USITT 2010: Pix from the Stage Expo--highlights from vendors and schools
I'm about to head out from the conference for a day's worth of driving, but i'd like to share another photoset from the Stage Expo--the main convention floor where all the vendor booths are located, where the schools set up their info booths, and the location of some of the other curated and juried exhibits.
You can go to the convention on an Expo-only pass for a greatly reduced rate, if your main goals are to get swag, check out schools' displays, and see most of the exhibits. (An Expo-only pass won't get you into any of the sessions or panel discussions, or any of the catered parties.) In fact, i may write a post later next week about the costs of attending USITT, from the "big spender" version down to the shoestring version. Expo-only is one way to do a lot of networking without forking over the top-dollar pass money.
Vendors
Delbert Hall of D2 Flying Effects demonstrates destructive testing.
The Hall Associates booth had a "magic carpet" set up for attendees to try out!
Ultratec Special Effects demonstrates the effectiveness of their fog machines.
A drop painting demo was sponsored in the center of the Expo floor by...er, either a paint or drop vendor? Or maybe in tandem with the union? I missed which it was. Cool to watch these artists at work though!
Period Corsets had a booth with all their stock corsets and understructures on-hand to check out.
Sculptural Arts was handing out lots of samples of Sculpt-or-Coat and other products.
Mentionables Corsets had some lovely samples of their work on display.
Schools
This beautiful hat was made by a Boston University graduate student,
displayed in their booth as a sample of student work.
Examples of puppet and costume production from San Diego State University.
University of Missouri at Kansas City's booth featured some cool costumes!
I saw a few familiar pieces at the Ohio U booth--masks from the Symposium back in August!
Speaking of masks, check out these lovely examples created by University of Texas-Austin students.
While i'm on the subject of schools, one really cool thing i learned from the folks at the Boston University booth is their new certificate program in Costume Crafts, whereby students with a bachelors degree can take specialized crafts coursework and do practical hands-on work with Boston area theatres like the Huntington as crafts assistants, and in two years' time earn a professional certification credential and get a whole mess of excellent production credits. This struck me as a brilliant way for folks interested in working as freelance crafts artisans to get valuable training and resume-building without the enormous time/money commitment of a graduate program, should they decide that a masters is not something they're interested in or ready for.
This post is by no means approaching a complete overview of the Expo, either--there were literally hundreds of booths on the Expo floor. These were just vendors and schools whose displays caught my camera's eye. I've also got plans for one more photo post, of the special exhibits "Masks of W. T. Benda," the Design Expo, and some of the other non-vendor/non-academic Expo selections, as well as some session writeups. Once i get out of here, that is, and back down Carolina way!
And, unrelated but excellent, please enjoy this wonderful article in the New York Times about the rise of textile arts among long-haul truckers, particularly knitting and quilting. Awesome!
ETA 4/5/10: edited the post to correct some company attributions/links. Thanks for the clarifications, y'all!
You can go to the convention on an Expo-only pass for a greatly reduced rate, if your main goals are to get swag, check out schools' displays, and see most of the exhibits. (An Expo-only pass won't get you into any of the sessions or panel discussions, or any of the catered parties.) In fact, i may write a post later next week about the costs of attending USITT, from the "big spender" version down to the shoestring version. Expo-only is one way to do a lot of networking without forking over the top-dollar pass money.
Vendors
Delbert Hall of D2 Flying Effects demonstrates destructive testing.
The Hall Associates booth had a "magic carpet" set up for attendees to try out!
Ultratec Special Effects demonstrates the effectiveness of their fog machines.
A drop painting demo was sponsored in the center of the Expo floor by...er, either a paint or drop vendor? Or maybe in tandem with the union? I missed which it was. Cool to watch these artists at work though!
Period Corsets had a booth with all their stock corsets and understructures on-hand to check out.
Sculptural Arts was handing out lots of samples of Sculpt-or-Coat and other products.
Mentionables Corsets had some lovely samples of their work on display.
Schools
This beautiful hat was made by a Boston University graduate student,
displayed in their booth as a sample of student work.
Examples of puppet and costume production from San Diego State University.
University of Missouri at Kansas City's booth featured some cool costumes!
I saw a few familiar pieces at the Ohio U booth--masks from the Symposium back in August!
Speaking of masks, check out these lovely examples created by University of Texas-Austin students.
While i'm on the subject of schools, one really cool thing i learned from the folks at the Boston University booth is their new certificate program in Costume Crafts, whereby students with a bachelors degree can take specialized crafts coursework and do practical hands-on work with Boston area theatres like the Huntington as crafts assistants, and in two years' time earn a professional certification credential and get a whole mess of excellent production credits. This struck me as a brilliant way for folks interested in working as freelance crafts artisans to get valuable training and resume-building without the enormous time/money commitment of a graduate program, should they decide that a masters is not something they're interested in or ready for.
This post is by no means approaching a complete overview of the Expo, either--there were literally hundreds of booths on the Expo floor. These were just vendors and schools whose displays caught my camera's eye. I've also got plans for one more photo post, of the special exhibits "Masks of W. T. Benda," the Design Expo, and some of the other non-vendor/non-academic Expo selections, as well as some session writeups. Once i get out of here, that is, and back down Carolina way!
And, unrelated but excellent, please enjoy this wonderful article in the New York Times about the rise of textile arts among long-haul truckers, particularly knitting and quilting. Awesome!
ETA 4/5/10: edited the post to correct some company attributions/links. Thanks for the clarifications, y'all!