Volkenburg Puppetry Symposium:
Session 2 – We Let Out These Works on the Vote of the People

Volkenburg Puppetry Symposium 2026

Artists often regard their creative talents as a gift that they are called to share, whether they receive financial compensation or not. As a result, it can be difficult for artists to negotiate equitable compensation for their work within a money economy that tends to commodify their creative output. This symposium series examines the benefits and drawbacks of different funding sources including government funding, commercial ventures, and strategies community supported artists use for audience building.

Session 2: We Let Out These Works on the Vote of the People

Launched in 1935, the Federal Theater Project was a New Deal program designed to create employment for theater artists thrown out of work during the Great Depression. It is one of the rare instances in American history when artists were recognized as skilled professionals and encouraged to fulfill their artistic calling instead of being pressured to take whatever work was available to make ends meet. As a result, puppet luminaries like Remo Bufano, Ralph Chessé, Tony Sarg, and Bill Baird were able to deepen their craft instead of switching to other occupations. Yet racially integrated Federal Theater Project productions sparked controversy and some “Living Newspaper” shows struck members of the House Committee on Un-American Activities as left-wing propaganda. Congress therefore cancelled the program’s funding in 1939. This panel will explore the benefits and tradeoffs involved in creating puppet theater with public funding.

Moderator:
Paulette Richards

Panelists:
Yngvild Aspeli (A Doll’s House)
KT Shivak (Rhynoceron)
Gwen Warnock and Kirjan Waagen (Dead As A Dodo)
Laura Heit (The Matchbox Shows)
Mark Down (The Sex Lives of Puppets)

About the Symposium: Named in honor of Little Theatre of Chicago director Ellen Van Volkenburg, who coined the term “puppeteer” in 1912, the festival’s annual symposium brings together puppetry enthusiasts, scholars and festival artists from Chicago, the U.S. and internationally for free discussions around the intersection of puppetry with other disciplines and ideas.