Ping Pong's Puppet Workshop

Our Construction Diary
Page 60

May 27, 2002 (page 1 of 3)

Sunday, April 28th, 2002 was the day for the parade. After a cloudy (foggy) start, the sun came out and gave us a wonderful sunny day.

We actually had two events on the same day -- The Procession of Species in Downtown Portland, and the Earth Day Expo at the Oregon Zoo.

Unfortunately, Steve didn't get to march in the parade, because between the load-in at the Zoo, and the start of the Procession, he slipped, fell, and broke his ankle. Therefore, he was forced to stay behind and cheer the 500 or so marchers on their way.

Complete coverage of the parade can be found at our sister web site, www.cappuppets.org, the on-line home of The Columbia Association of Puppeteers. You can see that coverage by clicking here.

Here, and on the next few pages, we're going to take a look at the making of the Giant Living Puppet Mural that we built for Earth Day Expo.

The finished mural at the Oregon Zoo

The finished mural at the Oregon Zoo.

The mural is eight feet high, and its first two panels are 10 feet wide. Each five foot wide panel celebrates a different part of Oregon's varied plants, animals, and scenic wonders, from the coastline to the high desert.

It was designed by Steven M. Overton and Marty Richmond -- co-owners of The Olde World Puppet Theatre.

One of the two finished mural panels

Built of PVC pipe, one-half inch thick foam core board and bamboo, each of the scenery pieces is quickly removable, and all of the animals are fully articulated rod puppets.

Present plans call for both the addition of more panels each year as money and time allow, as well as tours to Oregon elementary and middle schools to promote a better understanding of our environment.

The other finished mural panel

It was built by members of The Olde World Puppet Theatre along with volunteers from the Columbia Association of Puppeteers and the Earth and Spirit Council, the organizers of the Procession of the Species parade.

Originally conceived as a four-panel mural, time constraints reduced its size down to two panels that were finished in time for the Earth Day and National Day of Puppetry celebrations.

The Mural (and Steve) at the zoo at 7:30 am on Parade and Expo morning. The entire mural took about 15 minutes to set up. The canopy, which was set up the day before, was in response to the ever-changing weather reports. (This is the last picture of Steve with both ankles intact.)

Steve's ankle -- after

On the next page we'll take a look at how the mural was constructed.

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