ntertainment

And To

To It All Off

Wacky Wendy
Brackman will be
one of 500 artists
and performers at
this weekend's
Detroit Festival of
the Arts.

SUZANNE MESMER

SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

Friends in High Places Stilt Dancers will be part of the street performers
throughout the weekend.

ats off to Wendy Brackman at this weekend's De-
troit Festival of the Arts at the University Cultur-
al Center.
Wacky Wendy, and her trademark colored pa-
per Wacky Hats, will be returning to the 10th an-
nual festival with many other popular and new
attractions. The event will feature 500 artists and
performers, including 130 juried artists, and dance
and theater presentations, a children's fair with
hands-on activities, a vintage car parade, a 35-ton
sand sculpture created on the spot and plenty of food
booths.
"I went to college for this — Origami (Japanese
paper folding) University," Brackman likes to joke
with crowds she meets at carnivals, corporate par-
ties and private gatherings around the country. "I
was there for 3 1/2 years, but they kicked me out for
cutting class. I really don't care because I found out
later that the school folded."
A paper sculptor who studied art in school, Brack-
man is also a comedienne who draws her talents from
a long line of family kibitzers. She wanders the fes-
tival with an art cart on wheels and a compact wire-
less sound system. For festival-goers, she'll create

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cartoon silhouettes that pop out of the center of the
multicolored paper circles that she manufactures.
"In one of my routines, I send someone away on a
free vacation with a hat that has swaying palm trees
and pink flamingos," says Brackman, 41. "I hand the
person $1,000 of play money for the trip to nowhere,
and then I cut out an airplane so hat wearers can fly
off in first-class accommodations on U.S. Scarelines."
Brackman, who dresses as the Mad Hatter,
thought her caps could be a successful extension of
other projects — inventing, manufacturing and sell-
ing toys, jewelry and novelty items. The artist turned
her storefront sculpture studio into a social hall called
the Escape Hatch and started conducting kids par-
ties. It wasn't long before she took her show on the
road.
Once her business started taking off, Brackman,
who works with her husband, Lou Capello, gave up
her storefront and found a house in New York with
enough space for a studio, office and storeroom.
"The Jewish community has empowered me
tremendously," she says. "Had it not been for the bar
and bat mitzvah venue, I don't think I would have
developed as far as I did. Those audiences brought

AT&T's "Power to Move You" theater is a computer-animated action adventure ride simulation that takes 18 "passengers" at a time on
a multisensory exploration.