Kermit, Henson to take a seat by Stamp Union today

The Diamondback ^ | 24 Sep 2003 | Julie Dietrick

[jae471]

Sep 24, 2003

Kermit, Henson to take a seat by Stamp Union today

By Julie Dietrick

Staff writer

Campus Drive is temporarily renamed Sesame Street in honor of Jim Henson's birthday and statue dedication. CHRIS LAUBER-THE DIAMONDBACK

There are few celebrities who can draw giant parade-style balloons, the renaming and closure of a main university road, a $217,000 bronze statue and the adoration of children and adults worldwide.

One is Kermit the Frog.

The celebrity puppet and spawn of famed university alumnus Jim Henson, who graduated in 1960 and would have been 67 today, is part of today's festivities aimed at honoring Henson's accomplishments and celebrating his connection to the university.

"The university was very enthused [about the project]," said Henson's widow, Jane. "I thought it would be very nice to have Jim's presence on the campus since so many of the young people grew up with him."

Campus Drive has been renamed "Sesame Street" and green refreshments will accompany an elaborate dedication ceremony as Kermit and Henson, who died in 1990, are immortalized in bronze in front of Stamp Student Union. An inflatable parade-style balloon featuring Kermit will also make an appearance at the occasion university representatives have called "the biggest event of the fall."

"We've had so many sad events and this is actually a fun one," said David Ottalini, media relations associate for the event. "I'd definitely say this is the event of the fall. It's a very big deal."

The $27,000 commemoration ceremony was spurred by the class of 1998's donation toward a statue honoring the duo. The classes of 1994 and 1999 followed suit and each contributed money to landscape a garden overlooking Campus Drive. The university and Stamp Student Union supplied the remaining 80 percent of funds needed to complete the project.

Construction crews slaved away all week to finish the garden in time for tomorrow's ceremony. The garden features stone pathways, a flower bed and the highly-touted bronze statue of Henson and his famous Muppet creation, Kermit, seated on a bench.

The idea for the commemorative dedication has been in the works for some time. Sculptors submitted ideas for the design shortly after the university finalized plans for the garden, and the final statue was chosen in December 2000.

Sculptors were given the same set of basic criteria to work with: Henson and Kermit seated on a bench. Little-known Maryland sculptor Jay Hall Carpenter, who is best known for his sculptures of Washington politicians, beat out the competition by presenting a small clay model depicting Henson and Kermit conversing on a bench.

"I think everyone else sort of had them in the traditional pose of Kermit sitting on Jim's shoulders," Carpenter said. "My idea was a little different. Jim always presented Kermit as a separate entity so I wanted to do that as well."

Carpenter said while his design has undergone minor adjustments, he maintained the same idea throughout the entire process. He said he hopes his current representation of the duo will "bring the whimsy of Henson's creativity into the process."

Henson's career began before he ever stepped foot onto the campus. He landed a puppetry job on a local television show and even though it failed, Henson's endeavors in puppetry had just begun.

He signed up for a puppetry class his freshman year at the university and by the time he was 22 and near graduation, Henson had earned an Emmy for his first show, Sam and Friends, and was successful enough to cruise up to his 1960 graduation ceremonies in a used Rolls Royce.

He was soon asked to create characters for a budding television show, Sesame Street. Henson crafted the much-adored Muppets, who would grace the stage of children's entertainment for years to come.

The dedication is only one part of the many events the university and the surrounding community has planned to honor the puppetry legend. The Hoff Theater showed a series of Muppet movies and Hornbake Library is hosting an exhibit of Henson's "doodles" that ultimately turned into some of his most famous characters. The American Film Institute in Silver Spring is holding a panel discussion with various members of the Henson family.

Jane Henson said she hoped the ceremony would also spur an increase in resources available to students.

"I hope that we will be able to get a lot of his material at the library," she said. "It would be nice if the University of Maryland could become a center for research for the things Jim was so fond of."

The ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. today and feature an introduction by Willard Scott of NBC's Today show. University President Dan Mote and several members of the Henson family, who traveled from as far as California and Florida, will speak at the event. Following the dedication, green cupcakes will be distributed and spectators will have the opportunity to be photographed with Kermit the Frog in balloon and statue form.