The Shafer Gallery on the campus of Barton Community College is among a select group of regional arts venues to receive a Mid-America Arts Alliance Performing Arts Grant. This award will support the upcoming performance of the Stone Lion Puppet Theater with performances at 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 3, at the Shafer Gallery.
The gallery will come to life with intricate toy marionettes, including a larger than life doll house which opens to reveal a re-enactment of Clement C. Moore’s poem, “Twas the Night before Christmas.” The Stone Lion Puppeteers will also conduct workshops at 2:15 and 3:45 p.m.
Funding for the Shafer Gallery’s M-AAA’s grant is drawn from underwriting by the National Endowment for the Arts and foundations, corporations and individuals throughout Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas.
“The Shafer Gallery is to be commended for their commitment to serving your community with this distinctive event,” said Todd Stein, M-AAA’s interim chief executive officer. “Audiences in Great Bend and surrounding communities will have the opportunity to see the Stone Lion Puppet Theater perform for the first time. Mid-America Arts Alliance is proud to help support the outreach of the Shafer Memorial Gallery.”
The Stone Lion Puppet Theater uses multiple styles of puppetry from marionettes to rod puppets to create world-class puppet shows for all ages. They have toured throughout the United States. Stone Lion is a Smithsonian Institute touring performer; they are on the Missouri Arts Council Touring Roster, and are members of UNIMA International and The Puppeteers of America.