Help Replace Stolen Puppets!

In lieu of creating a short film for my Masters in Architecture thesis on the crisis of accessible rural birth, I hired artist and friend Toby Pikelin to create 5 stop motion animation puppets out of felt: a birther, a midwife, the birthers partner, an OB and a newborn baby.

In between freelance jobs Toby was able to create an array of evocative characters with exceptional detail and personality, while charging me a rate far below the worth of her craft.

The puppets were to aid in narrating my thesis design of modular, midwife-led birthing units for rural and Indigenous communities in Northern BC, who combat immeasurable travel times and psycho-social impacts when evacuated from their homes to give birth.


Just before Christmas Toby mailed all her puppets from Toronto to Vancouver through Canada Post, when asked the value of the package prior to shipping she paused, noting that material costs were so low, yet the works themselves are priceless…


When the tracking system notified us that the package had been received, the porch lay vacant. With 2 other Christmas gift deliveries not showing up on the same day Toby's was delivered, it soon became apparent that all my families gifts, including Toby’s puppets, had been stolen...

After trying to reach out through social media platforms and post-it signs we finally accepted the fate of those fantastic artworks.

Now we need to MAKE THEM AGAIN and are asking for donations towards paying Toby a respectable artist fee ($1500) to remake the lost puppets, which took roughly 3 weeks of full-time work.

**We are immeasurably thankful to any and all donors and promise that this artwork will be put towards a much-needed cause, as well we promise to continue having conversations with the BC Norhtern Health Authority to implement beneficent maternity options for rural and Indigenous communities.**

***We acknowledge that we live, work and play on the ancestral traditional territory of the Coast Salish peoples, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam Nations, as well as the Mississaugaus of the Credit, Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, Haudonesosaunee and the Wendat peoples***

Sincerely,
Chris Boni & Toby Pikelin

Resources: 
First Nations Health Authority 
Perinatal Services BC 
Centre for Rural Health Research 
Toby Pikelin Artist Website