![Aaron Cromie’s A Paper Garden, commissioned and produced for the American Philosophical Society Museum’s Greenhouse Projects. Photo by Brent Wahl. Pictured: Genevieve Perrier [in the dress] and Mary Tuomanen [in the hat].](https://www.pewcenterarts.org/sites/default/files/styles/lg_900x960_webp/public/d5b715a22ce5d2e886241dad34261a91.jpg.webp?itok=V0JrFgAF)
Mary Tuomanen and Aaron Cromie
Mary Tuomanen and Aaron Cromie are the creative duo behind A Paper Garden, a commission by the American Philosophical Society (APS) as part of its Center-supported venture The Greenhouse Projects. This production, performed in the APS garden, depicted an unlikely friendship between two famous figures, Empress Josephine and botanist Andre Michaux. The results whet the artists' appetites to imagine the world of another historical figure. Together the two are now producing The Body Lautrec, a meditation on the life, art, and maladies of the French painter Henri Toulouse-Lautrec. This piece will feature a skeleton puppet by accomplished mask and puppet maker Cromie, who has particular expertise in commedia dell'arte. Having studied physical theater at L'Ecole Lecoq, Tuomanen has worked with several Philadelphia collectives dedicated to devising work with what she calls "the collective mind."
