The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry (BIMP) is a

public museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

of puppetry operated by the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...

and located in Storrs,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

Overview

The Ballard houses one of the three largest puppetry collections in the United States. Its permanent collection of over 2,500 puppets from all over the world includes marionettes, glove puppets, rod puppets, shadow puppets, body puppets, and stage materials. In addition, the Institute houses the Puppeteers of America’s Audio-Visual Collection, which is the largest media collection (over 700 items) on puppetry in the United States. These media are housed in the Kay Janney Library and Archives, which also is home to a small research collection of more than 2,500 books, scripts, manuscripts, clippings, posters, and audio-visual material related to the history of puppet theater worldwide. The Janney Library is open to visiting researchers by appointment. In addition to collecting materials to support research, the Ballard hosts frequent puppetry festivals, exhibits, and dramatic performances, most notably the 2015 National Puppetry Festival. The Institute also conducts puppet-making workshops and participates in local parades and cultural events. The Institute was named after Frank W. Ballard (1929-2010), founder of UConn's Puppet Arts Program, which are the first graduate and undergraduate programs in puppetry in the United States. Its managing director is John Bell, a former

Bread and Puppet Theater The Bread and Puppet Theater (often known simply as Bread & Puppet) is a Political radicalism, politically radical puppet theater, active since the 1960s, based in Glover, Vermont . The theater was co-founded by Elka and Peter Schumann. Peter is ...

company member and an associate professor of Dramatic Arts at UConn's School of Fine Arts. Previously located on UConn's Depot Campus, the Ballard was moved to the newly constructed Storrs Center in 2014. It shares space with Barnes & Noble. UConn is the only institution in the United States that offers a master's degree in puppetry.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1987 establishments in Connecticut Museums established in 1987 Puppet museums in the United States Museums in Tolland County, Connecticut University of Connecticut University museums in Connecticut