CLARK HELPS OPEN DOOR TO THE WORLDS OF PUPPETRY
Bradford Clark
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There were several things that took Bradford Clark by surprise upon his final walk-through before festivities for the Nov. 14 opening of the Center for Puppetry Arts' Worlds of Puppetry Museum, in Atlanta. One was the sheer size of the bright green new addition to the center, and the other was visitors' emotional reaction to the Henson puppets — familiar characters like Miss Piggy and Elmo.
"Even though I'd been involved in the planning since the beginning, walking through and seeing it all in place, I thought, 'This is massive!'" said Clark, the center's consulting curator of collections and BGSU theater and film faculty member.
"And I was surprised by how strong the emotional connection of the visitors to the puppets was," he added.
The opening of the aptly named museum was the culmination of nearly 10 years of planning, preparation and fund–raising that had weathered the financial crisis of 2008 and continued forward.
In addition to Clark, BGSU also has a second connection to the puppetry center. Director of development Amy Edgar Davis, who was the BGSU director of annual giving from 2000–05, has been with the puppetry center for the last three years.
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