Savannah
Michael
Devine
Savannah
- San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California
- Parsons The New School for Design, New York, New York
First year at SCAD:
2011
Credentials/past experience:
Founding director of performing arts design and technology program at California Institute of the Arts
Most significant accomplishment(s):
United States Institute for Theatre Technology 2012 Distinguished Achievement Award for Scenic Design, creative director for Universal Studios Dubai, creative consultant for Walt Disney Imagineering, creative director for Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Illinois.
Awards, recognition, honors:
18 Drama-Logue Awards; four Themed Entertainment Association Awards; Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Distinguished Achievement
Organizations:
United Scenic Artists Local 829, United States Institute for Theatre Technology, Themed Entertainment Association, American Association of Museums, International Council of Museums, Savannah Film Commission
Publications and/or presentations:
- Guest speaker/design adjudicator, United States Institute for Theatre Technology, southern regional conferences: 2004, 2008
- Guest speaker/design adjudicator, United States Institute for Theatre Technology, western regional conference: 1998
- Featured panelist, "The Future of 5-D in Performance Design," United States Institute for Theatre Technology 50th Anniversary Celebration, national conference: 2010
Inspiration for teaching:
Being around the creative energy students generate is invigorating. As a professor, I am inspired by their innovative nature. After winning my Tony Award, I was in high demand as a professional but thought much of the work I completed felt somewhat redundant and lackluster. After teaching an acting workshop off-Broadway, I felt fulfilled through working with students as a guide and mentor. Their passion for theater was enchanting. Since that time, I obtained a sense of enrichment in my work both as a teacher and a professional. I hope I can sustain the infectious wonderment my students hold for the performing arts.
Courses:
- MPRA 310 Stage Combat I
- MPRA 375 Directing
- MPRA 415 Stage Combat II
- MPRA 707 Principles of Performance
- PROD 101 Introduction to Production Design
- PROD 321 Scenic Design II
- PROD 490 Production Design Portfolio
- PROD 730 Script Analysis and Conceptualization
Artist statement:
I am passionate about being a part of an artistic team and working collaboratively to create the emotional, intellectual, entertaining experience we call theater. I am drawn to the ability of artists to enhance each other's work on a production and tell stories more effectively. As we work collaboratively to tell a story, I have found myself inspired by the work of actors, directors and other designers. My contribution has been to balance visibility with the powerful, three-dimensional, sculptural quality of light.
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George
Head
Savannah
- B.A., scenic and lighting design, University of North Texas, 1972
- M.F.A., scenic and lighting design, University of Texas at Austin, 1974
First year at SCAD:
2010
Credentials/past experience:
Director of design, Walt Disney Imagineering, Florida; vice president of show quality, Walt Disney Imagineering, California
Organizations:
U.S. Institute for Theatre Technology, Themed Entertainment Association
Courses:
- PROD 101 Introduction to Production Design
- PROD 110 Drafting for Production Design
- PROD 430 The Public Event: Concept and Collaboration
- PROD 490 Production Design Portfolio
Ruth
Hutson
Savannah
- B.F.A., theater, Southwest Texas State University, 1998
- M.F.A., theater, The University of Texas at Austin, 2001
First year at SCAD:
2009
Credentials/past experience:
Guest designer/lecturer, Georgetown College; guest designer/lecturer, Texas State University; guest designer/lecturer, SUNY Oswego; guest designer/lecturer, Savannah Arts Academy; lighting designer for more than 100 productions
Most significant accomplishment(s):
Lighting designer and stage manager for Julie Andrews' tour "The Gift of Music" to four U.S. venues including the Hollywood Bowl as well as an engagement at the O2 Arena in London
Inspiration for teaching:
"Both of my parents were educators and they instilled in me a belief that you cannot teach anything that you don't truly love. My mother loved math. My father loved music. I love light. I didn't always know that I loved it…more I didn't know you could move people with light as an artist and love that. I was lucky to discover that passion through wonderful teachers. There is a great joy in passing that passion on to another generation of artists. They are teachers, too. We all are."
Courses:
- PROD 101 Introduction to Production Design
- PROD 200 Production Management and Administration
- PROD 210 Script Interpretation
- PROD 220 Lighting Design I
- PROD 320 Lighting Design II
- PROD 350 Communication Concepts in Lighting Design
Artist statement:
"I don't want to make art alone. The collaboration of a team of artists is a risky business and I thrive on that risk. Every once in a while everything comes together…the actors, the sound, the scenery, the costumes, and a kind of magic happens. If you are lucky enough to experience that occurrence, you are changed forever whether onstage, backstage or in the audience. Live performance will continue to flourish because of those moments, and I plan to be right there making captivating lighting design a part of that magic."
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Robert A.
Mond
Savannah
- B.A., University of Dubuque
- M.A., design and technology, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
- M.F.A., scenic and lighting design, University of Wisconsin - Madison
First year at SCAD:
2006
Credentials/past experience:
Actor, dancer, director, and scenic, lighting, costume or sound designer for more than 300 productions; resident lighting designer, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival; operations manager and tour lighting designer, Tulsa Ballet Theatre; owner, production company designing scenery and lighting for product infomercials, videos, events, theater and dance; designer, special events company; designer, the Bristol Riverside Theatre, the Stratford Arts Council, the Nebraska Repertory and the Charleston Ballet Theatre
Awards, recognition, honors:
Honored four times with Certificates of Distinction for lighting design by the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival
Organizations:
United States Institute of Theatre Technology, Themed Entertainment Association, International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions
Inspiration for teaching:
"Gilbert Hemsley Jr., lighting designer, professor of lighting and life: 'For Gilbert life was a special event. The care and planning that went into making a gala or an opening night special was the same care that Gilbert took to ensure that each moment was lived to its fullest. Whether it was outfitting the design table with flowers, beanbag ashtrays, and pistachio nuts, doing nine loads of laundry with a bottle of champagne, taking students to work at The Met, or gathering his TAs around the family table for a barbeque and a planning session, Gilbert found a way to take advantage of every moment. But the moments he found joy in, he always found by sharing them with others. Gilbert rarely told us one way to live.' From an elegy celebrating the life of Gilbert Hemsley by Mark Stanley, former lighting supervisor, New York City Opera."
Courses:
- PROD 101 Introduction to Production Design
- PROD 110 Drafting for Production Design
- PROD 130 Stagecraft
- PROD 200 Production Management and Administration
- PROD 210 Script Interpretation
- PROD 220 Lighting Design I
- PROD 270 CAD for Production Design
- PROD 320 Lighting Design II
- PROD 730 Script Analysis for Production Design
- PROD 741 CAD for Production Design
- PROD 756 Evolution of Production Design
Artist statement:
"I am firmly convinced that a training program that prepares students to confront issues of the human spirit by emphasizing the past as a springboard to the future and celebrating the diversity of human culture and achievement is vital. I believe that students in the arts cannot reach full artistic maturity without understanding the breadth of human experience. We are storytellers and to represent, with truth, this multi-faceted being, we must be able to draw upon the full cultural, sociological, historical, artistic and spiritual perspective of humankind.
"I believe that if one really wishes to be the master of an art, technical knowledge of it is not enough. The individual has to transcend technique so that art becomes an 'artless art' growing out of the synergy of technique and concept in the unconscious mind. All learning and all experiences must have a substantive and tangible relationship with the development of the individual as a reasoning questioning being. The result must be tempered and filtered by the quest for excellence. I believe that the theater artist is a knowledgeable, skillful, well-rounded person with experience in all aspects of our art but choosing to follow a particular discipline."
"I believe that if one really wishes to be the master of an art, technical knowledge of it is not enough. The individual has to transcend technique so that art becomes an 'artless art' growing out of the synergy of technique and concept in the unconscious mind. All learning and all experiences must have a substantive and tangible relationship with the development of the individual as a reasoning questioning being. The result must be tempered and filtered by the quest for excellence. I believe that the theater artist is a knowledgeable, skillful, well-rounded person with experience in all aspects of our art but choosing to follow a particular discipline."
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Dawn
Testa
Savannah
- B.A., liberal arts, Simons Rock of Bard College, 1970
- M.S., theater education, Emerson College, 1975
- M.A., psychology and professional counseling, Georgia School of Psychology, 2005
First year at SCAD:
1999
Credentials/past experience:
Head of production, Comstock; owner, dressmaking and design retail business and mail order company; 15 years as an independent photo and commercial stylist; film credits on "Amistad," "Good Will Hunting" and "The Proposition"; costume design on 85 productions; remount production for Paul Taylor Dance Company and Robert Battle; Off-Broadway production of "The Cherry Orchard" at the Terry Schreiber Studios and the New York Musical Theatre Festival production of "Virtuosa, the life of Clara Schumann"
Most significant accomplishment(s):
Working with Steven Spielberg on his film "Amistad" while acting as Rudolf Nureyev's dresser
Awards, recognition, honors:
Recognition for costume design at the Prague Quadrennial
Organizations:
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees
Inspiration for teaching:
"To have the opportunity to share with students the knowledge I have gained over the past 35 years in a very tough industry. To share the knowledge of my craft and to do my best to prepare students with a broad range of skills that will allow them to be viable members of the theatrical workforce. It is with great satisfaction and appreciation that I observe students as they begin to build their careers at SCAD, becoming talented individuals in the field of entertainment. I feel proud to have had a hand in this evolution."
Courses:
- PROD 230 Costume Design I
- PROD 330 History of Costume in Film
- PROD 380 Costume Rendering for Construction
Artist statement:
"As a costume designer I have had the good fortune to work in most areas of design and production, from dance, theater and opera to film and television. My passion for the art of costume design motivates my teaching, guiding and influencing a new generation of talented designers. My experience in production and research drives the focus of my instruction. I am ardent in training students to understand the value of their work and the power to influence an audience. This is the essence of the contribution of the designer."
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Hal
Tiné
Savannah
B.F.A., drama-design, Carnegie Mellon University, 1967
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First year at SCAD:
2007
Credentials/past experience:
Forty years designing sets and lighting professionally: Broadway, off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway, Metropolitan Opera, regional theater, regional opera, network and cable television; president and principal, Pinxit Inc.; project designer, Peter Wexler Inc.; adjunct professor of theater design/technology, Purchase College
Most significant accomplishment(s):
Designs for touring and Broadway productions of "Jerry's Girls," St. James Theatre, 1984
Awards, recognition, honors:
Nominated for New York Innovative Theater Awards, Best Set Design, 2007
Organizations:
United Scenic Artists, U.S. Institute for Theater Technology, Theatre Communications Group
Publications and/or presentations:
"Designer Drafting for the Entertainment World," second edition, co-author with Patricia Woodbridge, expected publication 2012
Courses:
- PROD 212 Period Style for Production Design
- PROD 221 Scenic Design I
- PROD 300 Rendering for Entertainment Design
- PROD 321 Scenic Design II
- PROD 490 Production Design Portfolio
- PROD 742 Designer Drafting for the Entertainment Industry
- PROD 745 Decorative Arts: Context in Storytelling
- PROD 762 Production Design Studio II: Practical Design Techniques
- PROD 772 Production Design Studio III: Lighting Design
- PROD 790 Production Design M.F.A. Thesis
Artist statement:
"Art is the lie that tells the truth." - Picasso
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Richard Tyler
Tunney
Savannah
- B.A., technical theatrical, Humboldt State University, 1991
- M.F.A., theatrical design, University of Texas at Austin, 2001
First year at SCAD:
2003
Credentials/past experience:
Visiting professor, Georgetown College, Georgetown, Kentucky; technical director, Lexington Children's Theater, Lexington, Kentucky; stage manager, Honolulu Symphony, Honolulu, Hawaii; resident designer, Interact Theater, San Luis Obispo, California
Most significant accomplishment(s):
"My family."
Organizations:
U.S. Institute for Theatre Technology
Inspiration for teaching:
"I have been fortunate to have some great teachers in my life. Their impact on my life as an artist and as a person has been immeasurable. I went into teaching as a means by which to pay back those who gave to me."
Courses:
- PROD 101 Introduction to Production Design
- PROD 130 Stage Craft
- PROD 221 Scenic Design I
- PROD 280 Scenic Painting
- PROD 735 Concept Development for Production Design
- PROD 750 Digital Visualization for Production Design
Artist statement:
"Theater is the stupidest way that human beings have ever come up with for making art. The act of creating a piece of theatre is never dull, always challenging, often painful, occasionally inconsequential, frequently spiritually compromising, and every now and again…perfect. When it works, there is nothing like it in the world."
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