Main Street Studio is honored to host Alex Kahn and Sophia Michahelles, Artistic Directors of Processional Arts Workshop (PAW), for an artists residency and master class in creating community-built, visual parade art to bring a new, dynamic story-telling element to the Town of Charlton’s 2025 Founders Day parade.
Alex and Sophia have worked with communities worldwide to create site-specific, human-powered art parades and mobile performances in public spaces and we could not be more excited to have them bring their enthusiasm, creativity and expertise to our small town of Charlton! While the intent of this series of workshops will be focused on developing a unique theme that represents Charlton, we are certain that the energy and ideas that will be presented will have value for any community focused organization. We have a limited number of spaces available for Main Street Studio members and community organizations to participate in these planning sessions with us!
Please email info@mainstreetcharlton.com if you or your organization is interested in participating!
Workshop Schedule
Sunday, January 26 – Choosing a “Theme” - History, place, vernacular culture 12pm – 4pm
A guided brainstorming session led by Alex & Sophia on how Charlton can draw from their rich history and present day culture to bring new imagery, visual interpretations and collective energy to the Charlton Founders Day Parade. PAW will share examples of parade elements and frameworks as well as physical and visual examples from past projects to help spark ideas.
Saturday, February 8 – Processional Arts Masterclass 11am – 6pm
Alex & Sophia return to Charlton to lead a masterclass at the Studio covering basic techniques, materials, and design strategies for creating large-scale articulated puppets, performing objects, and other visual parade art forms. The goal will be to learn and experiment with different techniques for armature-building, wireframe/cardboard construction, papier-maché, joint articulation and movement, and costuming to provide our core group of teaching artists and makers with the experience necessary to begin building with the broader community over the weeks leading up to the Parade.
About Processional Arts Workshops
Processional Arts Workshop (PAW), formed in 2008 and led by Alex Kahn and Sophia Michahelles, works with communities to create site-specific, human-powered, art parades and immersive public performances. Informed by diverse, global traditions of vernacular street theater and ritual pageant, PAW employs large-scale puppetry, mobile architecture, illuminations, and mask/costume as means to evoke uniquely local themes and narratives. These works come to life through an intensely collaborative workshop process that engages local volunteers at every stage of production, from initial brainstorming sessions to final performance.
Since 1998, PAW’s performances have led NYC’s Village Halloween Parade. Their work has appeared at Lincoln Center’s Out-of-Doors Festival, the High Line, Socrates Sculpture Park, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Miami’s Vizcaya Museum, and the Obama White House. Outside of traditional venues and established events, they have engaged communities ranging from the streets of Kyiv to Trinidad Carnival to the South Bronx. Many community projects seeded by PAW, such as the Hudson, NY’s Mad Hatters’ Parade and Harlem’s Morningside Lights, have grown into beloved annual neighborhood traditions. PAW’s work has been recognized with numerous awards, including a Fulbright Fellowship to Trinidad, artist grants from the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, CEC Artslink Grant, and NYSCA. Alex and Sophia have taught in Bard College’s Theater and Performance Program and lectured on community based art practice at Columbia University, University of Michigan, Sarah Lawrence, The New School, University of the West Indies (Trinidad), and Maine College of Art.
You can follow along with them on Instagram @processional_arts
About Charlton's Founders Day Parade
2025 will mark the 48th year for the Charlton Historical Society’s Founders Day Weekend which includes a road race, party in the park, fireworks and a good old fashioned small town parade! Last year, approximately 3,000 people lined Charlton’s main street in the historic hamlet between Maple Ave (The Charlton Tavern) and Swaggertown Road. Antique cars, rescue volunteers and vehicles, local businesses and organizations and historical characters fill the parade route.
2025 Parade Date: Sunday, June 8 2pm