Not only do the shows go on at the Center for Puppetry Arts even as construction continues on its new Worlds of Puppetry museum scheduled to open this fall, but ambitious plans for more have been set, too.
The Midtown arts institution has announced an extensive 2015-16 lineup that will include a world premiere based on the 2001 Caldecott Honor book “Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type” and a presentation of “The Sound of Music” by Austria’s Salzburg Marionette Theatre.
The lineup (productions are by the puppetry center unless noted):
Family series
May 26-June 7: "My Life as a Fairy Tale: The Ugly Duckling" by Open Eye Figure Theatre of Minneapolis. Hans Christian Andersen story is told using only an assemblage of found objects and odd furniture.
June 9-July 26: "Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type." Jon Ludwig and Jason von Hinezmeyer adapt the tongue-in-cheek tale about bovines who refuse to provide milk until their farmer gives them electric blankets.
July 28-April 9: "The Reluctant Dragon" by Tears of Joy Theatre of Portland, Ore.
Aug. 11-Sept. 20: "The Tortoise, the Hare, & Other Aesop's Fables," a Theatre for the Very Young (ages 2 and up) show adapted from Aesop's fables by Michael Haverty.
Sept. 22-Oct. 25: "Peter Pan."
Oct. 27-Nov. 8: "The 3 Little Pigs & More," drawn from folk tales from around the world, by Grey Seal Puppets of Charlotte.
Nov. 10-Dec. 27, 2015: "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." The Ludwig-adapted holiday favorite returns.
Dec. 29-Jan. 10, 2016: "Pinocchio!" by Lee Bryan, That Puppet Guy, of Atlanta.
Jan. 13-24, 2016: "Brother Coyote and Sister Fox," a bilingual adaptation of the Mexican folk tale, by Thistle Theatre of Seattle.
Jan. 26-March 10, 2016: "Space!" Ludwig's final-frontier musical returns.
March 12, 2016: "The Sound of Music," Salzburg Marionette Theatre's detailed marionette adaptation featuring favorite Rodgers and Hammerstein songs.
March 11-April 3, 2016: "Galapagos George, The Little Tortoise That Could," an "eco-fable" by Barefoot Puppets of Richmond, Va.
April 5-May 22, 2016: "Beauty and the Beast."
New Directions Series (adults, teens)
Oct. 14-31, 2015: "The Ghastly Dreadfuls: Raising Spirits." Remounting of Ludwig's and von Hinezmeyer's Halloween show will include new scenes.
Feb. 23-28, 2016: "The Secret Garden" by Simpich Marionettes of Colorado Springs, Colo. Hand-carved marionettes are featured in this adaption of Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel.
May 12-15, 2016: "Xperimental Puppetry Theater" by various artists. Not for kids or faint of heart.
1404 Spring St. N.W., Atlanta. 404-873-3391, www.puppet.org.
EVENT
Good golly, it’s time for History Center shearing
Since arriving at the Atlanta History Center nearly a year ago, the little Angora goat named Little Richard has impressed staff and visitors with his, um, tutti-frutti personality.
Taking long walks around the campus with historic farmer Brett Bannor, he’s shown affection for people, jumping up on barrels and, most of all, peanuts.
During the annual family program Sheep to Shawl, 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Saturday, he’ll be among the center’s barnyard critters receiving a spring shearing.
In addition to finding out all about the yarn and cloth-making process, visitors can enjoy bluegrass music, folk tales and talks about Southern food traditions, watch crafts demonstrations and partake of a petting zoo. At 10:45 a.m. and 12:15 and 1:45 p.m. there will be “Meet the Past” theater performances of “Clay: Palm to Earth,” the story of enslaved South Carolina folk potter David Drake.
Free with museum admission. 130 W. Paces Ferry Road N.W., Atlanta. 404-814-4000, www.atlantahistory center.com.
VISUAL ART
First artist selected for Mint Gallery residency
Mint Gallery has announced the selection of Rachel Simone James, a Canadian artist who now calls Brooklyn home, for a new residency program, Process Residency.
James will utilize the Poncey-Highland gallery’s space as a working studio from May 1 to 17, with the resulting project open to the public in an exhibit from May 17 to 31.
On her website, James describes herself as "a sound-based artist interested in the profundity of embarrassment as a human condition."
Her work has been showcased at institutions including New York’s La MaMa and MoMA PS1.
636 N. Highland Ave. N.E., Atlanta. 770-595-4248, www.mintatl.org.
Atlanta connections in exhibit at N.C.’s Bascom
There is a strong Atlanta connection in the new exhibition "Appropriation Art: Finding Meaning in Found-Image Collage," on view through May 31 at the Bascom: A Center for the Visual Arts in Highlands, N.C., just over the state line from the northeast Georgia town of Dillard.
The show includes a major work by Atlantan Radcliffe Bailey, "En Route," on loan from the High Museum of Art, as well as pieces by Flora Rosefsky, who works out of Decatur's Sycamore Place Gallery and Studios. "Appropriation Art" was organized by former Atlantan Margaret Browne, who recently was appointed Bascom exhibitions curator.
Exhibit reception and panel discussion: 5-7 p.m. April 18. 323 Franklin Road, Highlands, N.C. 828-526-4949, www.thebascom.org.
