International Mask & Puppet Museum - Syracuse, NY - Culture Through Artistry

The International Mask and Puppet Museum is located at 518 Prospect Avenue in Syracuse, NY. The location is at the intersection of Ash and North Salina Streets, in the area southeast of Onodaga Lake. The Museum is housed in a building built in 1890 by the President of the National Brewing Company. The Museum is operated by the Open House Theatre group.

Open Hand Theater specializes in productions involving puppets and masks, as well as live actors and music, in order to provide unique theatrical pieces. They perform in professional theaters, parks, schools, and in the Museum itself. The group has won several awards for their artistic service to the community. It is a non-profit organization dedicated to celebrating the human experience via masks and puppetry.

The Artistic Director for the Open House Theatre group is Gregory Navias. Navais has served in this role since 1982. He has directed over 90 different productions and he teaches some courses at Syracuse University. The International Artist-In-Residence is Vladimir Vasyagin. Vasyagin has been with Open House Theater since 1997 and is an expert puppeteer.

The Museum houses collections from six geographic areas including Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, and the Americas. The Museum houses puppets and masks from: the East Coast of Africa, Bali, Indonesia, and India. They have shadow puppets from China, water puppets from Vietnam, Day of the Dead items from Mexico, among others. The Commedia dell'Arte masks from Italy celebrate the artistic comedy productions of 17th century Italy. Such comedies are the basis of character archetypes like Harlequin and Punch & Judy.

Also in the collection are the masks and puppets original to the Open House Theatre's over 25 years of productions. The Theatre presents the "World of Puppets'' Saturday morning series at 11am the first two Saturdays of each month. This series showcases performers from around the globe. In March, "Sleeping Beauty'' is being performed by the Tanglewood Marionettes. In April, Andrew and Bonnie Periale will be performing "Snow White and Other Stories.'' This group publishes the only magazine dedicated to puppetry (Puppetry International). Admission to this series is $8 for adults and $6 for children.

The Touring Museum Program allows students, from second-grade up, to experience the Open House Theatre's expression of puppetry and masks. The goals for this program are to understand the cultural significance of masks and puppets as well as to learn about storytelling. For a one day educational experience, the Program charges $750 for venues within a 60 mile radius. Outside of this radius, the fee is $850 dollars. For an additional $200, the experience also includes the opening performance of "Masks of Life.''

The Museum is open Fridays by appointment, from 10am - 4pm. On performance Saturdays, the Museum is open from 10am - 12pm. The gift shop shares these hours and is also open before and after each performance. Tickets for the Saturday series can be purchased by phone by calling 315-476-0466, Monday through Friday 9am - 2pm.