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additional instructions with Tony Sarg, an internationally known puppeteer and marionette artist. Considered the "authority" on marionettes at the time, Sarg, of German-English descent, had served as theatrical artist of several magazines in London when he became interested in marionettes. Coming to America in 1915, Sarg began his marionette shows to hundreds of audiences around the country. Thomas studied with Sarg in his studio at 54 West 9th Street, acquiring over 100 clock hours of training.

Traditional class room instructions were augmented with puppetry in that they served as an additional learning tool. During the 1930s and 40s an educational movement spread across the city to form children's puppet theaters and clubs in segregated Washington.(Chk New York Times, Sunday, Feb 9, 1936 Marionettes; The Washington Post, Sunday April 19, 1936 The Geo Wash University has Marionettes...) A type of puppetry that involves any inanimate figure manipulated by a human being, the marionette requires strings, and are operated from above. Originally the term was applied to any kind of French (for "little Mary", the figure in Nativity scenes) or Italian puppet. (info on them used in the blk comm)

Thomas created her marionettes from balsa (a lightweight wood from a tropical American tree) and costumes that she designed and crafted. Lois Mailou Jones (1905-), a newly arrived artist in the Washington area, who taught design and watercolor painting at Howard University, 1930-1977, became a lifetime

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