Art Hounds: Strange Capers, Bridget Beck, and a "Jazz Implosion"

Posted at 7:45 AM on July 5, 2012 by Chris Roberts
Filed under: Art Hounds, Events, Music, Sculpture, Theater

Bridget Beck's "Poetry Studio" at Franconia Sculpture Park

If you're interested in an urban, outdoor Shakespeare experience, a sculptor who makes playgrounds out of recycled wood and metal, and what happened to the "Jazz Implosion" series, the hounds are happy to share the deets.

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What's not to like, says musician Claudia Holt, about a band of crazy, cross-dressing thespians who make Powderhorn Park in Minneapolis into a rolling, idyllic Shakespearean stage every summer? Strange Capers only performs the bard's comedies at Powderhorn and this summer it's "The Comedy of Errors." Free shows during the weekend through July 15 with families, children and dogs welcome.

Minneapolis jazz pianist and composer Bryan Nichols is happy to report there's a new haven for JT Bates' revered "Jazz Implosion" series, which used to be a fixture at the Clowne Lounge of St. Paul's Turf Club. "Jazz Implosion" has moved across the river to the restaurant and music venue Icehouse in Minneapolis, which Bryan says is even better equipped sonically for the adventurous improvisational music the series is known for.

Painter Carolyn Swiszcz thinks sculptor Bridget Beck has captured her daughter's heart. The two recently went out to Franconia Sculpture Park in Franconia, Minn. to see two Bridget Beck works and actually played on one for more than two hours. Beck is known for her explosively colorful enamel painted metal pieces people of all ages can climb on or interact with. She's also developed "The Locomotive Sculpture Project," which is a mobile sculpture park she brings to senior living spaces around the Twin Cities.

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