The Puppetry Institute

The Puppetry Institute offers shows, classes, workshops, and demonstrations in puppetry, theater, and FX skills. The program includes 1- and 2-hour pop-up classes, individualized all-ages workshops, and an adult class, and students keep what they create in the workshop. The Puppetry Institute also presents The Traveling Menagerie and other tours and shows, including a tour on Middleof Community Days where visitors can tour and meet life-sized monster puppets and other one-of-a-kind, life-sized mythical creature puppets in immersive and interactive events.

• Ages: 6–18 years old
• Schedule: Open Monday–Saturday, 10am–5pm; classes are typically 30–120 minutes per session
• Price: Paid classes and donations help support its mission

The Puppetry Institute is a non-profit art center and 501c3 nonprofit art school that describes itself as a non-profit organization built on countless unpaid hours. It offers a one-of-a-kind immersive, interactive puppetry arts installation featuring the talents of local artists called MIDDLEOF, and it is open to families, kids 8+, and adults. Classes are custom tailored to each student’s creative vision, can be counted as art credits and also math, science, and engineering, and are typically solo or with just a few students, allowing one-on-one instruction. Many classes can be attended online with a personalized material kit delivered to the student’s door, and TPI is an IEMINC vendor offering VAPA and STEAM applicable classes.

The Puppetry Institute states that all ages and abilities are welcome. Families with children under age 8 can join beginner classes, family engagement programs, and crafting kits, while older kids and teens may participate in drop-off classes. The Traveling Menagerie features one-of-a-kind, life-sized mythical creature puppets created and performed by staff, with shows where audience members can hear, see, and touch life-like moving creatures, and a few audience members may get to feed, pet, and play with select creatures.

The Puppetry Institute serves the Central Coast and surrounding areas and is available for school assemblies, parties, and other events around California’s central coast. Its mission statement says it serves the Central Coast and surrounding areas, giving all who walk through the doors a chance to experience first hand the beauty and wonder of an art form that encompasses all the other arts into one, and that through the support of students and patrons, it makes the art available to everyone with a desire to bring their imaginations to life. After 4 years under the nonprofit wing of CAOF, the Institute is now an independent 501c3 nonprofit.

The Puppetry Institute runs a scholarship program that provides free materials and personalized instruction for children facing financial and other hardships at home. Scholarships are available for under-served or economically disadvantaged kids K–12 from throughout the Central Coast region, and the scholarship program is open to ages 6–16 from at-risk or low-income situations, as well as kids of essential workers. A third of every workshop sale goes into the scholarship fund, and for every three classes sold, one is given away to a kid in need; a third of all class profits pay for materials and instruction for low-income scholarship students. The Special Effects Young Interns Scholarship offers free instruction and materials to youth aged 12–14. The Puppetry Institute states that it aims to make the magic of creativity accessible to those who need it most, and that Patreons get sneak peeks at the work they are helping make possible.

Leadership contact information lists: Contact Ricki - (831) 601 9822 or [email protected].

Last updated March 26, 2026.