Item World: Local news and views for 5/4

Wake-up call Eagan High School grad Laura Osnes was awakened by a phone call from her agent on Tuesday morning, a call she promptly ignored. Then the phone of her husband, singer-songwriter Nate Johnson, started chiming. "I answered it to the voice of my agent saying, 'Laura Osnes, you've just been nominated for a Tony Award!' " she recalled from her New York home. "I instantly started bawling. My heart was pounding and I couldn't help but hug Nate and just cry! It's that moment you dream of your whole life." Osnes, who is vying for best actress in a musical, said that the Tony nomination -- her first -- is especially meaningful because it comes five months after "Bonnie and Clyde" closed on Broadway after an abbreviated run. "We were not forgotten," she told I.W. -ROHAN PRESTON

Makeover for museum With 5,000 high-profile museum honchos in Minneapolis this week for the annual meeting of the American Association of Museums, the fledgling Minnesota African American Museum and Cultural Center threw an open house for the out-of-towners. Founder Roxanne Givens welcomed dozens to the museum's future headquarters in the Amos B. Coe house, an 1884 brick manse on the National Register of Historic Places at 1700 3rd Av. S. Vacant since 2005, the ornate Queen Anne-style house is getting a total makeover, with plumbing ripped out and studs and wiring still visible in many rooms. Undaunted, Givens said the museum still plans a June launch with an opening show about Minnesota's history of black baseball. -MARY ABBE

Dim the lights More than 200 friends, colleagues and relatives jammed into a Minneapolis funeral home Wednesday to remember lighting designer Jennifer DeGolier, who died last weekend at age 36. There were lots of laughs, tears and beautiful words. Actor and director Zach Curtis remembered his friend as an eager and talented collaborator who promised on the first day of tech week that, "It'll be art by Thursday." Dave Pust, DeGolier's former husband, said, "She painted with light." And Jeff DeGolier remembered a sister who taught him how to drive and one day hit him over the head with a dumbbell. I.W. recalls dashing into a show at the Minneapolis Theatre Garage several years ago, without looking at the program. Midway through the act, the lights caught our attention -- so arresting and evocative. At intermission, I.W. squinted down at the program and smiled. Of course. "Lighting designer: Jen DeGolier." -GRAYDON ROYCE

Library rules Duluth blues-folk singer Charlie Parr is fond of sporting overalls and wearing his cabin ethos on his plaid sleeves. The folks at the Real Phonic Radio Hour invited him to perform at their monthly shindig (it's a podcast on www.realphonic.com) at St. Paul's J.J. Hill Reference Library, which has a bit of a Harry Potter/Hogwarts Library vibe. "This is not only the nicest place I've played," Parr told the assembled, "but the only one that has copies of Convenience Store Quarterly. I didn't crack one open, but I bet they're pretty good." I.W. would bet they're not as good as Parr's Southern Gothic country-blues tales on his 12-string and National body guitars were at the Hill Library. -JON BREAM

Art escape

Art from as far as Iran arrived in Minnesota this spring in response to painter Megan Rye's call for donations to her Art 4 Shelter benefit next week. Now in its second year, the one-night event raises money to support Simpson Housing Services, a Minneapolis homeless shelter sponsored by the Simpson United Methodist Church. For last year's fundraiser, 450 artists contributed and 900 people packed the Circa Gallery, where all the art was "sucked off the walls in 20 minutes," Rye said. She is moving to a bigger space, Burnet Gallery in the Le Meridien Chambers Hotel, for Wednesday's event. (Preview viewing 5 to 7 p.m.; sale 7 to 9 p.m., no admission.) All the art is small (postcard sized), anonymous (but signed on the back) and inexpensive ($30) to encourage participation. The art savvy may recognize work by such stars as photographer Alec Soth, but the point is not to seek a trophy but to buy from the heart. "Out of the 1,200 pieces, I'd say 800 are spectacular, 200 are pretty good and the remainder so-so," Rye confided to I.W., "but that's pretty amazing." -MARY ABBE

West Bank school of music

It's well known that the Grammy-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops have gone to school on early African-American music. So it was no surprise Wednesday at the sold-out Cedar Cultural Center to hear them mention Ethel Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson and Charlie Poole. But CCD co-founder Dom Flemons also name-checked Koerner, Ray & Glover, Bob Dylan (natch), Willie & the Bumblebees and even Pop Wagner. How's that for going to school on Minnesota music? -JON BREAM

Pick your party

If you have to choose one party this Saturday that mashes together Cinco de Mayo and the Kentucky Derby, I.W. is voting for this one. OK, the "Kentucky Derby Fiesta" is probably the only party mixing these wildly different events together, but so what? The folks at the North Star Bartenders Guild see a common thread -- good cocktails. The mint julep and margarita cocktail party at the Bridgewater Lofts in downtown Minneapolis will feature six of the Twin Cities' top bartenders. (For info: www.nsbarguild.org.) Guild boss Jesse Held hopes partygoers will dress the part: "I've heard some people will be combining a sombrero with a pastel-colored suit." -TOM HORGEN