Mutual Aid Workshop
Full Moon Mutual Aid Workshopis a 10 week intensive to teach community artists large puppet construction. A puppet is designed by 6 Lead Artists, staff and a teaching artist for a partner organization, and built by 70+ community artists in open workshops.
Past Mutual Aid Workshops
2025 Partner Organization: Brass Solidarity
2024 Partner Organization: Spill Paint Not Oil
2022 Partner Organization: INQUILINXS UNIDXS POR JUSTICIA: United Renters for Justice
2021 Partner Organization: Honor The Earth
Lead Artist Testimonials
“Being a part of the project allowed me to connect deeper with community and explore ways that art can move a organization’s mission forward. It was a beautiful collaboration experience and I got to meet incredible artists and community members through it. The best way to learn puppetry is through community!”
-2025 Mutual Aid Lead Artist“Being a supporting artist with Full Moon Mutual Aid program enabled me to give back to my community while building a stronger community myself. Partnering with Big Animal Productions and building in their studio unleashed creativity beyond my own imagination. The use of recycled materials was an added bonus.”
-2025 Mutual Aid Lead Artist“I think the purpose of the Mutual Aid Workshop is to create some really amazing work that benefits a mutual aid/social justice-focused organization, while bringing together puppet and theatre & concept-oriented artists to work together in new ways/share skills.”
-2024 Mutual Aid Lead Artist
Full Moon Mutual Aid Workshop Info
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Lead Artists earn an hourly wage as they learn to design and build the puppet.
Community Workshop days are free or by donation.
Lead Artists gain valuable resume-building experience.
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Community Workshops equip participants with engineering and construction skills while highlighting the impactful work of partner organizations.
Workshop participants represent a blend of Full Moon’s and the partner organization’s outreach communities, fostering connection and collaboration.
On average 70+ students participate in Community Workshops, many attending multiple sessions.
The puppets are donated to the community organization, where they continue to be used at events and gatherings.
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Christopher Lutter (Bush Fellowship recipient with 20+ years of experience building large-scale puppets) is a designer, inventor, and teaching artist who creates puppets, masks, and theatrical installations using primarily waste-stream materials.
Magdalena Kaluza has 15+ years of experience in community arts and organizing. They are a Co-op Culture Organizer with United Renters for Justice, helping 60 families build a permanently affordable housing cooperative in south Minneapolis.
Andrew Young is a Taiwanese-Indonesian-American puppeteer, artist, and educator in Minneapolis. Trained through Monkeybear’s Harmolodic workshop, they’ve been a Full Moon Staff member and teaching artist since 2018.
Kallie Melvin born in Calcutta and raised in Minnesota, is a theater and dance artist with 15+ years of professional experience. She has performed with Guthrie, Mixed Blood, Stages, Children’s Theater, Illusion, and Pangea, and has been a Full Moon staff member since 2022.
Liping Vong is a multidisciplinary artist working in puppetry, theater, film, and visual arts. A Monkeybear Harmolodic Workshop alumnus and 2022 Puppet Lab Fellow, she has been a Full Moon staff member since 2024, contributing her creative expertise.