The taking of tea seems to be fashionable once again, as two art venues offer teas this weekend -- the Textile Center in Southeast on Saturday and Gallery 13 in Northeast on Sunday (featuring photographs by Greta Pratt, including the sample at right). OK, two may not make for a trend, but I think it’s something more than a coincidence. Read on for more art openings, theater ranging from the quirky to the thought-provoking to the playful, a family day at the Mill City Museum, a little murder at the U of M bookstore, guitars and more guitars (another trend?), Gilbert & Sullivan, and rain garden workshops for those who like to think beyond the icy detritus the plow just deposited on your boulevard. Most of it’s free or at modest cost. You’re sure to find something here to treat yourself -- after all that shoveling this week, aren’t you ready for an outing?

Art Exhibitions & Openings

Gallery 13 hosts an exhibition of photographs by Greta Pratt from her recently published book, Using History, which takes us on a tour of Americans celebrating their past--from colossal buffalo to Abraham Lincoln impersonators, Pratt’s photographs examine how we selectively choose symbols and events from our history as points of celebration and remembrance. Opening reception with the artist, Saturday, March 18, 7-10 p.m. Artist Talk and Tea, featuring a Scottish high tea, on Sunday, March 19, 1-3:30, includes a book signing of Using History, and Professor Karal Ann Marling, who wrote an afterword for the book, to introduce Pratt. Be sure to RSVP for the tea so they know how many scones to make. BTW, Pratt was a photographer for City Pages when Observer founder Craig Cox was editor there. Gallery 13, 302 NE 13th Ave., Minneapolis. 651/592-5503. www.gallery13.com, www.gretapratt.com

The Textile Center teams up with Northern Clay Center for an afternoon of Textiles and Teapots, Saturday, March 18, 1-3 p.m. Tea from Tea Garden will be served in pots made by artists from Northern Clay Center, and artists affiliated with the Textile Center will display their works as well. Free. Also opening this weekend, Traditions Transformed: Contemporary Quilts. Textile Center, 3000 University Ave. SE, Minneapolis. 612/436-0464. www.textilecentermn.org

Density Studios features artwork by Josh McKevitt in a show titled Into the Pink, which features not only visual art but also sound and motion; McKevitt’s works display a bizarre pop-grotesque quality, with pink the dominant color. Opening reception Saturday, March 18, 5 p.m.-midnight, in conjunction with Art on Quincy, showcasing galleries and studios in three buildings on Quincy Street, with live music and more. Visitors are encouraged to wear pink, gold, and diamonds (or maybe rhinestones). Density Studios, 1330 Quincy St. NE, Minneapolis. 612/296-1811. www.densitystudios.com, www.artonquincy.com

This weekend at Frank Stone Gallery, see works by doll artist Brenna Busse, fabric artist Erika Mock, and photographer-collaborators Bill Weaver & Marsha Studer. Open Thursday, 5-9 p.m., and Friday-Sunday, 12-5 p.m., with an opening party Friday, 5-9 p.m. 1224 NE Second St., Minneapolis, 612/617-9965. www.frankstonegallery.com

Theater

Theatre Limina presents Baby with the Bathwater, a dark comedy by Christopher Durang in which parents John and Helen are too “polite” (or would that be prudish?) to determine their baby’s true sex and so raise him as a girl with the aid of a bipolar nanny. This absurdist satire explores the difficulty of parenthood and the dangers of being a child. Thu.-Sat., 7:30 p.m., March 16-18, & 23-25; Sun., 2 p.m., March 19 & 26. $15 ($10 for seniors, students or groups of 10 or more); 612/822-4625. Minneapolis Theater Garage, 711 W. Franklin Ave., Minneapolis. www.theatrelimina.org

Theatre in the Round stages The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail, by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, the same people who wrote Inherit The Wind. Opens Friday, March 17, with performances on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. through April 9, and Sunday performances as follows: March 19 & April 9, 2 p.m., March 26 & April 2, 7 p.m. $20. 245 Cedar Ave., Minneapolis, 612/333-3010. www.theatreintheround.org

Mixed Blood Theatre premieres Point of Revue, a collective viewpoint of African America in 2006, written by 15 local and national playwrights and glued together with funk, R&B, hip-hop, and gospel music by J.D. Steele. March 17-April 9, Wed.-Sat., 7:30 p.m., Sun., 3 p.m. $11-28. 1501 S. Fourth St., Minneapolis. 612/338-6131. www.mixedblood.com

The two-year-old Emigrant Theater will begin its third season with Tallgrass Gothic, a regional premier of a play by Melanie Marnich based on the infamous 17th century tragedy The Changeling. In this play, Laura finds she loves a man other than her husband, and there follows a web of brutal deceit among friends and lovers, spun across the Midwest prairie. Opens Friday, March 17, 8 p.m., with performances through March 31: Tues, Wed, Fri, Sat, 8 p.m., Sun, 1 p.m. $10. 820 NE 18th Ave., Minneapolis. 612/605-8497. www.emigranttheater.org.

In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre presents The Neat Street Association as this week’s Saturday Puppet Show for Kids. Saturday, March 18, 10 a.m. and noon. $1 for youth who live or go to school in Central, Phillips, Powderhorn or Whittier and their families, $3 donation for others. Seating is limited, arrive early. Avalon Theatre, 1500 E. Lake St., Minneapolis, 612/721-2535. www.hobt.org

Community Events

Mill City Museum hosts a family day this Sunday focusing on the women who worked at the Washburn A Mill, as well as other important women’s contributions to Minneapolis and Minnesota history. Costumed history players portray three women from Minnesota’s history; visitors may dress up and have their picture taken as a 1950s “mill girl,” make paper hats like the ones worn by women flour packers in 1919, and go on a women’s history scavenger hunt. $8/adults, $6/seniors and college students, $4/ages 6-17, free/ages 5 and under. Sunday, March 19, 1-4 p.m. Mill City Museum, 704 S. Second St., Minneapolis. 612/341-7555. www.millcitymuseum.org

We come back to In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre to tell you about the opportunity to be part of the planning process for this year’s May Day Parade and Festival, which will take place on Sunday, May 7. Share your thoughts at an open meeting this Tuesday, March 21, 7-9 p.m. Puppet-building workshops will begin on April 8. Avalon Theatre, 1500 E. Lake St., Minneapolis, 612/721-2535. www.hobt.org

Film

Video Night at Amazon honors Women’s History Month by showing the film Iron Jawed Angels. Oscar-winner Hilary Swank stars in a fresh and contemporary look at a pivotal event in American history, when a pair of defiant and brilliant young activists took the women's suffrage movement by storm, putting their lives at risk to help American women win the right to vote. Friday, March 17, 7 p.m. Amazon Bookstore, 4755 Chicago Ave. S., Minneapolis. 612/821-9630. www.amazonbookstorecoop.com

Who Gets To Call It Art, showing at the Bell Auditorium, Friday, March 17 through Thursday, March 23. A wild ride through the New York City art scene of the 1960s, through the eyes of Henry Geldzahler, the first curator of contemporary art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In Peter Rosen's lively portrait of the iconoclastic connoisseur, many of these artists characterize his influence and personality with breathtaking candor. With Mark di Suvero, Frank Stella, James Rosenquist, David Hockney, Larry Poons, Ellsworth Kelly, Francesco Clemente, and a slew of other art world notables. Shows are at 7:15 & 9:15 nightly, plus 5:15 Sat. & Sun. $8/general, $6.50/students & seniors, $5/student-senior members. Bell Auditorium, 10 Church St., Minneapolis, 612/331-3134. www.mnfilmarts.org

Readings and Talks

Ethics and Animals, a lecture by renowned bioethicist Peter Singer, will examine the ethical questions that arise from our society’s use of animals. Thu., March 23, 7 p.m. Free, reception follows. Ted Mann Hall, 2128 S. Fourth St., Minneapolis. 612/623-7615, ilea0001@umn.edu (Ramona Ilea). www.philosophy.umn.edu/singer.html

Local author William Swanson will discuss and sign copies of his new book Dial M: The Murder of Carol Thompson. Using police records, court transcripts, family papers and extensive interviews, Swanson re-creates the murder of a St. Paul housewife that made headlines around the world. Thu., March 23, 2 p.m. Order books in advance through the Web site. University of Minnesota Bookstore, Coffman Memorial Union, 300 Washington Ave. SE, Minneapolis. 612/625-6564. www.bookstore.umn.edu/genref/authors.html

Anne Ursu reads from her book Shadow Thieves, Thu., March 23, 6:30 p.m. Wild Rumpus, 2720 West 43rd St, Minneapolis. 612/920-5005.

Music

The U of M School of Music presents a faculty recital featuring Jeffrey Van on guitar, a copresentation with the Minnesota Guitar Society Local Artist Series. Free. Sunday, March 19, 2 p.m. Lloyd Ultan Recital Hall, in Ferguson Hall, 2106 S. Fourth St. (U of M West Bank Campus), Minneapolis. 612/626-8742. www.music.umn.edu/events

The Minnesota Guitar Society also hosts Open Stage, a monthly event for members of the society to perform in a friendly atmosphere and for others to listen and enjoy. Free. Saturday, March 18, 3 p.m. Betsy’s Back Porch, 5447 Nicollet Ave., Minneapolis. 612/827-8283. www.mnguitar.org

Another School of Music event that sounds fun is the Percussion Extravaganza, with Eugene Rouseau on saxophone and Alyssa Anderson, mezzo-soprano. Free. Weds., March 22, 7:30 p.m. Tedd Mann Concert Hall, 2128 S. Fourth St. (U of M West Bank Campus), Minneapolis. 612/626-8742. www.music.umn.edu/events

The Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company will be performing Princess Ida this weekend through April 9. The story is that the princess has rejected the world of men and locked herself and her female students away so that they all might strive for true enlightenment. But she was married in infancy to a prince and so, of course, he and his father try different approaches to changing her mind. The libretto is a parody of Tennyson’s The Princess, the music is, of course, vintage Sullivan -- “glorious, ranging from majestic to whimsical.” $14/adults, $7/ages 11 and younger. Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; also Sat., April 1, at 3 p.m.; Sun. March 19, 26, April 2, & 9, at 2 p.m. Howard Conn Fine Arts Center, 1900 Nicollet Ave. S., Minneapolis. Info & tickets: 651/255-6947. www.gsvloc.org

Gardening

The Minneapolis Blooms program of the Committee on Urban Environment (CUE) invites you to a series of workshops on how to create rain gardens using native perennial plants, with grants from the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization and the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District to pay for native perennials. Free. March 20 through June at various Minneapolis parks. 612/673-3014. www.minneapolisblooms.org/workshops.htm

The Tangletown gardening seminar this weekend is An Annual Affair. Find out about new and unusual annuals that will be available this spring. Sat.-Sun, March 18 & 19, 9 a.m. Free, reservations required. Tangletown Gardens, 5353 Nicollet Ave. S., Minneapolis, 612/822-4769 www.tangletowngardens.com

“Abe’s Traveling Log Cabin” by Greta Pratt, whose photographs from her book, Using History, are showing at Gallery 13