This past June, I had the great fortune to attend the opening of The Mother Project, an exploration of the stories that we tell each other about our mothers and our motherhood, as well as an accompanying exhibit of more than thirty portraits of local mothers in egg tempera by the American artist Douglas Safranek. Doug, a well-known painter of cityscapes and a portraitist, has been a member of the New York Branch of the Anthroposophical Society for many years. Besides the very interesting origin of this project- which I will write about in another newsletter- I want to bring your attention to the venue: The Sugar Hill Museum of Children’s Art and Storytelling of New York City.

Located on a wide avenue in Harlem and full of light and spaciousness, the museum is just that: dedicated to children and their visual and literary arts. I asked about puppetry and got a very enthusiastic response! The Board member I spoke with owns a well-established art gallery in NYC and is a Waldorf parent.  I think that this is a likely venue for puppet shows in the future!

A second visit was quite recent and a long awaited one, to the Ballard Institute and   Museum of Puppetry.  Located on the beautiful campus of the University of Connecticut in Storrs, near Hartford, the stars aligned and I finally had time to stop on a Sunday afternoon and take in the permanent exhibition as well as the current one. The Ballard is connected to the graduate program in puppetry arts at the University. They host new exhibits of themed puppetry as well as having a permanent collection of puppets through the ages and across cultures. The current exhibition, called Wonderland, explores the Civil Rights Movement, Women’s Liberation, and 1960’s children’s media and puppet theatre. Other exhibits have focused on the puppetry of other cultures such as Puerto Rico, on puppetry as therapy, and much, much more. Each exhibit hosts a symposium, which is also available on Zoom. This was a wonderful way to continue my puppetry education during the “pandemic years” and I have been very impressed by the combination of scholarship, artistic integrity, and warmth for children that the Institute and Museum provides.

These are two very encouraging places that speak for and to- children and their parents and teachers and academics!  Lets take advantage of their offerings and be available to participate. See you at Sugar Hill and the Ballard!

Ballard Institute: https://bimp.uconn.edu/

Sugar Hill Museum of Childrens’ Art and Storytelling: https://www.sugarhillmuseum.org/