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Resident Artist Felicia Cooper Performance: “Below the Underneath”
Saturday | April 08, 2023 | 11:00 am–1:00 pm
Join puppeteer Felicia Cooper for an in-gallery puppet show developed during an arts residency at the Bell. “Below the Underneath” uses shadow puppets, simple machines, and found objects to explore the magic of Minnesota’s native mussels, the importance of biodiversity, and the wonder of natural history collections.
The performance is approximately 25 min long, in the galleries, with first come, first served seating. Performances will begin about 11:00, 12:00, and 1:00. Visitors are welcome to stay for the full performance, or just a few minutes!
Felicia has worked with Bell collections, curators, and staff to dive into her curiosity about collections and mussels to develop this performance. She has presented work in progress in the Bell’s Minnesota Journeys galleries over the past months. For this performance, she welcomes guest accordionist and songwriter Emily Kastrul.
Resident artist research projects are made possible in part thanks to the generous support provided by the McKnight Foundation.
About Felicia Cooper
Felicia Cooper makes puppet shows for children (though she notes that she employs a pretty loose definition of both puppets and children). Her work uses found objects, simple machines, and handcut shadow puppets to share curiosity and joy in the act of asking questions with an audience. She is deeply inspired by collections, objects, and community. Her work has been supported by the Connecticut Sea Grant, the Marks Family Endowment for Fine Arts, the Heinz Foundation Small Arts Endowment, Northern Spark, the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, the New Hazlett Theater, folkLAB, and others.
About Emily Kastrul
When Emily Kastrul is not composing and playing music about mussels for the accordion, she leads chamber pop septet Sister Species, a band known for thoughtful, dynamic arrangements and opulent three-part trumpet harmonies. With an eye for astronomical and botanical wonders, their songs range in topic from the inevitable heat death of the universe to dogs running through bogs.