Workshops & Lectures



Hosting a screening of Handmade Puppet Dreams? 

You can enhance your screening experience with workshops, presentations, introductions, filmmaker Q&A, or even gallery exhibits of Handmade Puppet Dreams film puppets! Browse below for some of the opportunities Handmade Puppet Dreams can offer your screening. New filmmaker presentations and workshops are always available, please feel free to contact us at film@ibexpuppetry.com to discuss designing a presentation, gallery, or workshop(s) to suit your audience.

Remember, proceeds from your screening and workshops stay with your organization, while any screening or workshop fees IBEX collects go directly back to the individual artists whose films are shown in the series. Contact film@ibexpuppetry.com for more information.



John E. Kennedy on Puppetry
Length: 60 minutes | Ages: All

How do you get to Sesame Street?

John E. Kennedy discusses his journey as a professional puppeteer. Hired by Jim Henson, John performed on productions such as Dinosaurs, Sesame Street, and Muppets From Space. He has written two puppet-making books, Puppet Mania and Puppet Planet and coordinated for film and television.
    • Learn more about John E. Kennedy here
    • See pictures from these workshops here (coming soon)



The Sweatshirt Sheep Workshop by John E. Kennedy
Length: 120 minutes Ages: All (parents, please assist children not yet in third grade) All materials are provided. Limited to 25 participants.


View John E. Kennedy’s short film, The Sure Sheep, then learn the skills of puppet-making by creating your very own sheep puppets. John will then lead a performance workshop introducing the technique of television monitor performance.
    • Learn more about John E. Kennedy here
    • See pictures from these workshops here (coming soon)





Handmade Puppet Dreams For Families Workshop
Length: 60-80 minutes | Ages: All

View a collection of child-friendly films from around the world. Watch the antics of a crane and tortoise from a classic Chinese folk tale, a yodeler outsmart a mountain goat, and a young sock puppet sing to her cookies. 

Join us afterward for a free puppet-making workshop, where you’ll build paper puppet animals designed by John E. Kennedy. Parents and children can work together to create animals to enjoy long after the show has ended. 
    • Learn more about John E. Kennedy here
    • See pictures from these workshops here (coming soon)





Sculpting in Paperclay for Puppets with Sam Koji Hale
Length: 180 minutes | Ages: Adult (pre-teens and adolescents with prior approval) Material fee: $10 (included Paperclay & tools)

Paperclay is an amazing material that can be sculpted, painted, and stained like wood. Paperclay is environment-friendly, user-friendly, lightweight, and perfect for puppets. 

In this hands-on workshop, participants will learn how to sculpt a puppet head of their design. They will learn proper handling of the material, detailing and finishing, the use of water for smoothing and blending, how to take dried pieces and rework them with sculpting tools, how to strengthen the material with urethanes and epoxies, and mold-making techniques. 
    • Learn more about Sam Koji Hale here
    • See pictures from this workshop here