Under the artistic direction of Art Grueneberger, Puppet Art Theater Company performs hundreds of live performances for family audiences every year. Their shows tour to theaters, festivals, and public events all over California. With a keen sense of humor and a flair for drama, Grueneberger is a master at developing marvelous puppet shows that delight audiences of all ages.

The company also builds and tours fantastic educational shows for government agencies, corporations and other organizations that deliver important educational messages to elementary school students. For more information, click here.

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ART GRUENEBERGER ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Art Grueneberger began his puppet career working with Master Puppeteer Richard Bay. His puppet performance premiere was as lead puppeteer in “A Thousand Cranes,” a UNIMA-USA Citation of Excellence winner. Grueneberger formed Puppet Art Theater Co. in 1994 and began producing outstanding children’s productions that have been seen by thousands of audiences across the United States. His shows have also toured internationally. He has directed productions for adults that have been seen at Here Theater in New York City, Zeum Theater in San Francisco and the Mondavi Center in Davis California. Grueneberger has puppeteered for many film, television and video projects including the award winning film “Ola’s Box of Clovers,” the “Emmy” nominated video “We’re Gonna Be OK” and the WB’s national children’s series “Phantom Investigators.” He has worked with Shadowlight Theater on the award winning productions “Coyote Stories” and “The Wild Party” and has collaborated with talented shadow puppeteer Wendy Morton on several projects including “The Little Dragon,” a nationally distributed DVD produced for the Bose© Speaker Company. In addition to writing and consulting for theater and video productions, Grueneberger has also co-authored the book The Actor's Lab Book: A Practical Supplement for the Beginning Actor. In Summer 2006 Grueneberger traveled to China where he led puppet workshops at The Shanghai Theater Academy. In March of 2007, he was a featured Guest Director at University of California, Davis directing a production of "Man of La Mancha" featuring life-sized puppets. Grueneberger earned a BA in Liberal Studies and Drama at CSU, Sacramento and an MFA in Theater Arts at University of California, Davis.

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RACHEL MALIN PUPPETEER

Rachel received her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from CSU Sacramento where she studied with Master Puppeteer Richard Bay. She first met Art and performed under his direction in a summer stock program at the Old Eagle Theater in Old Sacramento. She began puppeteering for Puppet Art Theater Co. in 1996 and has performed at schools, libraries, and various festivals throughout California, as well as performing at the International Puppet Festival in South Korea. She moved to LA for several years where she ran Puppet Art Theater Co.’s Southern California office. She has assisted in constructing puppets for several projects, including the Sacramento Symphony's Music Education Program. She has also puppeteered and done voice-over work for several of Puppet Art’s projects. In addition to her work for Puppet Art Theater Co., Rachel co-directs and designs the productions at Emerson Junior High in Davis, CA. She's worked as the puppet designer and lead puppeteer on several short film projects including one that was part of the 2006 Sacramento Film and Music Festival at the Crest Theater.