A small selection of string puppets stood along one wall of a Saline Library meeting room where John Anderson provided an accounting for Arts and Culture Committee responsibilities in fulfilling City of Saline obligations under terms of its “Bixby Marionettes Trust” here. [1,2]
Meticulously handcrafted by the late Meredith Bixby, these figures seemed more than contextual backdrop or props at the ready when called upon to illustrate function. Rather, they seemed here to cast scrutinizing eyes on behalf of their maker as PowerPoint slides replete with timelines, logos, and photographs told the story of their last twenty-four months in care.
Mr Anderson opened his formal content with a look back to the most recent Bixby Marionettes Trust charge — issued by Saline Mayor Brian Marl in November of 2017. [3]
In broad strokes, this included a bit of history for the traveling Meredith Marionettes Touring Company shows of Mr Bixby in his time and the once-imagined permanent gallery on East Michigan Avenue dedicated to display of surviving sets and marionettes. Stories familiar to long-time members of this community over a certain age, as well as readers of Saline Journal. [4,5]
Indeed, John Anderson even relied specifically upon our coverage as he spoke.
Starting with numbers, the reported “fifteen linear feet of business records, including ‘original scripts, production notes, news clippings, photographs, and posters'” reported as a starting point for organization last December, has been winnowed to seven sans duplication. These then back approximately two hundred retained artifacts. [6,7]
Going into the summer of 2019, a first priority was made to digitally photograph a vast number of these items and begin to associate descriptive informationn with each. Students from the University of Michigan School of Information spearheaded this effort. The strong direction at this point here appears to be getting the collection online. [8,9]
Two key relationships that John Anderson has developed, however, indicate a great deal of promise in terms of moving the Bixby Marionettes Trust more decidedly back in the direction of its original physical Saline intent.
The first is through connection with the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA). Current home of a 1948 Howdy Doody string puppet, the DIA actively provides an ongoing venue for live stage performances featuring marionettes. [10-17]
Specific to Saline materials interests, DIA archivists showed Arts and Culture Committee during a behind-the-scenes tour best practices for stabiliation and long-term preservation of string-puppets. What sort of materials should be used in packing them away for storage? How might the finest of joints and fittings on figures be supported in order to minimize environmental stresses?
At the DIA, dedicated cases with individual drawers for each marionette feature passive ventilation systems ideally suited to off-gas paint, glue, and other emissions from these artifacts in a way that would otherwise cause deterioration.
As to “getting things onto the web,” Mr Anderson reported that the City of Saline has contracted with an expert who’s done such things for The Henry Ford. This should prove a most on-point match here in that The Henry Ford is not only a leader in the quality of its new media integration, but that it does so in recognition that the Internet must augment — not replace — the destination experiences that it uniquely provides. [18,19]
The price tags on even the most basic of these items are often considerable. John Anderson estimated cost for each storage cabinets of the sort described above as somewhere between $5000 and $6000 apiece.
Funding, and making the case for funds, is thus an ongoing time commitment that will continue to be a key in the six- to seven-person cadre of Arts and Culture Committee volunteers. The nearly two-dozen members of our community who came eager to hear this update surely get that. It was also clear from presentation content that this will not only mean a significant monetary commitment in going forward at almost any level of trust stewardship, but one which will be ongoing.
It remains to be seen whether the powerful storytelling legacy of Meredith Bixby himself will be able to sufficiently make that case in his absence. Thankfully, his beloved creations are still around for the time being to help stand up for the effort. [20]
See “bixby marionettes” tag under our Flickr Photostream for additional photographs. [21]
References
- Saline District Library (home page).
- “Bixby Marionettes Trust” Saline.
- “Once Upon A Time, Marionettes Set The Stage For Entertainment Techniques That Remain Relevant To This Very Day” Dell Deaton (September 10, 2018) Saline Journal.
- “A Brief Look Back On The Meredith Bixby Marionette Story, Part I: History Can’t Be Packed Away In A Single Box” Dell Deaton (September 20, 2018) Saline Journal.
- “A Brief Look Back On The Meredith Bixby Marionette Story, Part II: Saline Once Hosted Museum, Held Puppet Festivals” Dell Deaton (September 21, 2018) Saline Journal.
- “Study Of Puppeteering Is About To Get A Lot More Organized, Thanks To Saline Arts And Culture Committee” Dell Deaton (December 24, 2018) Saline Journal.
- “This is where the path begins for return of ‘Meredith’s Marionettes’ to its properly recognized place on world stage” Dell Deaton (January 4, 2019) Saline Journal.
- “U-M alumna brings new life to Meredith Bixby’s famous marionettes, uses new x-ray photo technique” Sydney Hawkins (August 19, 2019) Michigan News.
- “Preserving a Legacy — Archiving and Preservation at UMSI” School of Information (July 10, 2019) YouTube.
- Detroit Institute of Arts (home page).
- “The Secret To All Successful Museum Exhibits: Connect Your Subject Matter With The Public You Want To Attract” Dell Deaton (September 6, 2018) Saline Journal.
- “Howdy Doody, 1948” Detroit Institute of Arts.
- “The Howdy Doody Show” IMDb.
- “Howdy Doody” National Museum of American History.
- “Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre presents A Christmas Carol, Oy! Hanukkah, Merry Kwanzaa” (December 29 and 30, 2019) Detroit Institute of Arts.
- “Frisch Marionettes presents The Jungle Book” (January 4 and 5, 2020) Detroit Institute of Arts.
- “Puppet Performance: Jeghetto’s Workshop” (February 22 and 23, 2010) Detroit Institute of Arts.
- The Henry Ford (home page).
- “Set coordinates on The Henry Ford and beam down to see ‘Star Trek: Exploring New Worlds’ exhibit, until September 2, 2019” Dell Deaton (May 10, 2019) Saline Journal.
- “Marionette Workshop (am)” Saline Journal.
- “Marionette Workshop (pm)” Saline Journal.
- Dell Deaton (Flickr Photostream).
