Year of Earth at the Bell Museum

How do we work together to find solutions to climate change? Where do we find hope in the climate crisis? What does it mean to make a climate commitment?

Join us for our Year of Earth, where we’ll explore these questions, celebrate community, and imagine new futures for our changing climate. From April 2025 to 2026, our programming will highlight the ways Minnesota is changing, how people across the state are taking action to foster a better tomorrow, and things you can do to help.

May Star Party

Recommended for all ages

Join us for our next in-person Star Party! Outside, we’ll have our telescopes set up to observe our favorite deep space objects (weather permitting). Inside, you can explore hands-on activities, and our expert astronomy team will guide you through the night sky and highlight cosmic sights in our planetarium.

Registration is requested to receive updates regarding this event through Eventbrite.

Exhibit Opening Day Celebration - Imagine the Future

Recommended for all ages

While finding solutions to the climate crisis may seem daunting, we are not alone. Join us for an opening day celebration for our redesigned gallery, Imagine the Future.

In the gallery, see stories of resilience and hope from community members, scientists, and climate activists. Explore your emotions about climate change and learn what changes we can expect in Minnesota. Then decide what actions you’ll commit to in order to make meaningful contributions everyday.

The Art of Weaving

Leave with your own finished project as you learn about the Art of Weaving from the Zumbro River Fiber Arts Guild! They will share the process of hand weaving on May 17, 2025 from 1pm - 4pm at the History Center. This is a great time to start your journey into the world of weaving, fun for all ages and skill levels.

Free for members and $5 for each nonmember participant

olmstedhistory.com/events

100 Years of the Post Bulletin

Celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the Rochester Post Bulletin with an insightful lecture reflecting on the paper's rich history and its impact on the community over the last century. Steve Lange and Jeff Pieters will be here on May 1, 2025 from 7pm - 8:30 pm to share facts and features.

Free for members and $5 for non-members

Offered in person or by Zoom
olmstedhistory.com/events

"Vision to Form" by Barbara McIlrath

Groveland Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of Vision to Form, an exhibit of new work by Barbara McIlrath. The show’s title references the contemplative task of transforming her Pepin, Wisconsin property, and how this reciprocal relationship works in both directions—the environment influences the art, and the art, in turn, alters the artist’s perception of her surroundings. McIlrath’s heavy impasto and use of palette knife create definitive edges of form, as the envisioned landscape comes into focus.

"Moving Through Time" by Holly Newton Swift

Moving Through Time, an exhibition of new paintings by Holly Newton Swift, opens June 7 at Groveland Gallery. A native of Illinois, Swift received her MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago and moved to Minnesota in 1996. Swift’s work can be found in public and private collections throughout the region.

Dinner Detective Minneapolis

The Dinner Detective is the largest, award-winning, interactive comedic true crime mystery dinner show in the United States. We are now running public and private shows all across the country, every week. Our immensely popular shows are set in the present day. Unlike other murder mystery dinner shows, here you will find no cheesy costumes, no recited campy dialogue and no hokey song and dance. Our performers are dressed just like everyone else, leaving all of the guests to suspect who is a part of the show and who is not.