Acknowledgements
Paulette Richards’ curatorial work on the 2023 National Puppetry Festival Exhibit is an extension of her research for the chapter on “African American Puppet Modernism: Alice Swann and the Wonderland Puppet Theatre” in her book, Object Performance in the Black Atlantic: The United States. Co-curator of the Living Objects: African American Puppetry exhibit at the University of Connecticut’s Ballard Institute and Museum with Dr. John Bell, she holds a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia.
Visit Paulette’s website: https://ayamedia.wixsite.com/
Link to the “Living Objects” exhibit: https://bimp-exhibitions.org/
After founding the Wonderland Puppet Theatre in 1961, Nancy and Alice furthered their professional development by joining the Puppeteers of America. They attended their first PofA festival in 1963, then performed at the 1967 Festival in Waterloo, Ontario and subsequent PofA festivals. This exhibit was originally developed for the Puppeteers of America 2023 National Puppetry Festival. The Wonderland Puppet Theatre deeply appreciates PofA for bringing Nancy and Alice home. If you would like to learn more about puppetry and make lifelong friendships, visit: https://www.puppeteers.org/
During the design phases of the Wonderland Puppet Theater Documentation Project, Chuck Lester of Studio Lester was of enormous help. His contribution, which included designing the logo, multiple retractable banner designs, and display racks, was crucial to the implementation of the new exhibits. The Wonderland Puppet Theater is looking forward to a continued partnership as we move into the next phases of our documentation project.
In order to fulfill a commitment made to Jeff’s mother Alice Swann, Jeff and Loreen Swann of Black Swann Consulting began the Wonderland Puppet Theater Documentation Project. Jeff spent countless hours shooting, recording, editing, and videotaping all of her puppets and artifacts that were already in existence. A digital magazine was created and regularly updated by Loreen, who also established and maintains the Wonderland Puppet Theater website. Loreen is now waiting for the Wonderland Puppet Theater wiki page to be approved. www.BlackSwannConsulting.com
