ABOUT US
We are your *one-stop shop* for mascots, costumes, puppets, & props. We're basically a group of retired theater kids who live and breathe the arts, and we've all decided to channel that passion into mascots and puppets.
If you're a seasoned mascot performer, you're likely familiar with VEE Corp - they were the go-to for all things mascots for many years. Our founder, Morgan, was trained there and carries those skills here to The Project Place AND passes that knowledge onto every technician that steps foot in the studio. We have 50+ years of experience between us and we are dang proud of the quality and care we put into our creations!
Meet the team!
Morgan
Sarah
Stephanie
Owner, Founder
Executive Assistant
Shop Supervisor
Morgan's been sewing for more than 15 years, and making mascots for 10 of those years! She started sewing in the costume shop at college and kept it up while going to school for special effects in Los Angeles. After moving back to Minnesota, she got a job working at VEE Corporation making mascots! Morgan worked her way onto the team that worked on new costume development, and worked on pieces for Hello Kitty’s Super Cute Friendship Festival, Paw Patrol Live!, Nick Jr. Live!, and Trolls Live!. After working at VEE, then Vstar, for five years the company closed.
Without Vstar in the Twin Cities, there was a hole in the market for high-quality, custom mascot costumes and walk-around characters. Morgan loved what she did at Vstar so much, and had such a passion for mascot development that she decided to open her own studio to fill the gap.
In her free time, you can find Morgan supporting local businesses (shoutout Búch Fermentary, Bay Street Burger Dive, Centro, Fulton Brewing, Trivia Mafia, and countless others) and trying to tire out her amazing, 5-year-old, German Shepherd/Staffy mix.
Sarah joined The Project Place team at the start of 2024 after randomly submitting her resume for an “other duties as assigned” position in the shop. Since then, her role has been a little bit of everything behind the scenes to keep the shop moving along! If you reach out to The Project Place, you’ve probably heard back from Sarah, as she helps manage all things client communication.
Sarah loves connecting with our Project Place clients and walking with them through the full character creation process. While work at The Project Place is radically different from her previous career as an elementary teacher, Sarah enjoys coming to the shop each day to find out what wild jobs have landed in our inbox!
When she’s not in the shop, Sarah tries to get outside with her husband, four kiddos and crazy pup as much as possible!
Sarah loves working at The Project Place because it gives her a front row seat to creativity, innovation and fun, every single day!
Stephanie was very excited to join The Project Place family as Shop Supervisor this year.
She has been in the mascot and walk-around character business for 14 years and has been a seamstress/crafter for about 25 years. Way back in 2007 she started as a stitcher/dyer for the Costumes and Creatures a division of Vee Corp., moved to Fur Salon Supervisor, B2B Supervisor, Floor Manager, and now Shop Supervisor here at The Project Place. Stephanie’s speciality lies in all things constructed from neck to ankle for our mascot and costume character friends. Stephanie loves to pattern and create new costumes, organize work spaces and teach people the trade that is custom character making.
Some interesting things about Stephanie are: her extreme love of food and cooking, the fact that she has participated in a handbell choir every year since she was 12, and that she loves tent camping. When she's not at work, she's hanging out with her family which includes husband Jason, her 3 kids Ethan aka Triple E, Jacob aka Espy and Olivia aka Miss O and Sylvie her family dog who gets to come to work with her every day.