ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) – With the Muppets’ last box office appearance in 2014, puppets have been out of the spotlight for more than a decade. It is fair to ask where they have gone. The answer is surprising – they have taken to the streets.
With World Puppet Day on March 21, the magic of the art has entered Asheville. Street Creature Puppets consists of around 30 W.N.C. locals who love to create mega-puppets and host community art workshops. These are not hand puppets, nor are they Sesame Street size. Big Bird is the only comparable character in scale, but even he is short in comparison to some of the group’s creations.
Jen Murphy said she was “one of the founders of this group and we started it in 2011.” Their community is known for performing at festivals, events and vigils in Asheville with their puppet creations.
Street Creature Puppets often includes the W.N.C. community in their craft. Sometimes they host one-to-two-hour family-friendly “make and take” puppet workshops. Children and parents create smaller counterparts to the massive puppets the Street Creature performers are known for. Often, the creations of the families appear alongside the giant puppets in parades, allowing the children to animate their creatures publicly.
Of the roughly 40-50 large puppets the group has made and stores at their workshop in the Asheville Mall, Murphy has favorites. “We have a few different dragon puppets,” she stated, expounding that the red dragon was her overall favorite. With lights, she explained, the fiery creature shines bright at night.
Other contenders for her favorite creature include a blue heron and the Tree Hugger. The woody giant, whose face was sculpted by Murphy’s own hands, will appear next month at an Arbor Day event in Asheville.
The puppets the collective create are intentional. “We specialize with local, actual animals,” with the obvious exception of the dragons, Murphy expounded.
If there is one major thread to Street Creature Puppets’ existence, apart from the beauty of puppetry itself, it would be environmentalism. “Almost everything we make comes from trash or cardboard or found objects,” Murphy stated. A caterpillar puppet constructed by the collective illustrates this mission. Murphy said it was “made with green and white and red bags.”
Beyond its materials, the caterpillar also shows Street Creature’s approach to creating new puppets. They are not crafted alone. Each is formed in community, with pieces made by many artists, sometimes including help from the public, even by those who do not view themselves as artists.
“There is a long history of puppets at protests,” Murphy relayed, explaining the role of puppets in society range far wider than simply comedy in movie theaters and education on public television. Street Creature’s puppets can sometimes be seen at environmental rallies, although “We shy away from any kind of partisan politics,” Murphy said.
Her personal journey into puppetry started at a political event. While protesting the Iraq War, Murphy recalled, “it was just kind of boring standing there with signs.” A friend introduced her to using giant puppets at the protests. She immediately fell in love.
While Murphy loves operating the giant creatures, her chief enjoyment is elsewhere. “Community art is what I call what we do,” she explained. “It is more about the doing it together than the fine art product.”
The Asheville Maker Fair on April 5, 2025, is the next time you can see the Street Creature Puppets perform, along with various other creatives from W.N.C. Murphy stated you will find anything from “robots to papier-mâché” displayed.
The puppets are regulars at the Maker Fair. “This will be our third year,” said Murphy.