The Ballard Institute Hosts a Wonderland Puppet Theater Symposium

The Ballard Institute and museum of Puppetry will host a “Wonderland Puppet Theater Symposium” on Friday and Saturday, October 25-26, in conjunction with Wonderland Puppet Theater: Visions of the Beloved Community exhibition curated by Dr. Paulette Richards.

This event, alongside our current exhibition, explores the work of Alice Swann and Nancy Schmale, housewives from Concord Park, a desegregated community near Philadelphia. In 1961, inspired by Bil and Cora Baird’s puppet play The Magic Onion, the two women without prior puppetry experience, staged their own version of the play, which embodied Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of a “beloved community” and led to the founding of the Wonderland Puppet Theater, where they performed together for 20 years.

The symposium will explore themes including segregation, the Civil Rights Movement, women’s liberation, 60s American puppet theater, and children’s media in a series of panel discussion with scholars from UConn and other institutions.

Oct. 25 will feature an exhibit tour and keynote address by curator Dr. Paulette Richards, followed by a screening of In Black, a documentary on African American puppeteers by Jacqueline Wade. There will then be a post-screening discussion with the director.

On Oct. 26, there will be three panels to highlight some of the themes related to the exhibit, including:

• “'The Marriage Agreement': Women Artists Navigate Gendered Divisions of Labor will examine how women artists like Swann and Schmale navigated traditional gender roles. Panelists include Dr. Nancy Naples, Dr. Alissa Mello, and Jacqueline Wade.

• “Residential Segregation” will explore the progress of desegregation since the creation of Concord Park by Morris Milgram in 1954. Panelists include Dr. Stephen L. Ross, Dr. Jeffrey Ogbar.

• "Children’s Media: Literature, Television, Theater" will reflect on the influence of Swann and Schmale’s work in children’s television and how much progress has been made in diversifying children’s media today. Panelists include Dr. Vibiana Bowman, Dr. Katherine Capshaw, and Khalilah Brooks.

The symposium is free and open to the public, but registration is required. 

To register to attend in person, visit: bimp.ticketleap.com. 

The symposium will be live streamed via Zoom. To register to attend virtually, please visit: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_rQdSZJe8TOmmETxtwng3Xw.

The “Wonderland Puppet Theater Symposium” is supported by a UConn School of Fine Arts Anti-Racism grant and University of Connecticut Humanities Institute Speaker, Conference, and Workshop funding; and is co-sponsored by UConn’s African American Cultural Center and Women’s Gender, and Sexuality Studies program.

For more information, visit bimp.uconn.edu/2024/10/07/wpt-symposium.