Heidi Rugg is an interdisciplinary artist with her feet firmly planted in the worlds of both performance and visual arts. She is the founder of Barefoot Puppet Theatre and has toured throughout the country (and beyond!) presenting to schools, libraries, theatres, museums, and venues including The Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, Puppet Showplace Theater in Boston, and The Smithsonian Discovery Theatre.
As a puppet builder, Heidi works primarily with natural fibers and has a passion for sustainable practices in art-making. In her writing, she enjoys tackling challenging themes. Her work has been supported by grants from The Jim Henson Foundation, Puppeteers of America, Richmond CultureWorks, the Virginia Commission for the Arts, and the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Arts.
When she is not on tour, Heidi maintains a studio practice and drinks lots of tea from her home on the edge of a swamp in Richmond’s Northside where she lives with her husband, Sam, their daughter, an immortal gecko, a rescue pup, and a host of puppets.
Puppetry, wool, feltmaking, storytelling, cardboard, staple pliers, process, regenerative arts practices, climate anxiety
Metaphors
Nope.
Wool magic