Festival Partners, Sponsors & Donors
BIG THANKS to the following generous supporters who have made this 8th Edition of the Festival possible! The Festival is puppet powered of course, but it’s people powered too! Thank you for making it all happen. The festival is a major investment in Chicago’s civic life, Chicago puppet artists, puppetry globally, and cross-cultural understanding.
2026 Festival Sponsors & Donors
$200,000 and up
Cheryl Lynn Bruce* &
Kerry James Marshall
Ferdi Foundation / Julie Moller*
Kristy* & Brandon Moran
$100,000 – $199,999
Jentes Family Foundation,
Justine Jentes & Dan Kuruna
$50,000 – $99,999
Paul M. Angell Family Foundation
The Reva & David Logan Foundation
$30,000 – $49,999
City of Chicago Department of
Cultural Affairs and Special Events
Richard H. Driehaus Foundation
The Marshall Frankel Foundation
Illinois Arts Council
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur
Foundation
$20,000 – $29,999
Lannan Foundation
Pritzker Foundation
Deb & Andy Wolkstein
$15,000 – $19,999
Beatrice Barbareschi & David Pritzker
Mia Park & Ali Levy,
in honor of Paul Levy
Manaaki Foundation,
Sue Crothers-Gee & Bill Gee
Robert & Mayari Pritzker
Family Foundation
Nina & Steve Schroeder
$10,000 – $14,999
Anonymous
The Chicago Community Trust
Chicago Park District Night Out
in the Parks Program
Ginger Farley
Cheryl Henson
The Jane Henson Foundation
Sarah Donovan & Jordan Shields*
John Supera*
Chuck Thurow
Pat Yuzawa-Rubin* & Jack Rubin
$5,000 – $9,999
Jennifer & Jonathan Bunge
Nancy Needles & Arne Rode
$2,500 – $4,999
Patti Gilford & Barry Bialek
Judy & Howard Friedman
The Jim Henson Foundation
Jin* & Joe Ivacic
Nancy & Michael Timmers
$1,000 – $2,499
Alicia Bird*
Nancy Bishop
Candice Goldstein &
Abraham Steinberg
Nancy Juda & Jens Brasch
Jossy Nebenzahl
Kim Ohms & Joe Novelli
Kate Thomas & Lloyd Perlow
Leesa & Jes Sherborne*
$500 – $999
Linda Mishoulam
Jackie Zydeck & Ted Phillips
Jacqueline Souroujon Henderson &
Hank Adams
Molly & Tom Fleming
Becky & Jeff Chandler
Missy Burke
Irina Niculescu Lewandowski &
John Lewandowski
Laurie Hammel & Bruce English
Leah Bohannon
Dee & Ron Tevonian
Walter Stearns
Catherine Mertes
Helen Zell
Sara & Chris Julsrud
Caroline Randazzo &
Dave Frohardt-Lane
Deborah Garber
Carolyn Toren & Tomas Petkus
$250 – $499
Anonymous
Liz Aviles & Michael Sauer
Nancy & Randy Blankstein
Karen Carreno
Rupa Datta & Ravi Datta-Nemana
Rolanda Derderian
Sue Geshwender
Jennifer Hammond
Jill Mannor & Ken Konopka
Lisa & Steve Korol
Rudolph Rasin
Barry Rosen
David Rudman
Rhoda & Michael Schlesinger
Nancy & Barry Schultz
Tracy & Marc Whitehead
Steven Widerman & Linda Bookheim
$100 – $249
Anonymous
Geri Biamonte
Wendy Bloom & Art Kessler
Christine Busby
Irena Čajková
Michelle & Dane Carr
Christy Clark
Amber Creger
Mark Croghan
Carol Farver & Robert Needlman
Molly Fitzgibbon
Scott Golas
Honey Goodenough
Sinane Goulet
Jeremy Goyette
Susan & Peter Gray
Vesna Grbovic
Mick Hans & Ellen Damlich
Sarah Hosford,
in honor of Cousin Blair
Kurt Hunter
Heather Jagman
Michelle Sterling,
in memory of Paul Levy
Candice Kistner
Sheila Spade & Paul Kolenda
Karen Laner
Annelise & Thomas Lawson
Lorraine LeBlanc
Beatriz Ledesma
Roberta Lee
Jinzi Liang
Jill Liebhaber
Anna Lipowska
Charles Mackie & Janet Mesic Mackie
Eric Mahn
Sabrina Martin
Clio McConnell & Garrett Douglas
Maureen Mizwicki
Klára Moldová
Cecilia Morales
Zoe Norwood
Carolyn O’Brien
Susan Padula
Georga & Allen Parchem
Rhonda Pelk
Krista & Frank Pospisil
Rebecca Sachtleben
Tracy Seneca
Courtney Sherrer
Eva Silverman
Sandy Smith & Edward McCartin
Rick Stoneham
Sutton Family
Dr. Charlotte Tsou
Marco Verzocchi
Caylei Vogelzang
Dr. Jamie Wabich
Erin Wage
Walsh-Rock Family
Julia Wayne & Scott Wirtz
Michelle Williams
Michelle Wilson & Eric Gaddis
Teresa Zhu & John Mitchell
$50 – $99
Anonymous
Carol Barnett
Cheryl Bartholow
Marjorie & Stephan Benzkofer
Joan Callahan
Cecilia Conrad
Sandy Denninger
Robert DiBlasi, in honor of
Melissa Wiley
Sofia Eddy
Joanne Engelke
Lori Fanning
Kristin Faust
Guilherme Feitosa de Almeida,
in memory of Sally Lynn Askins
$50 – $99 (cont.)
Edward Feldman
Kyle Fennell
Geoffrey Flick
Kristina & Raj Goel
Kristin & Michael Haverty
Kelly King
The Klems
Jay Mamon
Melissa Matarrese
Gicel Mercado
Elizabeth Monkus
Jenny Nagaoka
Nina Newhouser
Susan Noel
Aldona Olchowska
Audrey Petty & Maurice Rabb
Dennis Rutkowski
Philip Schwartz
Steven Starr
Trisha Steele, in memory of
Margery Curry
Nancy Steineke, in memory of
Jim Vopat
Jennifer Sutherland
Alan & Julia Adeney Thomas
Lisa Weiss
Jess & Andy Wickstrom
$25 – $49
Anonymous
Naiche Adler
Judith Alexander
Felice Amato
Travis Anderson
Suzanne Auburn, in honor of
Thomas Michel
Andrea Auther
Trenton Beals, in memory of
Patricia Beals
Penny Benson, in honor of
Adam Kreutinger
Eileen Bevis
Loretta Caravette
Bryan Chance
Kathy Collier
Sharon Davis Altiok
Juanita Dawn
Robert Deegan
Lynn Dempsey
Delores Dousias
Mickey Duda
Myles Emmons
Tami Fauver
Michele Flanagin
Ken Gerleve
Brian Gosell
Katherine Szoke
Elizabeth Hawley
Lizanne & Todd Hensley
Dontien Ingram
Elliot Jackson, in honor of
Danny Thompson
Anne & Drew Kent
Marcia Koomen
Barbara Korbel
Elizabeth Kucaba
Kim LeClair
Mark Levtin
Katja Lunde
Judy Mason
Cynthia Mathews
Beth McGeehan
Alesa McGregor
Karen & Scott Migaldi
David Miller
Dr. Luke Miller
Carla Murphy, in memory of
Bill Baird
Deborah Murphy
Kristen Mylander
Aaron Newton
$25 – $49 (cont.)
Matt Olson
Kris Ong
Rose Parisi & Don Meckley
Tim Rairdon
Thorbjorn Rasmussen
Chloe Revery
Kathy Rice
Karen Risinger
Scott Sachnoff, in honor of
Dr. Elaine Sachnoff
Craig Samuels
Donna Schatt
Joseph Sotak
Michael Sphar
Louie Stallone
Natalia Tabisaura
Peg Tomaszek Witry
Teff Uchima
Dr. Angela Walden
David Wall
Up to $25
Anonymous
Lauren Asher
Joanna Aversa
Kat Bawden
Taylor Bibat
Evelyn Bowman
Emmy Brady
Jessica Clerk
Cat Davis
Maggie Dowling
Sarah Durbin
David Earley
Patrice Egleston
Mary Friedlieb
Brett Garry
Katherine Gean
Michael & Donna Lee Gennaro
Gillian Grant
Joan Greco, in honor of
Freddy and Andrew
Hattie Grimm
Marc Griseta
Sally Hewitt
Julie Heyduk
Megan Hillary
Hirschfeld / Kondrashov Family
Sol HM
Deidre Huckabay
Joanne Jacobson
DeungWon Kang
Heidi Kumao
Daniel Laloggia
Joanna Lapati
Daniel Lipe
Caitlin McLeod
Teresa Meza
Jean Noble
Katelin Reinert
Melinda Resser
Alva Rogers
Maija Rothenberg
Sarah Scott
Adam Stefo
Susie Swanton
Stephanie Ticas
Anna Turner
Susan Underwood
Samantha V.
Andrij Vaskevics
Neil Verplank
Tina Woelke
Emre Yilmaz