Puppetry at the Icebox
“I Was Told There Would Be Puppets” showcase took center stage at the Icebox Project Space, representing Tyler’s School of Art and Architecture’s Special Topics: Fall term Puppetry course.
Temple’s Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Sculpture division, showcased the Puppeteering course’s final at the Icebox Project Space in Olde Kensington. Ollie Goss, a Temple alumni, returned as an adjunct professor to teach Fall 2025’s Special Topics: Intro to Puppetry, Bringing Static Form to Life.
Goss has been a puppeteer for 10 years, “The [graduate program] was looking for more expansive courses in the Sculpture department, it just seemed like a good fit for me”
The student MC asked the audience for one thing, “We want the performers to feel your presence. If something is worthy of applause, clap. If something is funny, laugh. If something is sad, you can cry real tears.”
Students brought an array of imaginative sculptures to perform on stage, but the heavy task tackled during the semester would be wooden marionettes. The carving process for these marionettes took the students six or seven weeks to complete. Each learned to utilize hand crafting tools, and applied mathematics that would contribute to the quality of the finished sculpture. Jin Stanton, a Media Studies and Production major said, “ Our professor introduced us to Marionettes like ‘These are the hardest puppets to make, now go make them.’ We made up an idea, spent a lot of time in the wood shop, and we had to pick one thing it did very well, and do it.”
Renne Hawbaker, a ceramics student showcased a crankie puppet. A crankie puppet is a box built with two spools inside. The spools have handles that can be ‘cranked’ to allow movement to an illustrated scroll that connects to the spools inside. The story that came to life with this sculpture was titled, “The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing.” A story about a wolf who is looking for food disguises itself in the hide of a victimized sheep, meets a sheep who fails to see through his disguise. Although the wolf is hunting the sheep, it is unable to attack due to the warm nature and hospitality of the sheep. In the end, the wolf comes clean to the sheep about who they really are. Fortunately, they find a compromise where both will remain unharmed with the shepherd.
“Taking this class, I’ve experienced so many great puppeteering performances that are really complex and really interesting. It’s an art form that not a lot of people know about, but once you know about it, it is definitely worthwhile.” said Hawbaker
The show ended with a gathering of string puppets on stage, along with a reception of flowers and celebration for the puppeteers’ hard work. Special Topics: Puppetry course is offered to anyone at Temple and will be offered Spring 2026. This is Goss’s third performance to date, “I really do believe that there’s something really special that happens when we gather for a performance. It’s always just great to see people coming out in person, interacting around performance.”
