Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Harley Walker. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Harley thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

I gave myself permission to call myself an artist/puppeteer/storyteller. Giving myself permission allowed myself the freedom to no longer wait around for someone else to tell me I was allowed to create. I started saying yes to myself anytime I had an idea that sparked joy. Suddenly, I found myself making all the time. I would still audition but I didn’t wait around for a yes from someone else. When I started saying yes to myself, it allowed me the space to say no to opportunities that I would have taken perviously just because I so desperately wanted to make something and not necessarily because they sparked immediate joy. I say yes to projects that are deeply meaningful to me and I say yes to myself creatively which lead me to pursue grad school. It feels like a small risk to change the dialogue we have about ourselves (both in self talk and with others) but it can have huge rewards. Now I’m building my own puppets, writing my own shows and working on projects that I believe in whole heartedly. When we say yes to ourselves and really settle into what that feels like, unexpected doors open.

Harley, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a puppeteer and storyteller! I stumbled into puppetry after I was cast in Avenue Q in 2019 and absolutely fell in love. Every moment on that stage was filled to the brim with the most palpable joy. I couldn’t get enough. From there, I started crafting my own paper mache marionette style waste averse puppets. I wrote a one woman show called Making Friends With Margo during the beginning of the shut down that I intended to perform live but had to pivot to a different format once I realized it would be a while before I had the chance to perform it. The show explores becoming friends with my anxiety, Margo, during a global pandemic. I chose to break the show up into one minute segments, film it with my handmade puppets (and their ever growing accessory collection) and post it to Instagram. It became a 26 installment project that kickstarted my personal puppetry journey. I started saying yes to creating everything I dreamed up: a wearable dragon puppet for a Renaissance Festival, a Marcel the Shell Halloween costume, even a tiny succulent named Wesley who has unexpected super powers. Puppetry has become a kind of therapy for me. It’s offered me a very unique space for healing. My most recent project is titled Not My Grandmother’s Daughter and explores my relationship with my mother through storytelling and interviews with my grandmother. It’s a shadow puppetry piece that I’m hoping to perform during the Hollywood Fringe Festival in the summer of this year. What’s been so extraordinary about my creative journey is that it’s given me the courage to say yes to projects that resonate the same way that puppetry does for me. Over the summer of 2022, I said a gigantic yes to being a part of an independent film called Sunshine Girls (@sunshinegirlsfilm). Because I’d gotten so clear on who I was as an artist, I knew immediately that this movie was so extraordinarily special and something I wholeheartedly needed to be a part of. It’s an LGBTQ dark comedy romance that will absolutely take your breath away.
My journey in storytelling is just beginning and I cannot wait to see where it takes me next.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Show up for each other! At the heart of who we are, humans are storytellers. Go see the arts, make art, donate to programs supporting the arts in any capacity in your community. Humans have been telling stories and dancing and making music since the beginning of our existence on this planet. We’re going to continue to find ways to do it regardless of anything else so we have to continue lifting each other up along the way.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Vulnerability allows space for others to be vulnerable alongside you. The more honest I can be, the greater the connection with my audience. When I share something that makes me feel nervous, I know that it’s most likely the right thing. I’m driven by the connection offered back to me and the dialogues that grow from it. It’s the ultimate catharsis to have someone say, “Yes! Me too!” and art is a beautiful way to start building that connection. That’s what I keep coming back to on my creative journey. I want to grow upon that forever.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.harleywalker.com
• Instagram: @h.b.dubbz
• Other: Instagram: @sunshinegirlsfilm

Image Credits: 

The picture of the 3 women in coveralls was taken by Lina Marler for Sunshine Girls. Matt Wool took the Marcel the Shell and the marionette picture!