LCCC Goes Muppet: Welcome to The Family, Clawrence Jr.
Finn Beatty | Writer
During the recent Winter Break, my sister, the very talented make-up artist and puppeteer, Hope Beatty, was tasked with building a puppet version of LCCC mascot Clawrence to appeal to high school students and encourage them to attend college. Hope expected to build a simple hand puppet, but in the process of creating, she designed something much more complex. The puppet was encouraged by Learning Specialist, Michael Spinks, who helped Hope develop the idea and plan events for its use with Director of Student Life, Gene Eden.
Clawrence Jr., nicknamed by Spinks due to the close resemblance to the original Clawrence, is a traditional hand puppet, made all the more endearing with its Sesame Street-like innocence because of the felt, fleece and foam from which it is constructed. Hope's skills as a designer allowed her to reimagine LCCC's popular cougar, while creating a puppet that everyone will still recognize as the original mascot.
Clawrence wears an LCCC t-shirt and can wave and talk to campus visitors and their families. While Hope is still in the process of developing the animal's voice and mannerisms, she plans to construct his personality as she attends campus events like most professional puppeteers do. The puppet may be less intimidating than the mascot because of its smaller size, making him an ideal ambassador with younger crowds.
Perhaps I'm a little too excited about a puppet, but this is a huge accomplishment for Hope Beatty who plans to pursue puppeteering and make-up effects as a career. Hopefully, she and her puppet will prove LCCC's advertising slogan to be true: Start Here, Go Anywhere.
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