The Student Ambassador Program is co-sponsored by the Fellows and the International Activities Committee. The program pairs three student members with three international guests at the annual conferences. They then have the opportunity for individual conversations about working in theatre abroad. This year’s winners will be able to meet the international guests in person again.
Holly Houck is a senior double majoring in theatre and international studies with minor in French at Saginaw Valley State University in MI. She wants to combine her passion for theatre and global cultures and will use the Student Ambassador opportunity to build her an international network with Jacqui George, who has been a stage manager with professional companies and a teacher at several academies in the UK. George is currently the Programme Leader of Production Arts at Sharjah Performing Arts Academy in United Arab Emirates.
Grzegorz Labuda is a graduate student costume designer/performer from Poland studying at Carnegie Mellon University on a Fulbright appointment. He looks forward to discussing the process of creating costume-based performances with Fruzsina Nagy, an internationally known designer/auteur with an individual style and unique voice. As an award-winning Hungarian costume designer, Nagy conceives costume-based performances communicating the relationship between the human body and its surrounding world. She also is a teacher at the Academy of Fine Art in Budapest.
Wesley Martinez is studying lighting design at Columbus State University in Georgia. He wants to explore recent conversations about diversity and inclusion in the theatrical world with Mexican scenographer, Xóchitl González, as they share the same language and culture. González is a scenographer based in Mexico who designs in festivals and cities around the world. She was awarded the Gold Medal in lighting design at WSD 2013 in Cardiff. Her designs also were included in the Mexican PQ exhibition in 2011 and 2016.
The Student Ambassador Program is held annually at the USITT conference & Stage Expo. Applications are usually due in January of each conference year. All Student Members are invited to enter an application with statement, resume, examples of their work, and a recommendation from a mentor.
Further information from USITT: https://www.usitt.org/news/2022-student-ambassadors-announced
