

“The family’s very committed to what’s happening here.” The center “was very much a part of his whole life,” says Erickson. Henson supported the facility with appearances and donations until his death in 1990. In the 1970s, the Mississippi native brainstormed the idea of an international puppetry center with Anthony, who was the Atlanta-based president of Puppeteers of America. The center itself was partly Henson’s idea.

“If you’re a Henson nut, you’ll see a lot of the stuff you like,” says Vince Anthony, center founder and executive director. Together it will be the largest Henson collection in the world. Expect an interactive exhibit inspired by Henson’s workshop and iconic, one-of-a-kind puppets such as Big Bird, Elmo, and those strangely perky Fraggle Rock creatures. Visitors will pass under a new electronic marquee to find a vast array of international puppetry artifacts-including rarely displayed Mesoamerican pieces that predate Columbus’s westward voyage-and a rotating exhibit pulled from more than 400 objects built by Henson and his colleagues, courtesy of a bulk donation that was initiated in 2007. Learn more about Intown Atlanta, and see homes for sale.The $14 million–plus expansion, funded by private and corporate donations, will bring the center’s hodgepodge of museum, theater, and workshops to the lip of Spring Street, juxtaposing a sweeping modern structure with the center’s current home, the former Spring Street Elementary School.

More information on the Center For Puppetry Arts Puppet Party Series: Puppets and Pints. Bring your decoder ring, your disappearing ink, and wear your dark sunglasses because you never know who might be watching. Go on a not-so-serious mission to determine of which of the Worlds of Puppetry Museum’s puppets are spies and which are the good guys. Secret agents run into danger around every corner, but here at the Center they just have fun.
#Atlanta puppetry center series#
The Center for Puppetry Arts invites you to a series of adults-only special evenings! As part of the Puppet Party Series, guests will enjoy visiting the Worlds of Puppetry Museum in a relaxed, child-free environment.
