Art Hounds: A boxer, a sculptor and hope

This week on Art Hounds: "Queens," sculpture inspired by dance and nature, and the power of hope.

Theater artist Duck Washington went to see "Queens" at Park Square Theatre last weekend and quickly fell in love with it. It follows the story of Raymond Queens, a boxer living in New York City in the early 1900s. The show was created by Sandbox Theatre over a period of six weeks; Washington says it includes dance, poetry and beautiful imagery. Performances run through June 4.

Commonweal Theatre's Communications Manager Jeremy Van Meter is impressed by Carla Gallina's talent with both light and metal. Trained as a lighting designer with a specialty in lighting architecture, Gallina has created a series of metal sculptures that play with light while exploring forms in dance and nature. "Dances from Nature: A Sculptural Study of Movement & Light" runs through June 26 at Lanesboro Arts.

Freelance curator John Schuerman enjoys seeing shows by Ten Thousand Things theater company, and he was particularly impressed by its latest production, "The Changelings." This new play by Kira Obolensky is, as Schuerman describes it, "about a long stretch of resignation, interrupted by hope." Schuerman says it's interesting to witness how hope affects the characters in different ways — inspiring giddiness in some and anxiety in others. As with all Ten Thousand Things shows, the set is minimal but creative, and the audience sits close to the action. Performances run through June 5 at Open Book in Minneapolis.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story gave an incorrect first name for the character Raymond Queens.