Tarish “Jeghetto” Pipkins: Puppeteer
In collaboration with Puppet Showplace Theater, the School of Visual Arts, College of Fine Arts, we are excited to welcome puppeteer Tarish Pipkins, a.k.a. Jeghetto, to Boston University from November 4-10, 2018.
Afrofuturism Panel Discussion
Wednesday, November 7 at 7-9pm
College of Arts & Sciences (685 Commonwealth Avenue), Room B12
Join Tarish Pipkins, Barrington Edwards (Studio Vexer) and Joel Gill (New Hampshire Institute of Art, Strange Fruit Comics, BU CFA Alum) for a discussion around futuristic literature, music, art, and more in the context of black history and culture. The discussion will be moderated by Dominique Taylor (creator of The Storyscape). See below for bios for all panelists.
Free & Open to the Public: Registration Required
Just Another Lynching: An American Horror Story
Thursday, November 8 & Friday, November 9 at 7pm
Puppet Showplace Theater (32 Station Street, Brookline)
Experience tale of a man who loved his family, but met an unfortunate end at the hands of racism. Puppeteer Tarish “Jeghetto” Pipkins joins forces with a cast of Boston-based puppeteers to confront haunting truths about our past, present, and future. Framed as a man’s eulogy to his lost friend, the play unfolds as a series of touching memories that refuse to be ignored. Jeghetto’s ghostly, large-scale puppets combine with extraordinary sound and projections, creating a space where contemporary audiences can reflect, bear witness, and engage in radical honesty.
The show will be followed by a community discussion with the creative team.
Reserve your tickets through Puppet Showplace Theater
BU Faculty & Staff: $15 | BU Students: Limited free seats available with code & BU ID at door: bustudent18
How to Launch a Creative Business
Friday, November 9 at 10am-12pm
BUild Lab IDG Capital Student Innovation Center (730 Commonwealth Ave)
Have a creative idea for a business or startup, but haven’t figured out how to bring it to life? Then this workshop is for you! Get advice from Tarish “Jeghetto” Pipkins, a world-renowned puppeteer, performer and educator as he shares how he turned his passion into a thriving business. Attendees can also register for a limited number of 20min office hours with Tarish to ask individual questions.
10-11am: Q&A with Jeghetto – Register
11am-12pm: 1-on-1 office hours (limited spots available, sign up here)
Bringing Puppets into the Special Ed Classroom
Friday, November 9 at 1-3pm
Wheelock College of Education (2 Silber Way), Room 250
Tarish Pipkins is an artist, performer, and educator with many years of experience in the classroom supporting students with special needs and emotional and behavioral challenges. Join him for a discussion of why puppets work and a hands-on session to learn about approaches to using the “high art of puppetry” to build social skills and foster success in school.
This workshop is open to all! Registration Required
Puppet Making Workshop
Saturday, November 10 at 10am-1pm or 1-4pm
GSU Alley (775 Commonwealth Avenue), Lower Level
Have a piece you want to share with Jeghetto? Interested in puppet making and learning from a pro? Want to participate in a Puppet Slam? Join us for a morning or afternoon Puppet Making Workshop followed by an optional evening performance. Bring your own materials, or use ours!
Free & Open to the Public: Registration Required
BU Puppet Slam
Saturday, November 10 at 8pm
BU Central (775 Commonwealth Avenue), Lower Level
Stop by BU Central to see performances from workshop participants and Jeghetto in a night full of fun.
Free & Open to the Public: Registration Required
Visiting Artist:
Tarish Pipkins a.k.a. Jeghetto, is a self taught artist and has been creating art from a very young age. In the late 90’s Tarish joined the BridgeSpotters Collective and became known for his live paintings and poetry. He was also a Barber for over 20 years. He moved to North Carolina in 2005 where he launched his career in Puppetry. There, he fine tuned his skills by doing street performances with his puppets. In 2008 he started working with Paperhand Puppet Intervention, an organization that uses diverse styles of puppetry and artistic expression to create works that inspire, promote social change and are deeply rewarding for all involved. He has built puppets and performed in several Paperhand productions. Most recently, Jeghetto had the pleasure to work with national recording artist, Missy Elliott on her music video, WTF (Where They From), controlling the Pharell puppet and doing some puppet building. He also worked on the Amazon Echo commercial featuring Missy Elliott and Alec Baldwin as puppets. Tarish is a former teacher at Just Right Academy, a private alternative school for children with special needs. Tarish is married and a proud father of five children. Jeghetto’s passion is promoting Oneness through the magic of Puppetry.
Afrofuturism Panelists joining Tarish Pipkins:
Barrington Edwards (Studio Vexer) is an artist, illustrator and educator. His company, Studio Vexer, develops art in the form of illustration, graphic design, interactive media and other forms of visual communication for the public. The studio emphasizes clear purposeful communication for all types of people. Studio Vexer’s team embraces the challenge of helping all who need a visual voice to clarify or best express ideas to enjoy visual communication so we can all hold a sense of ownership over our narratives.
Joel Gill (New Hampshire Institute of Art, BU CFA Alum) is the chairman, CEO, president, director of development, majority and minority stock holder, manager, co-manager, regional manager, assistant to the regional manager, receptionist, senior black correspondent and janitor of Strange Fruit Comics. He is the author/illustrator of 2 books from Fulcrum Publishing Strange Fruit vol I Uncelebrated Narratives from Black History May 2014 and Tales of the Talented Tenth Fall 2014. In his spare time he is a member of The Boston Comics Roundtable. He received his MFA from Boston University and a BA from Roanoke College. His secret lair is behind a secret panel in the kitchen of his house (sold separately) in New Boston, New Hampshire where he lives with his wife, four children a 2 talking dog and 2 psychic cats.
Dominique Taylor (Moderator) is the creator of The Storyscape, an innovative literary platform where readers can get the latest reviews and recommendations on contemporary literature with an unconventional approach. She is also the creator and host of PBS Digital Studios’ Read Awakening, a literary variety show pegged as the Reading Rainbow for millennials. She is currently gearing up for her year as a traveling bibliophile where she’ll be creating bookish content from the perspective of a global nomad. You can find her @storyscape on Twitter and Instagram and at ‘The Storyscape’ on YouTube and Facebook.