Friday | February 18, 2022 |
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Good news for The Rabbit hOle - our "Tax Credits for Contributions" program has been extended by the Missouri Development Finance Board through 2022! This program provides a unique opportunity for donors to recoup 50% of their donation in the form of Missouri state tax credits that can be applied to a state tax obligation or sold for cash. Qualifying contributions for this program must be $5,000 or more. You can double your impact and get money back, no strings attached. If you or someone you know would like to take advantage of this opportunity or learn more about it, click the link below or reach out to us directly at [email protected].
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Help bring The Rabbit hOle to life!
Every donation brings us closer to opening.
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Perez y Martina is an ill-fated love story between a dapper mouse and a distinguished cockroach. Originally published in 1932, the story was adapted from a Puerto Rican folktale by Pura Belpré and illustrated by Carlos Sanchez. The Rabbit hOle's exhibit design includes shelves for all the books that have won the Pura Belpré award, Perez and Martina* themselves, and a puppet theater which celebrates Pura Belpré's renowned love of puppetry. And who knows what visitors will discover in Martina's kettle bubbling on the hearth... |
*To see Martina emerge from a block of foam at the hands of our fabricators, check out our "Watch This" segment below! |
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The final phase of building renovations resumed this month with the initiation of a large electrical package with Westhues Electric that includes the first floor ceiling lighting and power grid. This package paves the way for a forthcoming wall-building package with J.E. Dunn that will begin in March and encompass the first floor Explor-a-Storium, our makerspace, the south wall of our bookstore (including the Goodnight Moon room!) and the support areas for our admission area at the front of the building. Together with our accelerating exhibit production schedule, this puts The Rabbit hOle squarely on the path for a 2023 opening!
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Grand and exciting plans for lighting grids!
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Dustin with Westhues hard at work on preliminary gridwork. He'll be joined soon enough by a formidable crew to complete this phase of construction |
Thank you to our volunteers who helped us get a head start on this year's envelopes!
We still need volunteers for our March 11th Volunteer date. Sign up below if you would like to help! And, if you can't make it in March, you can sign up via our website to receive notifications about future volunteer opportunities.
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We are hiring
The Rabbit hOle is looking for experienced artist fabricators. Visit our website to learn more and to apply. |
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This Week, Next Year...in the Bookstore
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"This Week, Next Year" is a new monthly segment to introduce future programming areas within The Rabbit hOle. These experiences will be an integral part of The Rabbit hOle from day one. Read on to discover what lies ahead in the realm of The Rabbit hOle... |
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Imagine for a moment…you’ve just put on an amazing performance from the puppet theater in Perez y Martina’s house. Pleasantly worn out from a day of exploring, you plan to head home for the day to make some dinner - the smell of Perez cooking in Martina’s kettle filled your olfactory receptors with imaginary, tragic, and curiously delectable smells. Making your way out of the Explor-a-Storium through ferns, trees, and storybook characters, your small companions beg to visit the bookstore to take home a small piece of the day’s magic. Acquiescing, you change course and travel past the Goodnight Moon room to the bookstore to peruse shelves filled with books and treasures. You find a handmade Perez puppet, a biography of Pura Belpré, a copy of Perez y Martina to take home, and a cookbook of literary recipes, including Martina’s ill-fated but delicious almond stew (perfect for dinner)! A parent scurries past you trying to locate their brood. "Perhaps they have gone up in the crow’s nest to relish a few moments alone with a new story?" you suggest. You glance at the bookstore’s calendar for the coming week. Baby music times, story times, and special programs fill the days ahead. You note that Daniel Handler is coming to the amphitheater this Saturday, one of your favorite authors! You’ll have to stop by that weekend to have your childhood copy of his book signed. Arms filled with new stories to share, you head to the car and homeward, until next time.
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Book Pairing - Perez y Martina, adapted by Pura Belpré and illustrated by Carlos Sanchez, with Martina's Arroz con Dulce recipe. Pairing by Deb, Rabbit hOle co-founder and sometime chef
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There are many foods in picture books. Everything from pancakes to bread with jam. Some have recipes, like Thundercake (written and illustrated by Patricia Polacco), which includes the surprise ingredient of a tomato. In this case, the story of Perez y Martina contains the list of ingredients Martina includes in her soup, but no recipe.
After doing a little searching, keeping in mind Pura Belpré’s Puerto Rican roots, I found a recipe for Arroz con Dulce which I think may have been what Martina was cooking in that big kettle.
I got out my kettle on a cold snowy day and gathered together the ingredients. Making the recipe, I discovered the smell of Arroz con Dulce is tantalizing, the taste is sweet and good, and best yet, no one was injured in it's creation, phew!
Now that I think about it, Perez y Martina is the perfect love story. Martina, who loves to cook, knows how food well prepared is a gift of love, and Perez, who will risk everything just for that almond.
-Deb
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Rabbit hOle tip: when cooking Arroz con Dulce, make sure you don't leave your true love unattended for too long. |
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Speaking of professions of love and, well, getting stuck places...we have stickers for sale in The Rabbit hOle shop. Pick up a few to show the world you're stuck on The Rabbit hOle! |
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Before we had a house, we had a Martina. Jordan and Scribe used a variety of processes to create the figures of Martina and Perez. First, her figure had to be extracted from a single block of foam: |
Rabbit hOle tip: follow us on social media for more works-in-progress, exhibit updates, and process highlights! |
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Check out what's new at The Rabbit hOle - follow us on social media for daily updates! |
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Curious to see what else is up our sleeves? Visit our website to read more about our mission, exhibits, and other exciting progress |
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