Ruby Friday | Puppeteer Tarish “Jeghetto” Pipkins

Ruby Fridays are casual art talks offered at noon most Fridays during the semester in the Rubenstein Arts Center’s Ruby Lounge. Speakers include Duke faculty and students who are creating or exhibiting work in the Ruby, visiting artists from far and wide, and local creatives. Learn about the amazing art being created on Duke’s campus, the behind-the-scenes aspect of the creative process, careers in the arts, and more. A free lunch is included!

Tarish “Jeghetto” Pipkins, was born in Clairton, Pennsylvania, a small steel-mill town south of Pittsburgh. He is a self-taught artist and has been creating art from a very young age. As a teenager, he moved to the East Side of Pittsburgh and graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School. In the late 1990’s, he joined the BridgeSpotters Collective and became known for his live paintings and poetry. He was also a barber for over 20 years.

In 2005, Pipkins moved to North Carolina and launched his career in puppetry. Initially, he fine-tuned his skills by performing on the street. He started working with Paperhand Puppet Intervention in 2008 and has built puppets and performed in several Paperhand productions. More recently, he had the pleasure of working with national recording artist Missy Elliott on her music video, WTF (“Where They From”), controlling the Pharell puppet and doing some puppet building. He also worked on an Amazon Echo commercial featuring Missy Elliott and Alec Baldwin as puppets.

Pipkins is married and a proud father of five children. As Jeghetto, his passion is promoting Oneness through the magic of puppetry.