Madison Bloomquist

Minneapolis

Associate Editor at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine

Associate editor @mspmag. Cycle instructor. Thrifter. Not a big Tweeter.

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Articles

The Cherry Trees at St. Paul’s Como Park Will Soon Bloom

3 days ago | mspmag.com | Madison Bloomquist

Owing to our temperamental climate and late frost potential, Minnesota doesn’t seem like the most hospitable environment for springtime cherry blooms. But for a short, fickle moment in late April or early May, the area near Como Park’s Mannheimer Memorial glows with blush-pink blooms, just like a scene out of Washington, D.C., or Japan, which is where, as fate would have it, St. Paul got its cherry trees in the first place.
By the Numbers: Minnesota Landscape Arboretum’s Tulip Gardens

1 week ago | mspmag.com | Madison Bloomquist

This spring, visitors in droves will make a pilgrimage to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum looking for the sorely needed color explosion that only MLA’s sprawling tulip displays can provide. “People think of tulips as perennials, but they’re not really, anymore,” says Arb senior gardener Aimee Thuen. “We consider them annuals. So, every year, a new display and color design gets planned.
By the Numbers: Allianz Field Giant Loon

2 weeks ago | mspmag.com | Madison Bloomquist

Last fall, a fleet of flatbed trucks carrying mysterious cargo appeared near Minnesota United’s soccer pitch, Allianz Field, in St. Paul’s Midway. Over the next handful of days, as the contents of those flatbeds were unpacked, a gigantic stainless steel loon emerged right there on the southeast corner of Snelling and University. Wings outstretched, beak pointed skyward, the loon beckons people to the home base of the soccer team colloquially nicknamed after the state bird.
Minnesota Orchestra Unveils 2025-2026 Season

4 weeks ago | mspmag.com | Madison Bloomquist

Music director Thomas Søndergård is pulling out the big guns for his third season with the Minnesota Orchestra. “It’s a season full of amazing vocalists, soloists and orchestral works, and we are delving into the concept of what it means to be American-made,” he said in a press release.
Minnesota Zoo Announces Wild Nights Lineup

1 month ago | mspmag.com | Madison Bloomquist

Summer Fridays just got a little wilder, thanks to the Minnesota Zoo. This summer, the zoo will bring back its lauded Wild Nights series for the fourth season. On five Friday evenings, guests can check out Minnesota musicians at both the Amphitheater and Upper South Plaza stages, plus find wandering musicians throughout the zoo.
Love Is Blind Minneapolis Recap: The Final Countdown

1 month ago | mspmag.com | Madison Bloomquist

Well, readers, we did it. We journeyed all the way from pre-Netflix-release gossip to the pods to temporary apartment-homes and bars in Minneapolis. We watched our Cities go viral on social media and spark stories in national news outlets. We cringed at the Minnesota accents and the B-roll of Minnesota in late February and early March (c’mon, you see what it looks like outside right now. I beg you, Netflix, next time you host something here, try September.).
In Conversation with Carolyn Wiger of The Traitors

1 month ago | mspmag.com | Madison Bloomquist

Carolyn Wiger stands by the fact that she launched a relatively surprising career in reality TV simply to have fun. It’s what got Wiger, a life coach and drug counselor from the Twin Cities suburbs who’s known for her exuberantly gigantic personality, loud laugh, and offbeat jokes, on the 44th season of Survivor in 2023—she really, truly, thought it looked like a good time. And it’s why she was so excited to join season three of The Traitors. “I genuinely like the show,” she says.
Giants, with Art from Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz’s Collection, Opens at Mia

1 month ago | mspmag.com | Madison Bloomquist

Music isn’t the only creative endeavor in which singer Alicia Keys and rapper/producer Swizz Beatz (née Kasseem Dean) excel. The couple’s vast multimedia art collection is, quite literally, museum-worthy. “Their art-collecting passion stretches back to their courtship and before,” says Casey Riley, Mia’s chair of global contemporary art. “It’s part of their love story, and that love has extended into their practice as collectors.
Love Is Blind Minneapolis Recap: Is This Real Life?

1 month ago | mspmag.com | Madison Bloomquist

Welcome back to post-pods Minneapolis, y’all. We’re almost done. Time means nothing here, and this week’s three-episode Love Is Blind brings us through the final weeks leading up to our engaged couples’ weddings. (If you’ve just recently dropped into this Netflix mess, maybe start with last week’s recap or our pods saga.
Who Was Virginia Piper?

1 month ago | mspmag.com | Madison Bloomquist

A stately portrait of Virginia Piper holds vigil over patients as they check in for mammograms and cancer treatments at the Allina Health Cancer Institute – Piper Breast Center in Minneapolis. Piper’s elegant silver dress and jewels bring a sense of grace as women check in and make their way to change into hospital gowns.