DMITRI CARTER AND THE NORTHWEST PUPPET CENTER
NEW HOME OF THE COOK/MARKS PUPPETRY COLLECTION
Dmitri Carter has been performing professionally as a puppeteer since childhood and currently serves a Development Director and Associate Artist for Seattle’s internationally acclaimed Northwest Puppet Center, established in 1986 by his parents, Chris and Stephen Carter.. During second and third grade, Dmitri lived in Romania and traveled throughout Europe picking up foreign languages and learning cultural traditions. Upon returning to Seattle, he attended Summit Alternative School where he and a few fellow students established the still successful potter program. At 16 Dmitri went on to attend college through the recently established Running Start program resulting in combined high school and college graduation, both with honors. In college, he served a term on student government and served on the tenure committee for professor of cultural anthropology and ethnic studies.
In 2003, Union Internationale de la Marionette awarded Dmitri one of only two International Scholarship Awards to conduct research in China on the ancient tradition of marionettes. In addition to fundraising, Dmitri also conducts research, curates exhibitions, teaches educational programs, writes articles, documents a variety of puppetry techniques with video and photography, designs publicity materials and still performs regularly. In 2002, Dmitri participated in the pilot session of “Technology Strategies for Nonprofit Leaders” after which NPower, one of the nation’s leading technology focused nonprofits, invited him to serve on the Advisory Committee.
Dmitri has also assisted with various outside puppet projects including:
International Puppet Museum of Holon, Israel
Quanzhou Marionette Troupe, China
Venice Theatre Arts Festival, Italy
International Performing Arts Festival of Brasil
Zhangzhou Hand Puppetry School, China
Puppet Arts Festival of Segovia, Spain
The Carters have been professional puppeteers since 1976. They trained with master puppeteers of Romania, Sicily, and China. Stephen Carter received the Fulbright Award for puppetry studies in 1984 and holds a postgraduate degree from the Institute of Theater and Cinema in Bucharest. The Carter Family Marionettes have been featured performers at National and World Puppet Festivals from Scotland to Uzbekistan. They have presented their plays in five different languages and have also been invited as guest director/designers internationally. The company has been awarded the "UNIMA/USA Citation of Excellence" (the highest award in American puppet theater) for three of their productions. Chris and Stephen Carter were the Directors of the 1999 Puppeteers of America Festival of the Millennium held at the University of Washington August 1999. The Carters are especially known for their mastery and preservation of the traditional Sicilian
In 1993 they purchased and renovated a charming church in the Maple Leaf neighborhood of Seattle. The center presents a family season of puppetry by the Carters and selected guest artists with over 250 performances each year. The Northwest Puppet Center provides a valuable resource and fascinating entertainment for children and families.
