News from the Field: USITT 2010, new MFA program, and more!
USITT 2010
Are you planning on attending USITT's 2010 National Conference? This is a great year to go, being USITT's 50th anniversary! We'll be there (meaning, several of us from the UNC-CH Costume Production MFA program), and there are a few special events I want to give advance notice on, in which we'll be participating.
The Costume Commission Poster Session is the primary juried competition specifically for theatre costume production innovators at the USITT conference (as opposed to the other competitions like Design Expo for designers in all areas, or Tech Expo for production artists in all disciplines). It's sponsored by the Costume Design and Technology Commission. According to their official blurb, the mission of the Costume Design and Technology Commission is to provide costume design and production practitioners with opportunities to share ideas, to exchange information, to develop professionally and to impact on the future welfare and development of those in our field.
Here's what the CD&T Commission says about the poster session:
At every Annual Conference & Stage Expo as many as twenty scholars and professionals present their posters, each illustrating an innovative or imaginative design or construction technique, a solution to a problem, a classroom or management technique, the results of research, or other ideas, discoveries, or developments in the field of costuming. Poster presentations are widely accepted as meeting the requirements for scholarly publication. Poster presenters also have the opportunity to publish their work in the USITT journal Theatre Design & Technology.
Both myself and Randy Handley (aka handyhatter) had our abstracts accepted to present at the poster session this year!
My presentation will be on the parasol canopy and frame alteration innovations developed for the "Wall of Roses transform into Apple Trees" effect in PlayMakers' production of The Little Prince and its subsequent remount. Because we remounted the show, i had the rare opportunity to refine and streamline the modifications developed the first time around, and perfect the transforming canopy effect. Shanna Parks, a second year masters candidate, served as my crafts assistant on the remounted production last year and assisted in the construction of the final design; she will be a co-presenter at the session with me. Randy's presentation will be an in-depth look at his costume production management database program CAPS (Computer-Aided Paperwork System), for tracking and sorting all the documentation required for costume production, from fitting requests to measurement sheets to tech notes. We've been advised to expect an audience for our presentations of between 200-250 conference attendees. If you're at USITT this spring, drop by and check it out!
Another event i'm really looking forward to is the Member Author Signing session, at which i'll be signing copies of Sticks in Petticoats. I've sent off a review copy to Theatre Design and Technology magazine as well, so hopefully that'll be some advance input about the book from someone besides, you know, the author.
Carnegie Mellon's New Costume Production MFA Program
The ranks of costume production focus MFA programs have just expanded to a dirty dozen! We're glad to welcome Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA, to the shortlist of schools offering a production-only focus. Here's the text from the official announcement:
Faculty and Staff members in the Costume Area including Barbara Anderson, Susan Tsu, Brian Russman, and Ken Chu are excited to offer a unique program that seeks to educate students who are sensitive to the interplay between artist and artisan. Our goal is to educate individuals who will be an integral part of the increasingly globalized theatre, television and film communities. We believe in flexibility and collaborative effort and are committed to producing innovators, thinkers, practitioners; artisans who can communicate as intelligent and conducive members of a team.
We are pleased to provide a broad ranging program that emphasizes the development and synthesis of skills including draping, flat patterning, tailoring, fabric painting and dyeing, jewelry creation, millinery, management and mask making, while allowing for investigation in fields of personal interest. All of this is in conjunction with training in the essentials of the world of Costume Design allowing for a wide connection to the theatre community. We encourage self-expression and seek to provide students with a great span of knowledge that will allow further self-exploration.
Join us in forging new territory as we undertake the adventure of marching toward the world of the future in Costume Production.
For more information please contact:
Brian Russman, Assistant Professor of Costume Production
brianr-at-andrew.cmu.edu / 412.268.3648
Pretty exciting! I think it's so new they don't even have a live webpage for it yet, as i couldn't find any link on the CMU Drama Department site about it. Once they have a linkable URL up and running though, i'll be adding them as the twelfth program on my list of links to costume production focus MFA programs in the US.
Kaitlin Fara's Fin de Siecle Clocked Stocking Pattern Published
Remember Kaitlin Fara's fin de siecle clocked stocking pattern she created for one of her footwear projects? Kaitlin researched stocking trends and knitting patterns of the period and, utilizing several obfuscatively-notated period knitting patterns, created a reproduction, transcribing her process into a written knitting pattern that can be read by knitters accustomed to modern knitwear pattern conventions and notations.
Over the break, she published the pattern on Ravelry.com, where it can be purchased for $2.99. (You do need to be a Ravelry member to purchase/view it; if you aren't but would like to be, request an invitation here.) Exciting!
I'm so proud when my students go the extra mile for publication of their work like that, and now, anyone who might need to knit turn-of-the-century clocked stockings has an extant publicly-available resource!
PRC Company Member Kenneth P. Strong
My final bit of news is one of care and concern. PlayMakers patrons and Triangle area theatre enthusiasts will remember the many thrilling performances of our dear company actor, Kenneth P. Strong, who in my time here has portrayed "The Aviator" in The Little Prince, and "Cleon/Helicanus" in Pericles, among many other memorable roles. Ken has bravely battled glioblastoma brain cancer for four(!) incredible years; over the holiday break, he entered a local hospice. Those who would like to leave him a message, well-wishes, and so forth, may sign his guestbook, here: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/kennethstrong1/guestbook
There is also an option to read updates on his condition, via the main journal that has been set up here: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/kennethstrong1
Ken taught many many undergraduates as a professor here in the Department of Dramatic Art, and after his diagnosis, would tell them about his condition, his struggle with the cancer, and then would say to them that if they wanted to do something to help, to tell him a joke, because "laughter is the best medicine." If you want to leave a note for him but are unsure what to say, a joke is a good bet.
Are you planning on attending USITT's 2010 National Conference? This is a great year to go, being USITT's 50th anniversary! We'll be there (meaning, several of us from the UNC-CH Costume Production MFA program), and there are a few special events I want to give advance notice on, in which we'll be participating.
The Costume Commission Poster Session is the primary juried competition specifically for theatre costume production innovators at the USITT conference (as opposed to the other competitions like Design Expo for designers in all areas, or Tech Expo for production artists in all disciplines). It's sponsored by the Costume Design and Technology Commission. According to their official blurb, the mission of the Costume Design and Technology Commission is to provide costume design and production practitioners with opportunities to share ideas, to exchange information, to develop professionally and to impact on the future welfare and development of those in our field.
Here's what the CD&T Commission says about the poster session:
At every Annual Conference & Stage Expo as many as twenty scholars and professionals present their posters, each illustrating an innovative or imaginative design or construction technique, a solution to a problem, a classroom or management technique, the results of research, or other ideas, discoveries, or developments in the field of costuming. Poster presentations are widely accepted as meeting the requirements for scholarly publication. Poster presenters also have the opportunity to publish their work in the USITT journal Theatre Design & Technology.
Both myself and Randy Handley (aka handyhatter) had our abstracts accepted to present at the poster session this year!
My presentation will be on the parasol canopy and frame alteration innovations developed for the "Wall of Roses transform into Apple Trees" effect in PlayMakers' production of The Little Prince and its subsequent remount. Because we remounted the show, i had the rare opportunity to refine and streamline the modifications developed the first time around, and perfect the transforming canopy effect. Shanna Parks, a second year masters candidate, served as my crafts assistant on the remounted production last year and assisted in the construction of the final design; she will be a co-presenter at the session with me. Randy's presentation will be an in-depth look at his costume production management database program CAPS (Computer-Aided Paperwork System), for tracking and sorting all the documentation required for costume production, from fitting requests to measurement sheets to tech notes. We've been advised to expect an audience for our presentations of between 200-250 conference attendees. If you're at USITT this spring, drop by and check it out!
Another event i'm really looking forward to is the Member Author Signing session, at which i'll be signing copies of Sticks in Petticoats. I've sent off a review copy to Theatre Design and Technology magazine as well, so hopefully that'll be some advance input about the book from someone besides, you know, the author.
Carnegie Mellon's New Costume Production MFA Program
The ranks of costume production focus MFA programs have just expanded to a dirty dozen! We're glad to welcome Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA, to the shortlist of schools offering a production-only focus. Here's the text from the official announcement:
Faculty and Staff members in the Costume Area including Barbara Anderson, Susan Tsu, Brian Russman, and Ken Chu are excited to offer a unique program that seeks to educate students who are sensitive to the interplay between artist and artisan. Our goal is to educate individuals who will be an integral part of the increasingly globalized theatre, television and film communities. We believe in flexibility and collaborative effort and are committed to producing innovators, thinkers, practitioners; artisans who can communicate as intelligent and conducive members of a team.
We are pleased to provide a broad ranging program that emphasizes the development and synthesis of skills including draping, flat patterning, tailoring, fabric painting and dyeing, jewelry creation, millinery, management and mask making, while allowing for investigation in fields of personal interest. All of this is in conjunction with training in the essentials of the world of Costume Design allowing for a wide connection to the theatre community. We encourage self-expression and seek to provide students with a great span of knowledge that will allow further self-exploration.
Join us in forging new territory as we undertake the adventure of marching toward the world of the future in Costume Production.
For more information please contact:
Brian Russman, Assistant Professor of Costume Production
brianr-at-andrew.cmu.edu / 412.268.3648
Pretty exciting! I think it's so new they don't even have a live webpage for it yet, as i couldn't find any link on the CMU Drama Department site about it. Once they have a linkable URL up and running though, i'll be adding them as the twelfth program on my list of links to costume production focus MFA programs in the US.
Kaitlin Fara's Fin de Siecle Clocked Stocking Pattern Published
Remember Kaitlin Fara's fin de siecle clocked stocking pattern she created for one of her footwear projects? Kaitlin researched stocking trends and knitting patterns of the period and, utilizing several obfuscatively-notated period knitting patterns, created a reproduction, transcribing her process into a written knitting pattern that can be read by knitters accustomed to modern knitwear pattern conventions and notations.
Over the break, she published the pattern on Ravelry.com, where it can be purchased for $2.99. (You do need to be a Ravelry member to purchase/view it; if you aren't but would like to be, request an invitation here.) Exciting!
I'm so proud when my students go the extra mile for publication of their work like that, and now, anyone who might need to knit turn-of-the-century clocked stockings has an extant publicly-available resource!
PRC Company Member Kenneth P. Strong
My final bit of news is one of care and concern. PlayMakers patrons and Triangle area theatre enthusiasts will remember the many thrilling performances of our dear company actor, Kenneth P. Strong, who in my time here has portrayed "The Aviator" in The Little Prince, and "Cleon/Helicanus" in Pericles, among many other memorable roles. Ken has bravely battled glioblastoma brain cancer for four(!) incredible years; over the holiday break, he entered a local hospice. Those who would like to leave him a message, well-wishes, and so forth, may sign his guestbook, here: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/kennethstrong1/guestbook
There is also an option to read updates on his condition, via the main journal that has been set up here: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/kennethstrong1
Ken taught many many undergraduates as a professor here in the Department of Dramatic Art, and after his diagnosis, would tell them about his condition, his struggle with the cancer, and then would say to them that if they wanted to do something to help, to tell him a joke, because "laughter is the best medicine." If you want to leave a note for him but are unsure what to say, a joke is a good bet.