Center for Puppetry Arts

Help Us Pull Some Strings

In 1978, Kermit the Frog and Jim Henson joined our founder, Vince Anthony, to cut the ribbon for the grand opening of the Center for Puppetry Arts.  In our 45 years, the Center’s fully staged puppet theater productions, curriculum-based workshops, interactive museum exhibitions, and in-person and virtual outreach programs have engaged hundreds of thousands of students, artists, and audiences in Atlanta and beyond. 

Since our founding, we have called Atlanta’s former Spring Street Elementary School building (built in 1914) our home. We have added onto the original school building, expanding our theaters and museum, and renovating as needed. But at its core, our home is 100+ years old. Like any old building, it continues to present challenges that strain our budget each year. This year, we are replacing two large HVAC units in one of our theaters, and several other mechanical concerns have been noted as priorities by our maintenance teams. Gifts of any size can help us with the major facilities projects we have to keep up with year to year, so we are sure to stay up and running!

Spring Street Elementary School building is not only the Center’s long-time home, but an important site in Atlanta’s public school history. The children of many prominent Atlantans, including Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and Ralph David Abernathy attended the school. The school building is still prominent on our campus, and the main building through which visitors enter. The Center’s education wing on the second floor still retains the interior architecture of the old school, with visitors filling classrooms, walking across the creaky wooden floors, and even exploring a preserved chalkboard with social studies lessons from the 1930s. The Center has always valued its role as the school’s stewards. We see our history as a fitting continuation of the school’s legacy. Supporters like you help us keep that legacy living.

This giving season, we ask for your help to ensure that our unique programs and accessible arts experiences continue for generations to come! Your gift can support our arts and cultural programming and help us keep up with repairs and maintenance to our historic home. 

Did you know?

• In our 22-23 season, 72,000+ area students, 14,000 of whom are from Title I schools, came to the Center for an arts and cultural experience like no other.
• The Center’s virtual programming reaches all 50 states and 90 countries.
• Each year, we bring traveling artists to our stages, supporting puppeteers and creatives from around the world!
• Our museum presents 3-4 rotating exhibitions each year.
• The Center’s museum collections include more than 4,000 puppets and related props from significant traditions and artists in the field.
• Our theaters welcome guests to more than 400 performances each year, with shows catered to family audiences as well as adults.
• The Center regularly creates NEW fully-staged puppet theater productions made by theater professionals right here in Atlanta. This year, Tesla vs. Edison was nominated for 7 Suzi Bass Awards, winning 3!
• The Center is a welcoming space for everyone, presenting an annual calendar of sensory-friendly days, ASL-interpreted shows, and audio-described shows.

None of this is possible without supporters like you!

For more information visit puppet.org