When Grover Hogan was a kindergartner in Houston, Texas, they drew a really good caterpillar for a test.
That drawing was enough to get Hogan accepted into a better school across town. More importantly, it gave them a language to process emotions and the world around them.
“They were like, ‘You’re going to be an artist’ and I was like, ‘Cool. Yay,’” Hogan said. “I’m very lucky that it came to me so directly and so early.”
As a child, Hogan’s art focused on memory. After moving to Minnesota at 18 to attend the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, their work shifted toward documenting the present.
That impulse is at the center of Hogan’s debut solo exhibit, “True Stories,” which opens Saturday at Public Functionary. The exhibit merges Hogan’s ongoing exploration of tarot with their experiences as a nonbinary Black and Mexican artist.
“True Stories” is just one of several ways artists are documenting, interpreting and celebrating life in the Twin Cities this weekend.
Four sculptors will explore the human experience at Northern Clay Center. A new fashion pop-up will introduce shoppers to contemporary Nigerian designers and brands. And musicians, visual artists, writers and drag queens will take over the Hamline Midway neighborhood for a new three-day arts festival.
‘True Stories’ at Public Functionary
Hogan grew up being told not to use tarot because it was “brujería,” or witchcraft in Spanish. But the cards’ imagery reminded them of lotería, the traditional Mexican game their family played.
After two friends sparked their curiosity, Hogan went to Moonstone in south Minneapolis to learn about tarot as a tool for self-reflection rather than fortune-telling.
“I would always pull The Fool card, which is funny because I was born on April Fool’s Day,” Hogan said. “It just means to lead with curiosity and you can always have a new beginning. I was like, ‘Fine, I’ll try embodying this card.’”
Other cards, including The Empress and The Emperor, helped Hogan untangle their relationships to femininity, power and authority. They submitted their reimagining of The Emperor when applying for the MCAD-Jerome Fellowship, earning a spot in this year’s program. They left their position as lead educator at the Walker Art Center to pursue art full-time.
“True Stories” includes Hogan’s interpretations of several tarot cards, including The Sun, The Devil, Death, Wheel of Fortune, The High Priestess and The Chariot.
“I was in the Dia de los Muertos [Day of the Dead] club when I was in high school and of course, I was really connected to our relationship with death and ideas of spirituality, where we blend between the conscious world and our subconscious spiritual world,” Hogan said.
The exhibition also features cardboard and papier-mâché altars, some decorated with glitter, jewelry, lighters or snakeskin.
“Houston is very influenced by Black and Mexican culture,” Hogan said. “Everything is real loud, bold, colorful, flashy, in your face. I have a lot of that in my show.”
Hogan is working their way through all 22 Major Arcana cards and has now reached Judgment, the tarot’s 20th card. Only The World remains.
“I have this really bummed out feeling that everybody is very afraid right now for various reasons,” Hogan said. “Very afraid of their own feelings, what they’re capable of. Very afraid of the harm that they could do. Very afraid of the power they have or the helplessness that they have.”
“True Stories” offers another way through that fear.
“I just want people to feel inspired in the way that they can also express themselves without shame,” Hogan said. “They can process what is happening in their lives and in the world through making things with their hands. I just hope that I’m leading by example in this show.”
For those looking to follow that lead, Hogan recommends checking out Crafty Queers Club’s monthly pop-ups in Minneapolis, looking to local artists like Cameron Patricia Downey and Emma Beatrez, or catching art on the walls of St. Paul’s After Hours Skateshop.
Hogan will be at the opening reception this Saturday and they will speak with Public Functionary co-founder Tricia Heuring at 6 p.m. on Oct. 15.
Date: Saturday, Oct. 3 through Nov. 15
Time: Opening reception from 6 to 10 p.m. on Saturday. Regular gallery hours from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
Location: Public Functionary, 1500 Jackson St., N.E., Studio 144, Minneapolis
Cost: Free
For more information: Visit publicfunctionary.org/exhibitions/2026/true-stories-grover-hogan
Forms of humanity at Northern Clay Center
What can a sculpture say about being human?
At Northern Clay Center, four artists approach that question through very different subjects for “To Be Human.” Cristina Córdova explores femininity. Kensuke Yamada brings Japanese folklore to life. Ashlyn Pope examines the history of treating Black bodies as property and Michelle Gregor celebrates Puerto Rican heritage.
On Saturday, Yamada will discuss his creative process during an artist talk and demonstration. A curator talk and virtual panel with Kelly Connole is scheduled for Oct. 21.
Date: Friday, Oct. 2. through Nov. 1.
Time: Opening reception from 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday. Regular gallery hours from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, with hours extended to 7 p.m. on Thursdays.
Location: Northern Clay Center, 2424 E. Franklin Ave., Minneapolis
Cost: Free. RSVP here.
For more information: Visit northernclaycenter.org/2026/07/31/to-be-human
Nigerian fashion comes to Zoma House
Shop Eki, co-founded by Anthonia Eboreime and Mimi Dada, will bring “A Nigerian Fashion Pop-Up Experience” to Minneapolis’ Zoma House on Saturday.
The event will come just after Nigeria’s Independence Day on Oct. 1 and will feature contemporary pieces from emerging and established Nigerian designers and brands.
The pop-up is also a first look at Shop Eki’s retail collection ahead of the platform’s website launch.
Date: Saturday, Oct. 3
Time: 1 to 7 p.m.
Location: Zoma House, 1426 W. Lake St., Minneapolis
Cost: Free. RSVP required.
For more information: Visit eventbrite.com/e/shop-eki-a-nigerian-fashion-pop-up-experience-tickets-2002064615158
A new festival along Hamline Midway
The Hamline Midway neighborhood is getting a new arts festival this weekend.
The three-day Midway Music and Arts Fest will bring together local musicians, visual artists, performers and creative spaces across the neighborhood.
On Friday, check out a group exhibit at the African Museum, Arts & Cultural Center or see taiko drumming at the Hamline Church United Methodist.
Saturday brings all-day live music and DJ sets at The Urban Light, drag bingo at Can Can Wonderland and an open rehearsal of an upcoming dance production responding to Operation Metro Surge.
On Sunday, Mosaic on a Stick, a Black and Indigenous-owned art studio will host writing workshops to close out the weekend.
Date: Friday, Oct. 2 through Sunday, Oct. 4
Time: Various times for different events.
Location: Venues across Hamline Midway
Cost: Varies by event
For more information: Visit midwaymusicandart.org
