Maryonettes
2020’s pandemic brought a lot of changes to the art world and Mary Plaster is no exception! Giant papier-mache beings take teams of people to build and operate. The celebrations and processions employing them were all shut down.
During this lockdown, Mary focused on learning a new skill of carving traditional wooden marionettes with the help of Zoom classes with Mirek Trejtnar of Puppets in Prague. She completed six marionettes with online instruction and a seventh after vaccinations opened travel to the Czech Republic for an in-person August 2021 intensive.
Mary is grateful to have also received several artist grants to help train in online media, film, and use of projections to safely bring ongoing work to audiences in & beyond Minnesota. Thank you taxpayers for valuing art and artists!
Minnesota State Arts Board (MSAB):
Mary Plaster is a fiscal year 2021 and 2022 recipient of Creative Support for Individuals Grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board. These activities are made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
Arrowhead Regional Arts Council (ARAC):
Working Artist Emergency 2020 & 2021 and Individual Art Project 2021
These activities are made possible in part by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, thanks to appropriations from the Minnesota State Legislature’s general and arts and cultural heritage funds.