For the last 5 years, we have been hosting free puppet builds leading up to our annual Community Parade with Black Cherry Puppet Theater, as part of the Sowebo Arts Festival. The timing of these builds always coincides with a very busy end of semester season at MICA, where I teach full time. Every year, I think I can’t manage the additional responsibilities, but the magic of collaboration and the momentum of the builds pulls me through. This year’s theme is Stone Soup, inspired by the folk tale with roots in various parts of the world, where a poor traveler comes into a village and tricks community members into contributing one vegetable to a communal pot. By the end of the tale, everyone’s contributions are enough to feed everyone a nourishing meal. The idea for a soup theme came from our collaborator on the builds, Loam Nelson, who walked into our builds in 2023 and has been a critical member of our team since. We have done this parade build without funding. We pool cardboard, paints, brushes, tools, snacks, skills and inspiration. Nicole deWald and Michael Lamason, members of Black Cherry, have been critical collaborators. Below are some photos of this year’s build. The parade is this weekend!
