Listen to a compilation of each interview edited by KERTIS Creative:

We were thrilled to welcome families into our oral history room on Sunday to record the thoughts and experiences of our community’s kids! With the help of Squallis Puppeteers through puppet and KERTIS Creative through microphone our Catfish Club found their voice.

The younger members of the club got to be interviewed by Cleveland the Catfish, a brand-new puppet played by Squallis founder Nora Christianson, who’s talent is so massive that to the kids she seemed to completely disappear behind the talking puppet. Cleveland asked each interviewee about their favorite things to do, things they’ve learned recently, who they like to talk to, and more! Look forward to hearing a compilation of some of the best answers soon from KERTIS!

In between the interviews kids got to craft their own finger puppets using Squallis’s signature “buffet” of arts and crafts supplies. Cleveland the Catfish had the pleasure of meeting many new puppets alongside their creating children!

What is the Catfish Club?

With our AHOY Children’s Museum set to break ground on October 5th as part of 2024’s Portland Art and Heritage Fair, getting feedback and suggestions from our community’s kids is more essential now than ever! This was one of many chances for the children in our community to make their impact on the design of Kentucky’s first children’s museum! We’re currently collaborating with the creative professionals at New York City-based Wolfgang and Hite and Louisville-based Stewart Design, alongside many others like Weber Group, to make AHOY and our whole Portland Museum campus the best it can be, and providing these partners with direct feedback from the children we’re building all this for like this is highly impactful. If your family are interested in contributing, please stay tuned for more opportunities in the future!

This and other upcoming oral history programming are thanks to the generous support of Louisville Metro Government’s External Agency Fund and the Kentucky Colonels.