In brief It’s Minnesota Museums Month! Minnesota has approximately 600 museums— one for every 9,000 residents, which is twice as many as the national average. Every county in the state has at least one museum—55 in Minneapolis-St. Paul alone. During the month of May, special events and programs will take place at museums across Minnesota, including: • The Bakken Museum’s “Mothers of Invention,” a day-long celebration of women in science, featuring a live performance of a play about Mary Shelley plus talks by women scientists (May 12, thebakken.org) • Woodland pottery workshops at the Mille Lacs Indian Museum and Trading Post (May 12 and 19, www.mnhs.org/ places/sites/mlim/) • Walker Art Center’s “Lifelike,” a international and multi-generational exhibition featuring artworks that are startlingly realistic and sometimes surreal (through May 27, walkerart.org) In addition, the Metropolitan Library Service Agency (MELSA) will offer a special promotion during Minnesota Museums Month. Each day in May, MELSA will award a free membership at a selected Minnesota museum to a member of the public, drawn at random. The public can enter the drawing by visiting MELSA’s website at melsa.org.; Eden Prairie mom Leslie Anderson has opened her online business, Portrait Gift Bags, hand-crafted and personalized gift bags for every occasion, Pick your product, email your photo and wording, proceed to check out! Visit portraitgiftbags.com; Como Town at the Como Park Zoo & Conservatory in St. Paul opened for the season last weekend with more than 18 rides and attractions. New for 2012 is the Como Town Pirate Ship. On Memorial Day, the nearby Splash Zone will debut an Aqua Dunk water play component.
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