Margo McCreary · Odds and Ends

Big Projects Brewing

I have been collecting used materials for a puppet trailer that I will be building with the expert help of inventor/ engineer Willis Bowman. So far I have lots of lumber pulled from piles at a soon-to-be riding stable for disabled riders, siding from an old granary from Moonstone Farm out in Montevideo, some corrugated steel, a ping pong table, a wooden ironing board from the alley, a curvaceous piano piece. I have purchased a flatbed 5X9 trailer to use as my base.

I am working on developing a new show with Jack the Dog as my main character. He continues to be a great character to work for! I have been given the gift of a room to work in at Northeast United Methodist Church for a couple of months in exchange for doing “something puppety” for a Sunday service! That is a real boon, as my studio is too crowded to move in just now!

I have written an Arts Tour Grant to the Minnesota State Arts Board, which would help me take my trailer and my puppet show around to a variety of spots this coming summer! I am waiting to hear the outcome of that! Keep your fingers crossed!! I am working on the show that will travel in the trailer, and soon to hand off a script to Marya Hart, composer and lyricist extraordinaire, so that she can compose music and songs for my characters to sing!

Teaching Artist

Children feeling Otter Pelt — Children feeling the pelt of an otter down at Lagoon Park by the Chippewa River as part of the learning for “We Celebrate the River.”

My teaching life continues. I work monthly with the non-profit Breanna’s Gift. I get to bring art experiences to children who are dealing with cancer. It is a great way to lighten their load for a time as they create puppets, shrinky dinks, marbled papers, needlework. I get to expand my artistic repertoire as I bring projects into the children and their siblings!

I also am teaching out in Montevideo, MN for another two weeks in a residency project called “We Celebrate the River,” supported by an Arts Learning Grant from the MSAB. I am working along side of poet Florence Dacey and poet / visual artist Marie Olafsdotter. I get to work with the third graders as we look into animal life in and alongside of the Chippewa River. What a rich topic for puppet characters and stories. Eagles, otters, snapping turtles to clams!

I will be out there for a celebration of our creative work at the Hollywood Theater on December 10^th, and then teaching again in February.