About Stacey

Hi. I'm Stacey Gordon, the puppeteer behind Puppet Pie. My dive into puppetry is rooted in a love of visual and performing arts, a desire to keep one foot firmly rooted in my childhood, and the idea that playing shouldn't end when you become an adult. The marriage of playing and art is extremely beautiful and should happen every day.

Stacey Gordon High School PuppetsGrowing up, I remember sitting in the sawdust bin and watching my grandfather carve toys and marionettes for us grandkids. He was a prolific sculptor and painter and I looked up to him very much. My Auntie Pat made me my very first puppet--it was a black crocheted lamb puppet that I still have. I grew up in a creative home and made my first teddybear when I was about 8 years old. As a teenager, I helped my mom, a teddy-bear and doll-maker/nurse extraordinaire, make a set of 6 puppets (to be fair, I volunteered her to make them). I remember the discovery process back then. There were no patterns available, so we just had to wing it.

Today my studio is filled with patterns and puppets that I've created over the years, and I'm happy that I'm able to share a little bit of what I've learned with others.

Being a puppeteer, I've had some incredible opportunities to work with and/or create puppets for Mayfair Games, Etsy, The Phoenix Coyotes, NASA, and the Barenaked Ladies. 

Stacey Gordon and Sesame Street's Julia
But by far one of the biggest honors I've ever had is to be chosen as the puppeteer for Sesame Street's newest friend, Julia, a curious 4-year-old with Autism. It's significant, not only as a puppeteer, but as the mom of a child on the Autism Spectrum.

I began my journey within the autism community in 2001 as a habilitation therapist for children with autism. I try my best to use my experiences as a habilitation specialist and a mom to bring Julia to life in an authentic, respectful, and loving way. 
©Sesame Street 2017, Photo by Gil Vaknin