Paper Puppets Design Series, 2024
Research
Simmi is an artist and arts educator hailing from Upstate New York. While he is new to the mid-west, arts education is a practice that Simmi has worked in for years, having worked at the Memorial Art Gallery in various positions (Teacher, Director’s Assistant, and Tour guide to name some); At Writers & Books as an Arts Liaison, assuring teaching arts and programing were supported by administration; and having worked within the City of Rochester School District for years in roles ranging from a Literacy to Art Teacher. A self-described Puppet Enthusiast, Simmi’s artistic practice and endeavors have centered around activism through puppetry in various forms and interactions, including apprenticing at Bread and Puppet, teaching all-age puppetry building workshops, preforming with the Calgary Animated Objects Society (CAOS), and writing an arts grant to teaching STEM through puppetry for the 2025-26 academic year in Rochester, NY.
Paper Puppets Design Series, 2024