Add the joy & magic of puppets into your life!
In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre (HOBT) is a community of artists working within our larger community to create magic together. Our mission is to nurture creative empowerment through the joy and magic of puppetry performance and education. Attend an and join in the magic yourself!
The Latest
Spring and Summer Spotlight
Thank you to all our artists and participants for an amazing time at Artist Training Workshops!
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legist alive appropriation from the arts and culture heritage fund.
Clay Sculpting with Gustavo Boada * Puppet mechanisms with Kurt Hunter
Touch Considered (object manipulation) with Michael Sommers
Teaching Puppetry in the Classroom with Felicia Cooper, Lizz Windnagel and Tara Fahey
Teaching in Disabled and Neurodivergent Spaces with Lys Akerman-Frank and Elina Kotlyar
Hand Puppets with Bart Buch * Shadow Puppets with Erica Warren
You can stay up to date with all of the creative happenings at Heart of the Beast by subscribing to our enewsletter.
Erica Warren is a Black and CHamru (Chamorro) graphic artist, illustrator and puppeteer. Erica has participated in Monkeybear Harmalodic Workshop (2022), New Puppet Works (2023) and Minneapolis Puppet Lab (2024). Her puppet works have been shown in Minneapolis Crankiefest (2022-2024), Full Moon Puppet Show (2022), the Weisman Art Museum (2024). Erica explores the art of storytelling through shadow, rod and tabletop puppetry.
Michael Sommers An artist and theatre maker who lives and works in South Minneapolis. In 2000 he and Susan Haas founded Open Eye Figure Theatre and in 2007 they opened the doors to Open Eye Theatre an intimate performance space where Michael, in his twenty-five year affiliation, has created over fifty original works for the Open Eye Stage. He is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota and the recipient of numerous grants and awards.
Bart Buch a puppet artist, poet and arts educator. He has been creating, performing, directing, and teaching puppet theatre for 30 years. Bart makes “puppet poems.” He has a BA in Elementary Education, has been teaching for 30 years, and has taught over 300 school and community arts residencies. Bart worked at In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre for many years as an artist, served as Education Director for 12 years, and co-founded the Artistic Leadership Team. He currently works at Pillsbury House + Theatre as a Resident Teaching Artist and Arts Integration Liaison and is the Artistic Director of hinterhands puppet company. Bart is a COMPAS Teaching Artist and a 2017-2018 McKnight Theatre Artist Fellow. He loves music, working with young people, and spending time in nature with his husband and son.
Kurt Hunter Minneapolis-based puppeteer best known for his innovative solo marionette work. He has worked as a performer, designer, builder, workshop leader and director for HOBT, Open Eye Figure Theatre, Z Puppets Rosenschnoz, the Puppeteers of America and the O’Neill National Puppetry Conference. He studied with marionette masters Phillip Huber and Albrecht Roser. In 2008 he received an UNIMA-USA Citation of Excellence in Puppetry for “Sock Puppet Serenade.” In 2018 he was awarded a grant from the Jim Henson Foundation for development of “Penguin in my Pocket,” which has since toured across the US and to India. In 2024, he published “Kurt Hunter’s Simple Little Book of Marionettes.”
Elina Kotlyar (she/her/hers) is an educator, a speech language pathologist, a stage manager and an arts collaborator. She spent the first 20 years of her career working with families and children. Over the years she has learned that the best way to teach communication is to allow the child to lead the way, and by establishing a relationship and holding space, we provide the best opportunities for success and joy. Elina has always incorporated art into therapy and play has always been the main vehicle for learning and exploration. She continues to explore how to best provide support to communities that are often denied art. Elina holds an MS in Speech Language Pathology and an MFA in Theatre.
Felicia Cooper a puppeteer, researcher, and gal about town who creates art experiences for communities to experience wonder, joy, and curiosity together. Her work has been seen at Open Eye Theater, LaMama Theater Puppet Festival, Chicago International Puppet Festival, the National Puppetry Festival at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, and more. She has recently been supported by the Jerome Foundation and the National Humanities Center, and has held artist residencies with the Bell Museum, the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, and the Lake Pepin Legacy Alliance. She holds an MFA from the University of Connecticut. Go Huskies. www.feliciatmcooper.com @felicia__cooper
Gustavo Boada has been working in Minnesota since 2007, and has four decades of experience in community-engaged art, popular education, and popular theater, including work in Latin America (Peru, Chile, and Puerto Rico), as well as around the US (New York, DC, Philadelphia, Vermont, and Minnesota). He has worked in a variety of capacities at HOBT and presented his work through BareBones Theater, Minnesota History Center, CLUES, as well as Dias de Muertos events and workshops and ArtStart. Gustavo has also presented his work at the National Museum of the American Indian, the Peabody Museum in Boston, Naylamp Puppet Theater, as well as 5 Puerto Rican Day Parades in Philadelphia. This work included 4 plays representing his indigenous heritage as well as the native traditions of different Latin American countries. In the way yhay rooted his work with the community of twin cities Gustavo had been recipient of grants from MRAC, City of Minneapolis and MSAB. Gustavo and his wife Julie Boada co-founded a theater company in 2008 (called “Little Coyote Puppet Theater”, and have created 8 different plays.
Lys Akerman Frank a native Brazilian who has embraced life in the United States for 29 years. A graduate of St. Catherine University with a B.A. in Graphic Design, Lys also holds a Master's in Instructional Design. Lys's diverse background includes over a decade in the corporate world. Later, she founded Art & Frames in 2010, a custom frame shop and gallery in St. Paul, Minnesota. Lys works at The Catherine G. Murphy Gallery at St. Catherine University, continuing to enrich the artistic community with her passion and expertise. Lys designs and builds puppets. She is a multimedia Artist who focuses on Masks and 3D cultures, bringing her creative vision to life in a new and enchanting way. Her work has been featured in various venues throughout the Twin Cities, including the prestigious Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia).
Tara Fahey an artist, teacher, and performer. Their 20 year art practice includes lanterns, puppetry, papercuts, printmaking, and modifying textiles. In 2019, they received a Puppet Lab Grant through the Jerome Foundation creating a 40 minute show ‘Devotion:The Early Years of Rachel Carson’. In 2022, they co- created Micro/Macro, a 16 panel-60 foot- visual ode to Minnesota freshwater ecosystems for Arts and Rec, featuring large scale papercuts. In spring of 2023, they participated in a residency in Oaxaca,Mx through the Arquetopia Foundation learning to make natural dye pigment for use in silk screen printing. With the start of 2024, along with a small cohort of artists, they completed a two year-500 square foot expansion of the Illuminated Reef Installation at Can Can Wonderland fabricated from recycled materials. In the spring of 2024, Tara was awarded a mid-career Forecast Public Art grant along with fellow artist Sofia Padilla. Together, they built 2 lantern bikes and taught 6 public lantern workshops, culminating in the Radiant Waves Lantern Parade on the Midtown Greenway, in July of 2024. More information can be found at tarafahey.com.
Lizz Windnagel (they/them) is a theater artist who was bit by a puppet bug in 2012 and has never been the same. They have created and performed in puppet shows at Open Eye Figure Theater, Heart of the Beast, Calgary Animated Objects Festival, and many more. Lizz’s artistic interests include the uncanny, strange, and old, which puppetry is very much known for. Lizz’s original works and directing credits often include puppets, who often end up taking over the directing because they have a mind of their own. Lizz has created multiple full-length shadow puppet accompaniments to musical pieces like The Cradle Will Rock with An Opera Theater (2024) as well as Pierrot Lunaire with Ensemble dal Niente in Chicago (2018). They have designed puppets for various productions including Mixed Precipitations Magic Flute (2022). Their production Pierrot’s Gender Reveal Party appeared at the Calgary Animated Objects Festival in 2019. While living in Calgary Canada, Lizz was fortunate to puppeteer in the Canadian Academy of Mask and Puppetry’s collaboration with the Blackfoot tribe on their lantern puppet show Iniskim. Lizz currently teaches theater and a yearly summer puppetry intensive at the Down Syndrome Association of Minnesota where they also are the director of adult enrichment programs. Lizz holds an MFA in directing from the University of Calgary, Canada as well as degrees in English and Vocal music from the University of Minnesota. You can find more information at: https://www.lizzwindnagel.com/puppetry, @lizzardbreath777 on instagram
Clay Sculpting with Gustavo Boada:
Puppet Mechanisms with Kurt Hunter:
Shadow Puppetry with Erica Warren:
Touch Considered with Michael Sommers:
Teaching Puppetry in the Classroom with Tara Fahey, Felicia Cooper and Lizz Windnagel:
Hand Puppets with Bart Buch:
Teaching in the Disabled and Neurodivergent Spaces with Lys Akerman-Frank, Jessalyn Akerman-Frank and Elina Kotlyar:
