Art park presents sculptures with spook factor
“Snake” by Anthony Caponi is among the sculptures featured on the “trick-or-treat tour” offered by Caponi Art Park in Eagan. Photo by Craig Drehmel
Caponi Art Park ends season with Halloween event Oct. 29
by Andrew Miller
Thisweek Newspapers
The Halloween event at Eagan’s Caponi Art Park next weekend will not leave you trembling. A fear-infested, horror-laden haunted-trail experience it is not, nor is it not intended to be.
Geared to families – and held during daylight hours (1-4 p.m.) – “Halloween at the Park” offers guests a “trick-or-treat tour” of several sculptures, led by a costumed guide who will provide some background on each piece.
The sculptures on the tour – all permanent fixtures at the park, and all by park founder Anthony Caponi – were selected based on some modicum of inherent creepiness.
Among the offerings are “Pompeii,” awash in what seem to be petrified skulls and skeletons; the massive coiled reptile lurking in the woods that is “Snake”; and the decay-evoking “Tree of Life,” a sculpture Caponi carved from a tree that was subsequently eaten away by ants and filled with concrete.
At each stop on the tour, kids will get a piece of candy that relates to the sculpture – a Milky Way bar at the work “Walk in Outer Space,” for example, and Twizzlers at “Struggle of the Elements,” because the sculpture is rife with curves which kids will be encouraged to replicate with the licorice.
In addition to the 20-minute sculpture tour, families can decorate miniature pumpkins and gourds and make Halloween crafts. Guests are encouraged to wear costumes, and harvest-festival treats such as hot apple cider and s’mores will be available.
There’s also a giant leaf pile. Young and old can jump right in.
“It’s going to be big – at least 10 feet in diameter,” said Jenna Strank, communications coordinator for the park. “We have about 60 acres full of trees here, so it just depends how much we want to rake and blow the leaves.”
IN BRIEF: Halloween at the Art Park runs from 1-4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, at Caponi Art Park, 1220 Diffley Road, Eagan. The event is free with a $2 per person suggested donation. The educational 20-minute “trick-or-treat tour” is geared to ages 5 and up, and children must be accompanied by an adult. More information is at www.caponiartpark.org/programs/halloween.
Andrew Miller is at andrew.miller@ecm-inc.com.
