Kurt is a Minneapolis-based puppeteer best known for his innovative solo marionette work.  He has worked as a performer, designer, builder, teacher and director for In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre, Open Eye Figure Theatre, Z Puppets Rosenschnoz and the O’Neill National Puppetry Conference.  He has studied with marionette masters Phillip Huber and Albrecht Roser.  In 2008 he received an UNIMA-USA Citation of Excellence in Puppetry for “Sock Puppet Serenade.”  In 2018 he was awarded a grant from the Jim Henson Foundation for development of “Penguin in my Pocket.”

Artist, activist, actor, puppet-maker, Brant Bollman helms Uplifting Puppet Co. out of Oskaloosa, Iowa.  He builds and performs giant puppets (that he calls ‘Uppets’) for parades, marches and the stage.  Uplifting Puppet Co.’s ultimate goal is to bring people together and create culture with papier-mâché.

He also is the Director of Theatre Arts at William Penn University in Oskaloosa, Iowa where he teaches creative art, directs plays and builds giant lantern puppets for the town’s annual holiday spectacular The Oskaloosa Lighted Christmas Parade.  

Kathleen is a development and communications consultant with Next in Nonprofits in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her work in the nonprofit sector began over 20 years ago as former Artistic Director of the Puppet Showplace Theatre in Brookline, MA. In the Twin Cities, she has worked for Be the Match, Camp Fire Minnesota, Puppeteers of America, Rosy Simas Danse, Frank Theatre, Z Puppets Rosenschnoz, and Stuart Pimsler Dance & Theatre. She holds a certificate in fundraising from the University of St. Thomas, a Master’s degree in puppetry from the University of Connecticut, and is a proud Bennington College Alumni.

David Hanzal, a Minneapolis-based director, puppeteer, and teaching artist, completed an MFA in Theatre Directing at the University of Iowa in 2013. From 2014 to 2020, they served as the Artistic Director of Collective Unconscious Performance. Recently, David has created original puppet shows for the Puppet Lab and Full Moon programs at Open Eye Theatre and has toured a toy theatre adaptation of Puss-in-Boots throughout the Twin Cities metro area. For more information, visit David Hanzal Theatre.

Michelle O’Donnell has been puppet enthusiast her entire life; starting as a young girl when she attended her first Puppeteers of America festival at 11 years old. She later worked as a puppeteer with her family’s puppet company (Owl’s Nest puppeteers), had her own professional puppet company for 20 years with her husband Stan (Peppy Puppet Troupe), served on the Puppeteers of America Board of Directors for several years and the UNIMA (international) board for six years and currently serves on the Executive Board of the Puppet Guild of Greater St. Louis. She has coordinated several puppet exhibits for her local Puppet Guild, several regional puppet festivals and assisted with two National PoA Festival exhibits. Michelle is also a successful professional fundraiser (certified in development), grant writer and special events coordinator for over 30 years.

Kallie Melvin is a Twin Cities based puppeteer and teaching and performing artist. She has worked with Monkeybear's Harmolodic Workshop, In the Heart of the Beast, Z Puppets, Puppet Lab, the Weissman Museum of Art, Open Eye Figure Theatre,  The Minnesota Museum of American Art, Barebones Puppets, and more! She is also the Regional Co-Director of Puppeteers of America Great Plains. She uses her original puppetry work as a means to tell stories and explore her experiences as a transracial, intercontinental adoptee growing up in the Twin Cities, as well an any other story she has the opportunity to help bring to life.

Eva Adderley is a a multi-media artist and storyteller who makes puppets, stories, comics, plays, and interactive art installations. She has worked with many arts and theatre organizations and community art festivals around the Twin Cities, including BareBones Puppets, Northern Sparks, Art Shanty Projects, and Open Eye Figure Theatre. Some of the favorite creations include a 23 foot long glowing dragon skeleton, a firebird made of actual fire, and a magical barn installed on a frozen lake.

Dylan is a local actor, singer, and puppeteer. Since graduating from the UMN Guthrie BFA Actor Training Program in 2020, he has constructed and operated large-scale puppets, puppeteered at Open Eye Theatre in Once Upon A Winter Night, marionetted a lovely tree lady fabricated by the Bob Baker Theatre in L.A., and operated shadow puppets for An Opera Theatre's production of The Cradle Will Rock.
This will be the first puppetry festival he has the pleasure to attend, and he's honored to have had the opportunity to direct it!