Piccadilly is thrilled to welcome our newest Board member, Aretta Baumgartner!
Aretta Baumgartner (arettabaumgartner.com) is a puppeteer, teaching artist, actor and vocalist. A professional puppeteer since 1992, she creates original puppetry-infused work with her puppetry partner through their company
ONE DOUBLE-O FOUR EIGHT, work that can be seen at festivals from coast to coast.
As a passionate arts educator, Aretta has presented many hundreds of workshops, master classes and keynotes at arts/arts education events all over the country. She’s a member of the Teaching Artist Alliance, has served as a Guest Artist for twenty state Thespian festivals and at International Thespian Festival (c/o Educational Theatre Association) and filled the role of Education and Advocacy Director at Atlanta’s Center for Puppetry Arts for 13 years. Aretta has been an Attending Professional for the Dragon Con Puppetry Track for numerous years and was named by peers the Georgia Art Education Association Museum Educator of the Year in 2024. A member of Puppeteers of America (PofA), she proudly served as President of the organization from 2019-2022 and currently is chair of the PofA New Works Fund and is on the PofA Puppetry in Education and Therapy Committee. Other professional affiliations include Alpha Psi Omega, ART Station (Board of Trustees), Atlanta Cultural Educators, Atlanta Puppetry Guild (Scholarship Chair), Georgians for the Arts, Phi Mu Fraternity and UNIMA-USA. Puppet collaborations include work with/for –among many others–the Alliance Theatre, Center for Puppetry Arts (XPT), Grassroots Theatre, Jim Henson Company, Madcap Puppets, Ninja Puppet Productions, Performance Gallery, Piccadilly Puppets (Board of Directors), Puppet People, The Object Group and Voyageur Puppets. Aretta performs regularly in puppetry and theatre productions (frequently devising and touring work with Cincinnati-based Performance Gallery, for example) and as a backing vocalist with several Atlanta-area bands. She is dedicated to using puppetry as a tool to unlock potential, passion and story in every human she meets.
We are so excited to bring Aretta and her wealth of talents to the Piccadilly team!
We will be performing Butterfly Ballad at 1:00 pm on Sunday, August 27 in the Kids Zone. The festival also has two music stages, an Artist Market, a 5K, and lots of food vendors, as well as more kids’ activities.
The Piccadilly Puppets Company 