Catch us next for an impromptu performance of pure awesome!:

July 16th, 2011 DOUBLE LOCATION! THAT’S RIGHT!

Giant Puppets Save the World, Sun Bird "Sol" will be there

Solar Festival in Seattle at the Shoreline Community College  2pm-3pm

We will fly our Solstice Sun bird canary, “Sol”, in honor of the mighty sun that gives us life, love, joy and happiness.

As the efforts to channel the massive force that creates life on our planet is pursued sustainably, we bring Giant Puppets Save the World to celebrate the sun! YAY!

ALSO a short cameo at The United Indians of All Tribes Foundation’s POW WOW, at the Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center, Seattle, WA 98199, USA 

We did it! Thank you so much!

It was beautiful!  Even in the midsty drizzle the wings on our cedar waxwings took flight!

Both, “Sol” the silk yellow canary and the hotel-sheet peace dove, Olivia, were unexpected additions.  Well-received indeed!

We had a lovely article in the Seattle Times too!

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2015361261_solstice19m.html

Can’t wait to share photos from Giant Puppets Save the World photographer, urban gardening activist, and photo journalist, Camille Sheppard.

Thank you to everyone that made Giant Puppets Save the World possible. We could not have completed the project without your help and participation. It was a pleasure to see your creative impromptu animation of the puppets, with your bright vibrant characters engaging the audience. Giant Puppets Save the World is lucky to have such committed volunteers and supporters of community celebration art.  We sincerely appreciate your time, talent, and contributions. You make Giant Puppets Save the World!

Parade Day details!

Parade readiness!

Practice starts at 10am, parade begins at 12pm!

Secret Post-Parade Performance – optional! (shhh it’s secret)!

Be in the wonderful Fremont Arts Council Solstice Parade (audience approx 100,000 people – experience of a lifetime) and join us in this rawking ensemble of magnanimous puppets as a:

Giant Puppets Save the World Puppeteer (we need people power):

We will meet at 10am for choreography practice before the parade begins, on Saturday June 18th, start time 12pm.
(start location: 3623 LEARY WAY NW, SEATTLE WA 98107)

All performers must wear white (this is a strong reference to Bread and Puppet); thrift stores are perfect to find outfits – dresses are ok.

We need people to be theatrical, alive, vibrant, personable, honest, able to interact with public, be a team of players, and able to take instructions as well as improvise (perfect for dance and theater students or anyone looking to have a great time with community festival arts):

– giant flying birds (6 birds — 3 people per bird) – have 12 need 5
– a tree of life (three people) – we’ve got the tree covered!
– an enormous dog named Dogody (three people — one in front to bark and howl, one in back to poop) – we’ve got it covered!
– a huge snake (7 people, one in front to be very theatrical and playful) – (have 1, need 6!)
– children (to hold earth balloons that everything flies around, still need a kid for this! SOMEONE HELP US WE NEED A KID!)
– clouds (eight clouds, one person per cloud) (need 8 – we may not use these, but it would be awesome if we could).

We could also benefit from having:

A Giant Puppets Save the World Super Hero (all must wear white too – good role for parents/chaperones/gracious ones).

More Photographers and videographe (must wear all white)r: We are looking for two photographers to be in our ensemble (we will give full photo credits). (We have one professional, but love novice photos too!)

– Water Momma/Poppa (must wear white): Our Water Momma or Poppa makes sure the ensemble participants are all well hydrated with the earth’s most vital resource. The water will be kept in the base of our Tree of Life.

And we have an opportunity for:

A fourth Giant Puppets Save the World Apprentice (good for an internship research component):

– Assists primarily with the creation of artwork leading up to the parade and in coordination and performance efforts on the parade day. This is an excellent role for someone interested in learning more about giant puppet building techniques, methods and theory.

Here are some pics of the Giant Puppets Save the World crew working away (please “Like” us on Facebook)!

Thank you for your interest in community arts, we look forward to hearing from you soon. Please feel free to contact me, at (917) 648-8834, on FB, or via e-mail, tonimariemikulka@gmail.com.

Toni Marie Mikulka
Co-Director
Giant Puppets Save the World
www.giantpuppetssavetheworld.com

P.S.
Outside of the Fleur de Lis Statuary, it’s our start spot (look for big crazy statue things).

Dogody gets ready for the big show!

In store space of downtown Fremont we repair Dogody for the parade

We have started to do our Dogody repairs in downtown Fremont outside of the Powerhouse – Dogody is too big to fit inside the Powerhouse! He needed a hip replacement, some fur patches, and will need some new foot pads tomorrow.  He is all ready to come to life for our Dogody puppeteers  –  Tom Rooney, Michael Spaley, Colin Klein, and David Westphal!

Finished workshop: “Putting it all together”!

We had a sewing station inside, and a papermache, painting, sculpting, and base embellishing station outside. We almost finished sewing all the birds, and we completed our Solstice Sun bird prototype.  We have loads more to do! I’ll be posting a full To-Do list tomorrow, but so far, we’re looking good but we still need more puppeteers.  Now we’re in crunch go go go time. Come and help if you are free. We’ll teach you everything you need to know! Powerhouse is on 39th and Fremont Ave.

Here are some pix from the Powerhouse Parade Preparation!

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LAST WORKSHOP FOR THE PARADE, June 12th!!!!!

Cedar waxwing heads to be painted

Join us for our last parade workshop this weekend in the Powerhouse (Fremont Ave and 39th, Seattle) on Sunday from 12-5!

We’re pulling it all together in this free workshop, from the silk bodies, to our bird heads, the tree of life and our addition of giant clouds.

Please join us and help Giant Puppets Save the World.

Giant Puppets Save the World by building community through the creation and performance of large works of art.

Remember to “Like” us on Facebook!

Bird heads, bird wings, bodies, tails GALORE!!!!

We are flying through our birds and bird bodies. See pictures of the progress:

We completed the silk dyeing workshop!

We completed the silk dyeing workshop and dyed all of our wings, tails and bird bodies by hand on Sunday! We had a wonderful turnout of five people that came to learn how.

Our next big workshop: “Pulling it all Together” is Sunday, June 6th, from 12-5.  We need your help to make it happen! Come lend your hands and learn the variety of skills we will be demonstrating.

Also, the workshops are not the only opportunity to help. We are working around the clock everyday and night during Studio Hours at the Power House on Fremont Ave and 38th in Seattle- please come anytime 6-9pm weeknights, 12-5pm weekends (Toni is often there earlier during the day too – e-mail her: tonimariemikulka@gmail.com)

It’s always loads of fun in the Powerhouse and don’t be afraid if you feel you aren’t skilled, we love teaching and sharing, but  most importantly need your help.

(Pics from our silk dyeing are on the way!)

Workshop Reminder this coming Sunday: Silk Dyeing Giant Bird Wings

Photo: J. Martinez

Join us for a workshop on Sunday June 5th, 12-4pm in the Powerhouse on Fremont Ave and 39th in Seattle. Learn how to dye silk for our Giant Flying Cedar Waxwings, become a part of Giant Puppets Save the World, and more!

Thanks to the David McKay grant fund from the Fremont Arts Council, this is a free workshop!

Dear Visitors,

Thank you for your interest in giant community arts! You can continue to make such creative collaboration possible by supporting the David McKay grant fund and giving a contribution of $100 or more for the Fremont Arts Council Solstice Parade today. Extend my heartfelt thanks when you do. Our work would not be possible without their support. 

Sincerely,

Giant Puppets Save the World