Giant Puppet Dance Party Could Come to Plum Library

The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh is hosting a competition to award MAKESHOP Micro Grants for local projects, and can benefit from one of those grants.

The micro grants will assist programs and organizations to work with youth on the development and production of objects around two themes—Wearables and Rideables.

Artist Cheryl Capezzuti of Puppets for Pittsburgh has entered the Wearable competition. She hopes to collaborate this summer with participants ages 8 to 12 at five different regional libraries to create wearable, parade-sized puppets from reused materials, and Plum Borough Community Library has been chosen as one of the libraries.

The Allegheny County Library Association (ACLA) will support Capezzuti by identifying libraries to host these workshops. These libraries include the , Shaler Library, Baldwin/Whitehall Library, Western Allegheny Library and Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh-Hazelwood.

The project has been chosen as a finalist for a $5,000 grant, but people need to vote for it.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

This summer ACLA has a “Dream” themed summer reading program so the makers in this program will create imaginary “Dream” creatures to tie into that theme. The wearable works of art created all over Allegheny County will come together for a dance performance at the Mini-Maker Fashion Show on Sept. 22 at the Children's Museum.

To facilitate the community dance aspect of this project, Capezzuti will collaborate with a choreographer who will create a YouTube puppet dance tutorial so the participants can learn and rehearse at their libraries and at home. Capezzuti also will bring the resources that the MakeShop has to offer out to her community of puppetmakers. She will collaborate with Children’s Museum staff to teach children about soft-circuit technology and will incorporate this technology into the wearable puppets. The goal of the program is to include between 50 and 70 young puppetmakers.

Any child in Allegheny County can participate in this program through one of five local libraries.

TO VOTE

Anyone interested in voting for the project to win the grant can do so here: www.makeshop.pghvoicesofyouth.org/vote-5000. Voting ends March 30, and the winner will be announced April 2.

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