https://www.ceciliajohnson.com/contact daily 0.75 2023-11-29 https://www.ceciliajohnson.com/cecilia-recommends daily 0.75 2023-11-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0359edc8c4cf2636ac093c/1611847404544-R90CB9FIKXJ19OMOSAGZ/likingthings.gif Liking Things https://www.ceciliajohnson.com/about daily 0.75 2024-02-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0359edc8c4cf2636ac093c/b954d32d-7992-4055-969c-1b6a25f486fa/20230228_loadshedding_197.jpg Contact - I’m Cecilia! I’m an arts journalist and copy editor based in Minneapolis, MN. I wrote and edited articles and produced podcasts at Minnesota Public Radio’s alternative music service, The Current, from 2016–2022. Now, I write freelance features and criticism about food, music, television, and whatever else piques my interest. My work has appeared in publications including Billboard, Eater, Primetimer, the Star Tribune, Sahan Journal, Racket, and City Pages. In 2022, I attended the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Critics Institute and won the Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists’ Arts and Entertainment Coverage award. Outside of journalism, I edit technical proposals for a large consulting firm, write copy for a boutique creative agency, and tend bar at a James Beard Award–winning restaurant. https://www.ceciliajohnson.com/work daily 1.0 2024-02-10 https://www.ceciliajohnson.com/work/features monthly 0.5 2023-11-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0359edc8c4cf2636ac093c/53462a15-a46a-451a-997b-61ab39ccb13a/cinncard-brake-bread-cardamom-spinner-emmet-kowler.jpeg Work - Features - I’ve written all sorts of features about restaurant labor, well-known musicians, excellent grocery stores, and beyond. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0359edc8c4cf2636ac093c/3b817ba0-cf07-4cb7-97ba-5893760164e5/f1b9f9-20211206-your-smith-fine-line-portrait-03-2000-morgan-winston.jpg Work - Features - Your Smith’s Minnesota return sparks a "writing renaissance" — and, soon, parenthood (The Current) A profile of Your Smith, a pop artist whose COVID-19-imposed hiatus changed her life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0359edc8c4cf2636ac093c/0c1a3820-d0de-4f24-9324-9e4973837bde/coastal+seafoods.png Work - Features - These 16 Twin Cities Grocery Stores Have Really Great Cafes Inside Them (Eater) On the best grocery stores and markets serving tacos, kebabs, banh mi, and more. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0359edc8c4cf2636ac093c/1611354900152-WEIXB4JTFZBL069JLEF5/mousse.jpg Work - Features - Minnesota’s Climate May Nurture the Next Generation of Sparkling Wines (Heavy Table) Mousse Sparkling Wine Co., founded by Josie Boyle, is the only sparkling-first winery in Minnesota. Can they convince potential customers to pick Mousse wines over similarly priced imported bubbly? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0359edc8c4cf2636ac093c/8d4946e6-dd19-47b4-b6c4-6aacb0258975/muccis-italian-interior.jpg Work - Features - Insiders’ Guide to Meteor, Apoy, and Mucci’s (Heavy Table) Employees of three Twin Cities restaurants and bars share their favorite dishes on (and off) the menu. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0359edc8c4cf2636ac093c/77d845a5-ae98-4f3d-be22-fc4224a04c9c/mmam+pollen+story-1.png Work - Features - Shifting the Current: A New Flow for an Old Art Form (Pollen Midwest) A deep dive into the evolution of a marine museum in Winona, MN. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0359edc8c4cf2636ac093c/1614703581362-O23KGASAZH6IBYH95THT/AllegraLockstadt_02242021_JPG_1600_1200.jpg Work - Features - In the Shadow of the Square: Three Minneapolis Restaurant Owners Talk Survival (Heavy Table) Independent restaurants dot the neighborhood where George Floyd was killed in 2020. Three of these restaurants’ owners share how they’re doing, what drew them to the neighborhood in the first place, and what help they might need to carry on. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0359edc8c4cf2636ac093c/97a1b5c1-192f-410b-898e-19598355b038/ondara-cropped-resized.jpg Work - Features - Singer-songwriter Ondara Finds Alter Ego, a Need to Move With Spanish Villager (Sahan Journal) Understanding the sky-high stakes of Kenyan American singer Ondara’s latest transformation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0359edc8c4cf2636ac093c/c10b591d-8849-48f6-bfb8-a9f9e79a5991/Meal+Gratuitous+graphic+by+Jake+Luck.jpg Work - Features - Gratuitous: An Investigation Into the Opaque New Landscape of Tipping and Service Fees (Meal Magazine) A hospitality worker investigates the past, present, and future of restaurant service charges. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0359edc8c4cf2636ac093c/2d573fea-7375-446f-801b-6e92b189ae8a/raff+and+jake+by+zoe+prinds-flash.png Work - Features - Raffaella’s Debut Album is a Labor of Love (The Current) How a New York–born child of divorce recorded LIVE, RAFF, LOVE with her boyfriend in Minnesota. https://www.ceciliajohnson.com/work/concert-theater-restaurant-reviews monthly 0.5 2023-11-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0359edc8c4cf2636ac093c/1611609754019-981726IQ7MWYBOIFBLU7/180504_RDL_012.jpg Work - Reviews - I’ve reviewed concerts, restaurants, television, and plays for The Current, Billboard, Primetimer, City Pages, Heavy Table, and beyond. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0359edc8c4cf2636ac093c/1611609942902-1BMP893NOU14P17VPG8W/lizzo+%28press+photo%29 Work - Reviews - Five years later, “Lizzobangers” proves Lizzo has always been a boss On Lizzo’s debut album and formative Minneapolis years. (Written for The Current.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0359edc8c4cf2636ac093c/01918ada-a720-4caf-9f69-c4906c3843ae/khue%27s+ribs+by+brenda+johnson.jpg Work - Reviews - Street Report: Khue’s Kitchen at Bar Brava On indulgence and lineage. (Written for Heavy Table.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0359edc8c4cf2636ac093c/a03747c6-2b4c-4aa0-a695-916a176fbb74/most+happy+banner.png Work - Reviews - Review: “Most Happy in Concert” This uncanny reboot of a 1950s Broadway musical is closer to David Byrne’s American Utopia or Kanye West’s Saint Pablo Tour than Guys and Dolls. (Reviewed for the National Critics Institute.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0359edc8c4cf2636ac093c/7f4c98c7-6c19-45aa-a99a-354d65f79a0c/boysinblue.png Work - Reviews - Showtime Doc “Boys in Blue” Ignores Hard Truths About the Minneapolis Police It's inspired by George Floyd's murder, but Peter Berg’s docuseries works hard to let cops be heroes. (Written for Primetimer.) https://www.ceciliajohnson.com/work/lol monthly 0.5 2023-11-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0359edc8c4cf2636ac093c/b135a7ee-ecd1-4e4d-9777-9cf63a3c6431/karaoke.png Work - LOL - I Went to Karaoke 7 Days in a Row A travelogue of the ultimate karaoke joyride. (Written for Racket.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0359edc8c4cf2636ac093c/05b97ff1-2f3b-4c0d-ad7d-ff9978340073/animal+crossing.jpg Work - LOL - Take a Tour of Minnesota Artists’ Animal Crossing Islands In April 2020, in-person conversations were out of the question. Helen Teague and I conducted interviews on Animal Crossing instead. (Written for The Current.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0359edc8c4cf2636ac093c/c08e53c9-7397-4c93-b156-efc1aac178d5/whitelotus.png Work - LOL - The White Lotus' New Opening Credits Are Bursting with Hints and Horniness Beyoncé isn’t the only one making "Renaissance" hot these days. (Written for Primetimer.) https://www.ceciliajohnson.com/work/audio-production monthly 0.5 2023-11-04