A national jury selected the works of our former
students Kimi Maeda, Selena Kong and Robert Eubanks for the USA
National exhibit.
The
student design for the USC production of Polaroid
Stories will
be displayed next to the best designs produced in the last four
years on Broadway, Off- Broadway, regional theatres, university
theatres,
etc., in the USA.
USC's are the only students accepted in the National
exhibit, to appear among professionals such as: George Tsypin,
Julie Taymor, Paul Steinberg,
Ming Cho Lee, Jennifer Tipton, etc.
The Prague Quadrennial is the pre-eminent scenographic exhibition
in the world, and one of the theatre community's most important
international events. As the PQ is staged every four years and
draws participation
from all areas of the world, it has been considered the Olympics
for theatre designers. The Quadrennial has served as a meeting
point for artists from every continent, exhibiting thousands of
designs
from dozens of countries, and by bringing together designers, directors,
and students, as well as the general public, there is an unprecedented
exchange of ideas that goes well beyond the narrow confines of
theatrical style. With three major categories of exhibits, National,
Architectural,
and Student, the PQ has been a major factor in shaping the direction
of world theatre, and hence world culture, for the past thirty
years.
A National jury selected our MFA Design Program to be included
in the USA Students Exhibit at PQ, with peers programs such as:
Yale
School of Drama, NYU, Carnegie Mellon University, etc.
More important, the National jury awarded our
program with a “Certificate
of Excellence” for the quality of works presented and for
the excellence of the MFA design program at USC. The Certificate
of Excellence will be officially presented at the USITT
Conference in Phoenix, AZ, March 14-17, 2007.
Kimi Maeda’s installation submitted for the
exhibit includes models and photos from different USC productions
designed by students
such as: The Love
Song of J. Robert Oppenheimer, Trojan
Women, and others.
Professor Ularu says, "The participation at
the USA National and Student’s exhibitions at PQ ’07,
and the United States Institute of Theatre Technology Certificate
of Excellence, demonstrate
that the MFA Design Program at USC is one of the best design
programs in the country. I want to congratulate all the faculty
members and staff that support the MFA Design Program. A strong
MFA program
in design cannot exist without a strong MFA program in directing;
I want to thank Jim O’Connor for his artistic collaboration
and support. I want to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues
Lisa Martin-Stuart and Jim Hunter for being great and dedicated
team members, and to Jim Hunter for his support as a Chair of the
Department."
