Board of Directors
Bruce Cannon
President
Bruce Cannon is the Artistic Director of the Swedish Cottage Marionette in Central Park and served on the board of the Jim Henson Foundation. Bruce Cannon has also designed and implemented comprehensive and one-on-one session workshops for NYC Parks & Recreation and City Parks Foundation for its Recreation Centers and PuppetMobile programs.
Tanya Khordoc
Vice President
designed and performed for over two decades in the New York theatre scene: Notably, creating the world premiere of Vaclav Havel’s Motormorphosis and designing puppets for the world premiere of Devil and the Deep, a musical co-written by Graham Russell. Tanya is also an early childhood educator and is currently writing an original children's show based on years of expertise with young children.
visit: Evolvepuppets.com
Eric Wright
Treasurer
is a NYC-based puppeteer and co-founder of Puppet Kitchen International, where he combines his passions for performance, innovation, and collaboration by creating puppets and effects for clients worldwide. He is currently part of the ensemble cast and Audrey II puppeteer in Off-Broadway's Little Shop of Horrors.
visit: Puppetkitchen.com
Jennifer Linn Wilcox
Recording Secretary,
By-laws Committee Chairperson
is co-founder and managing director of Playlab NYC with Kevin Hale. With Playlab NYC, Jennifer has performed at puppet slams presented by Sinking Ship Productions (Puppet Playlist), Drama of Works (Punch Kamikaze) and Coney Island USA (Puppets Come Home and Coney Island’s Tail-a-Thon). Jennifer is also a lighting designer and is currently the Director of the Professional apprentice Program at the Juilliard School.
Mery Y.Y. Cheung
Corresponding Secretary
Communications Committee Chairperson
has toured internationally with Manufacturing Mischief: A Puppet Play by Pedro Reyes. Mery produces and hosts Puppet Spread, a puppet slam showcase presented by The Tank NYC with the Puppet Slam Network. She continues to explore puppetry through neo-burlesque and performing as Lambchop Suey with NY School of Burlesque and Coney Island USA.
Board Members
Nehprii Amenii
Nehprii Amenii is a Brooklyn based writer, director and educator. As a theatre artist, she has a passion for personal narratives, puppetry, and grand-scale spectacle. She is known for creating experiences that dismantle the wall between players and audiences, enchant the imagination and inspire new ways of seeing and thinking. She is the founder and Artistic Director of Khunum Productions, a creative consulting and production company.
Charlotte Lily Gaspard
“Part celestial creature, part sophisticated human” is how Charlotte Lily Gaspard has been described by Faerie Magazine when contemplating the ethereal artist and her work in one of their features. Shadow puppet artist, storyteller, and a “multi-faceted enchantress… the fanciful mastermind behind Midnight Radio Show” {Broadway World}, Charlotte’s mission is to activate imaginations and celebrate playfulness wherever she goes.
Penny Jones
is the founder and director of Penny Jones and Co. Puppets - the Early Childhood Puppet Theatre, which has been performing in New York since the 1970’s. She is winner of the 2019 Puppeteers of America Education Award and previous president of the Puppetry Guild of Greater New York. A recipient of a Henson Family Grant, Penny Jones and Co. Puppets is also one of the few to have performed a children’s show at the Henson International Puppet festival.
Maiko Kikuchi
was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan. Influenced by her psychoanalyst father, she became interested in the boundary between dreams and reality. She received her B.A in Theater Arts and Fashion Design from Musashino Art University in 2008, and soon after, she moved to the United States to study fine arts, receiving an M.F.A. in Sculpture from Pratt Institute in 2012
Her desire to broaden the expression of her daydreams led her to the
theatre field in 2013. Since then, she’s been creating her puppetry/object theatre performances based on her multi-medium visual art skills. Her pieces have been presented at theaters in New York City such as St. Ann’s Warehouse, Dixon Place, Japan Society, LaMaMa, HERE and The Public Theatre.
Brenna Ross
is a Brooklyn-based Producer and General Manager with IBEX Puppetry. Her goal is to create more just, equitable, sustainable, and joyous spaces for audiences and artists alike by facilitating wondrous arts experiences and utilizing creative approaches to traditional management practices. A proud Iowan, Brenna holds degrees in Physics and Theater from Grinnell College and a certificate in Arts & Culture Strategy from University of Pennsylvania. www.brennaross.com
Membership Chairperson
