The Willa Kim Costume Design Scholarship
Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, is pleased to announce Ka‘iukapu Baker, Claudia Brownlee, and Lia Wallfish as the recipients of The Willa Kim Costume Design Scholarship 2023. The Scholarship honors costume designer Willa Kim’s legacy and her life’s work as a pioneer, legend, and inspiration for many of today’s theatre artists. A costume designer for ballet, theatre, opera, and television, Kim’s work is iconic. Administered by TCG with support from The Estate of Willa Kim, the Scholarship provides exceptionally talented costume designers who are enrolled in a university or professional training program with the opportunity to supplement their fine arts training in hand-drawing and painting.
“At the beginning of her career, Willa Kim wanted to be an illustrator, and she brought that passion for hand-drawing into her groundbreaking work as a costume designer,” said Emilya Cachapero, director of grantmaking programs, TCG. “TCG is proud to support her legacy by ensuring that future generations of costume designers will have the craft needed to realize their creative visions.” Teresa Eyring, executive director, TCG, notes, “With rapid advances in AI art generators, it’s more important than ever to invest in the centuries-old craft of painting and hand-drawing to support the irreplaceable role they play in the human artistry of costume design.”
The 2023 Scholarship recipients are:
- Ka‘iukapu Baker, a Native Hawaiian theatre artist from Kahalu‘u, O‘ahu. Ka‘iukapu is currently pursuing a MFA in Hawaiian Theatre at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, and has designed costumes for Holly Chung’s ‘Ōhi‘a Lehua, Ākea Kahikina’s Ho‘oilina, Iāsona Kaper’s Ka ‘Umikūmālua o nā Pō, and Reiko Ho’s devised piece Chinee, Japanee, All Mix Up.
- Claudia Brownlee,a costume designer from the Washington Metropolitan area. She has worked as a freelance costume designer in the past at NU-World Contemporary Danse Theatre and Pittsburgh Public Theater. She is pursuing an M.F.A. in Costume Design from Carnegie Mellon School of Drama.
- Lia Wallfish, a Jewish-Israeli costume designer and painter. Born in Israel, Lia moved to the United States after completion of her military service to pursue her craft. She is currently based in Chicago, Illinois where she is a third-year student in the Master of Fine Arts at Northwestern University.
Scholarship recipients receive up to $7,500 to be used towards tuition, registration fees, supplies and/or travel expenses over a one-year period. Learn more about the Willa Kim Costume Design Scholarship at www.plsn.me/WillaKim.
Exhibit at the NY Public Library
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts is celebrating the long and colorful career of costume designer Willa Kim in her first-ever major retrospective exhibition, The Wondrous Willa Kim: Costume Designs for Actors and Dancers. The exhibit, at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center in NYC, will run through August 19, 2023. The exhibit is curated by Bobbi Owen, professor emerita of the Department of Dramatic Art at the University North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The exhibition features designs alongside some of the costumes that showcase Kim’s extraordinary range and ingenuity, including work from productions like Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies, The Will Rogers Follies, and her final Broadway show, Victor/Victoria starring Julie Andrews.
Throughout her career, Kim demonstrated her gift for creating whimsical costumes by using extraordinary combinations of color and texture. Born in 1917 to Korean immigrant parents, Kim began her professional life as a painter in Los Angeles, CA, where she grew up. After studying at what would later become CalArts, she found a job as an assistant to Barbara Karinska, working under Raoul Pène du Bois who designed costumes for the Ginger Rogers 1944 film Lady in the Dark.
Following her mentors to New York, Kim began designing costumes for Broadway productions, such as The Red Eye of Love, and Goodtime Charley, Song & Dance, Dancin’, Tommy Tune Tonite! She designed costumes for some of the leading choreographers and dancers, like Eliot Feld and Michael Smuin, and production companies like Ballet Hispánico and American Ballet Theatre, as well as opera performances, figure skaters, and even some film and TV productions. She even designed salad-themed dresses for a commercial that aired during the Super Bowl.
Among her many honors were Tony Awards for Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies and Tommy Tune’s The Will Rogers Follies, and Tony nominations for Peter Allen’s Legs Diamond, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Song & Dance, Bob Fosse’s Dancin’, and Joel Grey’s Goodtime Charley. She won Drama Desk Awards for Jean Genet’s The Screens, Irene Fornes’ Promenade, and Sam Shepard’s Operation Sidewinder; Obie Awards for Robert Lowell’s The Old Glory and Lanie Robertson’s Woman Before A Glass; and Emmy Awards for the PBS broadcasts of Michael Smuin’s ballets The Tempest and A Song For Dead Warriors. Kim also received lifetime achievement awards from the Fashion Institute of Technology and the United States Institute for Theatre Technology. The Theatre Development Fund honored her with the Irene Sharaff Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2007 she was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame.
Learn more about the exhibit at www.plsn.me/WillaKim2
Purdue’s new online course Prequalified Structures for the Stage, offered by the Fusion Studio for Entertainment and Engineering, explains the engineering principles behind effective and safe theater set construction. The five-week course covers topics such as understanding loads on platforms, structural considerations, sheet goods, stick lumber, framing, legs and supports, 2-by-4-framed platforms and stressed-skin panels, and pre-manufactured platforming – essential components of theater set construction.
The course is taught asynchronously, meaning students can access course materials at any time and work on a flexible schedule. The course’s online modality makes it an ideal upskilling opportunity for professionals who already work in the theater and performing arts industries and are seeking a new qualification that can be earned in their free time.
“Some of the folks who most want this knowledge are busy doing the work, and finding time to gain new knowledge can be challenging,” said Rich Dionne, associate professor of practice and faculty technical director for Purdue’s Fusion Studio for Entertainment and Engineering. “You can complete the materials in this course at your own pace—at 2 in the morning in your pajamas, or on a break during a load-in – however you can fit it into your schedule.”
Dionne, the course’s instructor, has decades of experience working in the theater industry as a scenery automation and show control systems specialist. At Purdue, he mentors engineering students concentrating in theater engineering and has served as the technical director for many Purdue Theater productions.
Though much of the information in the course is based on engineering principles, the course is accessible to beginners and open to the public. High school and college theater educators, theater managers, stage managers, directors, performing artists, venue owners and anyone else interested in learning more about set construction is welcome to enroll. For more information on the Prequalified Structures for the Stage course go to www.plsn.me/Preq
Gateway Program Applications
USITT’s Gateway Program was launched in 2014 in memory of Tayneshia Jefferson, who fought for underrepresented populations in the industry. This unique, customizable mentorship program fosters opportunities for those who identify with an underrepresented population. It allows an individual to work with a mentor to tailor their learning goals and career development while attending the upcoming conference with the financial support of USITT. In addition, it offers a vast network of industry professionals for mentees to learn and engage with during their time at USITT and beyond.
This program is for students currently enrolled in an academic program or recently graduated individuals re-entering the industry, and folks seeking resources that have not been easily accessible to them during their time spent in the arts. If you would like the opportunity to be a mentee with the upcoming cohort (or a mentor) then go to www.usitt.org/gateway
Elynmarie Kazle Honored with Joel E. Rubin Founders Award
At the USITT23 Conference in St. Louis, USITT honored Elynmarie Kazle with The Joel E. Rubin Founder’s Award, which is presented to a USITT member in recognition of outstanding and continued service to the Institute. This award was named in honor of Dr. Joel E. Rubin, co-founder and the second president of the Institute.
Kazle, the former Chair of the Stage Managers’ Association for eight years, and current President of the recently formed Stage Managers’ Association Foundation, is a Stage Manager, Production Manager, Fundraiser, Management Consultant, and Stage Director. She also teaches as an adjunct for Ohio Northern University. One of the youngest Fellows to be named by USITT, she has designed signature stage management curricula and mentoring for a variety of institutions across the country, including USITT’s Stage Management Mentoring Program. She currently serves as Vice Chair for Special Projects USITT Ohio Valley, as well as on the national Membership and Development Committees. Kazle was named to the National Theatre Conference, prior to the pandemic pause.
Currently Kazle teaches management as an adjunct for Ohio Northern University. Recent SM gigs include Match Girl/Columbus Dance Theatre and Regional Emmy Awards for NATAS as well as director of Teacher Training for the Southeastern Summer Theatre Institute (SSTI). She consults for a variety of theatrical, educational, and business institutions, she specializes in organizational development and fundraising and is a successful grant writer and theatre manager.
