In 1966, Vincent Anthony moved to Atlanta from New York City, where he had been a puppeteer for Nicolo Marionettes, and founded his own company called Vagabond Marionettes. The Vagabonds grew quickly, presenting adaptations of children's stories in schools, churches and community organizations. By the early 1970s Vagabond mounted touring shows throughout the United States and produced a home season of family performances in the Studio Theater of the Woodruff Arts Center in Atlanta.
Anthony saw the need for an organization to explore and present all aspects of puppetry to the public while encouraging and supporting artists in their work. This vision became the Center for Puppetry Arts in 1978, now the largest organization in the United States dedicated to the art form.
Under Anthony's leadership, the Center has received nine Citations of Excellence from UNIMA-USA, the American branch of the international puppetry organization Union Internationale de la Marionnette.
In addition to serving as the Barbara and Bill Wylly Executive Director for the Center, Anthony currently serves as General Secretary for UNIMA-USA. He has served on boards of directors, including the Arts Festival of Atlanta (president 1975 - 76), Neighborhood Arts Center, Puppeteers of America (president 1979 - 81) and the Arts Advisory Board. He served as founder and president of the Atlanta Southeastern Puppetry Guild (1974) and has served as consultant for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Theater Program since 1979.
Anthony has served as chair for the Performing Arts Panel of the Georgia Council for the Arts, the Special Projects for Individual Theater Artists Collaborations Panel for the NEA and the Atlanta Coalition of Performing Arts. He has served on numerous panels for the NEA and other organizations, and was a member of the City of Atlanta Bureau of Cultural Affairs Mayor's Advisory Committee.
Anthony's honors and awards include the Emory University Theatre Distinguished Service Award (1980), the Governor's Award in the Arts (1982), the President's Award from Puppeteers of America (1989), a Citation of Excellence from UNIMA-USA (1976) and the Lexus Leader of the Arts (2001).
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