Jim Henson at Maryland In 1954, Jim Henson (Class of'60) enrolled at the University of Maryland and began to take studio art classes there, thinking that he might eventually become a commercial artist. A good deal of his artwork from the period has survived, and it indicates that Jim had a lively visual imagination, a considerable facility with color, and an impeccable eye for detail. The strong, simple images he produced anticipated the effective simplification of the puppets he would later design. An example of his early work was Kermit (and "Sam and Friends"), designed in 1955.
Henson Links WRC-TV The local television channel where Jim worked when a student at Maryland Something Fishy This is a puppet film being made by a student at Maryland now!	Jim and Jane's marriage in 1959	In September of 1954, when Jim was still a freshman, he met Jane Nebel in a puppetry class at the University. She would become his first important performing partner, eventually his wife, and her role would be crucial to the evolution of the first phase of Jim's career. Have you ever tried your hand at being a puppeteer? Its not very difficult! Why don't you give it a try in our special puppetry lab?