In the earliest days of OPA, puppetry was a grassroots effort, spearheaded by passionate pioneers working in libraries, classrooms, community halls, and living rooms. These foundational figures — many of them women — created their own puppets, scripts, and stages from scratch, experimenting with shadow, glove, rod, and marionette forms. The first wave was intimate and handmade, rooted in education and outreach. The OPA became a unifying network for these dispersed creators, offering a platform for visibility, exchange, and professionalization. The seeds sown in this era would blossom into a diverse movement.

.

.

.

.

.

The second wave emerged in tandem with the rise of puppetry guilds and the golden age of children’s television in the 1970s and 1980s. OPA members became actively involved in professional TV productions — many of which are now considered Canadian cultural touchstones. At the same time, regional puppetry guilds sprang up across Ontario, democratizing access to the art form and nurturing local talent. This period marked a shift from folk tradition to institutional recognition, and from isolated hobbyists to a thriving provincial network.

.

.

.

.

.

As puppetry matured into a multidisciplinary art form, the third wave witnessed an explosion of diversity — in form, audience, and purpose. Puppetry expanded beyond children’s entertainment to include experimental theatre, adult storytelling, activism, and therapeutic practices. Artists explored international techniques, collaborated across disciplines, and began carving new spaces for puppetry in museums, festivals, and galleries. OPA served as a hub to promote this growing range of voices, holding conferences, publishing newsletters, and archiving vital Canadian puppetry history.

.
.
.
.

.

.

OPA’s ambitious Puppet Centre project symbolized the association’s effort to create a permanent cultural home for puppetry in Ontario. Though the project faced challenges and eventual closure, it marked a key moment in the organization’s evolution — one where community, infrastructure, and vision converged. The Puppet Centre was not only a building but a symbol of collective aspiration, sparking conversations about sustainability, leadership, and legacy. 

 .

.

.

Today, puppetry has entered the digital age. Puppeteers use livestreams, motion capture, animation, and augmented reality to reach audiences in new ways. Workshops and festivals now operate in hybrid formats, connecting puppetry communities across time zones and platforms.The OPA continues to adapt, offering digital programming, mentorship, and archival initiatives to reflect the shifting terrain. The pandemic only accelerated this transition, prompting a creative rethinking of what it means to perform, connect, and build puppets in the 21st century.

The current generation of Ontario puppeteers is as diverse as the forms they work in — shadow puppetry, bunraku, object theatre, tabletop puppetry, and everything in between. They are multilingual, intergenerational, and globally connected. Many draw on personal or diasporic heritage while experimenting with contemporary themes, addressing climate change, migration, disability justice, and technology. OPA’s role today is to serve as a bridge: bridging tradition and innovation, elders and newcomers, the analogue and the digital. 

.

.

.

.

.

Conclusion: Looking Forward

The OPA’s story is one of movements— — of hands, voices, ideas, and generations. From its humble beginnings to its digital present, the Association has shaped and been shaped by those who believe in puppetry’s enduring magic. As we look to the future, OPA remains committed after nearly seven decades of service to supporting puppeteers, fostering creativity, and ensuring that the spirit of puppetry continues to evolve, inspire, and thrive.