Friday, March 09, 2012

BITTERSWEET END TO JIM HENSON'S FANTASTIC WORLD AT MOMI......MORE TO COME?


Special commemorative bookmark
distributed at closing day of
Jim Henson's Fantastic World exhibit
Last Sunday, Jim Henson's Fantastic World celebrated its last day at its last stop at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, New York.

Starting in 2007, this national touring exhibit had come through twelve other venues before making its final appearance in Queens.   From Little Rock to Mesa to Baton Rouge, from Atlanta to Doylestown, to Peoria, this astounding collection of artifacts from Henson's entire body of work brought education and inspiration alike to one million people across the country.

The closing ceremonies for the exhibit at MOMI consisted of various speakers, a film compilation of Jim's work as well as work inspired by him, plus some sweet suprises.

Carl Goodman, MOMI's Executive Director, assured the audience "You have not seen the last of Henson here."  Additional mentions were made throughout the program that the Henson-MOMI relationship would continue on.  (Good news for folks who wanted to get to the exhibit and didn't make it!)

Bonnie Erickson, Executive Director of The Jim Henson Legacy, shared a moving quotation about Jim from deceased Muppet writer Jerry Juhl.  As well, she thanked Jim Henson Legacy staff Nathaniel Wharton and Rhoda Cosme for their behind-the-scenes work.

Craig Shemin, President of The Jim Henson Legacy, mentioned that the MOMI exhibit, which featured more than 100 programs (film screening, lectures, demonstrations, etc.) had been visited by more than 20,000 people.

To acknowledge their incredible patience, hard work, and cooperative spirit in running the projectors for the many films shown throughout the exhibit's run, Craig called employees of MOMI down to the front to hand over some Muppet mementos.

Cheryl Henson, President of The Jim Henson Foundation, acknowledged the hard work and dedication of her siblings, Heather, Lisa, and Brian, in forwarding the work of their father.  She also mentioned the success of the international productions of Sesame Street.

Karen Falk, Henson archivist, introduced the film compilation, explaining that it was composed of Henson and Henson-inspired material from the last 20 years.  The audience got some good laughs out of watching snippets of everything from Muppets Tonight to Hot Dog TV. (My personal favorite was a clip of Sid Knishes and his Mosh Pit-atoes.)

If you'd like to learn more about the programs and events of the MOMI Jim Henson exhibit, you are welcome to read these additional posts:

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