Photo courtesy Nicole Neri

History

Full Moon Puppet Arts began as The Full Moon Puppet Show in 2008 with liz HOWLS and Olli Johnson.  Together they created a monthly goal to make a puppet show every full moon.  The first show was performed in the green space outside the Seward Cafe.  From there, more artists joined in on the monthly goal with musicians playing live music between acts.  By the third show, they came to the Bedlam Theatre on the West Bank.  For the next two years the show performed every month at the Bedlam and Liz became lead curator and organizer.  When the Bedlam lost their space the show traveled to backyards, warehouses, gardens, and old store fronts with decorations for each themed moon, signature drinks and food cooked from Sister’s Camelot donated veggies and fruit.  It was always a team of people organizing and making each show happen - especially during this itinerant year.

After 3 years and 36 shows the project took a break and returned a year later at Open Eye Theatre with staff support for lighting and sound!  Full Moon now encompasses more than just an annual puppet show of short form works which is why it rebranded in 2025 to Full Moon Puppet Arts.  The organization now includes an online 6 month workshop series, a 6 month Original Works Slam program and a Mutual Aid workshop intensive on large-scale puppet building.  Full Moon continues to grow but remains an organization that believes in experimenting with puppetry and including the audience/community in the experience.