Volunteers - Center for Puppetry Arts

Welcome to the Puppet Shop!
“People often ask, ‘Where do you get all those puppets?’
said Jason von Hinezmeyer, the Center’s Resident Puppet Builder.
‘We build all this stuff here.’ ”
~ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The puppets used in Center Company shows are designed, built, painted, and
costumed by hand in the on-site Puppet Shop. During interviews with The
Atlanta-Journal Constitution and Atlanta Magazine, Jason von Hinezmeyer, Resident
Puppet Builder, and Jon Ludwig, Artistic Director, talked about what it’s like to
create the Center’s performance puppets.
Puppet Builder Nate Wilson paints the shoes
on a puppet for Cinderella Della Circus
Photo by Alan Louis
How much does it cost to
create the average puppet?
Jason: From $20 to hundreds
of thousands of dollars. A lot
of times, it’s not the materials,
it’s the time that goes into it.
Jon: It’s the craftsmanship.
You can build them out of
papier-mâché and wood and
stuff out of the junk yard, and
it’ll cost hardly anything, but
it’s the labor involved − and
the artistry. There aren’t many
good builders. Jason’s one of
the best in the country.
What is the most
challenging part of
your job?
Jason: There are so many
different things you have to
know how to do − sewing,
sculpting, casting, painting.
Builders also have to deal
with the size and weight of
the puppet, not to mention
the challenges of budgets
and deadlines.
What do you learn to
prepare for this kind
of career?
Jason: One of the important
things about the University
of Connecticut [the only U.S.
university to offer a degree in
puppetry] is that every class
is about building AND
performing.
Jon: To me, the true definition
of a puppeteer is somebody
that can do it all: build it,
perform it, write for it − and
that’s the attraction.
New Directions Series (NDS) by the Center Company
The Ghastly Dreadfuls’ Compendium of
Graveyard Tales and Other Curiosities
By Jason von Hinezmeyer & Jon Ludwig
October 11-28, 2007
Ages 16 & up
Anne Frank: Within & Without
By Bobby Box
January 22 - February 17, 2008
Ages 12 & up
Presented in cooperation with the Georgia Commission on
the Holocaust and the Anne Frank in the World:1929-1945
exhibit, under the auspices of the Anne Frank Center USA.
Photos and text courtesy of the Anne Frank Center, USA-
New York; the Anne Frank House - Amsterdam; and the Anne
Frank - Fonds, Basel.
The original production of Anne Frank: Within & Without was
made possible in part by grants from The Jim Henson
Foundation, Puppeteers of America and The Rich
Foundation, Inc.
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