The Ballard Institute will welcome UConn Puppet Arts alumna Carole D’Agostino ’97 (SFA) to perform The Tiny Bird Show on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, at 11 a.m. in the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs.

The Tiny Bird Show is an interactive miniature puppet show all about the joy of backyard birds! Carole shares fun facts about each bird, including their songs, what they eat, and how you can bring them to your feeder. Small but mighty, the show is presented in the toy theater style using colorful rod puppets that charm audiences with surprising and clever ways to identify new friends! Everyone will help find a mystery bird, a pesky squirrel, and some artful insects. There’s even a special spotlight on the state bird of Connecticut! Discovery and delight await you at The Tiny Bird Show!

UConn Puppet Arts alumna Carole D’Agostino is a versatile performer, puppet builder, and presenter. She has built and designed puppets for the Center for Puppetry Arts, Jim Henson Creature Shop NYC, the Kennedy Center, Disney, and Sesame Place theme parks. Her designs and creations have appeared in film and Broadway, as well as national and international puppet festivals.

Ticket Prices: Adults: $12; Members/Seniors: $10; Students: $8; Kids (12 and under): $6. Tickets may be purchased in advance at the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, by calling 860-486-8580, or online at s.uconn.edu/bimp-ticketleap. A surcharge will be added to online purchases. Tickets may also be purchased at the Ballard Institute on the day of the performance beginning at 10 a.m. All seating is general admission; specific seats cannot be reserved.

Visitors may park in the Downtown Storrs Garage, located at 33 Royce Circle. For more information about the performance or to request accommodation to attend this event, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860-486-8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.

The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry and the UConn Puppet Arts Program will present the 2026 UConn Fall Puppet Slam on Friday, Oct. 30, 2026, at 8 p.m. in UConn’s von der Mehden Recital Hall located at 875 Coventry Rd, Storrs, CT 06269. The UConn Fall Puppet Slam will feature new and experimental short works by professional puppeteers and performers, including New York-based puppeteer J Hann and UConn Puppet Arts alum Esme Roszel, UConn Art and Art History professor John O’Donnell, as well as new works by UConn Puppet Arts students. Mansfield’s Waldron’s Studio 88 will return once more as the Puppet Slam house band.

The 2026 UConn Fall Puppet Slam welcomes New York-based fiber artist and puppeteer J Hann and puppeteer Esme Roszel, who will perform a short excerpt from Bequeathed, a surreal, semi-autobiographical tale about the fight to unravel the gender binary. Bequeathed had its world premiere in June at Dixon Place and has received support from The Jim Henson Foundation, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New York State Council on the Arts, and Foundation for Contemporary Arts.

The UConn Fall Puppet Slam will also feature work by UConn Art and Art History professor John O’Donnell, as well as new works by graduate and undergraduate students from the UConn Puppet Arts Program. Funding for the slam is made possible, in part, by the Puppet Slam Network. These performances are recommended for mature audiences. Audiences are encouraged to get into the Halloween spirit by attending in costume.

The UConn Fall Puppet Slam is free and open to the public; donations are greatly appreciated. Seating is limited and is on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. The event will take place in UConn’s von der Mehden Recital Hall located at 875 Coventry Rd, Storrs, CT 06269 (Directions and Parking). For more information about the performance or if you require accommodations, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860-486-8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.

As part of its 2026 Fall Puppet Forum Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will host Making Wildwood: The Craft of Stop-Motion Puppetry on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026, at 6:30 p.m. in the in the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs.

Join guest moderator Allison Paul, a UConn Associate Professor of Illustration/Animation, as she talks with UConn Puppet Arts alum Maggie Flanagan ’20 (SFA) about what it takes to work in stop-motion animation! Maggie will share thoughts on their creative journey and insights from their time at LAIKA, an independent stop-motion animation company located in Hillsboro, OR, just outside of Portland, which recently produced Wildwood, the longest stop-motion feature film to date. Maggie will discuss what it was like working behind the scenes on Wildwood and the practical skills it took to contribute to the making of the film, from starting in the Puppet Department as a mold maker and silicone caster to working on set with animators as a member of the Puppet Hospital.

Maggie Flanagan is a puppeteer and stop-motion puppet fabricator hailing from Laconia, NH. They work in Portland, OR, most recently wrapping production on LAIKA’s new feature-length stop motion film Wildwood. Outside of their work in stop-motion, they teach puppet-building workshops at conventions around the country and run a small business specializing in custom character puppets. Maggie is a proud alum of the UConn Puppet Arts MFA program.

­­­This event is generously sponsored by The Straighter Fund, UConn Art and Art History, and UConn Digital Media and Design.

Admission to this forum is free (donations greatly appreciated!), and refreshments will be served. For more information or to request an accommodation, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860.486.8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.

As part of its 2026 Fall Puppet Forum Series, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will host “Building Night Fall: Community Storytelling Through UpCycled Art & Puppetry,” a discussion with Jeanika Browne-Springer, Bryan Swormstedt, and Alfi Free ’27 (SFA) on Sept. 28 at 6:30 p.m. in the Ballard Institute Theater, located at 1 Royce Circle, Storrs, CT. This forum will also be streamed live on the Ballard Institute’s Facebook page. 

Join Night Fall Executive Director Jeanika Browne-Springer, Night Fall Production Manager and UConn Dramatic Arts alumnus Bryan Swormstedt ‘12, and UConn Puppet Arts undergraduate student Alfi Free ’27 (SFA) for a conversation about the making of Night Fall, Hartford’s annual free and magical public production that brings the people of Greater Hartford together in early October to showcase local artists, city parks, and the city’s creative spirit. Moderated by Ballard Institute Interim Artistic Director Matt Sorensen, the forum will explore how Night Fall reflects the cultural richness of Hartford through artistic collaboration, community engagement, and performances. Panelists will discuss the scripting and design process, including the creative reuse of materials to build sets, props, and puppets. They’ll also explore how artists and community members collaborate to create language-free performances that examine environmental shifts around us—from animal migrations and city pollution to complex emotions like grief and leaving home. Through humor, improvisation, original music, and choreography, Night Fall brings these stories to life.

Admission to this forum is free (donations greatly appreciated!), and refreshments will be served. For more information or to request an accommodation, please contact Ballard Institute staff at 860.486.8580 or bimp@uconn.edu.

Night Fall will take place on Saturday, October 3, in Elizabeth Park in Hartford. To learn more, visit https://nightfallhartford.org/.

About the Speakers

Jeanika Browne-Springer (she/her) is a multifaceted creative administrator and advocate for creative placemaking. She has a Masters in Education from the University of Saint Joseph (West Hartford, CT) in the Multiple Intelligences and BA from Trinity College (Hartford, CT) in Theater & Dance, minoring in Studio Arts and Urban Studies. 

Her career started as a Hartford public elementary schoolteacher, transitioned into grant writing, marketing, and programming at an arts education non profit adjacent to the public school district. She became the Director of LifeLongLearning at HartBeat Ensemble, a social justice community-based theater company and is now a Grant Officer at CT Humanities. She is also an adjunct professor at Gateway Community College in partnership with the International Festival of Art & Ideas in addition to now being named the Executive Director at Night Fall Inc.  

Bryan Swormstedt is a film and theater director constantly inspired and motivated by the creation of new works. He is the creator and director of Potbelly: A Puppetry Cooking Show with numerous film festival awards across the country and voted “Best  of Fest” at the Hartford Fringe Festival 2020. Currently he is in post-production on his first feature film set in Connecticut. He has a BFA from the University of Connecticut in Theater and an MFA from Savannah College of Art Design for Film and Television.  

He has directed previous plays with both actor and puppet ensembles, such as, “She Kills Monsters” and “Begets: Fall of a High School Ronin.” He is also on the board for Night Fall, as well as Production Manager for their upcoming performance in Fall of 2026.

The Ballard Institute will once again offer fall community puppet-building workshops to design and build life-size and over-life-size puppets for a new pageant production to be performed at the Celebrate Mansfield Festival in Downtown Storrs. These free workshops will be led by internationally acclaimed puppeteer and pageant director Sara Peattie of Boston’s Puppeteers Cooperative and will build puppets to be used in the

From Microscopic to Mighty: A Connecticut Underwater Adventure Pageant, which will take audiences on an underwater journey to discover how some of the tiniest living things—phytoplankton—help support an incredible web of life, from schools of fish and playful seals to magnificent turtles and whales. From Microscopic to Mighty will be an exciting family-friendly spectacle performed at the Celebrate Mansfield Festival on the afternoon of Sept. 26.

No experience is necessary to participate in these free community puppet-building workshops. Space is limited, so advance registration is strongly encouraged. Participants can come for one or both days but should register for the 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. or/and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. time slot(s). Minors must be accompanied by an adult. To register for the workshop, visit www.ticketleap.events/tickets/bimp-0/2025-cmf. If you require accommodation to participate, contact the Ballard Institute at bimp@uconn.edu or 860-486-8580.

This community puppet project is sponsored by the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry and the Mansfield Downtown Partnership, Inc. and produced in collaboration with UConn’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History. For more information about the 23rd-annual Celebrate Mansfield Festival, visit downtownstorrsfestival.org.

The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut is excited to present its 2026 Summertime Puppet Show Series with free, outdoor, family-friendly puppet shows on three Saturdays in July at 11 a.m. on Betsy Paterson Square in Downtown Storrs. This summer’s series includes the following exciting shows:

July 11: SpinS by Janoah the Jester | A wildly dizzying whirl of juggling, giggling magic, movement, and puppetry, with a pajama-clad unicyclist playing with clothes-pin towers, erratic toothbrushes, and piles of props in a solo circus that will create gargantuan grins.

July 18: Sing-A-Long with Nappy’s Puppets | Join in the fun as famed Connecticut puppeteer Jim Napolitano of Nappy’s Puppets presents some of the silliest sing-a-long songs known to mankind.

July 25: Fairies of the Seasons by Talking Hands Theatre | Talking Hands Theatre presents this magical puppet show set on a handmade dress that twirls as the year turns. Beautiful fairy puppets and hand-felted animals invite the audience to move, sing, and help the fairies find their way back to the season where each one belongs.

Reservations are not required. Chairs will not be provided, and audience members are encouraged to bring their own blankets and seating. Seating space will be first come, first served. In case of rain, the shows will take place in the Ballard Institute Theater at 1 Royce Circle in Downtown Storrs.

The Summertime Puppet Show Series is co-sponsored by the Mansfield Downtown Partnership and supported by generous UConn Gives donations by Ballard Institute supporters. 

The Ballard Institute will be closed on July 4th. The museum will be open for regular business hours on July 3rd and 5th.

The Ballard Institute will be closed on June 17 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. for a private event. We look forward to welcoming visitors from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.!

This event has been canceled. We hope to offer something similar soon!

 

The Ballard Institute is pleased to present a four-day Youth Puppetry Program from June 23–26, 9:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. for participants ages 9–15.

Over four mornings, participants will work together to create original puppet characters, build a variety of puppets, and develop and perform a short puppet play. Through hands-on activities and creative collaboration, participants will explore the many aspects of bringing puppet theater to life—from storytelling and design to performance and sound.

Skills and techniques explored include:

-Collaborative storytelling and script development

-Design and construction of glove, hand, and rod puppets

-Puppet manipulation and performance techniques

-Creating character voices, sound effects, and foley for puppet theater

-Working as an ensemble to develop and perform an original production

-Whether participants are new to puppetry or already have experience, this program offers a fun and supportive environment to explore creativity, build confidence, and learn from professional puppeteers.

Space is limited, and pre-registration is required: https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/bimp-0/youth-puppetry-program