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Cheryl and Heather Henson. With this base amount, we were able to launch the Relief Fund and start offering support while we continued to find additional funding sources.
Puppet Tears Podcast
One of the fundraisers for the Direct Relief Fund came from teaming up with the Puppet Tears Podcast and its creators/hosts, Cameron Garrity and Adam Kreutinger.
“The pandemic has so severely impacted our community and everyone in the theater community—we knew we had to do something to pitch in,” says Puppet Tears Podcast co-creator and host Cam Garrity. “Our show’s mission is to preserve the art of puppetry.”
As a fundraiser for the Direct Relief Fund, the Puppet Tears
Podcast is launching the Cheers to Puppeteers series. “It’s designed to help in two ways,” notes Garrity. “Hopefully this will inspire our listeners to give what they can and make a donation to the fund—or at least share it on their social media feeds. But it’s also meant as a morale booster. Has it been a lousy year? No doubt. Does it mean we’re going to rally the troops with some really inspiring, nourishing conversations? You betcha.” This series will feature nine interviews with high-profile puppet folk, including Fran Brill, Bonnie Erickson, Dave Goelz, Phillip Huber, Jim Rose, Matt Vogel, Michael Curry, and more. “When they heard what the Direct Relief Fund was all about,” recalls Garrity, “they said ‘yes’ to coming on the show without hesitation. The outpouring of support was overwhelming.” “It’s not easy being a puppeteer in this world. It’s a niche occupation,” notes Muppeteer Dave Goelz. “I’ve been so lucky that I happened to get into what Jim was doing, and I’ve had a fine career. But so many people just do it for the pure love of it and… these folks are responsible for giving us a lot of pleasure in the world.”
“Having all your performances cancelled and suddenly finding yourself out of work has to be an emotionally devastating experience,” notes Cheryl Henson. “Creating a fund like this and encouraging people to both give to it and take from it reminds puppeteers that they are members of a community and that they are not alone during this crisis.”
“When in-person gatherings ended,” remembers Heather Hen- son, “our teams at IBEX Puppetry, Handmade Puppet Dreams, and the Puppet Slam Network shifted our focus to help artists....Pup- petry is something that really can happen anywhere, but working online and for a camera are unique skill sets.” Free workshops included “Take Your Content Online” workshops with Chad Williams, a “Build Your Audience” workshop with Pam Severns, and a two-part “DIY Puppet Filmmaking at Home” workshop with Alex U. Griffin.
“Everyone on our team are PofA members,” notes Henson, “so when we had the seed of an idea for a Direct Relief Fund, we wanted to bring it to PofA to nurture. It’s been incredible seeing the community come together to support this initiative.” The Direct Relief Fund continued to get generous support from many sources. UNIMA-USA made a sizeable donation, as did Dragon Con. Camilla Henneman sold needle felting puppet kits to raise funds for the Relief Fund. By July, the Relief Fund was able to give over $30,000 to struggling puppeteers, and that number continues to rise!
The COVID-19 Task Force Many puppeteers have been left without school visits, and with-
out production work. For many, that also means loss of a steady income. The COVID-19 Task Force was created and along with
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it, the Direct Relief Fund for Puppet Artists. The Task Force came together with volunteers from multiple organizations to find ways to help those in our community who need it. The COVID-19 Task Force is made up of Jessica Simon; Dustin Curtis; Paul Robinson; Chad Williams; and Alex Griffin. We wanted to find multiple ways that puppeteers could directly support other puppeteers. With that in mind, the Puppet Artists Shops and Internet Puppetry Events were added onto the Puppe- teers of America website. The Internet Puppetry Events page was created to be a centralized resource for online puppetry perfor- mance content. Jessica Simon commented, “There was a huge influx, and it seemed a little overwhelming. The idea was that there could be a central location for everything that was happen- ing—like a TV guide. Then parents, educators, general audi- ences, and those of us in the puppetry community could search for something.” Simon said that the idea was simple: Submit your own information, and it will live on the PofA site.
The National Puppet Slamdemic
Puppet Slam Network helped to create the online National Puppet Slamdemic as part of a joint effort to create an online slam while raising funds for the Relief Fund.
Beau Brown, curator of the slam said, “The hope with a na- tional slam is to always present top-quality acts that inspire and showcase the range of the medium.” Slam coordinator Pam Severns said, “We had about 500 live viewers on the event, and that felt pretty cool. I think all the performers enjoyed the experience, and it was very much like live theater, but on the Internet.”
We Are Here for You
Many people assumed, and then hoped, that this pandemic would have passed by the fall. Yet here we are, with painfully little physical theater and non-Halloween masks on our faces. With theatrical venues still shuttered, schools taking new and chang- ing forms, and no new government funding on the horizon, many puppeteers are continuing to struggle to stay afloat and adapt from a physical stage to a digital screen.
The need still exists, and so does the fund. Instead of winding down, we’re looking to wind back up, re-examine funding applica- tion requirements, and look for continued ways to support our beloved community. The fund continues to need donations, but you can also ask for support. The struggle caused by the pandemic is real. It is okay to reach out for support if you need it. We are here for you.
“The response to this initiative makes me SO proud to be a puppeteer and a member of Puppeteers of America,” says current PofA President, Aretta Baumgartner. “In puppetry, the best work is often done by getting out of the way, by supporting the puppet and the puppeteer not being noticed. This humility and willing- ness to ‘hide’ and to support the project is seen here, and it’s mind blowing and so appreciated.”
The future seems more uncertain with each passing week. But puppeteers are resourceful. We have always adapted, morphed, and reinvented ourselves. Even without theaters, we’ll innovate and find new ways to bring something tangible into a digital world. The struggle is real, but the opportunity is real as well: to give ourselves, and others, a burst of creativity and inspiration through this funny, serious, and moving art form we call puppetry.
For more information:
https://www.puppeteers.org/relief
To make a donation:
https://www.puppeteers.org/support-direct-relief-fund
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