Retired Muppets Will Move to Atlanta
By BRENDA GOODMAN,
ATLANTA (July 24) Times fun when youre having flies, Kermit the Frog once said. And how time has flown: Kermit, or more precisely one of the many puppets that have played Kermit, will be retired to Atlanta on Wednesday, part of a major gift being made by the Jim Henson Foundation.
The flippered phenom, who began life as a scrap of fabric cut from a green coat discarded by Jim Hensons mother, will be presented to the Center for Puppetry Arts here. He is a symbol of a large gift of Mr. Hensons work that will be donated to the center and exhibited in a planned Jim Henson Wing, said Cheryl Henson, president of the Jim Henson Foundation.
Ms. Henson, Jim Hensons second-oldest daughter, and Jane Henson, her mother and Mr. Hensons first performing partner, expected to be in Atlanta on Wednesday to announce the gift: 500 to 700 puppets, including some of the first Muppets built; props; scenic elements; posters; sketches; and drawings that Mr. Henson created for shows like The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock and Sam and Friends (where the Muppets first appeared). Cheryl Henson has also pledged $1 million of her own money to the center.
It is unclear how much the gift is worth. The Smithsonian Institution had its small collection appraised but would not make the figure public.
At the moment, they have not been given the entire collection, Cheryl Henson said in an interview on Friday. We are assuming we are going to give them the best of our collection, she added, explaining that the archive owned by the family consists of a couple thousand items, but that many have become too fragile to exhibit. Some of our collection has gotten old; even in the last seven years it has deteriorated. Its not that were holding back a large portion of the collection.
Built from foam and fabric, each puppet character had multiple copies because of performance wear and tear. The gift covered puppets that could no longer be used to perform; in fact, the Kermit in question was a photo Kermit used for photographs but with no opening for a puppeteers hand.
By BRENDA GOODMAN,
ATLANTA (July 24) Times fun when youre having flies, Kermit the Frog once said. And how time has flown: Kermit, or more precisely one of the many puppets that have played Kermit, will be retired to Atlanta on Wednesday, part of a major gift being made by the Jim Henson Foundation.
The flippered phenom, who began life as a scrap of fabric cut from a green coat discarded by Jim Hensons mother, will be presented to the Center for Puppetry Arts here. He is a symbol of a large gift of Mr. Hensons work that will be donated to the center and exhibited in a planned Jim Henson Wing, said Cheryl Henson, president of the Jim Henson Foundation.
Ms. Henson, Jim Hensons second-oldest daughter, and Jane Henson, her mother and Mr. Hensons first performing partner, expected to be in Atlanta on Wednesday to announce the gift: 500 to 700 puppets, including some of the first Muppets built; props; scenic elements; posters; sketches; and drawings that Mr. Henson created for shows like The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock and Sam and Friends (where the Muppets first appeared). Cheryl Henson has also pledged $1 million of her own money to the center.
It is unclear how much the gift is worth. The Smithsonian Institution had its small collection appraised but would not make the figure public.
At the moment, they have not been given the entire collection, Cheryl Henson said in an interview on Friday. We are assuming we are going to give them the best of our collection, she added, explaining that the archive owned by the family consists of a couple thousand items, but that many have become too fragile to exhibit. Some of our collection has gotten old; even in the last seven years it has deteriorated. Its not that were holding back a large portion of the collection.
Built from foam and fabric, each puppet character had multiple copies because of performance wear and tear. The gift covered puppets that could no longer be used to perform; in fact, the Kermit in question was a photo Kermit used for photographs but with no opening for a puppeteers hand.
