Roving Art Cart Makes History
“Aunt Mary believed jazz is love – it is a living rhythm connecting memory and heart. This new puppet program shares her story and invites the audience to feel the music that she so generously shared.”
- Bobbie Ferguson (Niece and Founder)
Mary Lou Williams: Jazz At The Heart
Pittsburgh, PA – Mary Lou Williams Institute (MLWI) is a proud legacy sponsor for a special Roving Art Cart Puppet Program titled Mary Lou Williams: Jazz at the Heart. This free summer puppet program is an opportunity for children to learn about an important Jazz Legend who grew up in Pittsburgh.
About The Program
This program uses the art of puppetry to teach children about how The Little Piano Girl of East Liberty became The Lady Who Swings the Band and who eventually composed the timeless and Grammy Nominated Zodiac Suite. Mary Lou Williams: Jazz at the Heart is a historical moment for the Roving Art Cart Summer Program as it is the first to focuses on the story of a Pittsburgh Legend.
This multi layered experience tells the story of how a very young Mary Lou was part of the historic Great Migration when she moved with her mother and sister from Atlanta to live with family in Pittsburgh. The show presents a timeline reflecting Mary Lou’s life and poses the question, “What is Jazz” throughout the performance. The puppeteers also incorporate an interactive component that includes recordings from the Zodiac Suite composition. This puppet experience is both educational and inspiring.
Roving Art Cart | Jazz at the Heart | Summer 2026 | Photo Credit Cheryl Capezzuti
Special Performance Dates
Mary Lou Williams: Jazz at the Heart will appear at selected Roving Art Cart dates which include: There are one to two shows that run for about 45 minutes each typical show times are 10:30am and 1:00pm. Meet members of the MLWI team on the last two shows of the program.
Friday, July, 31st (2 shows)
Frick Park Blue Slide Playground
Friday, August 7th (1 show)
Summer Puppet Finale at Mellon Park
About Roving Art Cart
Roving Art Cart, a CitiParks summer program, returns for its 51st season! This FREE outdoor, arts and crafts program is designed for children ages 5-12 and pops up in various neighborhood parks and playgrounds during the summer months from July through August, between the hours of 10:00am – 1:00pm. See the full schedule here.
About the Creative Team
Cheryl Capezzuti and Kellee Van Aken have been creating puppet shows together for more than 25 years here in Pittsburgh. This is their fourth traveling puppet show created for the Roving Art Cart. They are co-dreamers that love to tell a good story combining Kellee's writing and directing and Cheryl's hand-made puppets. By day, Kellee is the Dean of Theater and Visual Arts at Seton Hill University and Cheryl is on the Visual Arts Faculty at Falk Lab School at the University of Pittsburgh. You can learn about Puppets for Pittsburgh here.
About the Performers
Teniqué Mathieu is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice encompasses short film, commercial, theater, and live performance production, in addition to her work as a novelist. Having stepped back from the camera to cultivate a broader creative vision, she continues to build a body of work rooted in storytelling across forms. This summer, she adds puppetry to her artistic practice in a production honoring the enduring legacy of Mary Lou Williams and bringing that legacy to new audiences. Inspired by her daughter, Lillian, Teniqué enters this chapter with a deepened sense of purpose, joy, and artistic commitment.
Aryan Cheruvattath is a multi-hyphenate director-producer-playwright-composer and puppeteer who focuses on telling stories that challenge worldviews and highlight the unseen narratives of Queer and POC people. He would like to thank the Point Park faculty for their mentorship and Cheryl, Kellee, and Teniqué for their partnership! Follow @aryancheruvattath on Instagram for more updates on his future works!
About Mary Lou Williams Institute (MLWI)
Mary Lou Williams Institute (MLWI) is a Pittsburgh based nonprofit arts organization, founded in 2020 by Mary Lou Williams’s niece Bobbie Ferguson. MLWI believes in the love and the connection between generations. Through our programming and partnerships, we are building bridges that unite diverse groups of people through the arts and that links the past with the present and the present with the future. Learn more about Mary Lou Williams Institute here.
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