The University of Connecticut Puppet Arts Program will receive the Puppeteers of America Award for its prestigious and long-standing university- level training program for puppeteers, its distinction as the only puppet arts training program in which students can earn a bachelor of fine arts, master of arts, or master of fine arts, and its Museum of Puppetry.

The award will be presented by Puppeteers of America, a nationally recognized professional union, at the National Puppetry Festival in Toledo, Ohio, on August 1.

"The face of American and international puppetry has been profoundly improved because of the quality and number of superbly trained puppeteers who have come through the UConn puppetry program," said Karen Larsen, chair

of the awards commmittee of Puppeteers of America, in a letter to University President Philip Austin. Larsen commends alumni of the UConn puppetry for excelling in every aspect of puppetry. UConn graduates have gone on to work with Jim Henson Productions, Steven Spielberg Productions, and Walt Disney Productions. Their work has appeared in such films as Jurassic Park and Batman Returns.

Bartolo Roccoberton, associate professor of dramatic arts, will receive the award. KSB