups.

Bao Phi visits Minnesota State University today for the Good Thunder Reading Series.

Today

Arts Center of St. Peter — “10 Years of Summers: Paintings by William Bukowski” through Saturday at 315 S. Minnesota Ave., St. Peter. Hours: 1-6 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, 1-8 p.m. Thursday, 1-5 p.m. Friday and Sunday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

Carnegie to host juried art show

In 1996, when he was a music student at Minnesota State University, David Haugh got a great deal on tickets to see the Minnesota Orchestra.

On this episode of FreepCast we sit down for an hour deep conversation and MUSIC with Nate Leboutillier, AKA Nate Boots. Nate talks about his obsession with Weezer, making music with his kids and the love he has for North Mankato. Most importantly, Nate performs three gorgeous songs. You DO …

Q. I have been training for my first marathon and am a bit confused as to what I should be eating.

Today

The Minnesota Storytellers series at Minnesota State University — where some of Minnesota’s most celebrated songwriters have come to mingle with students and perform live concerts — has been a bona fide hit.

So last August, when you were standing in line at Target with a shopping cart full of wide-ruled notebooks, multi-colored folders and No. 2 pencils, you probably gave no thought to what would become of this stuff.

On this episode of FreepCast we have our first return guest. Fellow editor Shane Frederick joins us to talk hockey. We dig deep into how the current Maverick men's hockey campaign is going.

In a banquet room at a Mankato golf course, the 25 women of the Thursday Reading Club — no more, usually no less — take tender bites of red velvet dessert and polite sips of warm coffee.

Everyone should work in the customer service industry at least once in their life.

Laura Schultz has a birthday coming up. Not a milestone birthday; she’s nowhere near hitting 50. She’s really not even that close to 40. On Monday she’ll hit the forgettable numeral of 34.

(This revised version corrects information that had been listed for the 44th annual Pan African Conference Feb. 27-28 at MSU.)

Arts Center of St. Peter — “10 Years of Summers: Paintings by William Bukowski” through Feb. 29 at 315 S. Minnesota Ave., St. Peter. Hours: 1-6 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, 1-8 p.m. Thursday, 1-5 p.m. Friday and Sunday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

Today

In the late 1800s, Nate LeBoutillier’s great grandfather, who was from Norway, found a nice little home away from home in Minnesota. 

Dave Simonett is feeling a little antsy these days.

The Super Bowl is one of my favorite times of the year.

After you live with a beagle for more than a decade, you become connected with him in deep and meaningful ways. You never go to bed angry. You share your deepest, darkest secrets. You finish each other’s sentences. It's a special, special relationship.

Today

Arts Center of St. Peter — “10 Years of Summers: Paintings by William Bukowski” through Feb. 29 at 315 S. Minnesota Ave., St. Peter. Hours: 1-6 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, 1-8 p.m. Thursday, 1-5 p.m. Friday and Sunday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

Don’t be surprised if, after watching a few minutes of the play “My Gun is Pink” at Mankato East High School, you find yourself scratching your head a bit at the role reversals.

The Fireplace room at the Carnegie Art Center has been transformed into a winter landscape with bare branches upon the walls.

There are jigsaw puzzle nights at coffee shops and libraries. Puzzle groups and puzzle games online. Hand-cut wooden puzzles that cost thousands of dollars. And puzzle designs that range from edgy, original artwork to your own, custom-ordered family photos.

The first time Matt Caron was a faculty member in Minnesota State University’s Department of Theatre and Dance, his stay was temporary. He was a stand in, a guy to fill the void, someone to keep things running smoothly while the permanent faculty member was on sabbatical.

When I attended Minnesota State University (class of ‘95), the greatest decision I ever made was working for the student newspaper.

The Chanhassen Dinner Theatre enchanted the young Anastacia Wells Steinberg.

At the Carnegie Art Center hangs a cross.

All I wanted to do Saturday night was to have a nice dinner with my better half.

Today

Arts Center of St. Peter — “10 Years of Summers: Paintings by William Bukowski” through Feb. 29 at 315 S. Minnesota Ave., St. Peter. Hours: 1-6 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, 1-8 p.m. Thursday, 1-5 p.m. Friday and Sunday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

Tuesday

Q. I have been trying to change the foods I eat and make better choices. I’m just confused as to what I should be looking for. I saw on TV that you shouldn’t buy anything that has ingredients you can’t pronounce and that you wouldn’t find in your grandma’s kitchen. This doesn’t leave me with much.

PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Azad Smith, a fourth grader at Faison K-5 in Homewood, wasn’t anxious to spend a day off from school thinking about science and engineering.

When asked to discuss his ink sketches on the coffee shop walls, the artist — steaming cup of java in hand, of course — strolls over to a nearby pillar and reads from his artist’s statement.

When Aliya Mukamuri thinks of what her life was like growing up, those thoughts are set to music.