Based in Pittsburgh, PA, the Tom Sarver Puppet Express has performed at art galleries, museums and festivals for audiences of all ages. Past venues include the Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Carnegie Museum of Art, Mattress Factory and the Dairy Barn Art Center.
Tom and Kristen Sarver (as Sarver Express) performing ‘The Farmers and The Bugs’ at the August 2019 Puppetry Guild of Pittsburgh Slam.
Slam Poster designed by Tom Sarver, 2019
Pittsburgh Weatherman Jon Burnett Puppet, 2019
Performing Joe Magarac Stories, November 2018, at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art with Mike Cuccaro.
Joe Magarac and Newsie Ned puppets created for November 2018 performances at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art.
Puppets created for Mattress Factory 40th Anniversary, 2017. Photo: MF
Rip Van Winkle, set for the first of four shows at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art, 2015.
Rip Van Winkle without his beard.
Performing Part 1 of Rip Van Winkle and the Crazy Quilt, an original puppet show with Mike Cuccaro, Grande Re-opening of the Westmoreland Museum of American Art, October 25, 2015.
Touring a steel mill. Part 2 of Rip Van Winkle and the Crazy Quilt, Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg, PA, 2015
Carnival Time! Part 3 of Rip Van Winkle and the Crazy Quilt, Grand re-opening of the Westmoreland Museum of American Art, 2015.
Bobby.
A young baseball enthusiast, Bobby was inspired by a painting in the collection of the Westmoreland.
A Nautical Adventure. Part 4 of Rip Van Winkle and The Crazy Quilt. October 25th, 2015 in the new cantilever wing of the Westmoreland.
Family art making and appearances by my puppets at the Pittsburgh International Children’s Festival, 2014. Image by Rebecca Lessner Photography.
January 20th, 2014 at the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh.
Performing an African folk tale at the Carnegie International Children’s Day, with Mike Cuccaro, January 20th, 2014.
Art activities at my show The Occasional Market, May 17th and 18th, 2014, during the Pittsburgh International Children’s Festival. Image by Rebecca Lessner.
Aloysius Dunderberries, 2010.
Trygaeus flies on the back of a dung beetle in his quest to end war in Peace by Aristophanes.
Performing an adaptation of Aristophanes’ Peace with Mike Cuccaro, April 12th, 2013, Modern Formations, Pittsburgh.
Flight Out of Time, Performed at The Carnegie Museum of Art for the 2013 Carnegie International event, Culture Club: These Aren’t Your Kids Puppets, January 16, 2014.
Gallery shows by Tom Sarver and Mike Cuccaro, Scaife Galleries, Carnegie Musuem of Art, April 27, 2013.
Sometimes the simplest designs are the most effective. Here is Yawny.
Hall of Architecture, CMoA, April 27, 2013.
Hall of Architecture, CMoA
Hall of Architecture, CMOA
Monster Burger, 2011.
Monster Burger was created for a 2011 group exhibition at Future Tenant Gallery (Pittsburgh) exploring food safety. The show, titled Your Place at the Banquet, featured a gallery exhibition and satellite events at venues around the city. Monster Burger and friends first appeared in a puppet show at Market Square. In 2013, Burger was invited to take part in the Carnegie International. He hung out in a glass vitrine in the Carnegie Museum’s café, watching patrons as they ate their lunches. Monster Burger is now retired from public life and resides comfortably in a private collection.
Puppet Happening Presents: Friday Night Puppet Live, Irma Freeman Center for Imagination, 2011.
Announcing the formation of Puppet Happening (2011-2014), February, 2011.
Puppet City, Installation at James Gallery, Pittsburgh, 2010.
Puppet Archives at The Tom Museum, 2008. Photo by Larry Rippel.
Puppet Archives Room at The Tom Museum, 2008. Photo by Larry Rippel.
The Puppet Archives Room, Located on the second floor of The Tom Museum. Photo by Larry Rippel.
Cookie, 2005.
Cookie is one of my first sewn hand puppets, created while I lived and worked at the Brew House.
Mott, 2005.
Djuha Stories (Middle Eastern Folktales), Mattress Factory, November 2007.
Mrs. Djuha.
Performing at the Mattress Factory Family Day, November, 2007.
Mattress Factory Family Day.
Setting up another show.
Preliminary sketch for the Ninth Annual BSPF.
Performing: Little Tricker The Squirrel Meets Big Double The Bear, at Mattress Factory.
Pittsburgh puppeteers in a tech meeting for Black Sheep Local #9, Brew House Theater, 2007.
Brochure illustration for a puppet workshop at The Tom Museum, 2006.
Puppet Sketches, 2006.
Backstage at the 8th Annual Black Sheep Puppet Festival, October 20th, 2006. Photo by Larry Rippel.
With Mike Cuccaro at the American Shorts Reading Series, Brew House, 2006. Photo by Larry Rippel.
Black Sheep Puppet Festival program designed by Dave Wallace.
Gallery Opening performance for the 7th Annual Black Sheep Puppet Festival, Oct. 7, 2005.
Preparing to perform Perseus, Medusa and the Magic Frisbee at the 5th Annual Black Sheep Puppet Festival, October 2003.
Puppet practice, 2001.
Gallery Opening for 1st Annual Black Sheep Puppet Festival, Brew House Space 101, 1999, Pittsburgh, PA.
Performing a Kafka-inspired tale at my exhibition, From Puppets to Paintings, AAP Gallery, 937 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, 2001
Life in The Big Cities, performed at the 1st Annual Black Sheep Puppet Festival, The Brew House, Pittsburgh, PA, 1999
Card for 1st Annual Black Sheep Puppet Festival with logo by Rick Bach.
Black Sheep Puppet Festival team, 1999 (Liz Hammond, Rick Bach, Suzanne Pace, John Latell, Tim Kaulen, Thad Bobula, Tom Sarver, George Davis, Rob Long, Michael Mcfadden).
My first public puppet show at Tyler School of Art, Elkins Park, PA, 1997.
Tom Sarver 