Tomorrow Kelly and I meet with Grace Serra from Children's Hospital. Our agenda will be as follows:

1. Target Audience at the hospital to do a PuppetArt Performance for.

2. Building a working relationship with Children's that would allow for grant and foundation funding to build the program.

3. Grace has an upcoming Health Conference - Is there any opportunity for PuppetArt at the conference.

4. Future opportunities for PuppetArt and Children's Hospital.

Wish us Luck and I am looking forward to a positive outcome.

Our meeting on Monday was cancelled with Beaumont. The child life person, Kathleen Grobbel, we were scheduled to meet with had a family emergency. Hopefully, we will be able to reschedule before the end of the semester. We do have a meeting with Grace Serra next week at Children's and hopefully this will not be cancelled. In addition I will be meeting with Ann Williamson, who is on the board for PuppetArt next week for lunch to discuss possible projects for PuppetArt and to discuss me taking a position on the board for PuppetArt.

I am working on our Responsive Art piece and feel my idea for it is very good considering how everything is playing out with PuppetArt this semester. I truly think there is so much potential to the project, just getting a little frustrated with how slow things seem to be moving. I am also working on finding research for Kelly, in addition, to my other class and papers.

Teresa and I met with Kelly on Saturday at PuppetArt. We discussed our meeting on Monday with Kathleen Grobbel, who is the child life coordinator for Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak (main campus). As discussing what we are hoping to bring to Beaumont in the way of puppets and art therapy for children and hopefully expanding the program out as it builds, we decided that it would better to take the approach of first listening to Kathleen Grobbel and then moving on from there. Kelly indicated that she would also have a powerpoint ready to present about PuppetArt. Looking forward to a positive meeting with the group and hopefully being able to develop a program for children in the hospital first and then moving on from there.

Working on setting up the meeting with Grace Serra from Childrens and with Thanksgiving being next week, we are looking at the following week. Also have scheduled a meeting with Anne Williamson regarding a position on the board with PuppetArt. Moving along a lot slower than I would like, but continuing to try and make things come together. Being positive is what is important in something like this. Great things come in small steps.

Had a meeting with Kelly from PuppetArt on Wednesday afternoon and we discussed our next steps. I am preparing an agenda for a meeting with Grace Serra from Children's Hospital. We would like to possibly have a performance at the hospital before the end of the semester and work with Grace to form a grant proposal. We will also be meeting with Beaumont on the 21st of November as a team. I truly feel that PuppetArt has so many potentials for working with children in a hospital setting.

In addition I plan on meeting with Ann Williamson, who is on the board for PuppetArt to discuss options for PuppetArt and regarding joining the board.

Have been able to reach Grace Serra at Children's to set up a puppet show. Will be meeting with Kelly and group next week to start making a plan, set up a presentation and arrange the meeting with Grace. Things are moving forward with bringing in the puppets as therapy to the children in the hospital and I think that the project has a huge potential.

I am currently working on contacting Grace Serra, Art Advisor for Children's Hospital to possibly set up a puppet show for a group of children at the hospital.   After visiting the performance of Firebird at PuppetArt, I can see the benefit the performance of puppets would have with children in the hospital.    Hopefully, between Kelly from PuppetArt and I, we will be able to set something up before the end of the semester.  

Further I am researching other areas that PuppetArt could be used in.   Puppets are a very visual expression of art with the use of movement, dance and imagination.   Through the additional reading I have been doing I can see how puppets could be used with autistic children, who have difficulty expressing themselves vocally.  Through exploration with the puppets they may be able to communicate in a unique way, such as, movement.