Weekly Agenda: Indulge some creative types

Here in the Twin Cities, we coddle our creative types. We regularly attend their little concerts and gallery showings, spending hard-earned cash on whatever kooky knick-knacks they can think up. Not like they need it, what with those $100,000-a-year waitstaff jobs gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer so famously pointed out. And if Miles Mendenhall's time on Work Of Art is any indication, local artists are constantly taking naps. Man, they have it so easy.

But the money and the naps weren't enough; we had to give them fame too. Minnesota’s cultured elite is now enjoying all the glitz and glamour that comes with having its own show on public television. Each week, MN Original shines a spotlight on a new set of artists, be they musicians, dancers, painters—really, anything you can imagine. The show has been airing for three months already, so the crew behind it is overdue for a celebration. MN Original’s Party In The Park (Friday, Mears Park) will feature live music by Caroline Smith And The Good Night Sleeps, Nachito Herrera, and the Mad Ripple Hootenanny, plus food from Barrio Tequila Bar. But be careful: They may try to lure you into their bohemian lifestyle with an installment of Drawing Club, which is just as sinister as it sounds.

This weekend features not one but two events that showcase mobile creativity, starting with the Red Bull Flugtag (Saturday, Harriet Island), a competition to see which team of intrepid builders can find the most unique way to fling themselves into the Mississippi River. For art on wheels without all the painful-looking crashes, there’s the 16th annual ArtCar Parade (Saturday, Lake Harriet), which has loosened its rules over the years to also allow outrageously decorated bikes and boats to roll around the lake. Neither event features work that would necessarily be considered "fine art," but it's all made by crafty, free-spirited slackers with too much money and time on their hands—and that's what counts.