BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Marianne Tucker has been co-director of Tuckers’ Tales Puppet Theatre since 1981. Shortly after that she joined UNIMA-USA. She was elected to the board the first time in 1999. While on the board she has served as recording secretary and as president from 2003 to 2005 then again in 2014. She also represented UNIMA-USA as councilor at the world puppetry festival and meeting in Croatia, where she also served as recording secretary. When off the board she has chaired the committee for the Citations of Excellence, maintaining the records, managing the reviewers and presenting the awards annually. She also served as chair of the Nominations Committee and on the North America commission of UNIMA. She has had a good and cordial working relationship with the current and past boards and often presents the committee reports at the board meetings.

Tuckers’ Tales Puppet Theatre has performed and presented workshops at Puppeteers of America festivals and many other music and art festivals across the country and Canada.

Statement of intent: After participating in the World Puppetry Day meeting on March 19, I am so proud of where UNIMA-USA is right now. There is a lot of work to be done as we transition to new editors of Puppetry International. The new Puppetry International Research journal is exciting as are the new publications awards named for Nancy Staub. I want to work with the heads of those committees to help them support the scholarship that is now being highlighted. I would like to see the blog reinstated and recruit more authors for it. Some of the theses that received awards this year are available through university and college archives for anyone to read. I want to make sure the links to them are available to UNIMA-USA members. I have a corporate memory from the time I served as board member and can often answer questions about why some things are done as they are, but I also want to want to hear and learn all the wonderful new ideas that are coming out of our board and members.

Mark Blashford is a full-time, “at the coal face” working puppeteer based in Chicago, building and touring shows professionally as Rootstock Puppet Co. He is an associate artist with the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival’s Chicago Puppet Studio, collaborating with Blair Thomas, Tom Lee and team to design and build puppets for theatre and film. Blashford is also the online course assistant and manager for Bernd Ogrodnik’s Academy of the Wooden Puppet with students all across the world. He received his MFA in the Puppet Arts from UConn in 2017. For the past two years Blashford has delivered individualized marionette shows called Doorstep Marionette “puppet grams” to porches, backyards, lobbies, and sidewalks all over Chicago. In 2021 Mark represented the United States in UNIMA’s Four Creations, Four Continents project and performed with colleagues from Chile, Mexico, and Canada in the Titirijai: International Puppet Festival of Tolosa in Spain. While in the Midwest, Blashford has also worked for The Puppet Company with Steve Widerman, and Rough House Theater Co.

Statement of intent: As a marionette performer in the U.S. I am enraptured by the work of the Roses, the Stevens, the Proctors, the Bairds, the Yale Puppeteers, Dwiggins, McPharlin, Sarg…. We really do stand on the shoulders of giants. I celebrate the depth of our history, but I also keep two feet planted firmly in the 21st century. I seek to help UNIMA-USA continue to grow its membership of young and diverse puppeteers. I pledge to bring my early career perspective, my international connections, and service mindset to the board. We share a beautiful, global artform. I humbly seek to help UNIMA-USA continue to act as a brilliant facilitator in this international conversation.

Karen Smith is currently Vice President of UNIMA International and president of the international puppetry association’s Publication & Contemporary Writing Commission. Formerly a member of UNIMA’s North America Commission and Research Commission, she served as president of UNIMA’s Publication & Communication Commission from 2010 to 2016. This entailed overseeing preparation of the second edition of UNIMA International’s World Encyclopedia of Puppetry Arts, utilizing the original French-language print version, Encyclopédie Mondiale des Arts de la Marionnette, as the point of departure. The expanded, updated and illustrated encyclopedia was released online in September 2017 in three languages—English, French and Spanish (the last titled Enciclopedia Mundial del Arte de la Marioneta); see: wepa.unima.org. Karen is a member of UNIMA-India and UNIMA-USA, having served on the UNIMA-USA Board of Trustees (2007- 2014 and 2017-2020) and as its president from 2008-2010. Born in Australia and living in California since 2005, she has lived for over 25 years in India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Bangladesh, and Costa Rica, where she has trained and worked as a puppeteer, designer and builder. In New Delhi, India, she worked with three separate companies—the Shri Ram Centre Puppet Repertory, Jan Madhyam, and the Ishara Puppet Theatre directed by Dadi Pudumjee. In Jakarta, Indonesia, she studied Javanese wayang kulit at Sanggar Redi Waluyo under the direction of Pak Kamsu and Sri Rahayu Setyawati. She has contributed reviews and reports of puppet festivals and seminars to journals, has presented papers on Indonesian Wayang and Indian puppetry at various venues in Australia, India, Indonesia, and the USA, and has mounted several exhibitions of Indonesian Wayang in India and California. As a researcher, in 2007 and 2008 she contributed to two independent photo documentaries highlighting UNESCO's Oral Intangible Heritages of Humanity—Indonesian Wayang and Bhutan’s sacred performance, Drametse Ngacham—as part of UNESCO efforts to conserve world heritages. Platform: Being intimately familiar with the programs, operations and institutional needs of UNIMA-USA, Karen’s experience and judgment could prove valuable assets as the incoming board moves forward through the next several years. Also, as a member of UNIMA International’s Executive Committee since 2010 and currently serving as one of its two vice presidents, Karen is well perched to share her international perspective and contacts with the UNIMA-USA Board of Trustees.

Kalob Martinez is an actor who combined his professional interests in stage combat and voice acting and found puppetry. His solo hand puppet show, El Beto, stands as the culmination of his theatrical endeavors in puppet arts, and in 2019 received a Jim Henson Foundation workshop grant. He was an associate artist and ensemble member of Sandglass Theater’s, “Babylon: Journeys of Refugees”, and is in the virtual production of “Rock the Boat". For five seasons he was the associate artist at the Classical Theatre Company in Houston,TX, and as co-director 2020's "Peer Gynt" his puppets and direction earned the "Best Use of Puppetry" award by the Houston Press. He has performed as the mascot, Buster Brackets and Fantasy Frank, for the "Tournament Marathon Challenge" and the "Fantasy Football Marathon" live on ESPN. Martinez is also a seasoned voice over actor for the English dubs of Anime. BA Acting, University of Houston. MFA Puppet Arts, University of Connecticut. Advanced Actor/Combatant, Society of American Fight Directors.

Statement of Intent
 I'm hoping to serve a second term on the UNIMA-USA board. My first term has been a bit of a learning curve for someone who seeks the spotlight. Board work is made up of unsung heroes who get the work done behind the scenes for the good of an organization. I firmly believe that puppetry is an artform that explores what connects us as a humanity which itself promotes understanding and friendship by making audiences laugh and cry. Currently, I serve as Board Secretary where I consolidate reports and take meeting notes - work that is definitely behind the scenes but is vital to UNIMA-USA. I hope to get your vote!

Eric Bass has been a touring puppet artist for over 40 years. His solo performance, Autumn Portraits, created in 1981, has toured to nearly 30 countries. In addition, Eric has created 14 productions for Sandglass Theater, the company he founded with his wife and collaborator, Ines Zeller Bass. Sandglass began in Germany, where Eric lived from 1982 to 1986. Since that time, Eric, Ines, and their family, as well as Sandglass Theater, have been based in southern Vermont. There, Eric directed the first 10 editions of the international Puppets in the Green Mountains Festival, and has brought puppet artists to perform from many countries in Europe, Asia, Australia, and South America, as well as North American artists. He has also directed youth productions and taught young performers at the New England Youth Theater in Brattleboro, Vermont. Eric, Ines, and members of Sandglass Theater have been teaching intensive puppet workshops at Sandglass’ Summer Intensive Training weeks since 2001. He has also taught at the O’Neill Puppetry Conference, and at puppetry academies in Helsinki and Turku (Finland), Bialystok (Poland), Stuttgart (Germany) and at Marlboro College, VT (1996-2001). Eric served on the board of directors of the Network of Ensemble Theaters, Next Stage Arts Project (Putney VT) and, for a two-year term on the board of the Jim Henson Foundation. Eric continues to work as a stage director internationally and in the US.

Statement of intent: UNIMA USA has been a vital presence throughout my career in puppetry, from helping to connect me and other puppeteers to international festivals, to supporting our work of bringing international artists to the US. UNIMA has also been vital in keeping important conversations going among puppeteers here and abroad. As I step down from active leadership of Sandglass Theater, I have an opportunity to give back to UNIMA for the many services and relationships that the organization has provided and facilitated. I can offer years of experience in touring, including skills in networking, budgeting, logistics, and things as basic as how to design a show to pack for shipping. I have also trained as a facilitator, and practice the valuable arts of listening, organizing, and responding in ways that support respectful dialogue. As a festival director, I have worked across borders and in the US to file visa applications for international artists, to understand the needs of a wide range of puppet artists in areas from tech specs to hospitality, and connect other artists to my own community in ways that foster cultural exchange and celebration. I would be happy to bring these skills and experiences to work for UNIMA.

Kathy Foley is Research Professor of Performance, Play, and Design at the University of California, Santa Cruz and Distinguished Professor Emerita and she has taught at University of Hawaii, University of Malaya (Kuala Lumpur), Chulalongkorn University (Bangkok) and Yonsei University (Seoul). She has served as President of UNIMA-USA and on the UNIMA-International Research Commission and Publications and Writing Commission. She edited Asian Theatre Journal from 2005-2018 and was one of the first non-Indonesian to perform in the Indonesia National Wayang Festival (Pekan Wayang) as a dalang. She has presented wayang at the Smithsonian Institution (Washington, D.C.), San Francisco Asian Art Museum, Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.), University of Melbourne (Australia), and other venues. She has curated exhibitions of puppets and masks of South, Southeast Asia, Korea, Thailand, and Malaysia at sites like the East-West Center (Honolulu) and National Geographic Society (Washington). Her work has been supported by Fulbright, Asian Cultural Council, Institute of Sacred Music/Yale University, and East-West Center (Honolulu, HI). Her publications have focused on the performing arts of Southeast Asia. She guest edited the first issue (2023) of Puppetry International Research focusing on Balinese and international puppetry. 

Statement of intent: In returning to the board I would work on continued presentations on selected topics on Zoom and additional experimentation with a more extensive use of Zoom to connect like-minded subgroups in UNIMA-USA (academics, therapists, designers, curators) to learn about each others' work and promote more collaboration. I would continue to promote the fuller representation of the diversity of U. S. puppet work in the online World Encyclopedia of Puppetry Arts and explore how to get more American puppeteers working on/with UNIMA-International commissions. I would like to see us further investigating opportunities for international workshops where American puppeteers can interface with and learn from international master puppeteers.

Lake Simons is a Brooklyn based director, designer, puppeteer, and physical theatre performer. She utilizes movement, puppetry, and live music to create stylized visual storytelling for the stage. Lake has collaborated with a multitude of musicians, performers, designers, and artists in NYC and Texas. She is the Managing Artistic Director of her family’s 48 year old Hip Pocket Theatre in Fort Worth, Texas. Lake teaches puppetry at Sarah Lawrence College, as well as to elementary school age children with Arts Connection. 

Statement of intent: Because my own work is considered experimental (although I have deep admiration for traditional puppetry styles and those artists that uphold tradition), I will be mindful to focus on work that is artful and pushes boundaries and experiments with the form. I am a believer in puppetry as a performing art form. And I am really inspired by puppetry and puppets as performing objects. I believe that my active role in puppetry in NYC as an artist making shows(my own work), as well as my experience as co-director of the Puppet Lab at St Ann’s Warehouse plus my experience as a puppetry educator for young people(4-10) and for college age folks will give a vast perspective of what is going on with puppetry today.

Dr. Jungmin Song is Assistant Professor in Residence at the Department of Dramatic Arts, and Research Associate at the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry in the University of Connecticut (UConn). She is currently serving as a Consultant for the General Secretary of UNIMA International, assisting matters regarding the 2025 UNIMA Congress to be held in Chuncheon, South Korea.

Korean-born, she studied Costume and Textile at Seoul National University and Theatre Design at Central Saint Martins, University Arts London before completing a Ph.D. in performance from the University of Roehampton, London. While studying theatre design and performance art in London, she worked as an assistant puppet maker for Lyndie Wright, MBE and Peter O’Rouke at the Little Angel Theatre. After completing her Ph.D., she taught puppetry as an adjunct lecturer at the University of Kent (2015) and the UConn Puppet Arts program (2017). She edited a special issue of the magazine Puppet Notebook on Shakespeare and Puppetry for British UNIMA in 2017.

She moved to the U.S with two young children and her husband Matthew Isaac Cohen, when he was appointed as a full professor at the UConn Puppet Arts program in 2019. A year later, she was appointed as an assistant professor in residence in the Department of Dramatic Arts and the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry. To date, she has curated two exhibitions for the Ballard - Shakespeare and Puppetry (2020) and Puppetry’s Racial Reckoning (2021). She is currently working on an exhibition due to open in autumn 2023 on the stories of donators of the Ballard collection and their puppets. She is a member of her department’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. 

Statement of intent: As staff of UNIMA International, I am supporting UNIMA Korea for its communication with the Secretariat, the Executive Committee, National Centers and Commissions, and advising on programing the 2025 Congress and the accompanying festival and symposium. While I cannot prioritize UNIMA USA’s interests, I can promise that if elected to the Board, UNIMA USA will be kept abreast of the progress of the organization of the 2025 Congress.

As a curator at one of the country’s main puppet museums, I am keen for UNIMA to get more involved in museum affairs, including collaborating with museums with puppet collections on planning exhibitions, outreach activities, and research. I aim to share knowledge of the history of American and international puppetry through its performance remains. 

Gretchen Van Lente is the Artistic Director of Drama of Works (DOW), a freelance theater director and a full-time Special Education public school theater teacher. She has been working in the field of puppetry and visual theater since 1995. Since this time, outside of the over a dozen award-winning shows she has created with DOW, she has been a freelance director, designer, and teaching artist. She has taken DOW to over 11 international festivals, from as close as Canada, to as far as Indonesia. She was the youngest president of UNIMA-USA since Jim Henson when she served previously on the board and also served as an international councilor. She received her BFA in illustration from Parsons School of Design, her BA in theater from Eugene Lang College, an MFA in directing from Brooklyn College, and an MS in Education from Pace University. 

Statement of intent: My priorities serving on the board would be to continue looking toward the future. UNIMA-USA needs to continue actively engaging younger puppet artists, and making the organization a desirable thing to be a part of. Access to scholarships, festival information, and other resources is a way to keep the organization a vital part of the puppetry community. Continuing to make collaborating with Puppeteers of America a priority is also very important. My relevant experience is that I was once the president of UNIMA-USA and had a pretty successful run of it. I also served as an international councilor and went to the UNIMA Congress in Perth, and served on the Commission for Cooperation within UNIMA-International as well. I am still in touch with many of the colleagues I met through this time and look forward to having the opportunity to reconnect with them in a meaningful way again. Being a part of the global puppetry community is extremely important to me as not only an artist, but also as an activist, and a citizen of the world.

Hello! I am a working puppeteer from New York City - my company WonderSpark Puppets has been live streaming, performing in-person, doing teaching artist workshops - anything and everything during these lean times just like all my fellow artists out there.

Statement of intent: For the last three years I have had the pleasure of working as a board member of UNIMA-USA. The board is an amazing collection of some of the most passionate puppeteers in our country and it has been a blast working hard alongside them.

In my first term I formed a solid social media team that works in tandem with our website staff to crank out original content and share a constant feed of puppetry from all over the world. I asked the board in 2019 to create a permanent paid social media position which 2 puppeteers have held (supporting them through the pandemic). Our feed is often the face of UNIMA-USA and a direct connection from all the international UNIMAs, festivals, grants, news etc. to our membership and followers. In my second term I want to expand my duties to other committees and continue to execute the mission of this great organization.

F. Elaine Williams is a scenographer and professor in Bucknell University’s Department of Theatre and Dance. At Bucknell and as an Affiliated Artist at Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble, she has designed scenery and costumes and collaborated on the development of new plays that integrate puppetry and transformational objects within the stage environment. Her collaborations as a scene and puppet designer for the Center for Puppetry include Stellaluna, Beauty and the Beast, The Plant Doctors, and Frankenstein, adapted/written/directed by Jon Ludwig; and Tales of Edgar Allan Poe, Winnie-the-Pooh, and Anne Frank: Within and Without, adapted/written/directed by Bobby Box. The Plant Doctors and Anne Frankreceived Citations of Excellence from UNIMA-USA. She designed puppets and scenery for Georgia’s official folk life play, Swamp Gravy: The Big Picture by Jo Carson and others and strongly supports community performance. Elaine’s passion for puppetry is fueled by making new work, seeing national and international productions, participating in workshops, and hosting residencies with exceptional puppetry artists at Bucknell. She joined Dell’Arte International in Bali to study shadow puppetry and masks. Elaine’s M.F.A. in scenography is from University of Georgia and B.A. in art and theatre is from Agnes Scott College.

Portfolio: http://elainewilliams.blogs.bucknell.edu



Statement of intent: 
UNIMA-USA has deepened my understanding of puppetry in its myriad forms. I welcome the opportunity to give back by helping connect artists with artists and performances with our audiences. My interim board appointment continues to teach me how we can collaboratively amplify artist voices and facilitate community connection and conversation across differences locally and globally. I champion the interdisciplinary intersections in the visual and performing arts as we find new models to best support individuals, companies, and theatres dedicated to developing new work in these challenging times.