About
MN Original is Twin Cites PBS’s award-winning weekly arts series celebrating Minnesota’s creative community, across all disciplines and all cultures. MN Original increases awareness of Minnesota artists, arts organizations and arts venues, inspires viewers to think about the arts and artists in new ways and cultivates new audiences for the arts by promoting a deeper understanding of the creative process, curating contemporary arts in Minnesota for generations to come.
The music featured throughout the series is created by and credited to Minnesota musicians. Nearly 4000 songs by more than 250 artists in about 100 bands or ensembles are included in our music library.
New for the seventh season of MN Original is a partnership between the series, TPT and McNally Smith College of Music which will provide students an opportunity to contribute original compositions to the music library.
MN Original is made possible by the Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund and the Citizens of Minnesota. Twin Cities PBS is one of six public television stations in the Minnesota Public Television Association (MPTA) producing unique, regional series, specials and documentaries.
The MN Original opening animation was produced with the visual talents of Splice Here with title music composed by Aaron/Stokes.
Where to Watch
On Television
Twin Cities PBS (TPT) has three “digital services,” or channels, where MN Original is broadcast: TPT 2, TPT Life and TPT MN.
TPT MN, also known as “the Minnesota Channel,” is broadcast across the state by the six stations that make up the Minnesota Public Television Association (MPTA), meaning you get statewide exposure for appearing on MN Original!
This chart contains specific information about how to find TPT channels on your dial in the Twin Cities metro area.
Online
Every full episode and each individual segment of MN Original is available on this website.
All premieres are posted online the Friday before its television broadcast!
MN Original segments and episodes are also posted to our YouTube channel.
Nationwide
Many MN Original pieces are also distributed nationally.
PBS NewsHour periodically selects MN Original segments to appear on their Art Beat blog or in their broadcast program.
In addition, select MN Original segments are made available to the 25 largest PBS markets in the country (the Public Television Major Market Group) through a new initiative organized by New York’s PBS station, THIRTEEN/WNET.
Our content, as well as arts content from the other 24 participating stations, is available to the group to potentially broadcast in their local areas or stream on their websites to increase arts and cultural programming for their audiences.
In other words, the amazingly talented work of Minnesota artists may be seen on television in cities like New York, Pittsburgh, Chicago, or Portland. We’re thrilled to provide this opportunity to our artists and look forward to seeing how this innovative content sharing system will unfold!
