HEATHER & KRISTIN

Today I talked to Heather and Kristin.

I'm walking in Griffith Park and I stumble upon a hive. Not a real one. One made of little human beings with puppets attached to their hands. About fifteen children are running around, playing, and teasing each other. A girl runs towards me. She looks annoyed by my laid-back attitude. "Are you coming already? Cause we gonna have the wedding soon," she says. Her name is Stella and she is 9 years old. "And a rock band's gonna play too," adds her sister Maddy, 6 years old. Amazing. I just got here and I am already part of the puppet show.

Heather and Kristin are the girls in charge of this workshop. They are both artists and teachers. Last year they realized they had no plans for the summer. So they decided to create an art camp for kids and put it together in three weeks. They named it The Art Grist because "we are like bees and we get together to make honey," says Heather while Kristin glues a long red tongue into a puppet's mouth and laughs. During the whole summer, they offer all kinds of workshops, every day of the week from 9am to 3pm. Two weeks ago, it was the Photography week, last week the Film School, and this week is Toy Shop. Every day the kids create a new toy out of a different material. Kristin shows me a brown crooked teddy bear with a red heart sewed on its chest. "We did that yesterday with gardening gloves," she says. This is the cutest thing I have ever seen and it makes me want to do it too. "We are planning to do this for adults. We'd like to put a group together and make projects in five days, like a short film," says Heather.

Today is puppet day. The kids have decided to have a wedding with the puppets they have created. A few parents show up to pick them up, but before that they have to watch the show. The kids gather on the rocks in the middle of the square and the ceremony starts. Stella and her hobo puppet are officiating. "I'm the announcer so everyone please be seated," says the puppet in a bossy tone. "I'm glad to be here and it's an honor cause I'm a hobo. Now, the groom may stand up and the bride walk down the aisle." A shy girl with long hair walks towards the hobo with her puppet. All the kids hum a melody that has nothing to do with a wedding song. They giggle. "Groom, do you promise to keep your girlfriend-bride safe from poisonous tomatoes, poisonous snakes, poisonous mosquitoes, poisonous cucumbers..." The kids laugh. "There's a lot of poison in the Muppet world," adds the hobo. The bride and the groom answer: "I do." - "You may kiss the bride," says the hobo. "Sandwich!" a puppet shouts out from the crowd. All the puppets run to the newly-weds and surround them with shouts of joy. "Security! Security!" says the hobo.

After the wedding, Heather congratulates Stella on her behavior. "You did really good today. You've been super helpful to others, so five stars for you." They hug. In a blink of an eye, all the kids are gone. Only Stella and Maddy are still talking to me and making me laugh. "Do you know the banana song?" Stella asks. "It goes: I'm a banana, I'm a banana, I'm a banana, LOOK AT ME MOVE, I'm a banana, I'm a banana, I'm a banana, BANANA POWER! Did you like it? And then a chicken comes in the song somewhere but I forgot where," she adds.

Heather and Kristin sit down at the table covered with funky puppet hair, color papers, and pieces of fabric. "It's our debriefing time. We talk about what happened and what could be improved," says Heather. Just when I am about to leave Heather asks me if I want a puppet. "We stayed up all night to make them and we have plenty left." I can't possibly turn down such an attractive and generous offer. I pick a green puppet that reminds me of Kermit. And at this precise moment, I'm 8 years old again and that feels really good.