FALL CONFERENCE: KEYNOTE, MONICA LEO

AEI FALL CONFERENCE: THE ART OF STORYTELLING
aBOUT OUR KEYNOTE: MONICA LEO

Monica Leo is a first generation American, born to German refugees in the waning days of World War Two.  After the war, her parents ordered a set of hand puppets from a German craftswoman, and Monica was hooked. A graduate of the University of Iowa, Monica studied for two years at the State Art Academy in Düsseldorf, Germany with Josef Beuys.          
Since 1974, she has been the sole puppet creator and lead puppeteer of Eulenspiegel Puppet Theatre, headquartered in West Liberty, Iowa, and touring nationally and internationally. From 1975 through 2006, she worked with artistic partner Teri Jean Breitbach.  The two performed exclusively as a duo until the 1990's, when they began to incorporate musicians and other puppeteers.

In addition to creating all of the puppets and scenery for Eulenspiegel productions, Monica Leo also makes dolls, creates block prints, and writes about puppetry in the Midwest for The Puppetry Journal, a national magazine published by Puppeteers of America.  ​

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