May 13, 2016

Puppets are serious business for artist Tiffany Lange

: Tiffany Lange, founder of Charm City Puppets, poses with some of her creations at her studio in the Creative Alliance at the Patterson. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: Tiffany Lange, founder of Charm City Puppets, works on sculpting a figure called Sam at her studio in the Creative Alliance at the Patterson. Sam will be part of a 3-puppet educational team who will work with children facing health challenges. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: Tiffany Lange, founder of Charm City Puppets, works on sculpting a figure called Sam at her studio in the Creative Alliance at the Patterson. Sam will be part of a team of video-based puppet educators for children who are facing health challenges. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: These are some of the puppets created by Tiffany Lange, founder of Charm City Puppets, who works out of a studio in the Creative Alliance at the Patterson. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: Tiffany Lange, founder of Charm City Puppets, works on sculpting figures that will become puppets at her studio in the Creative Alliance at the Patterson. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: This is a detail from a figure called “The Cat Herder,” made by Tiffany Lange, founder of Charm City Puppets. He is made of foam, papier-mache and clay sculpting compound. She works out of a studio in the Creative Alliance at the Patterson. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: Tiffany Lange, founder of Charm City Puppets, poses with some of her creations at her studio in the Creative Alliance at the Patterson. On left is a sculpture called “The Cat Herder.” On right, a sad bunny. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: “Hear No Evil,” is a representation of a stop-motion animation character constructed of mixed-media: latex, foam, fabrics and acrylics with wire armatures. It is one of the figures made by Tiffany Lange, founder of Charm City Puppets, at her studio in the Creative Alliance at the Patterson. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: Tiffany Lange, founder of Charm City Puppets, works on the armature of a figure that will become a dragon at her studio in the Creative Alliance at the Patterson. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: Tiffany Lange, founder of Charm City Puppets, poses with some of her creations at her studio in the Creative Alliance at the Patterson. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: This is a detail of an eye in a sculpted figure called “The Cat Herder,” made by Tiffany Lange, founder of Charm City Puppets. She works out of a studio in the Creative Alliance at the Patterson. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: Tiffany Lange, founder of Charm City Puppets, uses a variety of tools to sculpt clay in creating her puppets. She works in a studio in the Creative Alliance at the Patterson. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: Tiffany Lange, founder of Charm City Puppets, works on sculpting a figure called Sam at her studio in the Creative Alliance at the Patterson. Sam will be part of a team of video-based puppet educators for children who are facing health challenges. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

: Tiffany Lange, founder of Charm City Puppets, poses with some of her creations at her studio in the Creative Alliance at the Patterson. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun)

Photos and text by Barbara Haddock Taylor/The Baltimore Sun

Puppets may be thought of as a form of children’s entertainment for many people but for artist Tiffany Lange, puppets are a serious business. Lange, the founder of Charm City Puppets, began her career as a medical illustrator and is now an artist-in-residence at the Creative Alliance in southeast Baltimore. She and her team create whimsical custom puppets for a range of national clientele including the The Joffrey Ballet’s production of Don Quixote.

Her artistic mission, she says, is to “create character-based, high-level art capable of guiding the viewer toward a lighthearted, sensory experience, inspiring new emotions and behaviors.”

One of her current projects is the BUDDY System (Bringing Understanding of Diagnosis and Disease to Youth). “Sam,” a puppet she is working on in these photos, is an African-American character who will be part of a team of video-based puppet educators and online avatar advocates. His goal, along with fellow characters Carmen and Jackson, is to “provide a friend, not just a means of distraction,” for children who are facing health challenges.

The BUDDY System is a comprehensive program that aims to bring puppetry into innovative pediatric education. Her hope is to alleviate the anxieties of children while educating them about their prognosis and recovery.

Puppets are serious business for artist Tiffany Lange

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