The Ballard Institute And Museum Of Puppetry Presents BUILDING PUPPETEERS Forum

UConn Puppet Arts Director Bart. P. Roccoberton, Jr. will discuss the past, present, and future of the UConn Puppet Arts Program in a forum on Sept. 19, 2019 at 7 p.m. Photos courtesy of Bart. P. Roccoberton, Jr.] For its first installment of the 2019 Fall Puppet Forum Series, and in conjunction with the exhibit It's Always Pandemonium: The Puppets of Bart Roccoberton, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will host Building Puppeteers: How We Got Here and Where Are We Going with UConn Puppet Arts Program Director Bart. P. Roccoberton, Jr. on Thursday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. at the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs.

Join Professor Bart Roccoberton in a discussion about the past, present, and future of UConn's unique international resource, the UConn Puppet Arts Program. Cosponsored by the UConn Puppet Arts Program, this forum takes place in conjunction with the Ballard Institute exhibit It's Always Pandemonium: The Puppets of Bart Roccoberton, on display through Sept. 29, 2019.

Bart. P. Roccoberton, Jr. is Director of the University of Connecticut's Puppet Arts Program-the only one of its kind in the U.S.-which offers BFA, MA, and MFA degrees in puppetry. His professional projects include work in film, television and the stage, including Broadway. He serves the National Puppetry Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center as Director of Production, and is recognized internationally as an advocate for the puppet arts in the United States.

Upcoming 2019 Fall Puppet Forums include:

Oct. 24: "Critical and Historical Investigations into Women and Puppetry" with Claudia Orenstein, Alissa Mello, and Theodora Skipitares, moderated by UConn Puppet Arts graduate student Felicia Cooper

This forum will present editors of and contributors to an important new work of puppetry studies: Women and Puppetry: Critical and Historical Investigations. The anthology, dedicated to the study of women in the field of puppetry arts, and representing female writers and practitioners from across the globe, includes critical articles and personal accounts that interrogate specific historical moments, cultural contexts, and notions of "woman" on and off stage. This event is co-sponsored by UConn's Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program and the UConn Women's Center, and will include a book signing with the authors.

Nov. 21: "Macy's, Tony Sarg, and the Invention of Inflatable Puppets" with Robert Grippo and Christopher Hoskins, moderated by UConn School of Engineering Professor Mehdi Anwar

Robert Grippo and Christopher Hoskins, authors of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will join UConn School of Engineering Professor Mehdi Anwar and Ballard Institute Director John Bell in a discussion of the ground-breaking invention of inflatable puppets for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parades by puppeteer Tony Sarg and engineers from the Goodyear Rubber Company. This event is co-sponsored by the UConn School of Engineering, and will include a book signing with the authors.

Dec. 5: "Chasing Ghosts: Ten Years with the Shadow Puppeteers of China" with Annie Rollins

Annie Katsura Rollins-curator of the Ballard Institute exhibition Immaterial Remains: Can You Preserve a Shadow?-reflects on over a decade of apprenticeship and research with the traditional shadow puppeteers of China and the importance and (im)possibilities of chasing our own ghosts. This event is co-sponsored by UConn's Asian and Asian American Studies Institute and the Asian-American Cultural Center.

Admission to this event is free (donations greatly appreciated!), and refreshments will be served. Come early, and experience our puppet exhibitions, as well as the video resources in our library nook. Forums will be broadcast via Facebook Live. For more information or if you require an accommodation to attend a forum, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860.486.8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.

To post a comment, you must register and login.