2008 Woodie Awards
Finding space for puppetry
Non-profit brings original, local art to downtown NoHo
Ian Nelson, Collegian Staff
Issue date: 10/6/08 Section: Arts & Living
|
In its place, a space was erected in which artists could create. A virtual frame containing 11 painters, printers, sketchers and sculptors which make up the canvas itself, breathes life into an empty storefront.
This was just one of a slew of projects spearheaded by storefrontART. StorefrontART is a section of the Commonwealth Center for Change (C3), a Northampton non-profit organization with the intent to provide cheap space for artists to create, accessible space for artists to display their work and various resources. It offers a helping hand to local artists ready to learn what it takes to become a self-sustained artist in a world where it's simply not always easy to do so.
One artist highlighted in the Thornes storefront was Madison Cripps, a self-described "travelling performer" and marionette maker, approaching the consummation of his Northampton Arts Council-funded Walking Theatre Project. Cripps applied for the grant last spring and finally received the aid a year later, using his home as well as the Thornes space to sketch, carve and paint his puppets, as well as perform with them.
For Cripps, the Walking Theatre Project is his grand finale. After much deliberation and planning, Cripps is on the verge of completing a contraption which once again places him under the artistic title he created.
The result is a 30-pound frame pack which rests on his hips, boasting two stages on which his puppets perform, one at mid-level and one up near his head. Cripps is completely enclosed in the device. This allows him to operate multiple puppets at once, including a caulking gun-controlled head at the top, dubbed "The Head Cheese," as well as "The Money Snake," complete with a spring-loaded mouth.
"My favorite part about the project is the problem solving that goes into the mechanics," Cripps explains. "The technical creativity is really fulfilling, creating the hand that can actually pick something up."
Be the first to comment on this story