Pageantry, Puppetry, and Painting

Center Holds Workshops Preparing for Puppet Pageant

The Kalevala Puppet pageant, with two weeks of workshops for kids, is still accepting registrations. Workshops in puppet-building, painting, sewing, papier mache, costuming, and puppetry are ongoing Monday through Friday for the weeks of August 7-19. The first workshop begins Monday, August 7 at 9:00 a.m.

Daily workshops run 9:00 a.m. to noon, with four special stilters’ workshops in a few of the afternoons. See kulcher.org for more information and a complete schedule.

Tuition for the two weeks of workshops, which includes mid-morning snacks and all supplies, is $50 per child with a $100 maximum for any one family.  Parents are encouraged to attend free of charge.

Stilt-walking is open to any children age eight or older. Adults and any children aged five or older may participate in the workshops and pageant, though children younger than seven must be accompanied by an adult. Evening workshops for prop- and puppet-building are open to adults and any child accompanied by an adult.

Once again, Anne Sawyer, formerly of In The Heart Of The Beast Puppet Theatre in Minneapolis, writes the story, directs the children, and facilitates workshops. Lisa Winter, of Wadena, assists in directing, builds puppets, and organizes the day-to-day management of the workshops.

New for 2017, the Puppet Pageant workshops and performance venue have changed! All workshops are held in the New York Mills City park shelter, the Barn, at the Center’s Sculpture Park. The Puppet Pageant itself, is held on the grounds of the New York Mills VFW, following the city corn feed, with two evening rehearsals, including a dress rehearsal, held at the performance venue as well. Also new this year, the Center is adding a second performance of the Pageant, in conjunction with Goose Gang of Perham!

Performances are Friday, August 18 at 7:00 p.m. in New York Mills and Saturday, August 29 at 4:00 p.m. at Goose Gang in Perham.

The Center seeks adult volunteers to help with sewing, carpentry, child-development, puppet- and prop-building, and snack-making. A list of needed supplies can be found on the Cultural Center website.

The Kalevala Puppet Pageant is held annually during the month of august. The plays are based on characters and stories from the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic poem, without the grisly plot lines and details evocative of oral mythology recorded in the nineteenth century.

To register for the pageant workshops or ask any questions, please call the Cultural Center at (218) 385-3339, visit the Center’s website at www.kulcher.org, or email the staff coordinator at [email protected].

About The Cultural Center:

The Cultural Center in New York Mills is a rural hub for creativity, community vitality, and lifelong learning in the arts. We offer visitors intimate opportunities to encounter art and artists in our 80-seat concert listening room, two galleries in a historic building, a gift store featuring local artists, an artist residency program, a sculpture park, and a variety of opportunities to learn, grow, and thrive. Since our incorporation in 1990, we have been passionate about connecting people to artists and rich cultural experiences in rural Minnesota, celebrating the local and being a window to the world.