Community Art Class Builds Bridges Through Giant Puppetry
The end of spring at UT brings commencement ceremonies, final exams, and — for the School of Art’s Community Art Class — giant puppets. Students in this unique course have spent the final weeks of the semester preparing for the Annual Cattywampus Puppet Council Parade: the celebratory culmination of a semester-long collaboration between the School of Art and Cattywampus, a local organization that creates tools for resilience through play, celebration arts, and storytelling.
Community Art 499, co-taught by Cattywampus Puppet Council director Rachel Milford and sculpture professor Jason Brown, was first offered in Spring 2024. It provides students with an immersive experience in community-based art, giving them the opportunity to work alongside K-8th grade youth at local afterschool programs in addition to learning about the history and tradition of giant puppetry.
The course’s interdisciplinary nature and focus on art as a tool for social change makes it a good fit for both art majors and students from other areas. Ellen Bergan, a PhD student in the Department of Geography and Sustainability whose work revolves around ecology and climate, signed up for the course because they are interested in ways scientific research can engage the public in creative, community-centered methods.
“As a graduate student studying outside of the School of Art, I was deeply thankful that this course was open and accessible to people from all disciplinary backgrounds,” said Bergan. “This class showed the many beautiful and brilliant ways we can use art to reach different audiences through storytelling, creation, and play, as well as the radical potential for community-based art to mobilize change.”
Junior Bella Thomas-Wilson also found that the class was a good fit for her interests in public art practices and exhibitions. She especially enjoyed the guest lectures from other local arts organizations.
“My favorite thing that we learned about was “second line,” which is a weekly festival that happens on Sundays in New Orleans,” said Wilson. “Knoxville Community Street Dance came to talk with us about the power and healing within parades, and how joy and movement can bring us together. We talked about the ways in which we can integrate practices like second line into our communities.”
The course was intentionally designed to challenge the conventional barriers between UT campus culture and the diverse communities of Knoxville, wrote co-instructors Brown and Milford.
“Whether working in the studio or at after-school program sites in different neighborhoods around the city, the students always bring positive energy and new ideas to the group,” they wrote. “The Community Art class puts the spirit of collaboration and cooperation into action each week.”
That spirit will be on full display during the parade on May 18th, during which the student-created giant puppets will march from Suttree Landing Park along the Tennessee River. A block party featuring local musicians and food trucks will follow. The theme for this year’s parade, “Our Joy is Powerful,” embodies the fun, passionate atmosphere that students enjoyed throughout the semester.
“The class taught me to appreciate and understand this much scrappier form of art explicitly because of the passion of those around me,” said Peyton Hockett, an art major who who initially signed up for the course because of their interest in Jim Henson’s puppetry art. “I can say with confidence, this is the best class offered at UTK.”
Brown and Milford hope to offer Art 499 again in Spring 2026, and are actively seeking continued funding and support from CURCI (Community University Research Collaboration Initiative) and the College of Arts & Sciences in order to continue the partnership with Cattywampus Puppet Council and the School of Art. Learn more about the Cattywampus Puppet Council and see videos and images from previous parades here.