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Robots Can Make Art, Too
and where to find the best newel post in town 🎄
Ben Thietje
September 25, 2025 • Est. Reading Time: 8 minutes
Hello! I’m Ben, executive director at the Phipps.
Welcome to The Flying P, a weekly newsletter covering your Phipps Center for the Arts and anything else I might want to throw your way.
This issue has…
😠 A Scowly Mr. Potter
he’s nice in real life🤖 A Panel of AI Artists
don’t worry; they’re optimistic🎓 A School Matinee Crowd
we love hosting the kiddos
PERSONAL STUFF
The P is baaaaaaack!
sometimes you gotta stop and smell the Twins games
Big huge MEGA apologies for the unannounced 2-week Flying P absence. My personal life collided head-on with my Phipps workload and the newsletter, sadly, fell by the wayside.
buh-bye, Mpls
On the personal side of things, we moved! — from Mpls to StP. Our very first home was in St. Paul, so it feels good to be back after 10 years away (and good to be closer to the Phipps 😁). Party at my place, y’all!
there are still a couple storytelling workshops left
On the Phipps side of things, we’ve been tackling all sorts of fun things like opening Miss Nelson is Missing!, getting Little Shop of Horrors into shape, starting promotion for It’s a Wonderful Life, classes, artist panels, storytelling workshops etc etc etc. You know how it is over here. The programming is nuts. In a good way, of course.
What’s your next Phipps adventure? We have tons coming up, so make sure to check the PCA’s calendar and get yer butt to the Phipps!
PHIPPS TOP 10
best-selling upcoming events this season by tickets sold…
1. Miss Nelson is Missing! (previously: 3)🔥
2. It’s a Wonderful Life (previously: 1)
3. Little Shop of Horrors (previously: 2)
4. Deathtrap (previously: 4)
5. Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society (series) (previously: 5)
6. Colleen Raye’s New Year’s Eve (previously: 6)
7. Silent Centennials (previously: 8)
8. Broadway, Big Bands, Beatles, and Beyond (previously: 9)
9. A Brass & Organ Holiday (previously: unlisted)
10. Uptown Brass (previously: 10)
BETTER HURRY LIST
best-selling upcoming events this season by percent sold
(i.e., closest to being sold out)…
1. Miss Nelson is Missing! (previously: 5)🔥
2. Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society (series) (previously: 2)
3. Silent Centennials (previously: 3)
4. Wonderland Jazz Jam (previously: 4)
5. Cabaret Night at the Phipps, fall (previously: unlisted)
as of 9/25/25
MARKETING
It’s a Wonderful…photo shoot
Phipps patrons Carolyn & Don Egeberg graciously donated the use of their beautiful banister/newel post last week so we could snap some publicity images for It’s a Wonderful Life.
Above is a little behind-the-scenes view of Molly doing her Molly thing.
Aaaaaaaand some of the results are below. Curse me if you must, but it’s worth noting that the holidays are right around the corner!
“Clarence”
“George” & “Mary”
“Mr. Potter”
PS - We have the It’s a Wonderful Life First Look coming up this Monday. Will I see you there?
artist: Annie Hejny
👆
my favorite gallery piece of the week
I’ve already mentioned the AI exhibition, but you also need to check out the cool stuff happening in Gallery One. Annie is killing it.
VISUAL ARTS
Just a cute li’l robot chat
Hopefully you were able to make it to last week’s panel discussion on artificial intelligence and its relationship to artmaking. We had a really interesting group of artists who use AI in their processes to varying degrees, and it was really fun to hear their takes on AI’s usefulness and where they think the technology is likely to take art in the future.
If you missed the discussion, there’s still time to check out the AI exhibition in the galleries and have your own discussion.
“Hey, Siri…what are the Phipps gallery hours?”
We had a couple of school matinees today of Miss Nelson is Missing!. There is nothing more fun than seeing a PCA children’s production with an audience of actual children.
🙂
You still have one weekend left if you’d like to catch the show!
THE FLYING C(rossword) You finally made it to the end. How much did you retain? Test yourself by completing The Flying C(rossword). | THANKS FOR LISTENING Gah! |
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Talk to you next week!
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