MEET PAUL MESNER-THE ARTIST

Paul Mesner, puppeteer, author and performer became interested in puppetry at an early age. As a teenager he studied with Lee Ridge in Lincoln, Nebraska before starting his own puppet theater in Omaha. He toured his shows throughout Minnesota before studying at the prestigious International Institute of Puppetry in Charleville-Mezier, France. He moved to Kansas City where in 1987 he founded the Paul Mesner Puppets. His lively performances present classic stories recast in contemporary terms. Audiences across the United States have delighted in the precise craftsmanship, dynamic presentation and joyful blending of humor and education in all his productions. Paul Mesner believes wholeheartedly in entertaining his audiences and doesn’t mind including deeper meanings and life-lessons when no one is looking.

Paul Mesner regularly collaborates with local and national artists, musicians, fashion designers and crafts people to create puppetry that showcases his unique brand of humor. He presents performances using many different types of puppets, from simple finger puppets to rod and stick puppets, marionettes, shadow puppets, and even bigger than life-sized puppets worn by performers. His company, Paul Mesner Puppets, Inc. is a not for profit company located in a rehabilitated inner-city warehouse providing 7,000 square feet of production, administrative, workshop and rehearsal space.

Paul Mesner presents a full season in Kansas City and travels nationally to residencies, festivals and workshops, reaching more than 100,000 children and adults annually. Paul Mesner has appeared at numerous festivals all over the United States, including the Henson International Festival of Puppetry in New York, Puppeteers of America National and Regional Festivals, Cultural Arts Festival at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Park City, Utah, the Orlando Puppet Festival and in Europe at the World Exposition in Seville, Spain in 1991. He has performed at the Great Arizona Puppet Theater in Phoenix, Northwest Puppet Theater in Seattle, Tears of Joy Puppet Theater in Portland, Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta as well as Tillis Center for the Performing Arts, Long Island, Detroit Institute of Arts, Children’s Fine Arts Series in San Antonio, Montalvo Arts Center in Sarasota, CA and other theaters and museums.

Paul Mesner has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Missouri Arts Council, ArtsKC Fund as well as other foundations in the Kansas City area. He has received awards for educational and artistic achievement. These include two UNIMA-USA Citations for Excellence in Puppetry for Sleeping Beauty and Wiley & the Hairy Man and the Distinguished Service to Education Award from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. His company has collaborated with The Coterie Theater, The Kansas City Symphony Orchestra, The Kansas City Chorale, the Kansas City Camerata, the Civic Opera Theater, the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, the Omaha Symphony, The Cheyenne Festival Singers and annually with the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival with performances of a children’s version of their main stage production. Paul Mesner Puppets is one of fifteen arts organizations in the Kansas City Area that make up Arts Partners, an innovative, sequential, arts-in-education program for grades Pre K-12 that integrates the education programs into the curriculum of nine school districts and two individual site–based schools. Arts Partners works to make the arts integral to basic education and accessible to every child.

		Diane Barker joined the Paul Mesner Puppets in 1997 as a member of the Board of Directors. Her interest in puppetry was sparked when she performed as a puppeteer in a show Paul Mesner wrote for the Children's Center for the Visually Impaired. After being the Development Director for the board, she became the President of the board and is now the Executive Director of Paul Mesner Puppets.
		Mike Horner was in the 2nd grade when he saw Paul Mesner perform for the first time. The puppetry bug had bitten Mike several years earlier when his parents were part of a puppet ministry. He has performed as a puppeteer and ventriloquist most of his life, usually as a sideline to his work in graphic design. As a puppeteer with the Paul Mesner Puppets, Mike performs with the touring productions of Aesop’s Fabulous Tales, Anansi the Spider Peter and the Wolf, Cinderella and Old McDonald’s Rhyming Ranch.
		Doris the Dog was rescued from the backyard at the Paul Mesner Puppets during the summer of 2003. She had been beaten and bitten and was a very sick pup. We nurtured her back to health and she now resides at our building, inside on her couch or outside in her very fancy doghouse. She is loved by all and loves to bark at things going by on wheels...bicycles, grocery carts, baby strollers and at stray dogs. She loves to play and has her favorite toys stashed in odd places!
		Gabby Baculi, costume designer and puppeteer, used to dance and choreograph ethnic, folk and creative dancing in his native country of The Philippines. He has been living in the United States for five years. This is Gabby's first year at the Paul Mesner Puppets where he helps with costume design as well as performs as a puppeteer. Gabby's costumes were seen on the puppets in the Paul Mesner Puppets' Romeo & Juliet at the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival.
		Cody Ross, House Manager and the newest member of the Paul Mesner Puppets, has a Bachelor's Degree in Communications and Theatre from William Jewell College and a Certified Nurse’s Aid Training & Certification from Penn Valley Community College. He performed with Paul Mesner Puppets at the Bloom Party Fund Raising Event for the Kansas City Free Health Clinic in May of 2008. He has also been an intern at The Coterie Theatre.