Art Hounds: 'The Jesus Cow' and an all-female Hamlet

This week the Art Hounds attend a reading of "The Jesus Cow," adorn themselves in Anishinaabe jewelry and check out an all-female staging of Hamlet.

Marjorie Hakala will be attending a reading by author Mike Perry at Micawber's this Friday. Perry, who's known best for his non-fiction memoirs (including "Population: 485"), will be reading from his new novel "The Jesus Cow." It follows farmer Harley Jackson and the adventures that ensue once word gets out he has a calf bearing the image of Jesus Christ. Hakala says she loves how Perry imbues his Midwestern prose with dignity, rather than falling back on parochial tropes.

Heid Erdrich loves her new earrings that she got from House of Howes. The earrings are by Anishinaabe artist Sarah Agaton Howes, who also designs bandolier bags and cell phone covers. Made from maple, the earrings are big, colorful and lightweight, and feature Howes' signature "heartberry" design. Howes is part of the Eighth Generation Project, which seeks to promote work by indigenous artists while raising awareness of the problems with cultural appropriation by mainstream companies.

Ben Schultz recommends you check out Theatre Unbound's production of Hamlet, featuring an all-female cast. Schultz loved the sparse staging of the Shakespeare classic. He says the space it's in — the all-white JSB TEKBOX — allows for some beautiful lighting design, and he enjoyed how the actors were still visible even when they weren't in the scenes. He says if you haven't seen Shakespeare before, this would be a great introduction.