Grandma Turu’s devoted granddaughter has invited Rememberers to her family’s house to help make sense of their family memories, which seem to have taken on a life of their own. As audiences venture through their home, they meet the Banyan creature kin and are invited to solve puzzles, share from their own memories and riddle their way into relationship with a most unusual family. This 5000 sq ft open-air immersive experience invites audiences on 75 minute interactive theatrical adventure, celebrated by audiences as life-changing, connection building, and one of a kind.
Currently contracted for long-term annual engagement at Electric Forest Music and Arts Festival.
Director, Writer & Production Designer: Heather BeGaetz
Technical Director: Fez BeGaetz
Installation Crew: Art Zeis, Jeff Harrison, James Fritz, Byron Go, Dan Olson, Brendan Ramsden
Photography: Dan Olson
Costume & Mask Design and Fabrication: Heather BeGaetz
Turtle Mural: Carly Blackburn
Water Goddess Sculpture: Todji Kurtzman
Performers: (pictured) Kiara Wolfe, Mariana Castro, Ryan Frolich, Phoebe Fox, Kinsey Smyth, Jordan ‘Puggs’ Cannull, Michael Dillahunt, Michael Murphy, (not pictured) Allie Thomas, Amanda Haddock, Brendan Ramsden, Erin Kaye Ellis, Tyler Sapp, Darren Washington
Special Thanks: Nova Han, Andrew Carroll, Brad Lyman, Patrick Balducci
Steel & Reclaimed barn wood.
Torso: 14’x18’x13’ Legs: 8’x11’x15’ Full footprint: 42’x18’x15’
Work in progress. Commissioned for Huntsville Amphitheater by Venue Group. To be installed April ‘22.
3D rendering in progress pictured. Hair will be elaborately detailed with metalwork.
Artist’s Statement: I was musing on being at home in the earth and the capacity to relate with nuance to the earth as many worlds. This being revealed herself, bathing in the great green as she muses up at the deep blue. I also wanted to celebrate black joy, self-love, and nurturance of the body. This piece is dedicated to all the black women who make the world a better place.
For this and the other piece in my Giantessery series, I chose to hire a crew of all women, trans men, and non-binary people. In the venues where I started making large scale sculptures, crews were still almost exclusively male. I want to create opportunities for people who were socialized female to lead with and develop their metal and wood working skills on the job in a creative setting. To make this a truly supportive environment, I am also attempting to shift cultural norms around building and fabrication. Though we are certainly mighty capable of working long strenuous hours, outdoors, through all kinds of weather, we don’t have to. We are approaching our process with a body-friendly nourishing approach, where we’ll work four hours a day over a longer duration, making our outdoor build in Oregon’s wet winter more manageable, allowing people with various family, work, and physical needs to participate.
Lead Artist/Creative Director/3D Modeling: Heather BeGaetz
Artists: Artists: Julia Alora, Miki Masahura-Page, Insa Evans, Brittni Ballou, Sheba Queen, Sara Tone, Kinsey Smyth, Jess Jurries, Allessandra Lione
The angel of love despairs to her clown partner that romantic love is a failed experiment. When she goes to the gods insisting on a repeal, they laugh in her face, but they offer some unusual assistance in changing the fates of at least one pair of lovers. A comical musical journey through the trials and possibilities of modern love, Unio Mystica ventures into the absurd and profound, as an angel and a clown try everything up their sleeves to attempt to help two broken people choose love.
Created by Neena Cicirello & Heather BeGaetz
Written & Directed by Heather BeGaetz
Produced by Binah Zing, Manoj Mathews & Elliot Rasenick
Original score by Michael Nelson Rizzo
Original songs by Heather BeGaetz & Damien Genardi
Sound Design by Elijah Parker
Costume Design by Elodie Massa
Set & Prop Design by Narayani Matson
Stage Management by Amber Peeples
Cast: Neena Cicirello, Jacob Mooney, Theo Grace, Amma Li Grace, Kraig Mead, Alysha Pecore, Christie Chamberland, Lynn Gravatt, Levi Banner, Mike Ausman
Lead Artists & Fabricators: Heather BeGaetz, Fez BeGaetz
Painting: Eric Nez, Rolf Cairo, Heather BeGaetz
Fabrication Artists: Rolf Cairo, Rob Bruce, James Fritz, Capra J’neva
Creative Director: Heather BeGaetz
Technical Director: Fez BeGaetz
Steel frame, sheet steel exterior, automotive high gloss paints, clear coat.
Height: 16’ Clearance Height: 10‘ Width at ground: 24’ Depth: 14’
Artist’s Statement: I have had encounters with barn owls that have struck me with permanent awe. I designed this piece, meditating on birth and death, in honor of these messengers whose wing wind seems to churn our connection to the before and after. We built this piece in Fez’s parents backyard, as his father was approaching his death. Arny, Fez’s dad, came out every day and found some way to help with the process, even while undergoing chemotherapy. I will always remember the joy on his face, as he helped us move her onto the trailer using his excavator. Arny was a life long builder of homes, and imparted to Fez the skills that got him going. I’m indebted to Arny for his knowledge which has been passed onto me through his son. Omah’s steel exterior is her second coat of feathers, which were originally rendered in wood. We are honored to have collaborated with Eric Nez whose masterful painting brings Omah’s feathers to life this round.
We dedicate this piece to Arnold Gaetz, Sr. in honor of his legacy and to Calliope Kenna BeGaetz, our little sprout, and the newest member of the family.
Currently on exhibition at AREA 15, Las Vegas, NV through 2022.
Lead Artists & Fabricators: Fez & Heather BeGaetz
Painter: Eric Nez
Additional Fabrication: Jame Fritz, Jeff Harrison, Art Zeis
Special thanks: Geoff Godfrey
Angamazad fuses musical theater, spoken word, acrobatics, contemporary dance, cirque nouveau, and lavish artwork into a sensually stunning journey. An adaptation of Alf Layla Wa Layla, 1001 Nights, weaving the frame story and the Hasan of Basra tale, Angamazad takes viewers into a labyrinth of storytelling in which the tellers eventually become the told.
Created by Nat Allister and Heather BeGaetz
Written and Directed by Heather BeGaetz
Original Score and Arrangements by Mr. Moo
Original Songs by Mr. Moo, Marya Stark, & Heather BeGaetz
Additional Studio Recordings by Bobak Solehi
Choreography by Alicia Cutaia, Aaron Wheeler-Kay, & Thomas Sommo
Rigging & Aerial Choreography by Heidi Lajos & Thomas Sommo
Technical Direction by Nat Allister
Costume Design by Carrie Anne Huneycutt
Set Design by Ghost Stag Productions
Prop Design by Al’Lowe
Light Direction by Doug Layon
Masks & Headdresses by Amira Sereia, Meg Harris, & Robi Arce, Carrie Anne Huneycutt & Heather BeGaetz
Stage Management by Heidi Lajos
Stagehand Work by Leif Schmit, Ro'i Rose, & Estanislado Saavedra
Cast: Amira Alexander, Jared Maurice Dancler, Taffida Urban, Tara Hopebringer, Robi Arce, Marya Stark, Bevin Victoria, Kamyar Jahan, Thomas Sommo, Uriah Boyd, Marcela Bercovici
A video confession booth. A space to write offers or requests of forgiveness. A space to honor the dead. A table with a face for every month of the year. A lavish altar of waters and plants from the local watershed—a place to say thank you. Every year for four years, we transformed the art library at the Portland Art Museum into a series of rooms where guests were invited to make meaning as they brought in the new year at Portland’s biggest NYE party, Inspire Truth.
Directed by Heather BeGaetz
Produced by Elliot Rasenick
With annual guest artists & facilitators including: Ghost Stag (Narayani Matson & Michael Miller), Akira Chan, Neena Cicirello, Carrie Anne Huneycutt, Elijah Parker, Ari Lazer, Chelsea Estep-Armstrong, Arakai Moon, Theo Grace, Amma Li Grace, Rebekah Raybaba, Nick Kruger, Jenny Rose Serna,
Work in progress. Commissioned for Huntsville Amphitheater by Venue Group. To be installed April ‘22.
Artist’s Statement: I love how large scale works can shift our sense of scale and place in the world. With this series, I wanted to really bring home the fact that we aren’t the biggest or most powerful forces on earth. With this particular youthful giant, popping her head up, curious about our world and us, I wanted to give people, who are so often casting themselves as the observers, the chance to sense themselves as the observed. Another thing that delights me about this giant muse is the sense that she plays between worlds. From a young age, I needed to understand how to move between differing cultural norms, and I’ve always felt resonance with others who shared their own unique understandings of moving between worlds.
For this and the other piece in my Giantessery series, I chose to hire a crew of all women, trans men, and non-binary people. In the venues where I started making large scale sculptures, crews were still almost exclusively male. I want to create opportunities for people who were socialized female to lead with and develop their metal and wood working skills on the job in a creative setting. To make this a truly supportive environment, I am also attempting to shift cultural norms around building and fabrication. Though we are certainly mighty capable of working long strenuous hours, outdoors, through all kinds of weather, we don’t have to. We are approaching our process with a body-friendly nourishing approach, where we’ll work four hours a day over a longer duration, making our outdoor build in Oregon’s wet winter more manageable, allowing people with various family, work, and physical needs to participate.
Lead Artist/Creative Director/3D modeling: Heather BeGaetz
Artists: Julia Alora, Miki Masahura-Page, Insa Evans, Brittni Ballou, Sheba Queen, Sara Tone, Kinsey Smyth, Jess Jurries, Allessandra Lione.
A hosted sanctuary for contemplation and connection. Candle lit vigil. Guided ritual. Self-facilitated space designed for meditation and reflection. A nest for humans.
Installed annually at Beloved Festival 2013-2016
Art Direction by Heather BeGaetz
Guest Artists & Facilitators: Carrie Anne Huneycutt, Ari Lazer, Fracesco Tripoli, Alex Trebclo, Chelsea Estep-Armstrong, Ani Manoush, Dahveed Haro, Russell Feingold, Arakai Moon, Al’lowe, Matthew Machu & Kriyanna Elumen