Chris Griffith

creative director

Since 2019, Chris, (Cherokee Nation) has been creating live performances, web series and music videos to respond to the Cherokee declaration of emergency for the language and to increase representation of and connection to Indigeneity.

This work has earned support from Indigenous Performances Productions, Cherokee Film Office/OK Film & TV Academy, NDN Collective, FilmNorth, and Tiwahe Foundation. It has attracted media attention (MN Public Radio, The Cherokee Phoenix and Tulsa People) and thousands of viewers. To see the musical adventures into Cherokee Futurism, hop aboard the Turtleship and visit this link.

Before Chris was co-Creative Director and Founder of Z Puppets (with Shari Aronson), he was co-founder and artistic director for 13 years of Galumph Interactive Theater, nationally- recognized pioneers in participatory theater. Additionally, Chris served as editor of The Puppetry Cookbook and Education Coordinator for In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theater. As a clown/juggler, he has performed for The Minnesota Children’s Museum, the Minnesota Fringe Festival and the Edmonton International Street Performer’s Festival.

In addition to their accomplishments in performance, both Chris and Shari have served as arts education consultants for the national Educational Theater Association, Minnesota’s Perpich Center and taught residencies for students of all levels. His work has received awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, Minnesota State Arts Board, Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, Jim Henson Foundation, Puppeteers of America, Jerome Foundation. In 2009, Chris received an Ivey award for his puppet design.

Email chris@zpuppets.org