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Courtney Acosta

@elephant.train

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BALTIMORE
dm or email me at [email protected] for mending, stitching or tattoo inquiries ;)

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scratchy mouse head clip shape something thing 4 trade w courtney 🙇🙇‍♀️🙇‍♂️ tysm

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Post-Ober, Day 9: Throwing it back to this bit from the O’Neill Puppetry Conference, now with a new angle by @ekuska !! In Alice Gottschalk’s Object Movement workshop during the pre-conference, she had us do an exercise where we built “one-string marionettes” using apples and feathers. I remember thinking, “I have a really funny idea…” On the final night of the conference, I got to pull off this idea, with the help of some friends who’d done that workshop + the Marionette Construction/Performance workshops during the main conference.

One other thing we did at some point––of which I have zero video/photo evidence but would love if some turned up after I posted this––was we tried to do “Apple” by Charli XCX using the marionette apples. That uh… that quickly devolved into chaos when the apples all got tangled up in each other.

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Fools in love 🎎
@elephant.train @oneill_center

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The project that occupied most of my time for the last week: this figure skater marionette, which I designed and built from the ground up in @huntermarionettes strand at the National Puppetry Conference! (Heavy design inspo from @alysaxliu, of course)

Before this conference I felt fairly confident in the basics of puppetry that I could reasonably jump in and operate any kind of puppet when asked of me. The one exception to that was marionettes: despite being probably the most widely known form of puppetry for centuries, they always struck me as a complicated beast of strings and gravity that in amateur hands (my hands) would just be clunky. Which is why I swallowed my anxiety and took this strand, because what better way to learn and overcome that fear than by designing, building, and performing my own marionette?

I didn’t really think about the fact that was all gonna happen in the span of a week!

I basically spent 9+ hours of every day working on this puppet. There were multiple nights I was in the shop until close-to-or-past-midnight, instead of sleeping in my bed. I have inhaled so much sawdust, foam dust, glue/paint fumes, acetone, etc.: one day I sneezed five times in quick succession and some very strangely-colored things came out of my nose. And it was all worth it in the end, not just for the fact that I had a completed marionette, but that I had accomplished something I hadn’t really done before: I’d designed and built a puppet, from start to finish. Is it hubris to think I could design and build any puppet now that I’ve done this? Eh, probably. But at least I won’t be hesitant to do it moving forward!

Huge thanks to Kurt and @blashfordpuppetry for being such patient teachers always happy to answer my constant questions + built the controllers as I was putting the finishing touches on the main body, to Annette who figured out how to do the hair (spray paint and masking tape, who knew?) and to my fellow strand participants who helped me out at each step (especially @chloe8729, thanks to whom I now know how to use a sewing machine!).

(If you’re thinking “didn’t he already post this five minutes ago?” no he didn’t)

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National Puppetry Conference 2026! Last week was full of the coolest, weirdest, kindest, and most creative people this side of the Mississippi (and the other side too)! I’m truly grateful to everybody who let me leave my sweaty fingerprints on their art 🖐️. I never went to summer camp as a kid, and I have to say, I think this is even better. Thank you to all the grown up kids out there just bursting with love and inspiration — for puppets and each other 🩷

Here’s the week in emojis: ☀️🏖️👽🤡🎭👃💨🐕🐘🧙‍♀️🦐 🧡💙🐸

some of my faces last week: 🥹😴🤣🫣🫠🥲

#puppetry #theater #puppetarts #eugeneoneilltheatercenter

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Some silliness on final night of the conference (at 1:45 in the morning!!), from a few of us who did Object Movement and Marionette Construction/Performance. #puppetry #wicked #defyinggravity

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Look at these wonderful, sleep-deprived people. What a transformative experience. You all told me it would be, but to experience it first had was a privilege and a beautiful, pathbreaking experience all around for me.(Not pictured in image one, my Rabbit goddess puppet—had to wait until the show ended to take her off the strings)

#nationalpuppetryconference

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Puppets I have known (this week).

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Parting is such sweet sorrow! 🥀 Thank you to everyone who joined us for the exhibition run of Laure Drogoul's THE CLOSET (UNIFORM CITY).

We hope you enjoyed the installation, performances, workshops, AND learning about how your clothes will most likely outlive you many times over.

Follow @lauredrogoul for her latest projects in Baltimore and beyond.

Check out our upcoming performances at @lemondoarts

❤️

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FREE WORKSHOP ALERT: Learn the basics of darning or quilting this Saturday at Le Mondo at 3PM.

🪡 Darning Workshop 🪡
BYOH (Bring yer own hole) and learn to darn with Courtney Acosta

🧵 Quilting Workshop 🧵
Led by Marshall Moore

Free Workshops in conjunction with THE CLOSET (Uniform City) now on view.

SIGNUPS IN BIO
@lemondoarts

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Laure Drogoul’s 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗟𝗢𝗦𝗘𝗧 (𝗨𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆) is a site-specific participatory installation that explores the interplay between cultural identity and clothing.

Did you miss the opening? You catch it on view until April 19th at Le Mondo.

𝗨𝗣𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗦

🔷️ 𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝟒/𝟏𝟐 | 𝟓𝐏𝐌 - 𝟕𝐏𝐌
Darning Workshop & Quilting Workshop
Led by Courtney Acosta and Marshall Moore. Free sign-ups in bio.

🔷️ 𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝟒/𝟏𝟐 | 𝟕:𝟑𝟎𝐏𝐌
Free Performances
Featuring Renée Rendine, Laure Drogoul, and Liz Downing.

🔷️ 𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝟒/𝟏𝟗 | 𝟑𝐏𝐌 - 𝟓𝐏𝐌
Darning Workshop & Quilting Workshop
Led by Courtney Acosta and Marshall Moore. Free sign-ups in bio.

🔷️ 𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝟒/𝟏𝟗 | 𝟖𝐏𝐌
SOLAR POWERED GENERATOR IN THE CLOSET

A night of multidisciplinary performances featuring Laure Drogoul, Liz Downing, Carrie Fucile, BOYSCOUTMARIE, We Wiggle Dolls, and Cookie Tongue. $20. Tix in bio.

𝗚𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗥𝗬 𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗦
By appointment with the artist @lauredrogoul

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My corner of the world at the @virginiamoca boardwalk art show this past weekend! My first outdoor show and my first time showing so many original paintings, I had a really lovely time :) I met so many wonderful artists and art-appreciators! ❤️

Many many thanks to my dear friend @elephant.train for making the trek down to the beach to help me install, and for being the greatest customer service representative. There were so many moving parts to this weekend, I'm so lucky to have had someone who is game for anything! 🚗📞

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