The Bucks County Community College Artmobile is on its way to a school near you.
By: Jodi Thompson
The Bucks County Community College Artmobile began during the energy crisis of 1976, when schools were cutting back on class trips, as a way for a museum to come to a school.
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The gallery is bright, despite no windows, thanks to plenty of track lighting from the suspended ceiling. The rug is run-of-the-mill gray, but the shimmering golden crown molding and video case are anything but ordinary. The black curtain hung from golden rings lends an appropriate theatrical air to the room. Bright posters, photographs and drawings decorate the space. Acrylic museum cubes display artifacts from China, Sri Lanka, Thailand and England, some more than 230 years old.
Gonzo, Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy occupy places of honor at the front of Bucks County Community College’s Artmobile for its exhibition, Hand to Heart: A World of Puppetry. The well-loved creatures, circa 1970, are made of cloth and character.
Next to the Muppets are Punch and Judy puppets, both finger and hand varieties. Across the room is a vast display of rod puppets, some of which were intended for use in shadow puppetry. In this venue, popular in Thailand and Indonesia, the flat puppet is manipulated behind a scrim so that the audience sees only its silhouette.
There are gnome stick puppets once used in Henrik Ibsen’s Peer Gynt. The Postman and King Friday from Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood sit in their cubical. The early plastic hand puppets use real hair. Later versions, the label reads, have "Ken doll" plastic hair.
A belly dancer on sticks and three cancan dancer marionettes are certain to warrant a few glances. Worthy of closer inspection are characters from a version of the "Beauty and the Beast" story. The wood, cloth and plaster objects are labeled from Prague, Czechoslovakia, possibly Bohemia, around 1870. A Loonie Mask of Celastic, a plastic-impregnated fabric commonly used in costumes, is from 1977. Every inch of the 9-by-48 foot gallery on wheels contains something to see and, even better, something to touch.
Below the delicate artifacts are sturdy copies hanging on hooks or in bins, eye level with most youngsters. Little green hands permission to go ahead and handle stick on the wall next to these touchable items. The second-graders from Bristol Borough’s Snyder-Girotti Elementary School know they’re allowed to play with them. After a 30-minute presentation of the history of puppetry, they are eager to try out their new knowledge. The finger puppets, hand puppets, rod puppets and marionettes beckon the students.
In the Artmobile, finger puppets, hand puppets, rod puppets and marionettes beckon the students.
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First, the Artmobile guide, Donna Goetz, wants volunteers to help demonstrate a bun raku puppet. She enlists the teacher and two little girls from the audience to manipulate one puppet. The teacher works the head with a rod attached to the neck. Each girl puts one hand into an arm of the cloth boy. Together, the three struggle to get through a pre-schooler’s day, including waving hello, shoe tying, eating, building blocks and hand clapping. The difficulty of working in unison elicits giggles from the kids. The left hand, Brianna, is not pleased with the right hand. She can’t manage to clap.
Finally, it’s time for the potential puppeteers to try out their skills. The drumming of rain on the semi-trailer’s roof is syncopated with the cooing of "puppet" voices from the students.
Eric waits to get his hands on one of the puppets, but no one is ready to give up theirs. He moves to the front of the room, just as those in the back re-hang their marionettes and head up front to the rod and hand puppets. Eventually, Eric’s red head is bobbing up and down with a finger puppet he is transforming into a superhero.
Brianna stays in the back, determined to master clapping on a bun raku puppet. She has commandeered her classmate, Princess, for the struggle. Shawn and Michael each grab a bun raku puppet, discarding the idea that they’re three-person puppets. They shake hands and introduce their puppet selves to each other.
The teacher chides Randall for taunting. James causes a hand puppet to grab the back of Princess’ neck. She is not amused. It must be time to go. The second grade class lines up to leave after replacing the puppets. Ms. Goetz prepares the gallery and takes a moment to catch her breath before the expected arrival of a sixth-grade class. The sixth-graders will view video clips of Jim Henson productions Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal. It will explain much more intricate puppetry than in the Kukla, Fran and Ollie video seen by younger students.
The guides gear the presentation to suit the grade level of the class, from kindergarten through eighth grade.
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The guides gear the presentation to suit the grade level of the class, from kindergarten through eighth grade, according to Fran Orlando, director of exhibitions at Bucks County Community College. She also runs the Artmobile, which predates her tenure at Bucks. It began during the energy crisis of 1976, when schools were cutting back on class trips. The Artmobile is a way for a museum to come to a school. Each class in the school has a chance to tour the gallery individually.
"It really filled an important need in the schools," Ms. Orlando says. There is such a demand for the portable museum that there is an A-list (those schools Artmobile didn’t visit last year) and a B-list (those schools visited last year by Artmobile.) The schedule for Artmobile is tightly planned. The trailer stays only long enough for each class to visit and won’t visit during conferences or in-service days. When the time at one school is up, the guide packs everything. A reliable trucker Bucks has contracted for years picks up the trailer at night and has it parked at the next school by the time the bell rings the following day.
The Artmobile focuses on artists in the area from New York to Washington, D.C., with ideas for shows coming from teacher evaluation forms or Ms. Orlando and art department staff. Past exhibitions have featured portraiture, masks, neon, African art, children’s book illustration, papermaking, Native American art and animation. Literature is sent home to parents to encourage discussion and to let them know when the Artmobile is open to the general public. A fully researched teacher’s manual helps classes come to Artmobile prepared. The book gives pre-visit and post-visit activities, a glossary of terms and reference information.
The Artmobile saves schools trip costs, gives students and the public a fun learning experience and even provides area artists with a good opportunity to show their work. "One of the really nice things about Artmobile is the kids just love it," Ms. Orlando says. "They are involved."
Oh, don’t forget the fringe benefits the guides get from their work.
"Today," Ms. Goetz says, "I got a kiss from a puppet."
Hand to Heart: A World of Puppetry visits Bucks County schools September-June. It is open to the public
at Upper Bucks Day of the Arts in Quakertown, May 18; Bucks County Library Center in Doylestown, June 14-18;
and Levittown Regional Library in Levittown, June 19-22. For information, call (215) 968-8432. On the Web:
www.bucks.edu