From the writer of “Fred 3: Camp Fred,” Drew Hancock’s movie directorial debut “Companion” is a slasher with a blend of humor, romance and commentary on the increasingly automated world. 

Released Friday, “Companion” follows characters Josh and Iris as their relationship unravels after the death of a billionaire. Portrayed by Jack Quaid and Sophie Thatcher respectively, the two engage in a cat-and-mouse game as the stakes rise. 

To get the obvious out of the way, Iris is a robot. Or, as she is more commonly referred to in the movie, a sex robot or “fuckbot.” 

The movie follows her journey to sentience and independence as she becomes consciously aware she is nothing more than an accessory to Josh. The audience watches as she discovers she has no real purpose other than to be his toy. 

This is reflected in her contentious dynamic with the only living and breathing female character in the movie, Kat, played by Megan Suri. The two act as a striking mirror of each other, highlighting the commodification of the female body. 

Thatcher attacks this complexity with ferocity, bringing vulnerability to the confused Iris as she learns her true place in the lives of those around her.

Each character treats her with a level of callousness that is not entirely uncommon in our increasingly automated society. She is on the same level as a Roomba, a self-driving car or an automated wine bottle opener — another tool for them to use and discard. 

“Companion” asks the audience to question if they can pity an artificial human as Iris attempts to escape her worsening conditions for a chance at life and freedom away from Josh. 

It also asks if robots can fall in love. 

Throughout the movie, it is questioned whether a robot with advanced artificial intelligence and programming can experience love. It is described by characters as feeling as if they are on fire, or “bright.” 

In reality, AI and robots cannot experience human emotions like love or fear. The current state of programming can only create a reflection of our emotions, as suggested by Shannon Vallor in her book “The AI Mirror: How to Reclaim our Humanity in an Age of Machine Thinking.” But that does not mean the reflection cannot be uncannily similar to human emotion.

“Companion” works because it asks questions of its audience and demands an answer. 

It also shows that sometimes the perfect movie to celebrate Valentine’s Day is about a robot girlfriend gaining humanity and fighting back.

The day before her experimental single was released, local artist Mike Kota was announced in the lineup for this year’s Minnesota Yacht Club festival. The announcement comes two years after opening for Irish artist Hozier, the headliner for the festival. 

After months of work on a new single produced by her friend Zak Khan, Michaela “Mike Kota” Stein released her venture into a new sound. “I’m Not Giving Up on You” builds on her musical inspirations of King Krule, Bon Iver and Imogen Heap. 

“It’s kind of a freeing thing to realize that people could hate this,” Kota said. “There are people out there who can hate my music, but there’s also people who can think it’s the best fucking thing on earth.” 

Kota’s interest in music started young, taking piano lessons at her mother’s request and playing in bands with her high school friends. Her band, Good Luck Finding Iris, gained popularity with its songs “Fool for You” and “Morning Crawls Towards You, And I.” Both reached over two million streams on Spotify. 

“I didn’t stop. I kept pursuing and gaining skills, even if I didn’t know that’s what I was doing,” Kota said. “I feel like I’ve finally gotten to the point where I can begin.” 

In 2023, Kota opened for the musician Hozier at a surprise popup concert at First Ave in Minneapolis. Kota was chosen by Hozier after he saw a viral TikTok of her performing a rendition of “Take Me to Church.” 

“That was the biggest crowd I’ve played for, and I was definitely fearful, but the second I got on stage, I was consciously thinking in my head, ‘This is the new normal, just have fun,’” Kota said. 

A feeling of angst and yearning inspires Kota lyrically. 

“I use music as a way of reflection and healing,” Kota said. “It’s a cathartic experience for me, and I can really work through things that are bothering me and find a silver lining.” 

This vulnerability is present in one of her most streamed songs from her EP “Turning a Corner.” It is also a favorite to play, as “Corner” allows each member of her band to shine.

“It’s a song where time fluctuates, speeding up and slowing down,” drummer Tarek Abdelqader said. “It really requires group listening and an empathetic style of playing. You have to be really present.” 

Abdelqader joined the band after playing with Kota in a collaboration led by a mutual friend called The Cherry Pit. The two were placed in the same cohort of musicians and were tasked with putting together a set with the goal of making a band out of total strangers. 

“I just remember being blown away right away by how she could get right to the heart of the music,” Abdelqader said. 

This sentiment was echoed by lead guitarist Nate Walker, who had been a fan of Kota before playing with her. 

“I always thought she was so cool. I still think she’s pretty darn cool,” Walker said. “I play with a lot of different artists, I’ve been lucky to do that. And every time I play with (Kota), she just blows me away.” 

In July, Kota and her band will take the stage at the festival, performing alongside Hozier again as well as Fallout Boy, Weezer and Green Day, to name a few.

During the winter, it can be hard to find the motivation to leave the warmth of the dorms or college apartments without good reason. However, the Twin Cities offer numerous unique and niche museums for free, or in the case of Mill City Museum, only $12 for students. 

Mill City Museum 

As a familiar staple of childhood field trips, Mill City Museum is located on the Mississippi Riverfront in Minneapolis. The historic museum is built out of the ruins of the Washburn A Mill, once the world’s largest flour mill in the late 1800s.

Since its inception in 2001, Site Manager Dave Stevens has worked to introduce Minnesota students and residents to the history of Minneapolis’ historical roles and the “Flour Milling Capital of the World.”

“A big part of what I do is just keeping an eye on the facilities and taking care of the building, which is kind of a unique mix of a brand new museum that’s nestled within the ruins of an old one that has really particular needs,” Stevens said. 

Multiple exhibits demonstrate the building’s former operations, including water and baking labs where visitors can learn the importance and power of the Mississippi River in the industry. 

“The city of Minneapolis is here because of the Mississippi River and especially the waterfall that was here. That has been a special place for lots of people for many different reasons,” Stevens said. 

The museum also includes an elevator show through eight levels of the building, each showcasing the sights and sounds of the old mill. It ends on the observation deck which overlooks the remaining ruins and the riverfront. Its original red neon sign is visible from the Washington Avenue Bridge. 

Smallest Museum in St. Paul

Located four stops east on the Metro Green Line from the center of the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus is the Smallest Museum in St. Paul. The miniature museum is built out of an out-of-use fire hose compartment in the wall of the Workhorse Coffee Bar. 

“The point of the museum is to spark joy and curiosity,” said organizer and curator Shannon Forney. “It’s really more for appreciating St. Paul and appreciating the art of regular day people in the neighborhood and reflecting the history.”  

For 10 years, Forney has curated local artists to showcase in the museum’s tiny exhibitions. Each reflects a connection to the neighborhood and engages with the community.

The museum hosts new artists quarterly, with its current exhibit showcasing small snow globes with horror-centric themes by Maine artist Sailor Cartwright.

Having a background in performance and clown work, Forney created the museum as a theater for the community to engage with. 

Minnesota Transportation Museum

Further into St. Paul is the Minnesota Transportation Museum, a museum focusing on the long history of passenger trains in the state. Another museum operating out of a historic site, the Minnesota Transportation Museum found its home in the Jackson Street Roundhouse. 

“In the Twin Cities, we are the only thing that’s like us, which is really cool,” said CEO and Executive Manager Josh Hoaby. “It’s a unique opportunity as a nonprofit organization to find ways to reach out to our community.” 

The museum has real train rides every Saturday through the St. Croix River Valley along the valley’s railway, as well as a diesel shop that provides hands-on experience in the restoration process.  

“I love it,” Hoaby said, a year after taking on his role. “My dad was a contractor, so I grew up on job sites and working with my hands which makes me uniquely equipped for what’s going on in the back of the shop which is great. I love seeing a project come together.” 

The Minnesota Transportation Museum, along with the Smallest Museum in St. Paul and Mill City Museum each stressed the importance of highlighting the history and culture of their neighborhoods. 

“I hope it’s a moment of respite or reflection in someone’s day,” Forney said. “It’s just a moment of connecting to joy, connecting to others.”

A Tolkien nerd and a girl who has never seen a single “Lord of the Rings” movie walk into a theater to see “The Lord of The Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” together. This is not a setup for a poor joke but the exact circumstances I experienced on Tuesday. 

Except I am a huge fan, and I dragged my friend along with me. 

Released on Dec. 13, the newest entry in the Lord of the Rings filmography took a new approach to the world of Middle Earth — an anime epic depicting the history of the Kingdom of Rohan. 

With Kenji Kamiyama at the director’s helm, who previously worked as a writer for the “Ghost in the Shell” movies and an animator on “Akira,” the movie takes a step into the past of J.R.R. Tolkien’s world through the lens of a high-fantasy anime. 

The movie is presented as an old legend told around the campfires of Rohan, with Miranda Otto reprising her role as Eowyn, the narrator. 

Taking place 183 years before the events of the original trilogy, the story follows the first line of kings and their fall. 

Led by its patriarch, Helm Hammerhand, voiced by Brian Cox, the House of Hammerhand is divided by his three children — the perfect firstborn son Hama, voiced by Yazdan Qafouri, the bard and quintessential middle child Haleth, voiced by Benjamin Wainwright, and the wild daughter Hera, voiced by Gaia Wise.

The family and their people are thrown into conflict with the ruthless Wulf, voiced by Luke Pasqualino, in a war for the throne and revenge. Each side is intent on the destruction of the other, as the people are left in a conflict made by the ones who were supposed to be their protectors.

Revisiting the Hornhurn stronghold, later named Helm’s Deep, the story follows similar themes to what was already shown in “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.” Frankly, if you are familiar with the second movie of the original trilogy, certain story themes will be recognizable. 

The parallels between the films may be an intentional choice to draw lines between the past and future events, but the story fails to stand on its own. There are certain points where I felt I was simply rewatching a shot-for-shot remake of a significantly better movie. 

However, I believe the curse of “callbacks” and referential shots is inevitable in our world of neverending remakes, sequels and prequels. 

That is not to say I did not enjoy the movie. I found the animation to be beautiful, the character’s likable and the voice acting to be incredibly powerful. Cox and Wise both shine in their portrait of a strained father-daughter relationship, as Hera’s willful independence war against Helm’s fatherly stubbornness. 

And of course, I will never complain about a new piece of media set in Middle Earth.

As a fan, it was fun to point at the screen at familiar lines or the mention of iconic characters. Especially when sitting next to someone completely new to the world. 

The movie serves as a return to form, capturing the vastness of Tolkien’s original world paired with Peter Jackson’s warmth in a unique way. The grand animation transports its audience into the legend, opening the storybook and inviting the audience inside.

Beginning as a final project for a course at the University of Minnesota, PILLLAR Forum Cafe & Bar hosted its first-ever clothing swap on Sunday in Northeast Minneapolis. 

University of Minnesota student Noah Biasco organized the swap as his final project for his global studies class, SOC 3215 – Supercapitalism: Labor, Consumption & the Environment in the New Global Economy. Emphasizing sustainability and community, the clothing swap was held in partnership with his favorite coffee shop. 

“One of the reasons I love PILLLAR is that it’s a space for (sustainability and community), and it’s hard to find certain spaces to build community,” Biasco said. “Part of what we want here is just a space where people will come monthly, hopefully, see familiar faces, make new connections and build more community, and feel a part of something in Minneapolis.” 

At the center of the event was the idea of sustainable clothing practices in the face of capitalist systems. Customers were encouraged to bring high-quality clothing pieces that they simply did not wear and trade the pieces with other visitors for something new. 

Katelyn Clemons, 26, was told about the event by her friend after seeing the venue’s Instagram post. She immediately decided she would attend and bring a bag of her clothes to trade. 

“I am definitely actively looking for ways to be more sustainable with what I wear and trying to shift my mindset to realize that a lot of the things I might want exist secondhand or already exist in the stream of consumption,” Clemons said. 

Clemons is participating in an online challenge called the 75 Hard Style Challenge, where one documents their outfit every day, doesn’t buy new clothes and sets goals and intentions. A week in, her goal at the swap was to find new pieces for the winter without spending any money on something new. 

“I wanted to hand off stuff that I was excited to find secondhand because I think that’s what makes these things enjoyable,” Clemons said. “It feels like you’re thrifting.”  

The event featured live music from DJ Adam Udenberg, who played psychedelic tunes while visitors milled around the small venue. Hangers were donated or brought by other visitors, with clothing sizes from all ranges. There were tables dedicated to shorts, skirts, pants and jeans, and even a section for winter items like scarves and coats. 

As a friend of Biasco, Rose Cianflone threw together a small bag of her clothes and visited the exchange to look for “community and coffee.”

Cianflone said the event was incredibly important in current times, and said, “We as a society have been moving away from a lot of community things, especially after COVID and stuff. So it’s really cool to see people organizing things without monetary expectations.” 

This sentiment was at the core of Biasco’s intention for the event, a core value shared by PILLLAR, who agreed to host the exchange. Together, the event was planned and marketed within a week. 

“I was putting this together as a case study on looking at economics that exists outside of capitalism,” Biasco said. “We plan on turning it into a monthly event. So it should be self-sustaining.” 

Biasco said by turning the event into a monthly gathering, visitors can build it into their habits and form a stronger connection with those there while supporting a sustainable clothing practice. 

“It’s nice to reuse clothing rather than just send it away,” Biasco said. “If you have used clothing, rather than give it to someone at Saver’s that’s gonna sell it for profit, find someone in your community that would want it.”

For 13 years, the European Christmas Market has offered a traditional approach to the holiday season, allowing visitors to shop and eat under twinkling lights in the East Plaza of Union Depot in St. Paul. 

However, the market can seem inaccessible to college students with tight schedules and tighter budgets. But the assorted holiday goods and European foods make the market worth a visit despite the cold. 

I visited the market this Sunday afternoon, a conscious decision to avoid the nightly dropping temperatures. The visit was made worth it by the people and vendors present. With Christmas carols sung by Mrs. Claus and fresh hot baked goods, I shopped the aisles of vendors of handmade goods with a college kid’s budget. 

Caroline Hunt at Under the Bark Syrup Co. said the people at the market make working in the cold bearable, as well as the many heaters they keep within their hut. 

“Everyone just seems so happy to be here,” Hunt said. She has worked at her family’s syrup company since she was 16 years old, and now, a decade later, she helps out on festival weekends with her father.

Besides the samples offered by Hunt, I was able to share an order of pierogies from iPierogi, German spaetzle and a mug of hot chocolate from a Krampus-themed booth named Krampuspaetzle, and a small but much-needed bowl of French onion soup from Valerie’s French Kitchen. 

Food was not the only thing the market offered. Many booths were lined with winter goods and trinkets, each playing their own playlist of Christmas music. 

In the neighboring booth to Hunt, Lisa Rydin Erickson sold her Nordic-inspired art prints and other trinkets. Her small tables were lined with Scandinavian and nature-infused artwork that Erickson had drawn on her iPad. 

“I was riding the bus to St. Paul and was working as a painter,” Erickson said. “And I just started working on my iPad since I had the time.” 

Since then, her art has been featured in public art installations across the Twin Cities, but she loves returning to the festival. 

Standing outside a booth lined with wool mittens and assorted dog collars, David Brecht was filling in for his wife, Nicole Brecht, for her booth of handcrafted goods Simple-Trends. The mittens are made from recycled wool sweaters that Nicole washes and repurposes into mittens for adults and children. She has been selling at the market for four years. 

“I love the festival,” David Brecht said. “People come in the holiday spirit and are happy. They seem to enjoy coming out despite the weather.” 

Down the aisle from him was Spriggan Stone and Dice Mugs’ booth. They offered a mix of stones, jewelry, leather journals, incense and custom stainless steel mugs with Dungeons & Dragons dice encased in resin at the bottom. 

Across from them was the booth for Do Me a Favor, a sterling silver jewelry brand by Kathern Dufresne. The brand started as a hobby almost 20 years ago, as Dufresne was attracted to jewelry and stones from around the world. Prices ranged from $15 to $75 with every item made by hand by Dufresne. 

“I just love the atmosphere, the people,” Dufresne said. “They’ve really captured the European feel.”

Returning to the height of the Roman Empire, Ridley Scott’s sequel “Gladiator II” is another blockbuster with a cast full of stars, intricate costumes and exciting battles, which makes it disappointing that the movie falls flat in certain aspects. 

Made two decades after Scott’s original exploration into the Roman Empire, “Gladiator II” is set 16 years after its predecessor following a familiar face, Paul Mescal’s Lucius, now an adult, as he enters the ring in the steps of his father, Maximus. 

I want to start by saying, I genuinely had a fun time watching the movie. The theater was packed in a way I have not seen since the height of Marvel movies and was dotted with people in Roman-style gladiator masks or foam thumbs. Simply put, I enjoyed the fun blockbuster set in my favorite time period. 

I was even offered a free poster for the film, which I immediately accepted like any other self-respecting college student would. 

The scale of the film cannot be understated. As someone who grew up reading the “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” series and logging over a hundred hours in “Assassin’s Creed Odyssey,” I can confidently say the deteriorating grandeur of the Roman Empire was perfectly captured. 

But the dream of Rome is dying, as the evil of its new twin emperors, Joseph Quinn’s Geta and Fred Hechinger’s Caracalla, infect the city with their greed and cruelty. It is in this setting we find the war-wearied General Acacius, played by Pedro Pascal, a fighter forced to play politician for the city he loves. 

With such an extensive and impressive main cast, some might worry about competing leads. But there is one standout in this film, and of course, it’s Denzel Washington. Perfectly at ease in the bowels of the fighting pit or the Roman senate, Washington’s Macrinus is a politically savvy puppet master and a highlight of the film. 

Another strength of the movie is the set pieces. 

A flooded Colosseum with a mock naval battle and sharks, men fighting bloodthirsty baboons, there is little Scott dreams up that is not present. His visual interpretation of death, a brutal black-and-white landscape with the ferryman waiting to take passed souls to the next life, was breathtaking. 

Yet, despite all the original ideas and iconic sequences, the movie lingers in the shadow of its predecessor. 

One issue I had with the movie was the dialogue. Watching Lucius and his mother interact, I could not help but notice how heavy-handed the script felt. Instead of the dialogue flowing naturally between the characters, it felt like two actors talking at each other with strained chemistry. 

Of course, Washington is exempt from the criticism. That man could read a tax document and it would still sound like Shakespeare. And Pascal could have chemistry with a brick wall. 

It is relevant to acknowledge that the film was shot during the 2023 Hollywood writers’ strike and paused during the following actors’ strike, potentially straining what on-set script changes could be made. 

The main issue is that the film struggled to separate itself from the original. The decision to confirm Lucius as Maximus’s son could have been an opportunity for a unique story of a man accepting his parentage and destiny, but instead the movie is bogged down with mentions of the long-dead gladiator. 

Maybe I was too young to truly appreciate the impact of Russell Crowe’s performance, but I couldn’t help but sigh at every mention of Maximus. The reverence for a character that has been dead for 16 years simply misses the mark. Mescal is never given anything more than a wet match to light the hanging shadow of Maximus’s legacy, every scene a connection to the original instead of a new idea. 

I cannot help but wonder what could have been if they had let Lucius’s story stand on its own, instead of sidelining him for a character that isn’t even alive in the movie. 

However, the film’s shortcomings do not erase the fact that I still had fun. 

Who wouldn’t enjoy some of the greatest actors of our generation fighting each other in the Roman Colosseum in fancy costumes? 

The Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA) honors the work of German artist Otto Dix in a new exhibition for the centennial anniversary of his portfolio of prints, showing the horrors of the frontlines of war in “Otto Dix: The War Portfolio.” 

In a quiet, gray room on the third floor of the MIA, the complete portfolio of Dix is displayed in its entirety, 100 years after its original publication. The series of black and white prints based on his original etchings depict the relentless violence he witnessed in the trenches of World War I as the leader of a machine gun unit in the German army. 

The MIA had been home to Dix’s complete portfolio when Tom Rassieur, John E. Andrus III Curator of Prints and Drawings, created the exhibition with his colleague Dennis Michael Jon and drew Rassieur’s attention to the significant anniversary and the portfolio’s subject matter.

“Unfortunately, war is an evergreen subject, and so it seems very appropriate that we show the portfolio,” Rassieur said.

The heavy subject matter is reflected in the muted monotone of the art. Black ink and shadows are used to highlight gaunt faces and ghastly landscapes, each capturing Dix’s memory of his time in the trenches. 

“I really came to believe that it reads like a series of 50 PTSD flashbacks,” Rassieur said. “He was on the front lines for three years. So he knew very well what the war was about.” 

Returning from war in 1918, Dix’s etchings were commercially unsuccessful during their original publication due to their realistic brutality upsetting viewers. He would later go on to influence the German expressionist movement as he began to experiment more outside of his war subjects. 

“He came away from the war feeling cynical, embittered and compassionate. So I felt my job is to give people hand holds and an understanding of what they’re looking at,” Rassieur said. “I wanted this to be a moment when people could confront this first hand and let the artist speak very directly to the visitor.” 

And speak it did.

The exhibition room was comparatively mutted to the neighboring period room and Impressionist rooms, with visitors walking silently from piece to piece. The artwork spoke for itself, reflecting the human and environmental cost of the war, as well as the daily experiences of soldiers. 

Marina Dorella, someone who went to the exhibit, said that she found the artwork interesting despite the heavy subject matter. 

“Many of the prints are very, very dark. Like nighttime, so much so you can barely see them,” Dorella said. “But some of the other ones are very crystal clear, light. So it makes me wonder, you know, if that reflects his memory of those events.”

Rachel Newinski, who was attending the exhibition with Dorella, said the subject matter was timely. 

“I don’t think much has changed much in 100 years,” Newinski said. “We see pictures on the news or on social media every day that are in comparison to his memories.”

Some visitors declined to comment on the emotions the exhibition invoked or left immediately upon seeing the subject matter. But those who stayed quietly took in the upsetting scenes and gasped at the depicted subjects. 

The brutal prints were a stark reminder of the cost of war and those it impacts.

The lights of the stage reflected in the small star-shaped stickers on lead singer Inayah El-Amin’s bass as she said to the crowd that had gathered, “If you can hear me clap once.”

Twin Cities-based band SoulFlower performed songs from their new EP “SETLIST” at local venue Icehouse on Friday night. The EP honored their many live performances since forming the band last year during the summer. 

Opening for Minneapolis band Dial Tone, SoulFlower has been working towards live performances since August 2023. El-Amin said the band came together naturally, meeting through mutual friends and gravitating towards playing together.

“We didn’t really have to, like, control it because it was just flowing in a direction of us playing together,” El-Amin said. “We have moments all the time just talking about how we’re grateful about that and how we love playing with each other and looking forward to growing and all the rest of it.” 

Their songwriting process stems from their natural dynamic, forming piece by piece. Often a song will start as a melodic riff from their guitarists Victor Wedden and Matt Greene, or Ezekiel Cowan developing a beat on the drums. 

El-Amin described it as a natural process, and said, “Usually, we’re jammin’, and we are coming up with something that feels and sounds really good to us. And we just loop it, basically. Then we build the song from there.”

The band has played numerous shows at local and house venues alike since forming. A favorite performance of Wedden’s was their first show together.

“I was super anxious before, but I felt like we kind of played together really well,” Wedden said.

“You know what show I really liked was when we got (Ezekiel) back after I, like, covered for the drums that one day,” Greene, also known as Freakwhensee, said. “I don’t even know if that venue still exists but it was a super fun show, like some dramatic curtain openings and stuff.” 

After playing together for a little over a year, SoulFlower decided it was time to produce their first EP, “SETLIST.” The album was created as an ode to their time performing live shows, each song on the EP  they played prior to its release on Oct. 24.

“It was named that because we were playing all those songs for the last, like, year at live shows,” El-Amin said. “Those songs really did exist more in live venues longer than they have been out.”

Produced and recorded locally, the band wanted to bring it back to the live shows and the time the songs were written to honor how far they had come since last summer. It took ten months to mix and record songs before releasing it in October. 

Having performed at Icehouse previously, it was special to come back for another performance after the release of their EP. The community of the venue and concert-goers felt like a homecoming show, as friends, fans and family waved to the band from the crowd.

On Sunday, Odd Mart hosted its weekly Odd Market as a celebration of strange trinkets, treats and art from local Twin Cities creatives.

A friendly-looking monster points the way to Brad McGinty’s shop Odd Mart, inviting customers to stop in for the market. Odd Market hosts a handful of artists every Sunday in November, maintaining an inviting atmosphere in the fluorescent-lit backroom of Odd Mart in Minneapolis.

Jess Underhill has worked with McGinty for years, originally helping fulfill GLORP Gum shirt orders when he was only selling online. Now, she helps run the storefront so the market runs smoothly.

“It’s really fun to have people come in and just feel comfortable,” Underhill said. “But I really love it when people come in and they’re like, ‘Ah, this is exactly what I want.’”

Established last year, Odd Mart is owned and operated by artist McGinty after a long career in illustration and comic book art. The animator and clothing designer opened Odd Mart as a physical manifestation of his artistic interests and designs, including a mix of vintage goods, local art, and an extensive collection of literature and comic books.

Having a background in construction as well as art, McGinty fixed up the building himself, creating the physical store he always wanted. Monsters in his signature art style hang from the ceiling while an assortment of his GLORP Gum apparel hangs on the walls.

“This space, it had a sort of back area that I was going to do screen printing and shirt production,” McGinty said. “So I kind of thought that it would make sense to invite other people in for new art markets here.”

Some of the artists live down the street on Lyndale Avenue, while others drive in from across the city for the market. The table slots cost $20 to reserve and are available to artists of any medium. The artists are selected by McGinty to offer a unique experience for customers every weekend.

“Sometimes those big markets can be really overwhelming, and you’re overwhelmed with choice,” Underhill said. “The curation is always great because you can go in and there’s only nine tables, but you will find something you like, guaranteed.”

This past Sunday offered hand-painted pottery by Rhiannon Hadler, buttons and magnets by Trashy Trinkets and baked goods by Hex & Quill Bake Co. An assortment of art, candles and zines had their own booths.

Aurelius Searls, creator of Honey Weasel Candles, sells at the market as often as he can, living down the street from the shop. He started his company in 2020 after making candles as Christmas gifts for his loved ones and now sells his fandom-themed candles online and at markets.

“My first market was back in spring, the Trans Day Visibility Market,” Searls said. “It was my first market here and the first market that I got to run my booth personally.”

Searls said he returns to the market as often as he can, or “as often as Brad will let me.”

Across from his booth was Hadler’s hand-painted pottery and original art. She was introduced to the market by a coworker from her studio, and her unique art style is a perfect fit for the market’s niche.

“I usually sell this kind of stuff at normal markets, but I feel like this is where my stuff like this can shine,” Hadler said, gesturing to her collection of clay mushrooms before pointing to her hand-painted dishes and mugs covered with eyes and goat-horned women.

“It’s like beautiful, you know,” she said. “I feel like everyone’s art styles regardless of where they fall on, like, kind of kooky, crazy, scary, spooky. It all just kind of fits really well here.”

Alexis Politz was another artist featured on Sunday, and as a part-time employee of the shop, they were excited to have a booth again. Their booth was a collection of prints, pins and bumper stickers, which were becoming a favorite of customers. 

“I just made them a couple months ago,” Politz said, pointing at the collection of stickers. “It’s nice to see people out in the wild with them already.”

Under the neon lights, each booth showcased a unique potential purchase for customers.

“You know, there are so many good creatives around and there’s a lot of people who never sold stuff before come here and sell stuff for the first time,” McGinty said. “That’s really fun, and it makes it more of a community.”