John Bell
Museum Director
john.bell@uconn.edu
Dr. John Bell is a puppeteer and theater historian who began working in puppetry with Bread and Puppet Theater in the 1970s, and continued as a company member for over a decade. He studied theater history at Columbia University, and has since taught at New York University, Rhode Island School of Design, Emerson College and other institutions. He is a founding member of the Brooklyn-based theater company Great Small Works, and the author of many books and articles about puppetry, including Puppets, Masks, and Performing Objects, Strings, Hands, Shadows: A Modern Puppet History, and American Puppet Modernism. His wife Trudi Cohen is also a puppeteer and member of Great Small Works. Their son Isaac is studying at Massachusetts College of Art and Design.
Harley Walker
Graduate Assistant
harley.walker@uconn.edu
Harley Walker is a puppeteer and storyteller who discovered her love of both while she was alone in her room during a global pandemic. Since then, she’s written an award-winning solo shadow puppetry show, Not My Grandmother’s Daughter, which she will be taking to the 2025 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and she has continued to sprint towards every puppetry opportunity that has crossed her path. harleywalker.com
Emily Wicks
Manager of Operations and Collections
emily.wicks@uconn.edu | 860.486.8585
Emily Wicks received her MA in History and MLIS degree, with a specialization in Museum Studies and Archival Management, from Kent State University in Ohio. She has experience in cultural resource management, historical research, and museums. Before joining the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, Emily worked for the Shaker Historical Society in Shaker Heights, Ohio and the ACLU of Ohio.