5 art stories from the week

Kevin Vollmers, left, created the online magazine Gazillion Voices, and Shannon Gibney, center, and Laura Klunder are contributing columnists to the publication, which aims to provide a voice to adult adoptees. The three were photographed at the Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2013. MPR Photo by Jennifer Simonson

Art and cultural stories are sprinkled all throughout MPR's programming, so it can be hard to know when to tune in to catch them. Here's a round-up of some of the more interesting stories from the week.

LoveandRockets
An image of perennial Love and Rockets characters Ray and Maggie. MPR Photo/Euan Kerr

1. Thirty years of 'Love and Rockets' explode in Minneapolis

Created by artist Jaime Hernandez, "Love and Rockets" has followed the lives of a rag-tag group of friends living outside Los Angeles. The series delivers true-to-life stories that go far beyond the caricatures of standard comic fare.

A new show at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design allows visitors to get a close-up view of the work of Hernandez, a Mexican-American who aims to capture the sensibilities of modern life -- and his culture. Read More...

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2. For Illicit Sextet's Steve Kenny, a hard road back to success

Divorced, isolated from his children and homeless, Steve Kenny flipped on the radio in the abandoned car where he slept -- and heard his music playing.

The tune, picked by then-MPR jazz show host Leigh Kamen, triggered memories of a once-charmed life as a computer company executive and trumpeter for the Illicit Sextet, a great jazz band. It was 2000, the moment he realized he had lost everything to drugs.  Read more...

minnesotamap
Some of Minnesota's most notable authors are featured on a new map of the state that highlights its legacy of literature. Minnesota Historical Society book curator Patrick Coleman helped create the free map. Image courtesy Minnesota Historical Society

3. Map showcases notable Minnesota authors

Some of Minnesota's most notable authors are featured on a new map of the state that highlights its legacy of literature.

Minnesota Historical Society book curator Patrick Coleman helped create the free map. He said in choosing authors, he weighed the number of awards they won, how much they had produced or their popularity. Read more...

4. Why Michael Connelly keeps sending his fictional detective into darkness

Detective Harry Bosch is running out of time. "He knows the work will never be done, but he's always found solace in that he's doing some of the work and he's getting things done, and he speaks for the dead," says his creator, Michael Connelly. "His identity is wrapped up in that."

But now Harry is facing a career change. "He's not going to have a badge," Connelly says. "He's not going to carry a gun, at least legally, in the future. That's going to require some changes." Read more...

gazillion
Kevin Vollmers, left, created the online magazine Gazillion Voices, and Shannon Gibney, center, and Laura Klunder are contributing columnists to the publication, which aims to provide a voice to adult adoptees. The three were photographed at the Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2013. MPR Photo by Jennifer Simonson

5. Magazine for adult adoptees raises issues of alienation, racism and loss

When many people think of adoption, they tend to focus on the adoptive parents and the baby they bring home. But less attention is paid to what becomes of those babies.

Starting Monday, a new online magazine called Gazillion Voices aims to provide a voice for adult adoptees around the country. Read more...