Leah Lara

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Leah Lara (they/them) is Queer, Black, Nonbinary Puppeteer and 3-D illustrator based in Chicago. Born in Dallas TX, raised in Chicago IL, they returned to Chicago after receiving a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Their work often investigates the Black Femme experience while utilizing fairytales as a way to reexamine social behaviors, hierarchies, and biases. Now an active participant within the Chicago experimental puppeteering scene, Lara develops a minimum of one original show a year. For the past three years, they have been writing, storyboarding, and building a puppet ballet. Lara enjoys pushing the boundaries of traditional puppetry, utilizing different forms to create a puppet repertoire rooted in African American experience and culture. They enjoy blurring the lines of movement, style, science and magic. Utilizing forms such as giant inflatables, skates, experimental electronic sound, and a homemade LED projector.

They can regularly be found performing at festivals, salons, slams, parks, living rooms and designing and puppets for theaters around Chicago. As a community art advocate and PUPPETQUEERS Co-Organizer and Co-Curator, Lara regularly organizes and curates puppet slams and teaches puppet workshops across the city. They love writing companion essays to their shows, baking, and raving about puppets!