Got an ugly kitchen or bath?
If you hate your kitchen or bathroom, a local TV production company would like to hear from you. Magnetic Productions is currently casting for new seasons of their renovation series, "I Hate My Bath" and "I Hate My Kitchen," airing on the DIY Network.
Both series focus on creative, budget-friendly improvement projects. The homeowners selected will receive free professional design and a kitchen or bathroom makeover at little cost.
To be considered, your home must be within 25 miles of downtown Minneapolis. You should also be "fun, energetic" and willing to appear on the show. To apply, visit www.magneticproductions.com/casting.
Home shopping at the Arb
The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum's SummerHouse shop is now open. And in addition to plants, gardening supplies and fresh produce, shoppers can now pick up repurposed, handcrafted and vintage finds for home and gardens, thanks to a new partnership with Mama's Happy occasional store.
The SummerHouse, housed in a rustic pole barn, offers a combined farmer's market, garden center and gift shop. There will be a rotating selection of summertime produce from local farmers, plus University of Minnesota-made gourmet cheeses. New this year are already-planted and themed container gardens, such as a lettuce garden and a Southwest "salsa" garden. Daily updates on the SummerHouse's featured selections will be available on a recorded message on the SummerHouse hotline, 952-443-1409.
The SummerHouse will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day through Aug. 31. It's located at the intersection of Hwy. 5 and Rolling Acres Road in Victoria, just 1.5 miles west of the Arboretum entrance.
Art-fair season
It's spring, when a home dweller's fancy might turn to browsing art fairs for fun finds. The 47th annual Edina Art Fair, featuring 320 fine artists and crafters, will kick off the art-fair season next weekend. The state's second-largest such festival will include booths of ceramics, paintings and photography, sculpture, wood carvings, mixed media, wearables and jewelry, all lining the curbs of France Avenue S., W. 50th Street and the Lund's parking lot.
In addition to shopping, the fair will feature the Community Art Project, where fairgoers can create colorful murals, in the Edina 5-0 parking lot. The area also will include an expanded Kids Zone, featuring a bouncy house, Velcro walls, a giant slide, yoga demonstrations and family-friendly entertainment.
Hours for the Edina Art Fair are 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. June 2. Free shuttle service will be provided from Southdale Shopping Center to 50th and France. For more information, visit www.edinaartfair.com.
Free tree seminar
Want to protect your trees from the ravages of the emerald ash borer and Japanese beetle? Gertens is offering a free seminar at 10 a.m. Saturday, featuring products and procedures to help protect trees of every size. It will be offered again at 10 a.m. on June 8 and 15. Gertens is at 5500 Blaine Av., Inver Grove Heights.
Prairie School exhibit
If you're an admirer of the Prairie School of architecture and design, here's an opportunity to learn more about its local roots. This summer, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts is mounting an exhibit, "The Progressive Pencil: George Elmslie's Prairie School Designs," in celebration of the 100-year anniversary of the institute's Purcell-Cutts House near Lake of the Isles.
The exhibit showcases rarely seen drawings from the William Gray Purcell Papers of the Northwest Architectural Archives at the University of Minnesota and a selection of related objects from the institute's collection by George Grant Elmslie, a leading designer of the Prairie School style.
Objects include drawings for the Purcell-Cutts House, designed in 1913, and Elmslie's designs for more than 80 leaded-glass windows, stencil patterns for every room and custom furniture that unified the interior spaces and gave the home its distinctive organic feel. A one-of-a-kind 1914 dining suite also is on display. The exhibit will run through Aug. 31 at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
Kim Palmer
