Daemen University is extending the run of its visiting exhibit of puppet arts, following record-breaking attendance and sustained public interest since the opening reception.
Over 250 visitors attended the opening reception held on Friday, August 16, including guests from New York City, Boston, Toronto, and Los Angeles, CA. Television news stations WGRZ, WIVB, and WKBW all picked up the story for their evening and weekend broadcasts.
Adam Kreutinger and family
The reception featured a video remarks from puppeteers who have all worked with Kreutinger, such as Leslie Carrara-Rudolph (Sesame Street’s Abby Cadabby), Bill Barretta (the Muppets’ Rowlf, Pepe, and Swedish Chef), and Phillip Huber (Being John Malkovich).
During this presentation, Cameron Garrity ’13, who curated the exhibit, presented Kreutinger with the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in the Art of Puppetry on behalf of the Puppetry Guild of Northeastern Ohio. Garrity relayed that the award recognizes his, “commitment, dedication, creativity, generosity, and hard work in the art of puppetry.”
Kreutinger is the teacher and puppeteer behind “Puppet Nerd,” a YouTube channel that, since 2010, has broadcast the artist’s passion for puppetry to 162,000 subscribers.His puppets have been featured on the Food Network, Comedy Central, Adam Savage’s Tested, and Disney on Broadway’s Winnie the Pooh: The New Musical Adaptation. Kreutinger was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2022, which has since affected both the subject and media of his creations.
The exhibit, which is free and open to the public, will conclude with a closing reception in the Peter and Elizabeth C. Tower Gallery in the Nancy Haberman Gacioch Center for Visual and Performing Arts on Friday, October 25, 2024.
Links to news coverage: