Burry Fredrik Design Fellowship
The Burry Fredrik Foundation has announced scenic designer Marcelo Martínez Garcia as the recipient of the 2023 Burry Fredrik Design Fellowship and its $10,000 award. Established in 2017, the Burry Fredrik Design Fellowship helps to launch the careers of graduates from the David Geffen School of Drama’s Design program at Yale. Each year, the faculty selects one graduating scenic, costume, lighting, projection, or sound designer as the Burry Fredrik Design Fellow, who will receive a cash award.
“Marcelo Martínez Garcia joins an outstanding group of David Geffen School of Drama designers by being named as a Burry Fredrik Design Fellow,” says Barbara L. Pearce, Chair of the Foundation. “We are proud to be supporting their work and to be able to provide opportunities with Connecticut theaters for all of this year’s talented graduate designers.”
Marcelo Martínez García (he/him/él) is a proud Mexican scenic designer and architect. His recent credits include Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles at Yale Repertory Theatre; Love’s Labor’s Lost and Bodas de sangre at David Geffen School of Drama; BURNBABYBURN: an american dream at Yale Summer Cabaret; L’Orfeo at Yale Baroque Opera; Dragaret ’22, Radiant Vermin, Let’s Go to the Moon, and littleboy/littleman at Yale Cabaret. Marcelo holds a degree in architecture from ITESM MTY, a specialization in scenic design from CENTRO CDMX, and is currently in his final year pursuing an M.F.A. in theater design at the Geffen School. Upcoming works include Torera at Alley Theater, Houston and La Doriclea at Yale Baroque Opera. Examples of his design work can be seen at marcelomg.com.
“I am deeply honored and humbled by this recognition. As an international artist, the opportunities the Burry Fredrik Design Fellowship provides are truly inspiring and moving. I am greatly looking forward to continuing to engage with the Connecticut theater community and hope that my work and dedication will correspond to such generous support,” said Marcelo Martínez Garcia. “It is truly exciting that theaters across Connecticut may also benefit from the amazing artistry of the talented class of David Geffen School of Drama designers who have inspired me for the last four years. Thank you, Burry Fredrik Foundation, for your commitment to amplifying new voices in American theater.”
A theater trailblazer, Tony Award-winning producer and Broadway director and stage manager, Burry Fredrik established the Burry Fredrik Foundation to promote the development of new work and the fiscal health of professional theaters in Connecticut. To fulfill its mission, the Foundation provides support for developing new works and audiences for Connecticut professional producing theaters with national import and fosters the development of young theater designers.
In years past, the Foundation has also made a grant in the amount equal to a design fee to any professional theater in Connecticut that hired the Design Fellow in the two years following the award. This year, the Foundation has expanded the program: each of the eligible Connecticut theaters will receive the grant the first time they hire any designer from the Class of 2023 through June 30, 2025. This expansion offers needed budget relief for grantee institutions and professional opportunities for early career artists.
“We are grateful to the Burry Fredrik Foundation for its generosity,” says Riccardo Hernández, Co-Chair of the Design program. “Its financial support will help our students make their way in the world, giving them an opportunity to showcase their artistry at theaters throughout Connecticut.”
Previous recipients of the Burry Fredrik Fellowship are set designer Claire DeLiso, 2017; sound designer Frederick Kennedy, 2018; set designer Stephanie Osin Cohen, 2019; lighting designer Evan C. Anderson, 2020; and projection designer Camilla Tassi, 2022.
ASTC-USITT Renovation Challenge
In person presentations by four teams of students highlighted the 2023 ASTC – USITT Venue Renovation Challenge. The student presentations took place at the USITT convention in St. Louis. Each of the four teams chose a building on their campus as the subject for renovation. Two projects were existing theaters in need of modernization and two were spaces to be converted to theatrical performance use. The teams created a concept and developed documentation that detailed their renovation plans. The project culminated in the live presentation during the USITT conference. A group of five ASTC members acted as judges and offered comments to the teams throughout the process and determined the final awards.
The winner of the Edgar L. Lustig Award of $2,500 was presented by ASTC President Heather McAvoy to the Sullivant Outdoor Venue Renovation by a team from The Ohio State University (OSU). Lustig, the award namesake, was a Founding member of ASTC, its first Fellow, and the organization’s long-time Secretary and CFO. The OSU project converted an underutilized pedestrian courtyard area between two existing buildings into a performance space while creating opportunities for art displays and study areas when performances are not occurring. Besides a new outdoor stage, it upgraded a small indoor stage and provided performer support spaces. The creative landscape design integrated the performance uses into the overall courtyard area. The team consisted of theatre, architecture, and industrial design students: Allison Summers, Daqi Bao, Erin Shaw, Jessica Hightower, and Yun Yen. The faulty advisor was Brad Steinmetz and their ASTC Mentor was Patrick Barrett.
The USITT Director’s Award of $1,000 was presented by Lea Asbell-Swanger, USITT Interim Executive Director, to students from Oberlin College for their renovation of Hall Auditorium on the Oberlin campus, which was built in 1953. Like many buildings of this vintage, the team proposed to update the fly loft and grid, front of house lighting positions, lighting system, sound mix position and seating accessibility. Two members of the team, Nelson Gutsch and Andrew McCracken gave a concise presentation of the renovation plans. The Oberlin team was Nelson Gutsch, Ansel Mills, Nova Gomez, Leanne O’Donnell, Andrew McCracken, and Charley Davis. The faculty advisor was Eric Steggall and their ASTC Mentor was Howard Glickman.
The Ohio State University had a second team in the competition that took on a challenging project of renovating a church sanctuary into a collaborative, flexible performance space with rehearsal, classroom and support spaces on the lower level. The existing building is on the edge of campus where student artists and the community can connect on a daily basis. The 2nd OSU team Members were Michael Murphy, Lyndsay R. Holmes, Qiannan Wang, Elise Aultman, and Braden Graves. The faculty advisor was Brad Steinmetz and their ASTC Mentor was Jerad Schomer.
Students from Yale University presented a well-documented renovation of the Yale Cabaret. The Cabaret is a unique space run by Yale students with a rotating artistic leadership that changes every year and presents a wide variety of performances. The proposed renovation addressed the issues of an older building by re-designing the exterior and interior spaces to provide better use of space and resolve accessibility issues. It re-conceived spaces and circulation by taking advantage of soon to be vacated offices on the upper floors.
The Yale team was Miguel Angel Lopez, Ro Burnette, David DeCarolis, and Cameron Waitkun, with faculty advisor Kirk Keen and ASTC Mentor was Tom Neville.
ASTC and USITT sponsor the Venue Renovation Challenge for students to work with an ASTC professional and expose them to an alternate career in theatre as a theatre consultant that uses the diverse skills they learn in theatre and architecture training. Creating and developing the plans to renovate a performance space puts those skills into practice and exposes the students to the process of theatre consulting. The event was organized and hosted by ASTC member Van Phillips. The jury consisted of ASTC members: D. Andrew Gibbs, Jedd de Lucia, Paul Luntsford, Chris Ochocki, and Steven Rust. The judges were quick to comment that they were impressed with each of the teams’ work and had a difficult time making their final award decisions. Learn more about ASTC: https://theatreconsultants.org.
Fusion Studio Symposium on Education in Entertainment and Engineering at Purdue University
The Fusion Studio for Entertainment and Engineering’s 2023 Symposium on Education in Entertainment and Engineering will take place July 28-29 at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN. The annual Symposium focuses on engineering and live entertainment, building bridges between the two very different fields of study. Breakout session topics will include a look at how theater curricula can incorporate engineering concepts, how engineering curricula can incorporate live entertainment concepts, and how interdisciplinary partnerships can be developed. The sessions will also answer an array of accreditation questions.
The live entertainment industry presents increasingly complex challenges for technicians—whether in small community theatres or in large theme parks. At the same time, the shape of post-secondary education is changing—with an increasing emphasis on hands-on learning and outcome-based instructional design becoming the norm. At the convergence of these threads is the need to effectively prepare and educate students to enter the rapidly changing world of live entertainment technology. This year, the Symposium topics will explore the interstitial spaces amongst the disciplines of engineering, theatre technology, and education as they want to highlight the opportunity for attendees to connect with a community of peers passionate about the integration of engineering and entertainment.
The Symposium will also feature guest speaker Kati Murphy, VP of Public Relations and Communications at Meow Wolf, the Santa Fe based arts production company known for their perspective shifting installations in Santa Fe, Las Vegas, and Denver. Also, David Theis, AV Design Engineer at AVI-SPL, will conduct an Interactive Interdisciplinary Workshop: The Interpersonal Relationship Between Engineers and Artists. Theis, who was a Disney imagineer for 25 years, will in this workshop explore the range and diversity of personalities involved in applying complex technology to entertainment applications including their goals, fears and behavioral motivations.
Early Registration 2023 Symposium is now open at https://centers.purdue.edu/fusion-studio/seee .
Vectorworks Design Scholarship
Global design and BIM software provider Vectorworks, Inc. invites students to see where their designs can take them by entering the seventh Vectorworks Design Scholarship. The global competition is open to undergraduate and graduate students in major disciplines related to entertainment design, architecture, landscape architecture and design, and interior design. Students can submit a new design or past project from any of their classes for the chance to win up to $10,000 USD.
“It’s clear that today’s student designers have limitless potential. We’re honored to have the opportunity to showcase their creative talents and innovative designs but also help to foster their future careers through the exposure and financial assistance this competition can provide,” said Vectorworks Academic Marketing Programs Specialist Jen Hart. “We encourage all students to take advantage of this unique opportunity to shine a light on their achievements as they embark on their professional journey.”
Competition entries will be evaluated by an expert panel of international judges in two rounds. First-round winners will each receive up to $3,000 USD and will be entered for the chance to win the grand prize Richard Diehl Award, worth up to an additional $7,000 USD. Winners’ schools will also receive free Vectorworks Design Suite software and free virtual or in-person workshop training for faculty and students.
Richard Diehl, Founder of Vectorworks, Inc., believes that designers shouldn’t be limited by their tools. As founder of the company that created the first 3D modeling software programs and the first cross-platform CAD application, he helped create tools that provide designers the freedom to transform the world.
“Our differences, quirks and dissimilarities are what is interesting about us; they are a life force of any society,” said Cristina Murphy, co-founder of XCOOP, adjunct professor at Virginia Tech, Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center, assistant professor at the School of Architecture and Planning at Morgan State University and one of this year’s judges. “Share your distinctive abilities with fellow designers, creatives and the world as you step out into your next chapter. You are the future of the design profession and can make a difference! We can’t wait to see what you have in store.”
Vectorworks software serves multiple industries and offers this scholarship to students from all of the following disciplines.
- Architecture: The design enhances the ways we inhabit our planet, influenced by our past and inspired by our future.
- Landscape: The design enriches our outdoor spaces to tie the natural and built environments together.
- Entertainment: The design creates unforgettable experiences with stunning visuals that leave lasting impressions.
- Interior Design: The design breathes life into a space, drawing people in and making them want to stay.
Vectorworks also offers resources and information to help with applicants with their submission, including free educational software and an inspiration gallery to get them started.
Submission deadlines and prize award amounts differ based on the applicant’s country or region. In the U.S. scholarship applications are now open until Jul. 31, 2023. Winners will be announced on Dec. 8, 2023. For additional information, regional submission dates and to apply go to www.vectorworks.net/scholarship.
