Old works of art hang in the FestiFools studio.

photo by Jennifer Eberbach | for AnnArbor.com

Ann Arbor’s annual parade of giant puppets and kinetic sculptures, FestiFools, will dance through downtown again on April 3 from 4 to 5 p.m. The lively and whimsical parade completely takes over Main Street between William and Washington.

FestiFools was birthed from creative director Mark Tucker’s “Art in Public Spaces” class for non-art majors through the University of Michigan’s Lloyd Hall Scholars Program in 2006. Over the years other U-M professors have gotten college students involved in FestiFools, including Nick Tobier in the School of Art & Design and others.

Since its beginnings, the parade has blossomed into a full-blown, community-wide public art event that encourages everyone to make puppets or join in the revelry. The event, which is sponsored by LHSP’s START Project, is a unique example of how public art can bridge the gap between the ‘town’ and the ‘gown.’

There will be even more foolery happening this year than ever before. For the first time, a second parade, FoolMoon, will wind through downtown ending at Washington Street on April 1— April Fool’s Day — from 8 to 11:30 p.m. It will be a procession of handmade luminaries that local people of all ages have crafted to look like fish and other aquatic creatures.

Tucker reports that local puppeteer Pat Elkins and a crew of performers will perform shadow puppets against white screens. Theyouth volunteer corps at the YMCA will operate the screens using high-powered LED flashlights.

Last year's FestiFools celebration.

Mark Bialek | AnnArbor.com file photo

Public FoolMoon luminary-making workshops were held throughout March. Ferndale artist Jimmy Thompson, who managed the luminary workshops, explains how the luminaries are made:

“People are either using a template or designing their own. What you do is make a wire sculpture and hold that together with different types of packing tape. The clear skin that goes around it is just wrapping tape, which binds it nicely. Inside, we are stacking these battery-operated lights so that during FoolMoon, they’ll be illuminated. The final step is putting tissue paper over it with a glue mixture, which gives it a Chinese lantern look,” he says.

People of all ages also designed puppets and volunteered at the FestiFools studio each weekend leading up to the parade. Being in the 2,500-square-foot studio feels a little like being in the middle of the parade. Old puppets from past FestiFools hang from the studio’s two story warehouse ceilings and line the walls. It is a magical and colorful place to spend time in. “The studio is sort of like a museum. We rarely ever take the same puppet out twice and a lot of the old ones have ended up here,” Tucker says.

One big thing is missing from the studio that you will find at the parade is movement. “Sometimes I think about the studio being a mausoleum. Until these things start moving, they are very different. They take on a life when they are being performed,” Tucker says, demonstrating on a half-made gorilla puppet that will appear in this weekend's parade. “There is a melancholy side to keeping the old ones around because, without the people, they are just art objects. That’s not their intended use."

Local Girl Scouts have designed four puppets for this year’s parade, which correspond to the four elements — water, fire, earth and air. During a visit to the studio Girl Scouts Troop #41702 leaders Kelley Bezrutch and Sally Hanselman and some troop members talked about their experience working in the FestiFools studio.

“Right now, I’m working on a mermaid tail with my group. We are cadets and have the element water,” says Sloan Talbot, an eighth-grader from Greenhills. “Each group had to create our puppet from scratch. We also have to incorporate Girl Scouts into it somehow,” she explains. Her younger sister Alexabelle Talbot is working with her group to create a girl holding a plate of brownies. “Our girl is fire and we are incorporating brownies into it. We’ll have wrapped boxes with brown paper wrapping that look like brownies and she’ll be holding a plate of them,” she says.

Maya Foster, a seventh-grader at Clague Middle School, likes “how you can be really creative and make what you like on your own. There’s no mandatory thing that you have to make. You just use ideas from your mind. I like the artistic aspect,” she says.

The troop leaders think participating in FestiFools is a great life lesson for their girls. “They’re learning how to problem solve and work in a team dynamic. When something you plan doesn’t work out they way you thought it would, you have to figure out a way to make changes. It’s like life,” Bezrutch says. Hanselman adds that “it’s a good way for them to show leadership and creativity and still have a lot of fun. They can add to the community they live in by working on an event that the public can enjoy and showcase Girl Scouting at the same time,” she says.

Members of Kappa Alpha Pi, a coed prelaw fraternity at the University of Michigan, volunteered in the FestiFools studio as a community service project. “We didn’t design a puppet. We’re priming them for the artists, so it’s easier for them to put the final touches and paint on it,” explains pre-law student Olivia Mariani. “It’s been really fun. It’s different from what we usually do. It’s more community-based development,” says fellow law student Teresa Munaco. “When the product is finished, it will be really rewarding. Even though we didn’t make anything specifically on our own, we’re all collectively a part of it,” Mariani adds.

Girl Scouts work in the FestiFools studio.

photo by Jennifer Eberbach | for AnnArbor.com

160 of Tucker’s U of M students worked in groups to create about 20 pieces. The U-M students work with master puppet artists Sophia Michahelles and Alex Kahn of New York based group Superior Concept Monsters.

Not everyone makes puppets at the studio. A number of area grade school classes are designing their own puppets off site. For example, Emerson Elementary School art teacher Jennifer Tanau is making FestiFools puppets with 42 kids in two fifth-grade classes. There are more puppets in artist studios, garages, and basements right now that will show up the day of the parade.

From the looks of it, FestiFools and FoolMoon will both have a great turnout this year. Tucker is happy to report that the number of people at FestiFools open studio days and FoolMoon luminary workshops this year has really impressed him. The studio got 75 people the first weekend. “We never see that until the end of March, when it’s closer to the parade.” Now, it would not be usual for 50 people to show up on a single open studio day. Signs point to FoolMoon having a big turnout, as well. About 50 people showed up to luminary workshops each of the first two Sundays of the month.