Cheryl Henson and Karen Falk talk about Jim Henson's puppets
On Nov. 14, the Center for Puppetry Arts will open its new museum with a large section dedicated to Jim Henson and his puppets. For those unfamiliar with big birds and prissy pigs, Henson is the creator of the Muppets and multiple TV shows including “Sesame Street.”
Cheryl Henson, Jim Henson’ daughter, was in Atlanta last week to present at Dragon Con. She is the president of the Jim Henson Foundation, which awards grants to puppet performers and innovators.
In light of the upcoming opening of the new museum, Cheryl Henson and Jim Henson archivist Karen Falk spoke with “City Lights” producer Gabbie Watts at the Center of Puppetry Arts.
Jim Henson is best known for the Muppets, but Cheryl Henson and Falk said that the Center for Puppetry Arts museum will highlight the whole breadth of his work.
“One of the efforts is to provide [museum-goers] with a range of puppets from the body of Jim’s work,” Falk said. “So there are shadows puppets that was used on ‘The Muppet Show.’ There’s a really early puppet named Omar from the ‘Sam and Friends Show’ in the 1950s … People haven’t seen this character for 60 years.”
“He was fascinated with marionettes,” said Cheryl Henson about her father. The Center for Puppetry Arts will feature some of the marionette puppets and marionette technologies Jim Henson used in the shows and movies he created. “One of my favorites is LeRoy the Donkey. He’s almost a full-scale donkey.”
The Henson family has donated 460 artifacts to the Center for Puppetry Arts, of which 350 are puppets. The Center will present the items on a rotating basis with 75 out at a time depending on space and the durability of the puppets. There will also be an area that features artifacts from Jim Henson’s work area.
Beyond highlighting the diversity of her father’s work at the Center for Puppetry Arts, Cheryl Henson supports diversity in the contemporary puppet world. The Jim Henson Foundation has awarded over 700 grants to over 300 artists.
“My dad started the Jim Henson Foundation in 1982, specifically to support artists working in their own styles of puppetry,” said Cheryl Henson. “He saw that puppeteers were really getting pressured into doing the Muppet style … Nobody should be pushed into just imitating someone else’ work.”
Of course, the Center for Puppetry Arts will continue to feature Kermit, Big Bird and Miss Piggy in her fancy “Treasure Island” costume.
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