Public Studio offers artists opportunity to shine

It can be a challenge for up-and-coming artists to show off their talents to the general public. However, in the past year, a new platform has emerged in Hyde Park Village that provides artists an opportunity to launch their careers. What began as an experiment in a backyard has grown into a masterpiece in a studio for artist Alex Nixon, who specializes in large structures made completely out of bamboo. “During the pandemic, I spent a lot of time improving my sculpture, refining it, and becoming more efficient at using as little bamboo as possible to create the biggest bang possible,” said Nixon, whose latest sculpture is of a 20-foot-tall cat. “The giant cat is really the fruit of tinkering away for many years and refining the process until I sort of know what I’m doing.”