Puppets aren't just for children.
The Chapel Gallery in North Battleford will be hosting its first ever puppet lab this month.
"We hope to expand the traditional notion of puppetry as being primarily for children to include people of all ages," says organizer and puppet artist Sherron Burns.
"It was inspired by the sculpture symposiums we host here every other year, she says. She and City of North Battleford Galleries Director Leah Garven started talking about it roughly a year and a half ago and it developed from there, says Burns.
The goal of the Saskatchewan' first Free Range Puppet Lab is to provide a studio setting for puppet artists to share their expertise, experiment with making puppets and to collaborate in a creative way, Burns explains.
"I think it will be fun, lots of unknowns, and we'll see what happens," she says.
There will be six puppeteers including Burns.
Hosted by the Chapel Gallery, the artists will be working in the craft room at the Don Ross from Wednesday, July 8 to Sunday, July 12.
"The public is welcome to drop in and see what is happening and to join us for a public sharing and performance Saturday evening at the Chapel Gallery," says Burns.
The lab is not a teaching situation, she adds, so they are happy to have people drop by to talk to the artists. There will be some collaboration amongst them, says Burns, that will probably lead to whatever the performance will end up being at the reception Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m. There is no preconceived plan.
"The performance will show our process and will be the result of working together for four days, featuring demonstrations, improvisations and short scenes that may involve some audience participation," says Burns.
She adds, "We would like to invite people to bring examples of puppets they have created or have in their collection to show as well."
In addition to Burns, the participating artists are Natalie Laboissiere and Ben Nind of Yellowknife, N.W.T., Juanita Dawn of Calgary, Alta., Tamara Unroe of Tugaske and Marie-Eve Fontaine of Winnipeg, Man.
"The puppeteering world is a little bit of a small one, there's not a huge number of us," says Burns. "I just put the call out. These are people I've worked with before. There are more puppeteers in Saskatchewan than that but not everyone could attend."
Burns has been a puppet artist for about five years, and has been working with masks, a related art, for about 15 years. Having become aware of puppetry events and happenings around this world, she believes it is a growing interest.
"I think people are seeing more puppet shows at festivals and fringe shows and often children's shows, of course," says Burns.
The kind of work they will be doing at the puppet lab will not be just for children.
"It's open to all audiences. It's theatre that tells a story and uses an object to tell that story."
Burns is the artist behind Sedna, a Story of Creation, a shadow play using masks and puppets.
"Certainly children came to see it and they enjoyed it, but it wasn't meant specifically for children, it was for any kind of an audience," says Burns.
Speaking of children, the Chapel Gallery is also hosting puppet-making workshops for children July 8, 9, and 10 from 1 to 3 p.m. and Thursday July 9 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Each session will present a new activity for youth to create puppets.
In the first session, participants with be creating their own diorama or theatrical stage for their puppets to perform on. The other three sessions will be dedicated to puppet creation, which includes Marionette style, constructed with cardboard and string and papier-mâché faces. Participants will have the opportunity to use the same materials as the professional designers, by using Model Magic, fabric and wool.
