Based on what we’d learned from the Arts Snacks age care program, we knew our custom-built Stray dog puppet would be a delightful thing to introduce into aged care. Artists Cate McCarthy and Cath McNamara, working with Arts OutWest’s Kate Smith, designed a bespoke workshop blending puppetry, songwriting, movement and participatory storytelling for two pilot runs at the MPS at Blayney (in December 2024) and Oberon (in February 2025) over summer.
Take a few moments to watch Henry Simmon’s short film about the Blayney program (it’s full of joy).
We’re keen to offer this as fee-for-service program this year.
WATCH: Short film about the Stray pilot at Blayney MPS.
Pilot program
A puppet dog called ‘Stray’ has been visiting aged care residents in Blayney and Oberon.
Puppeteer / performer Catherine McNamara and visual artist / musician Cate McCarthy, working with Arts OutWest’s Kate Smith, have designed a workshop blending puppetry, songwriting, movement and participatory storytelling. Both artists used their experiences of working with the aged care residents in Arts OutWest’s four-year Virtual Art Snacks program.
The idea of using a puppet of a dog came from the Virtual Art Snacks program that linked artists with aged care residents living in rural Multi-Purpose Health Services (MPS) attached to hospitals across the Western NSW Local health District region.
“The conversations and art making would often turn to pets. We also identified the importance of physical and emotional connections when you live in aged care,” project coordinator Kate Smith explains.
“I think everyone is missing touch a little bit in this context so a very special thing for me is to be super close to them as the puppeteer,” Catherine McNamara said. “The puppet is our connecting force.”
The dog puppet was custom-made by master puppet-maker Kay Yasugi from Pupperoos, using salvaged and upcycled materials. Stray comes with a sensory blanket, a heat pad for inside her tummy (so you can feel the real warmth of a pet), a grooming kit and toys.
“The people’s faces come alive when the see the puppet. They know it’s a puppet, that it’s not real, but still the relationship that they have developed with the puppet is real,’ Cate McCarthy said.
“We said it’s about the ‘outside coming in’. It’s really magical that this puppet brings all those stories and memories of pets and special times back into the home,” Catherine McNamara said.
“I was finding the puppet really absorbs the energy of each person, so there were people who wanted to rough-house and the puppet would immediately start gnawing on their hand and getting in there… but then there were people who may not have been feeling great today or just really had that tiredness and so the puppet could just sit and breathe with the person – and that’s a real gift to share that time,” Catherine McNamara said.
After getting to know the dog puppet it became the stimulus for further activities:
“We made up a little song based on the words that people told us,” Cate McCarthy explained, “We all wrote the words down and cut them out and we stuck them up on the board and… we pulled some of them together to make a story for their song.”
A pilot has been trialed in three-week blocks at two Multi-Purpose Services in the Western NSW Health District: Blayney MPS in November and December 2024 and Oberon MPS in February 2025. Both artists had worked with Oberon MPS and Blayney MPS previously.
“It’s been really a delight for me as an arts practitioner,” Cate McCarthy said.
”[This work in] Aged care… is a really beautiful extension of my practice,” Catherine McNamara said.
After each pilot session feedback has informed the refinement of the project to prepare it for ongoing delivery as a fee-for-service for aged care residences in the Central West.
For more information contact Kate Smith at Arts OutWest on katesmith@csu.edu.au
The original Virtual Arts Snacks program, including the building of the dog puppet, was funded by the Australian Government’s Regional Arts Fund. These pilot programs were funded by Arts OutWest and donations to the Central West Cultural Fund.
Arts OutWest is the regional arts development organisation for the NSW Central West, supported by state and local government. Arts OutWest has a long running partnership with Western NSW Local Health District which, in addition to aged care work, currently includes supporting hospital redevelopments, work in mental health and a rotating series of exhibitions at six small hospitals in the region.
📷 Still from the film.