OFF SITE @ Solidarity Triangle - N. Kimball Ave, + N. Milwaukee Ave Intersection - Chicago, IL 60618
Celebrating Juneteenth, our first Outreach event of 2025 features Rocio “Chio” Cabrera, Dark Matter Resident Mayda del Valle, Anthony-Michael Stokes, and alumni resident Leah Lara. In collaboration with the youth theater group Los Logansitos, this event will showcase a puppetry and theater performance for all to enjoy.
The event is FREE and open to the public at Solidarity Triangle. Join us 12pm-4pm
Artist Bios -
Maya Del Valle - Mayda del Valle was born and raised on the Southside of Chicago. She is the author of The University of Hip Hop and a winner of the 2016 Drinking Gourd Chapbook Poetry Prize from Northwestern University Press. Her full-length collection, A South Side Girl’s Guide to Love and Sex, was published on Tia Chucha press. She appeared on six episodes of the HBO series Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry, and was a contributing writer and original cast member of the Tony Award winning Def Poetry Jam on Broadway.
She began her artistic career at the Nuyorican Poets Café, where she was the 2001 Grand Slam Champion, and went on to become the National Poetry Slam Champion in the same year. She was the youngest poet, and the first Latine person to do so.
She has appeared in Urban Latino, Latina Magazine, Mass Appeal, The Source, The New York Times and was named by Smithsonian Magazine as one of America’s Young Innovators in the Arts and Sciences. Oprah’s “O” Magazine selected her as one of 20 women for the first ever “O Power List”, a group of visionary women making a mark in business, politics, and the arts. She has performed at venues across the world, including the White House in May of 2009, by invitation of President Obama and the First Lady. Most recently, Mayda was the recipient of the 2025 Letras Boricuas Fellowship, sponsored by Flamboyan Arts Fund and the Mellon Foundation.
Rocio “Chio” Cabrera - Rocio “Chio” Cabrera, is a puppetry artist from Humboldt Park, Chicago. She is a Mexican-American artist who uses puppetry to bring audiences into new worlds. Those worlds may be historical, in the future, or even other worldly - afterall, everything is possible with puppetry. Her work explores latino folklore, history, nature, and identity. Chio works at Opera-Matic and is an Artist In-Residence with Free Street Theater. She leads puppetry workshops for children and young adults where she leads students through construction to performance. Chio uses her artistry to speak for Chicago’s Latinx-American communities and advocates for justice. #ReleasetheImmigrants
Anthony-Michael Stokes - Anthony-Michael Stokes a Chicago based multidisciplinary teaching artist and award-winning educator, originally from TX, he holds BFAs in music theatre and dance and a Master’s in Education. He has trained as a puppeteer with the Jim Henson Company and the Sesame Street Puppeteer workshop. He was awarded multiple Jim Henson foundation grants, and the 2023 O’Neill Residency from the foundation for his work The Scarecrow. He is currently a 2024-25 Chicago Puppet Lab artist, where he is developing his next work Anansi, continuing his exploration with hybrid bunraku/hand/marionette puppetry with his scrap, craft artist esthetic. What fuels him as a creative is finding a clear perspective and cause to tell a story that will inspire, educate, and allow for self-reflection.. He wants his work to enlighten, empower and entertain while using puppetry, music and theatre to connect everything.
Leah Lara (they/ them) - Leah Lara is a Black nonbinary puppeteer and 3-D illustrator from Dallas Tx. They received their BFA in 2023 from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) where they majored in Illustration. Their work often investigates the black femme experience while drawing on dark and whimsical fairy tale archetypes and themes. A proud Puppet Council elder and community art advocate, they've organized puppet workshops, slams, plays and interactive play sessions across Chicago. A 2023-24 Chicago Puppet Lab cohort member and 2024 Dark Matter Residency alum, they’ve performed at RoughHouse Theatre, Color Club, Links Hall, Co-Prosperity, Hull House Museum, the Woman of Color Fringe Festival and have been published by Gush Magazine. They are also a co-organizer and co-curator for PUPPETQUEERS, a biannual adult puppet slam dedicated to uplifting and celebrating queer artists. Leah loves working with their hands, baking, and making extensive and specific slideshows about things. They stick to the commitment of writing, producing, and performing at least one puppet show a year.
Los Logansitos - Los Logansitos is a youth theater group based in Logan Square, Chicago. They represent the community surrounding them—its dreams, struggles, and committed spirit. What you are about to see are their own stories, their own choreography, their own puppets, their own perspective. This summer's Los Logansitos cohort is unique in their resilience. Special thanks to Norma Rios-Sierra.