Traveling Tales

Traveling Tales is a pilot program aimed at providing youth in El Dorado County with access to the arts.We use puppetry and performance to ignite the imagination, lift spirits, and foster empathy.

In 2022, See The Elephant was honored to receive an Impact grant from the California Arts Council. With their support, we were able to continue developing Traveling Tales. 

In the Spring of 2022, we offered free arts education workshops to a group of students at Boys and Girls Club, Placerville. Students created original stories. 3 of these original stories were made into short films which are now live!

Visit our YouTube channel to see videos.

In 2020, See The Elephant was awarded an Arts Education Grant from the California Arts Council to create a tour a performance based on a folktale. Due to covid restrictions at the time, See The Elephant pivoted to create a series of three short films blending puppetry and stop-motion animation. The story is a modern folktale about a town struggling with fundamental disagreements and two children who ultimately guide the town towards unity.

This series of short films is accompanied by Standards-aligned curriculum and Social Emotional Learning (SEL) tools for parents and educators to use.

Visit our YouTube channel to see the videos.

Synopsis: The Bluebird, the Fox Witch and the Story of Stumptown is a modern folktale that tells the story of a town’s transformation over time. The story is told by none other than a little bluebird. In the beginning, the town is in conflict over whether or not they should remove a very old stump from the center of their village. The town's accidental destruction of the stump provokes the Fox Witch to appear. She instructs them to plant a magic seed and to care for the new tree. The planting of this seed and caring of the growing tree brings the people of the town together, and the community thrives. But over time, this communal stewardship of the land and its creatures is again forgotten. The memories of what united them is lost. Years later, two children- Julian and Finley- must uncover what has been forgotten. Within their journey, they learn about the power of relationships and the interconnectedness of living things. They find healing through the reconciliation of memories and a re-connection with each other and with land.

See The Elephant hopes to grow out arts education outreach programs to youth in El Dorado County. You can support this goal with a one-time donation.