Patti Smithsonian was PPLD's Maker in Residence for February and March 2015. Her puppet shows portray ancient folktales using contemporary language and humor.
Her one-woman puppet theater has been featured at international festivals and venues including The Detroit Institute of Art, The Seattle Puppet Festival, New York International Busker Fest, Institut International de la Marionnette (France), The Santa Fe Sculpture Ranch, The
Telluride World Theater Festival, The San Francisco Puppetry Festival, and The Shilong Moon Festival (Taiwan).
Ms. Smithsonian has studied shadow puppetry in Turkey, Taiwan, and France. She uses laser cutters, acrylic plastics, alcohol inks, and high-powered projectors to create her shadow theater. She uses electronically projected light and shadow in creating light shows for theater, rock bands, and performance art — as well as narrative puppet plays.
While in residence, Ms. Smithsonian taught classes about Chinese Dragon Shadow Puppets and Modern Shadow Puppets: Animals.
Visit PPLD's Maker/Artist in Residence page for more information.
RoxAnne Krute began her creative journey at an early age. An affinity for playing with color, texture and composition has been an underlying influence in her continued exploration of various mediums throughout her life. In addition to collecting a variety of materials and tools needed for each creative venture, she has a fondness for aged and unusual objects, which she attributes to her grandmother’s influence.
This background, together with a formal education in fine art and graphic design, provides a “perfect storm” for art expressions using mixed media. She admits that even though this evolution in her art making is still in its infancy, the joy she experiences in the “play” of art-making is something she is passionate about sharing.
While in residence, RoxAnne taught Beginning Mixed Media Collage on Canvas classes.
Visit PPLD's Maker/Artist in Residence page for more information.
We are so excited to announce the Teen Fiction Writing 2015 Anthology is complete! The anthology features our winners and honorable mentions from the 2015 contest.