The Center of Puppetry Arts is excited to announce new Board of Directors member Christopher Hardwick (Managing Director and Founder of Build Technology Group) as Advisor Director. Current Board member Jeffrey Blake (Partner in the Atlanta office of Merchant & Gould, PC) has accepted the role of Vice-Chair and Chair-Elect with Sydney Langdon (Senior Director - Corporate Social Responsibility at Warner Bros. Discovery), Larry Mark (Global Vice President - Finance Operations, The Coca-Cola Company), and Vincent Anthony (Founder and Strategic Advisor, Center for Puppetry Arts)also accepting new roles within the committee.

“We are so delighted to welcome Chris to our Board and to have the leadership of Jeff, Larry, and Sydney – all of which will help guide the Center into its very bright future. I can think of nothing more appropriate than honoring Vince as our first-lifetime board member. His sage advice, counsel, and mentorship over the last three years have been invaluable and we look forward to his guidance as we grow the Center he helped create for many years to come.” Beth Schiavo, Executive Director of Center for Puppetry Arts.

Newly elected Advisor Director Christopher Hardwick is the Managing Director and Founder of Build Technology Group a global technology solutions and web development services firm employing over 100 in offices in the US, India, Greece, and Romania. An Atlanta native and graduate of Pace Academy and the University of Georgia, Blake recalls coming to the Center as a child for field trips with Christ the King School and looks forward to serving on the board and advising on technology and strategy.

The Board will soon have a new leader with the election of Jeffrey Blake as Vice-Chair and Chair-Elect. Blake is an intellectual property law attorney and Partner in the Atlanta office of Merchant & Gould, PC. Blake has served on the Board, including in various leadership roles, for six years. He will succeed Allen W. Yee, General Counsel of Atlanta’s SweetWater Brewing Company, as Chair of the Board of Directors & Advisors later this year 

Current Board of Directors members Sydney Langdon and Larry Mark join the Board’s leadership as Vice-Chair of Development and Vice-Chair of Governance, respectively. Langdon is Senior Director - Corporate Social Responsibility at Warner Bros. Discovery. Mark recently retired from a 30+ year career at The Coca-Cola Company holding various senior leadership roles including Controller, CFO-North America Group, and most recently Global Vice President - Finance Operations.

Vincent Anthony, the Center’s founder and former Executive Director has been elected as the Board’s first-ever lifetime member and honored with the title of Founder and Executive Director Emeritus. Anthony created the Center in 1978 serving as its leader for over 40 years.

Under his leadership, the Center grew from a small puppet theater working out of the Woodruff Arts Center to become one of Atlanta’s leading arts and culture institutions and the largest organization devoted to the art form of puppetry in the Americas. Since his retirement in 2019, the Atlanta legend has served as an advisor and consultant to Center staff and his successor the current Executive Director, Beth Schiavo.