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Got No Strings:Bits 'N Pieces' Giant Puppetry |
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Got No Strings is the latest addition to Bits 'N Pieces' offerings which bring enchantment, wonder and a love of the art of puppetry to the young and the young-at-heart. The 5,000-square-foot exhibition was curated by John Streetman III, Executive Director of the Evansville (Indiana) Museum of Arts and Science where it premiered for 16,000 patrons June 27, 1999. Immediately after its
two-month tenure in Evansville, the exhibition was shipped to Germany for
its European premiere. More than 6,000 German children, their families and their teachers were introduced to the full complement of the company's magic which has been delighting and educating children in the United States for nearly a quarter of a century. This is not the first time Master Puppet Builder Holli Rubin's work has appeared in museum settings. Some of the puppets in Got No Strings have previously been featured in group shows at the Tampa Museum of Art and the Norton Museum of Art in Palm Beach. The Evansville exhibition was sponsored by the Indiana Arts Commission and American General Finance Foundation. In Florida Bits 'N Pieces' international efforts receive support from the International Cultural Exchange Program of the Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Arts Council, and the Arts Council of Hillsborough County. This delightful participatory exhibition documents the puppeteers' creative process from conception of a show through rendering, construction, rehearsal and production. In addition to the giant body puppets the inclusion of many smaller puppets, character costumes, and selected set pieces permits viewers to experience close up the entire range of artistry which goes into the making of the characters and sets as it can never be seen from the audience. Strolling through this fanciful population of exotic giants as they might a springtime garden, exhibition-goers pause among the puppets and admire the artistry — the sculpture, costume, and design — revealed in each of the fantastic creations in the exhibition. Like old vaudevillians, these puppets have tales to tell of their many years on tour, and thousands of one-night stands; of clapping throngs and broken limbs. Good times and exciting times have left their magic marks upon these world travelers. At the exhibition's three work stations museum-goers explore one of the giant puppets currently under construction -- try it on, move its mouth and wiggle its nose; watch a video about the company’s creative process; and make paper puppets of their own for fun. Bits 'N Pieces' combination of imagination, artistry, and hard work have made it an award-winning representative of Florida arts at home and abroad. Recognition of its achievements include the 1995 Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games’ Cultural Olympiad’s Regional Designation Award for Innovation and Excellence in the Arts as well as the Arts Council of Hillsborough County’s Award for Excellence in Arts Education. Most recently, the company's Artistic Director and Master Puppet Builder Holli Rubin was featured in Hillsborough TV's award-winning Art Off the Wall television series about artistic process and the Florida Theatre Conference presented Executive Director Jerry Bickel its Distinguished Career Award in Children's/Youth Theatre. |
A
huge gathering of Bits 'N Pieces Theatre's nine-foot-tall giant puppets
filled the Munich (Germany) Children's and Youth Museum for an exciting
exhibition entitled Got No Strings: Bits 'N Pieces' Giant
Puppetry September 28 - October 19, 1999. During its residency in
Germany, this Tampa-based theater company also presented performances of
its Aesop's Dinosaur and Ant as well as puppet-making
workshops.