The creature looks out, a carefree expression on its face, as three interns gather to make an incision around its skull, from ear to ear. Then, they slice down the center of the creature’s throat and start to pull.
Slowly, the papier-mâché beaver’s head starts to slide off of its mold as the interns gently but firmly coax it off, inch by inch. A moment later, the beaver is free, held aloft by one of the artists.
“Wow, good job guys,” one says.
“The magic of birth,” says another.
It’s late afternoon on a Tuesday, and the three artists have just successfully removed their first puppet head at Paperhand Puppet Project’s workshop in Saxapahaw. The beaver is one of a dozen or so pieces that line the tables inside the studio. Nearby, another waits to be freed, while other whimsical creatures look on from their perches.
Over the next few months, each of the creatures will take on new forms: fresh coats of paint, layers of fabric and cardboard, hot glue, and countless staples. Then expert puppeteers will maneuver their bodies, making them extensions of themselves on stage at Chapel Hill’s Forest Theater this summer. Co-founders Jan Burger and Donovan Zimmerman have now done this work, which is both tedious and magical, for more than 25 years.
The two met at the Haw River Festival in Saxapahaw in the late 1990s. Zimmerman was making masks at the time, while Burger worked in woodcuts. The two became fast friends. A short time later, they worked on a puppet show for fourth graders and ignited something within themselves and in the community. They took the positive encouragement they received and turned the show into a production in 1999. Since then, Paperhand Puppet Intervention has created a new show every year.
This year’s show, “The Gift,” which premieres in August, will be their 25th. It is centered around the idea of water, highlighting the importance of the element and what the two co-founders call “water protectors.” That’s everything from beavers and mythical water sprites to the wisdom of grandmothers.
And they’ve identified local women they see as protectors, including N.C. Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green, who will be personified in puppet form. The concept is a natural extension of Paperhand’s mission, which “is to create art that inspires connection” and use puppetry “to nurture the best in humanity, build creative culture, and help celebrate and protect the natural world,” per the organization’s website.
Last year, the organization transitioned into a nonprofit and was renamed Paperhand Puppet Project. But the mission remains the same.
Paperhand has made a name for itself around the state and across the country as an activist art-making organization and appearing at protests and parades. They are also deeply rooted in environmentalism.
“I was never really satisfied with the concept of making art as a commodity or having it sitting in a gallery,” Burger said. “It’s not enough of a life for art for me.”
Zimmerman agreed.
“[Puppetry] combines all of the art forms in a way that is very satisfying for me,” Zimmerman said. “I’m able to paint and sculpt and design and costume. There’s music, there’s dance, there’s theater, there’s storytelling.
“Puppets are just incredible storytellers and empathy muscle-builders,” he continued. “They help people tap into the magic that’s all around us all of the time.
A World of Magic—With a Message
When visitors first walk into the Paperhand exhibit at the Greenhill Center for N.C. Art in Greensboro, they pass under an arch-like entrance buffeted on either side by images of bats, snakes, fish, snails, and birds.
“This is a reproduction of the actual doorway to Paperhand’s studio in Saxapahaw,” explained Greenhill’s Artistic and Curatorial Director, Edie Carpenter. The display, which features many of Paperhand’s puppets from the last 25 years, opened at the end of March and runs through June 21. On May 30, Zimmerman will host an artist talk.
“I’m able to paint and sculpt and design and costume. There’s music, there’s dance, there’s theater, there’s storytelling.”
Donovan Zimmerman, Paperhand co-founder
The show is the first time Greenhill has focused on puppetry at this level, Carpenter said.
“It’s one of the oldest art forms,” Carpenter said. “It’s one of the simplest–like all you need is a shadow on the wall, and you can create a story.”
In one of the alcoves of the gallery, a lightbox has been set up so visitors can use simple puppets to conduct their own mini show. But the bulk of the exhibit features dozens of retired puppets, like a giant lion’s head and a larger-than-life spider with a grandmother’s face that unfolds and extends outward as the puppeteer moves out from its abdomen.
Wizened turtles buttress a sky god while an old man on stilts manipulates a Pinocchio-like creation. Around the corner, a moth princess stands near a giant flying woodpecker and a floating iridescent dragon.
While the puppets are static, their colorful, intricate details and impressive forms evoke the feeling of stumbling into a children’s pop-up book. Around every corner, there’s a new creature to behold.
Banners with block-printed flowers and slogans also hang on the walls. Toward the back, a trio of red, yellow, and green banners proclaim: People Power–We Rise. Sun–We Build. Wind–We Resist.
Zimmerman and Burger took inspiration from companies like New York City’s Bread and Puppet Theater, which formed in the 1960s and used puppets as part of political activism, particularly in protest of the Vietnam War.
“When a giant puppet with its wide arms open embraces a crowd, you can feel the awe and wonder that happens in that moment,” said Zimmerman. “People can get a lift out of it. They can feel beat down by the oppression that we see here and the capitalist behavior that leads to a lot of harm and divisions of communities.”
Anti-capitalist messaging is a through line in Paperhand’s work. In the back portion of Greenhill, grey-washed puppets from recent shows mirror developers and CEOs with cigars in hand, closed fists, and deep frowns.
The co-founders believe that the message of older work still resonates today.
“We’re just trying to be steadfast and resilient and help people tap into their courageous side,” Zimmerman said. “There’s always been really cruel and oppressive forces in the world, and there will always be artists and people who resist that tendency.”
Part of the solution, Zimmernam said, is creating a place where people can “make things together and thrive and build helpfulness rather than harm.”
They’ve worked to ensure community isn’t just a buzzword thrown around for grants.
“We try to build a creative culture rather than us being alone in doing it,” Zimmerman said.
‘It Definitely Feels Like Home’
Sophia Joy was only a toddler when she saw her first Paperhand show. She grew up in Pittsboro, and her parents would take her to the Forest Theater performances each year.
“I was watching the puppets but also watching the people dressed in black running around behind the puppets,” Joy said. “And I was like, ‘I need to do that.’”
Now 21, Joy is one of Paperhand’s lead studio artists. It’s a role she’s worked up to since joining eight years ago.
“I was never really satisfied with the concept of making art as a commodity or having it sitting in a gallery. It’s not enough of a life for art for me.”
Jan Burger, Paperhand co-founder
She started volunteering when she was still in middle school, and worked her way up to building puppets.
“It definitely feels like home,” she said as she sat on a couch in the back of the old warehouse-turned-studio.
As a child, Joy did martial arts and loved to draw. Working at Paperhand has been a combination of her favorite things.
“It feels like an extension of being in my body,” she said. “It’s impacted how I’ve grown up. It makes me feel like I can impact the world and impact people in a positive way.”
Having the support of Zimmerman and Burger has made her think more deeply about her place in the world, she said. It’s also made her reflect on the role art can play in opening consciousness.
“It waters the little seed that maybe sometimes gets covered up,” she said. “And allows it to grow up through the dirt and sprout into inspiration to go out and live their own life and be the kind of person that pays attention to the world and the environment around them and not just their phones.”
The mindfulness is also why Hunni Palmer, 34, applied for an internship and traveled from the United Kingdom to spend the summer in Saxapahaw.
“I think it’s really important for children to still see things visually and see things they can touch physically,” said Palmer, who studies costume design.
Paperhand opens its studios every Saturday for community workdays in which volunteers help make art, starting with simple tasks like paper mâchéing and painting to cutting cardboard. It’s one of the things that drew intern Maddy Rosaler, 26, to Paperhand.
“I love the way they engage with their community,” said Rosaler, who is from New York. “I’ve not seen a company on this scale doing that on a constant basis.”
Many other puppetry organizations focus on one-off shows, or don’t run as long as Paperhand does each summer. To run for several weeks, both the puppets and their performers have to withstand heat, constant movement, and repeated use. While many are recycled or reused for future shows, making new puppets is always a priority, Zimmerman said. That’s why they hire apprentices and interns every year; it takes about 15 people to prepare for a production. The actual performances also include musicians, puppeteers and sound crew, doubling that number.
Their collaborative process has even been catalogued in the 2021 book Paperhand, Puppet Interventions with Cardboard, Cloth, and Clay.
“The idea of an artist alone in their tower that’s special and different from everything else is not the kind of art that I want to make,” Burger said. “I want to make gigantic art that takes other people.”
And that’s why, a quarter-century in, Zimmerman said he still looks forward to reopening their studio each spring.
“I get excited about it every time even after all these years, “ Zimmerman said as he carefully sculpted Shelton Green’s face out of clay. “I’m trying to put that good energy into creating so people can walk away feeling inspired and bolstered against the chaos of life.”
Learn more about the Paperhand Puppet Intervention at paperhandpuppet.org. Learn more about Greenhill at greenhillnc.org. Paperhand’s 2025 show, The Gift, premieres August 8 at the Forest Theater in Chapel Hill.
Sayaka Matsuoka is a Greensboro-based reporter for The Assembly. She was formerly the managing editor for Triad City Beat. To comment on this story, email [email protected].