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DocuSign Envelope ID: 26350935 -D1 DF -47BB- 9676- CBE4F7DD63FB <br />11111 1111111p <br />Hobey is part of the North Carolina Arts Council <br />residency program and the cARTwheels program. <br />"Funny, talented, wonderful, creative, delightful. Absolutely great to <br />work with!" <br />Clark Performing Arts Center, Springfield, OH <br />Hobey Ford has never had another career. Internationally renowned in <br />the puppetry field, and an award - winning performer and Kennedy Center <br />Partner in Education teaching artist, Ford knew early on what he wanted <br />to do after seeing a puppet show while still a youngster. He was bitten by <br />the puppetry bug! While studying at an arts college, Hobey eventually <br />found "... one of my cornerstones , that I would approach puppetry as <br />storytelling with puppets." <br />Ford designs and constructs all of his Golden Rod Puppets as well as the beautiful sets that surround them. Now a resident <br />of Asheville NC, Hobey also draws on his early experiences growing up in coastal Connecticut or living in a Nevada Native <br />American community in writing the scripts for some of his performances such as "Whale Walker" and "Turtle Island Tales." <br />He first created the Golden Rod Puppets in 1980 and often adapts folk tales and global cultural traditions for his perfor- <br />mances, always adding a special "Golden Rod" twist. His performances incorporate a variety of puppetry styles: Bunraku, <br />rod, marionettes, Foamies and shadow puppetry. Hobey is quick to credit his audiences for completing the creative spark <br />that is ignited with every live performance and he has brought his amazing talent to family audiences all over the world for <br />over two decades. <br />Ford has received the highest awards for his brilliant and priceless contributions to the world of puppetry: two -time winner <br />of puppetry's highest honor, the UNIMA Citation of Excellence, recipient of three Jim Henson Foundation grants, and The <br />Hermitage Fellowship, Hobey Ford is renowned for excellence in in his craft. Chosen as a Kennedy Center Partner to teach <br />teachers (and other artists) how to use the performing arts in the classroom curriculum, Hobey not only performs his original <br />works all over the world but offers workshops to teachers and students alike. <br />Hobey Is considered by his peers both an Innovator In puppetry craft and a master storyteller. He created both the <br />"Foamies" and the clever hand puppet known as "Peepers," an imaginative, patented set of plastic eyes - for hands of any <br />size- worn in several ways that turn the bare hand into an innovative and inexpensive instant puppet! The "Foamies" are <br />large animal puppets that Hobey designs, carves and palnts from blacks of foam. After studying each animal's characteristic <br />movements, Hobey designs various rod control mechanisms to make the puppets themselves move in an incredibly life -like <br />manner. The "Foamies" are presented using both stage and house performance spaces, often flying or "walking" right out <br />over the audiences' heads! <br />"Ford is a remarkably original and refreshingly authentic artist whose passion just happens to express itself <br />through the rather unusual...medium of puppetry." <br />Tom Kerr, Marquee <br />