Atrium of the Center for Puppetry Arts with Mallory Lewis and Lamb Chop, the Center’s mascot Sockly, Center Staff, patrons and members of the Atlanta Puppetry Guild. Photo: Brian S Brown III – BSB3 Photography
Every year, the National Day of Puppetry unites puppeteers across the country in an effort to open our doors and celebrate our art.
Below you will find a summary of how a variety of puppetry guilds, centers, and libraries raised laughs, awareness, spirits, and now and then money, on or near the 2014 Day of Puppetry (Officially, April 26, 2014).
Interested in planning for next year’s National Day of Puppetry Celebration? Get in touch with Valerie Smalkin to start planning! Val@sillygooseandval.com
REMINDER: P of A is officially moving the date of this event to March 21, 2015 to align with the International Day of Puppetry.
Los Angeles, CA – April 1 to 13, 2014 – Los Angeles Guild of Puppetry
Congratulations to the LA puppetry guild on their second successful puppetry festival! Locations spanned from from Santa Monica, West Los Angeles to West Hollywood and Hollywood, LA, and collaborators included Puppet School; Heather Henson’s Handmade Puppet Dreams; LA Guild of Puppetry; Little Stage Puppet Theater; Bob Baker Marionette Theater; Rogue Artists; Sock Puppet Theater; Beth Peterson; Leslie K. Gray; Gina Pavlova; Skirball Cultural Center; and more
lapuppetfest.com
San Jose, CA – April 13, 2014 – San Francisco Bay Area Puppet Guild
Moving to Northern California, The SFBAPG orchestrated a great combined event with the Happy Hollow Park and Zoo in San Jose.
sfbapg.org
Greenwich Village, NY – April 19, 2014 – Puppetry Guild of Greater New York
Flying across the country, PGOGNY offered “a gift for children of all ages,” continuing a tradition of offering FREE short puppet shows to members of the public. This year the event was held in the Community Room at Westbeth, Home to the Arts.
pgogny.org
Orem, Utah – April 19, 2014 – Puppetry Arts Guild of Utah
Workshops were the highlight of Utah’s annual Puppetry Workshop held at the SCERA Center, 745 South State, Orem, UT. The day wrapped up with all participants attending the Follies!
utahpuppetry.com/category/guild-news
Houston, TX – April 24 & 27, 2014 – Houston Puppetry Guild
The Houston Puppetry Guild provided a fun interactive puppet show in collaboration with the acclaimed Children’s Museum of Houston.
cmhouston.org
Atlanta, Georgia – April 26, 2014 – Center for Puppetry Arts
Mallory Lewis and Lambchop headlined a day-long smorgasboard of activities for families and adults at The Center for Puppetry Arts. The event featured performances, puppet-making, movies, and more
puppet.org/nationaldayofpuppetry.shtml
Austin, Texas – April 26, 2014 – Austin Public Library
Hats off to the Austin Public Library system! On April 26th, The public could stop by at any of 10 branches to make puppet-themed crafts.
library.austintexas.gov/event/celebrate-national-day-puppetry-58384
Boston, Massachusetts – April 26, 2014 –Puppet Showplace Theatre
Puppet Showplace took advantage of Brookline Open Studios to exhibit work made by puppeteers from across the greater Boston area. In addition to performances and puppet making, PST also organized arts advocacy activities, including a children’s letter-writing campaign to Governor Deval Patrick (who also proclaimed April 26th, 2014 to be the “Massachusetts Day of Puppetry”).
puppetshowplace.org/index.php?page=day-of-puppetry
Long Beach, California – April 26, 2014 – Orange County Puppetry Guild
This collaboration with the El Dorado Nature Center featured the guild’s “’world famous’ (well, county famous) fluttering butterfly paper puppets.”
facebook.com/theOCPG
Phoenix, Arizona – April 26, 2014 – The Phoenix Guild of Puppetry
The Phoenix Guild of Puppetry and Great Arizona Puppet Theater collaborated to hold puppet shows every hour throughout the day. Food vendors, parades, and face painting added to the celebration!
facebook.com/events/303439746472004/?ref=22
St. Louis, MO – April 26, 2014 – The Puppet Guild of Greater Saint Louis, Inc.
This guild produced a fun-filled, hands-on family event welcoming young and old alike. Featured activities were a puppet-making workshop and performances by Salt ‘n’ Patter Puppets and Blacque Berry Puppets.
slcl.org/content/puppet-guild-national-day-puppetry
facebook.com/PuppetGuildStL/photos/gm.514140395366296/646608542061955/?type=1&theater
puppetguild.org
Boston, MA – April 27, 2014 – The Boston Area Guild of Puppetry
BAGOP organized a “Puppets on Film” Festival at the Creative Arts Cultural Center in Reading, MA, followed by a potluck and party!
bagop.org
Ashville, North Carolina – May 3, 2014 -Ashville Puppetry Alliance
The 16th Annual National Day of Puppetry took place on the Reuter Terrace at Pack Place in Downtown Asheville. Activities included a puppet parade, performances, and puppet-themed games and building activities.
ashvillepuppetry.org
Tampa Florida – May 3, 2014 – Florida Suncoast Puppet Guild
This guild collaborated wit the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System to produce a fun day of puppetry events.
facebook.com/groups/suncoastpuppetguild
Connecticut – May 4, 2014 – Connecticut Guild of Puppetry
This guild was the only one we found who hosted a “Secret Project Building Day.” Guild members brought tools to Cheshire, CT to build something that would help with puppetry outreach AND potentially raise money for 2015 National Festival Scholarships.
ctpuppetry.org/#welcome
Detroit, Michigan – May 17, 2014 – Detroit Puppeteers Guild
The Detroit Guild presented performances at the Sandburg Library. We’re not sure if, technically speaking, this was a National Day of Puppetry Event, but the Detroit Guild has performed mightily on this day for many years!
detroitpuppeteersguild.org/DayofPuppetry.html
Don’t see your event listed? Please send an e-mail to let us know what you’re up to! Val@sillygooseandval.com