* UPCOMING SHOWS *
SWARME of BEESE will RIDE the GOAT in 2025! We’re taking our brand of mutant folk on the road with free concerts in 3 historic fraternal society lodge halls!
SATURDAY JUNE 7 — 2 PM
THE BOHEMIAN BRICK HALL
17509 850th AVE.
GLENVILLE, MN
Constructed in 1909, the hall is home to Záre Západu Lodge #44 of the Czech mutual benefit society ZCBJ. Glenville is just north of the Iowa border near the towns of Albert Lea and Austin, a ninety-minute drive from the Twin Cities, and an hour from Rochester. The building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
SUNDAY JUNE 8 — 1 PM
ERNEST HÜPEDEN'S PAINTED FOREST
E846 PAINTED FOREST DRIVE
WONEWOC, WI
Built in 1897 as the lodge hall of the defunct Modern Woodmen of America Camp #6190, the Painted Forest is named for its outstanding interior murals by itinerant painter Ernest Hüpeden. Located in the village of Valton, a ninety-minute drive northwest of Madison. This concert is sponsored by Edgewood College, and kicks off their summer concert series.
SUNDAY OCTOBER 12
WEBB'S FAIR & SQUARE
FORT DAVIS, TEXAS
Former home to the defunct Jeff Davis Masonic Lodge #896, the 1906 adobe building and adjoining 1884 adobe house are now the headquarters of Julie & Bruce Lee Webb’s art gallery/bookstore in the Big Bend region of West Texas. The Webbs’ restoration of the endangered buildings was recognized with a Preservation Texas Honor Award in 2023.
The settings for these shows are inspired by the book As Above, So Below: Art of the American Fraternal Society, 1850—1930, co-authored by Swarme of Beese member Lynne Adele and Bruce Lee Webb, with a foreword by David Byrne. Published by University of Texas Press in 2015, the book won a second-place award for design at the 30th annual New York Book Show in 2016, and is now in its third printing.
