Sam Bartlett (born Samuel Hamilton Bartlett, November 8, 1961, Burlington, Vermont) is an American folk artist, public art instigator, cartoonist, performer, musician, and composer. As an artist, Bartlett’s iconic style has been featured in publications, solo and collaborative public artworks, and moving object performances including panoramic “crankie shows” and large-scale papier-mache puppetry. Stuntology is Bartlett’s signature art and performance genre of humorous parlor tricks and messy exploration of fun with everyday objects. Decades of collection and documentation are represented in four illustrated volumes of Stuntology cartoons, as well as his long-running one-man show. As a musician, Bartlett has had longtime prominence as a performer and composer in the national contra dance music circuit. Early life Bartlett is the youngest of four children born to Richmond Jay Bartlett and Martha Harry Bartlett. He attended Shelburne Village School and the Shelburne Middle School in Shelburne, Vermont. He received the Daughters of the American Revolution Good Citizenship Award in 8th grade. At Champlain Valley Union High School in Hinesburg, Vermont, he was voted class clown and was known for his banjo playing, drawing and tennis skills. After graduating in three and a half years, Bartlett attended the University of Vermont and studied geography (1984). Musical career Bartlett performed with The Green Mountain Volunteers on the banjo and as an Appalachian clogger in 1984. He played contra dances around Vermont and New England starting in 1985, supplementing his income by making apple cider for the Chittenden Cider Mill from 1985 to 1988. After moving to Boston he became ensconced in the urban contra dance scene. During this time he played mandolin and tenor banjo with three highly influential touring bands: Uncle Gizmo, Wild Asparagus, and the Clayfoot Strutters, and assisted in reshaping the face of modern contra dance music. Bartlett met his future wife, Abby Ladin, in 1992 and moved to Bloomington, Indiana, to be with her. Ladin's percussive dance group, Rhythm In Shoes (RIS), absorbed Bartlett and he toured with RIS for the next 10 years. Bartlett resumed playing the national contra dance circuit in 1997 after forming the Reckless Ramblers (with Larry Unger, Nat Hewitt, Ginny Snowe, and later Mark Hellenberg) and also being an original member of the Sevens (with Mark Roberts, Sarah Blair, Stuart Kenney, and Mark Hellenberg). In 2005, Bartlett began playing with Notorious (Eden MacAdam-Somer, Larry Unger, and Mark Hellenberg) and continues to play with them to this