RANDY METCALF/Arizona Daily Wildcat Matt Cotten holds a puppet that he has formed to look like himself at Tucson Puppetworks Monday. Cotten founded Tucson Puppetworks in 1998 to educate people on social issues through puppetry.

Some people, like sheep, meander through life, afraid to follow their dreams. Matt Cotten, though, is not a sheep.

Cotten is one of the visionary founders of Tucson Puppet Works and works hard to live his dream on a daily basis.

Originally from Binghamton, N.Y., Cotten came to Tucson to complete his graduate studies in 1996 and immediately became involved with the art of puppetry. He received his Master's of Fine Arts from the University of Arizona in 1997.

Tucson Puppet Works, an organization that uses puppets both to convey social issues and to entertain, became a reality shortly thereafter.

In the beginning, the group used small hand puppets in performances, but that was soon to change. The organization quickly acquired popularity.

"I started doing street performances with some local characters," Cotten said, "then I started doing giant puppets and participating in St. Patrick's Day parades."

One show Tucson Puppet Works performs that is particularly fulfilling for Cotten is the family-oriented "Puppet Church." This play, in conjunction with workshops the group presents at elementary schools, is designed to teach children to appreciate live theater.

"Sort of a following (of people) would come (to Puppet Church)," Cotten said. "Kids would get used to it and say 'It's Sunday, lets go to Puppet Church!'"

Cotten wants children to know that television isn't the only medium by which they can learn.

"I want to give the public an experience that they realize they can only get through live interaction," Cotten said. "(Puppet Church) is showing them that this (live theater) is better than TV."

The execution of Cotten's philosophy is, however, in jeopardy.

The Puppet Works studio, which has been at its current location, 111 E. Congress St., for two years, is about to be moved. Group members will sell pieces of their personal art in order to, as Cotten put it, "make moving out a little easier."

"We are pretty much getting pushed out of this space, and it's a damn shame," Cotten said.

In place of the workshop will be an industrial/techno bar, one more among many bars along Congress.

"Another struggling bar doesn't help the arts," Cotten said.

Tucson Puppet Works helps put together the All Souls' Procession, an annual event that brings nearly 2,000 people from all over the city to downtown Tucson. This, of course, brings the city revenue.

And even though the city, through the downtown arts partnership, has hired Tucson Puppet Works in the past, Cotten said there is still "not much help from the city in general," especially financial assistance.

"The city sets aside money for the arts, but most of the artists, especially the up-and-coming ones, don't see a dime of it," Cotten said. "The city builds all the facades that look nice for the homeless people that live here. But we bring people to downtown, and it's paid all out of the artists' pockets."

Tucson Puppet Works also collaborates with such groups as Flam Chen, a performing arts group. The two groups will be performing together in a show titled "The Garden: A Pyrotechnic Allegory" starting tomorrow. The show will be at 520 N. Ninth Ave..

Cotten wants to remain in Tucson, not only as part of Puppet Works, but as an adjunct teacher at the university. He has taught drawing, design and painting classes in the School of Art and also drawing to architecture students, and he hopes to teach again soon.

"Matt was a strongly independent thinker," said fine arts professor Gayle Wimmer. "He was incredibly verbal with his artwork. He always had a clear sense of where he was going and what he wanted to project."

For more information about Tucson Puppet Works and dates for its art sale, call 770-1533.