If you have yet to visit the Walker Art Center on a Free First Saturday, I’ve got to tell you, you’re missing out. Totally free. Totally fun. Totally for families. What could I possibly say to motivate you towards attending one? Maybe, puppets. Did you catch that?
Puppets.
“ Behind the Scenes” was the Free First Saturday theme for October 1. I was around anyway to volunteer, so I dropped in on some of the activities going on at the Walker.
I saw a performance of One Eye, Two Eyes, Three Eyes, an interpretation of the Grimm Brothers fairytale. A Walker crew of puppeteers headed up by our own Dawn Swartz– and backed up by a trio of local musicians–put on a show full of magic and monsters. This re-interpretation set our story in Cleveland (Minnesota) and there was even a reference to “ hotdish.” Now, I’m not a Minnesota native and I had to be introduced to the concept of hotdish. But sitting in the auditorium, I heard the hotdish reference and there was a ripple of laughter that ran through the audience, and I thought: I get it. I get the joke! Dawn and crew even gave a demo afterwards and talked about the different sorts of puppets they used, including marionettes, body and hand puppets, and stick puppets.
I popped into the Star Tribune Foundation Art Lab and saw crowds of families making their very own stick puppets and putting on performances in ready-made box stages. Walking around the galleries later, I could see kids marching on with little arms raised in the air, proudly displaying their puppets.
I missed the puppet films (for which I felt a large measure of guilt), but I popped in to a WAC-ky Tales reading of Shrinking Violet by Cari Best. Our very own Aaron Szopinski entertained the room with his lively reading about a girl named Violet whose role in the school play changes her from a shy girl into a hero.
I bet now you’re wishing you had been at Free First Saturday. November 5 is your next big chance. Come on out for Random Ruckus and enjoy tours, films, art-making, performance, and story time activities related to the exhibition House of Oracles: A Huang Yong Ping Retrospective opening October 16.
LINKS
Get Walker Reader in your inbox. Sign up to receive first word about our original videos, commissioned essays, curatorial perspectives, and artist interviews.