Founded in 1987, Mat Bevel Company is an arts and science nonprofit that sparks the creative genius in people using our found-object kinetic art museum, science theater productions, hands-on learning and multimedia tools. Through our programs, people discover new ways to use their imaginations to solve problems, generate original ideas and invent things that improve lives and communities.
–Mat Bevel Company Mission
Founded in 1999, Mat Bevel Company is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that shares the art, science and philosophy of kinetic sculptor, poet and performer Ned Schaper. He uses only what’s available—found objects—as the raw materials for his sculptures, along with his understanding of mechanics and physics.
The sculptures, constructed using the principles of ART—Available Resource Technology—are part of the Museum Of Kinetic Art. Each sculpture has a unique name: “Energy Plant,” “Thought Launcher,” “Sharka,” and “Americana Duck.” They also have a unique purpose in Schaper’s one-man Surrealistic Pop Science Theater as the large landscape of kinetic objects that contain props, costumes and characters for performances. The artist performs with and wears all the fine art sculptures in his museum and choreographs them to poetry, music and light.
Schaper has delighted audiences for over 30 years with his theater, which draws upon 440 poetic tales contained in a narrative called The Three Days of Beveldom. The theater’s world of Beveldom is a magical place where the discarded relics from our consumer culture find new life under the guidance of General Belief System Technology Project Expert Mat Bevel. Beveldom’s many residents, portrayed by the artist and his mechanical puppets, demonstrate what can be done with all the things our culture throws away. The theater’s archetypal characters, with names like Walter Ego, Jester Physics and Dr. Paradox, inspire resourcefulness. They encourage people to connect with the physical world, play in their idea sandbox, awaken their creative genius and explore the vast universe within and all around them.
In 2014, Schaper’s art was featured in a 2-month solo retrospective exhibition at the Tucson Museum of Art called Welcome to Beveldom: Mat Bevel’s Museum of Kinetic Art. For the first time, the Tucson Museum of Art included live performances as part of a solo artist exhibition. Both performances sold out.
The kid-friendly exhibition broke all attendance records for the Tucson Museum of Art during its time period.
Each step into the unknown is a possible mistake and a possible act of genius. If geniuses are God’s valedictorians then mistakes are God’s textbooks.
–Mat Bevel Manifesto
After the Tucson Museum of Art show, Schaper teamed up with his sister Paula Schaper to advance the mission of the non-profit Mat Bevel Company. For many years, the two siblings have shared a vision of capturing the theater’s world of Beveldom, using animation, live action video and virtual reality technologies.
Now their vision is becoming a reality. Over the last few years the nonprofit’s Bevelvision Productions developed the first-ever footage for a new TV show called Bevel Café. The story takes place in Beveldom’s lost land of found objects.
Mat Bevel Company’s production studios are located in an industrial part of Tucson at 3113 E. Columbia Street at a creative collaborative space called Launch Pad. In 2021, Mat Bevel Company purchased the property from Creative Machines.
Mat Bevel Company has a second location in the small rural community of Patagonia, Arizona called New Beveldom. This studio is used to capture the kinetic sculptures and characters using beautiful natural lighting, open grasslands and a farm environment. At this location, The Universe Within curriculum and interview show are produced.
To scale-up creativity programming, Mat Bevel Company works with videographers, editors and multimedia artists.
