Teen docents at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art created stories and puppets inspired by the museum collection then performed the stories in the community. The Teen Docent Program won a 2015 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award.
Arts Based Residencies for Youth
I love collaborating to explore a place, a culture, history, and more with young people through a variety of art forms. The Ogden Museum of Southern Art (New Orleans), The Walter Anderson Museum (Ocean Springs, MS), and the Delta Cultural Center (Helena, AR) are a few places where I have led projects.
The Odyssey Set in the Gulf of Mexico
I combined Sense of Place with classic literature in a week long camp. Fourth and fifth graders studied the travails of Odysseus along with maps of the Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico to create their own brilliant adaptation set in the modern day Gulf, using shadow puppets on the overhead projector and sound effects. They also created paper mosaics inspired by the work of Walter Anderson, and weaving - both arts practiced by the ancient Greeks. This was so much fun I brought the cardboard boat I had planned to leave in a recycle bin in Ocean Springs, back home and can’t wait to find a place to do the project again!
The Walter Anderson Museum of Art, Ocean Springs, Mississippi
Sense of Place Through Tall Tales
Delta Cultural Center, Helena, Arkansas
Organized by Candace Dolls, I led children ages 6 - 13 to make rod puppets of their own characters, and create collaged cardboard puppets to bring to life in tales collected by the iconic author, Zora Neale Hurston. The children learned about the Blues with musicians Terry “Big T” Williams and Rick Patton each morning, and Mr. Rick accompanied parts of the final performance.
