From October 10th-30th, 2005 I was an artist in residence at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.
As part of the residency, I assisted Janie Geiser with her performance-installation Spider’s Wheels. For my own project, I created the second installment of Growing Up Linda, Birthday Trauma written with P.J. McWhiskers. While there I also began a brainstorming session with Heather Henson to create what would become the Puppet Slam Network for the next decade.
PROGRAM
For this puppet-themed residency #116, there were three Master Artists: Janie Geiser, Theodora Skipitares, and Paul Zaloom.
Associate Artists included:
- Alan Calpe
- Bonnie Duncan
- Melinda Berkenwald
- Karen Leo
- Paolo Bertocchi
- Valerie Opielski
- Heather Henson
- Neal Leonard
- Veronica Scharf Garcia
- Noe Kidder
- Alissa Mello
- Patricia Kaufman
- Eva Landsberry
- Suraya Raja
- Chris Lin
- Dinorah de Jesus Rodriguez
- Geoffrey Nosach
- Melanie Sutherland
- Katie Shook
- Marsian De Lellis
While at the residency, I also developed Growing Up Linda – Birthday Trauma with Katie Shook, Eva Marie, Heather Henson, Val Opielski, and Geoff Nosach.
Growing Up Linda was an ensemble actor-puppetry performance in which a woman who believes she’s the daughter of a famous ice cream mogul must come to terms with her troubled past. In Birthday Trauma, Linda recounts the events of her fifth birthday when she first started communicating with food.
PRESS
– Paul Zaloom
Daytona Beach News Journal
SUPPORT
Funding for my stay at the residency was made possible by the Atlantic Center for the Arts.
Founded in in 1977 by Doris Leeper, an internationally known sculptor and painter, as well as a visionary environmentalist, the Atlantic Center for the Arts (ACA) is a non-profit multidisciplinary artist residency facility located in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. ACA’s main campus is set on eleven lush acres of land, on the edge of Turnbull Bay.