Will Lutefisk Sushi ever reach Volume Z? It's possible but hard to imagine, considering each box set is a massive collection of original comic art and mini-comics. Volume C will feature work by around 50 artists including Kevin Cannon, who will also be premiering a special limited edition of his graphic novel Far Arden at the reception at Altered Esthetics. Part book launch, part art show, other aspects of the gallery event include "The Potty Humor Exhibit," which will feature crude and dirty-humored artwork in, of course, the bathroom, and a hand-crank zoetrope constructed by Sushi contributor Ken Avidor. The opening reception, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, May 2, will also serve as a fundraiser for Altered Esthetics, with a silent auction, first edition prints by Adam Turman, live music, and the unveiling of an art vending machine, which we'll take over a pop machine any day. — Jessica Armbruster

Model home explosions, children dancing in Scottish kilts, men playing baseball on donkeys, murder-suicide aftermaths, linoleum, and America Legion parades. Life in Bloomington, Minnesota, during the 1950s and '60s runs the full gamut of the human experience. For years the Norling family made a hobby of capturing it. Using a police scanner for tip-offs, Irwin Norling, his wife June, and their three kids would often beat the press—and sometimes even the police—to gruesome crime scenes, where they would click away. The Norlings, led by father Irwin, captured the grisly as often as they captured the mundane, and though they would provide pics to police, lawyers, and local papers, their motivation mostly derived from the sheer love of posterity. Their prolific documentation of all things Bloomington was almost forgotten and lost to seldom-glanced-at archives, but fortunately, journalist Brad Zellar happened upon this hidden trove of suburban life in 2002 on a random trip to the Bloomington Historical Society. These smatterings of restaurant openings, head-on bridge collisions, and school dedication ceremonies have been reprinted in Zellar's new book, Suburban World: The Norling Photos, and selected images will be displayed at the Minnesota History Center's Library through mid-June. Opening reception 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 1. — Jessica Armbruster

Though August Sander's photography runs the gamut from nature to architecture to street performance, he is easily best known for his portraits, including his epic series, "People of the 20th Century." The extensive project of documenting German society began in the 1920s, growing to over 600 portraits of individuals who hailed mainly from the Cologne region. Subjects spanned the full spectrum, including wealthy politicians, homeless artists, farmers, housewives, children, and others. Sander sought objectivity in his photography, striving "to see things as they are and not as they should or could be." Perhaps this is why his work was banned by the Nazis in the 1930s; his frank and matter-of-fact photography captured a diverse, cosmopolitan, and culturally rich country, which conflicted with the Aryan ideology. Though Sander passed in 1964, his work carries on today with his grandson Gerhard, and his influence can be seen in the work of many later photographers, including Diane Arbus and Richard Avedon. The Weinstein Gallery will feature 23 large-format images from original negatives from his collection. Opening reception 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Friday, February 22. — Jessica Armbruster

Quilting has long been an art form that spans both ends of the practical-whimsical spectrum. Sure, they're great for cuddling underneath on cold nights, but they also brighten rooms, commemorate life events, document family history, and build community. But, as the Fiber Arts Study Group at the Textile Center has discovered, even tradition cannot escape contemporary concerns. Ten members of the group are exhibiting their climate change-centric quilts. Focusing on the psychological effects of global warming, much of the work is, not surprisingly, bleak. Kimber Olson's Point Zero looks like a Doppler radar triptych trimmed in caution tape in which all the landforms are masses of gray and black. More surprising is the streak of hopeful, bright colors that runs through some of the pieces such as Dawn Carlson Conn's Wind, which features dark silhouettes of wind turbines against a pastel sunset. But perhaps the deeper irony is in the very nature of such a show. Will there be a day when quilts serve only as decorative reminders of cold winter nights? Opening reception 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, April 18. — Rhena Tantisunthorn

Feminist artist Judy Chicago is primarily known for her 1970s project The Dinner Party. It's composed of an almost 50-foot-long triangular dinner table for 39 guests. Each setting is for an important woman—some are famous, some are not—from history, and features a personalized china plate and placemat for each. The women represented begin with the primordial goddess, then move through the rise of Christianity and civilization up to the 21st century, with the last plate devoted to artist Georgia O'Keefe. The tile beneath the table is engraved with the names of 999 other notable women from history. The installation is permanently housed at the Brooklyn Museum, and it would be a major pain in the ass to bring to Minneapolis, but studies of each of the plates and a DVD exploring the entire piece are on display at Flanders Contemporary Art. Opening reception from 6-8 p.m. Thursday, April 24. — Ben Palosaari

The Jewish-American identity has become increasingly blurred in the past decades as Wonder Bread substitutes for Challah, and Christmas trees rest beside the Menorah. But not speaking Hebrew or observing Shabbat doesn't discount the heritage Jewish-Americans still hold. Lynne Avadenka, Robyn Stoller Awend, and Geraldine Ondrizek come together to drive right at the heart of this identity crisis with their joint exhibit, "Speaking in Code," which adapts the Hebrew alphabet, Jewish texts, images, and symbols of Jewish ceremonial life in various art forms. Fabric, letterpress printing, book, and installation art are all utilized to get at the essential, perhaps unsolvable, questions of who we are, where we come from, and where we are going. The result is stark and eerie; the work abounds with blank spaces on print sheets and a circular hole that cuts through the center of a mock prayer book made from linen and silk. But the art is also alive, pregnant with the loaded emotion that lies between a jumble of English letters and one from the Hebrew alphabet, floating aimlessly, trying to find its place. Public reception 6-9 p.m. Saturday, May 3. — Amy Liberman

Trisha Brown is an artist of and for our time, and has been for over 30 years. She began walking on walls and dancing on New York City rooftops in the hectic post-modern era of the 1960s. Since then she has made excursions into opera, visual art, even robotics. Her movement suggests the fluid architecture of, say, a liquefied Weisman museum: flowing in eccentric and unpredictable ways while maintaining a clarity of design that dazzles both the mind and the eye. This week, the Walker Art Center inaugurates "The Year of Trisha" with a show of her drawings that opens with a live performance by Brown in which she synthesizes dance and drawing by improvising movement across a large piece of paper with charcoal and pastel. Next week her company of superbly articulate dancers performs new and classic Brown works at Northrop Auditorium, including the splendid "Foray Forêt" to the eerie strains of a marching band playing from the lobby; "I Love My Robots" with, yes, honest-to-goodness robots (and one live dancer); and "Present Tense," a new work to music by that iconic innovator John Cage. One of the most articulate artists around, Brown will talk about her career in dance and the visual arts at a "Talking Art and Dance" event on April 22. Then she'll be back in July to remount several site-based works from the 1970s, including a work in which the dancers float on rafts in Loring Pond. Kudos to the Walker and Northrop for bringing us so many aspects of Brown, a major 20th-century artist who is still rocking and invigorating the 21st. Opening reception with dance/drawing performance by Brown is free at 7 p.m. (tickets available at 6 p.m. in the Bazinet Lobby) Thursday, April 17; free artist's talk 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 22; dance performance is $25-$42 at 8 p.m. Friday, April 25 at Northrop Auditorium (84 Church St. SE, Minneapolis; call 612.375.7600 for tickets). — Linda Shapiro

One doesn't need a use Twitter account, an emoticon on a LiveJournal entry, or a link to Google maps to understand that the ways we express and comprehend the meaning of "where" is changing with new technology. This is the general premise of Intermedia Arts ongoing show, "W(e are)Here," a multimedia exhibit that explores the new frontier of "place" physically, technologically, and emotionally. Works include artistic visualizations of hard data, interactive elements, and emotional renderings of location. This Thursday, from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., guests can partake in a "Psychogeographic Mapmaking Party," which, while it sounds like a mouthful, is really more of an adventure. Participants will be sent off in small groups on tours where routes will be dictated by a rolling of dice. Using a wall canvas, Google Earth, a wall projector, and some booze, tour details and memories will then be layered onto one another to create a map of experiences. An art party featuring live music, food and drinks, and a presentation of the final map will be celebrated the next day from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. — Jessica Armbruster