An award-winning scenographer and artist, Caitlin is fulfilling that ambition big time at UB. Whether she’s designing a student-run theatre production, managing a community theatre show or just exploring new paths in her own personal exhibits, Caitlin has immersed herself in Buffalo’s thriving art scene in a meaningful way.
“Five years ago I never would have imagined what I’m interested in now. Back then I was mostly creating art just because I wanted to create a pretty picture. Now I’m creating art because I want to influence other people or at least change their day in a way that’s positive."
Caitlin’s costume design for “Cabaret” earned her recognition from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.
Two research grants from UB’s Center for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities, including one that focused on organic design in the theater, have helped her along the way. So has her professional work with a couple of Buffalo icons: Shea’s Performing Arts Center and the Shakespeare in Delaware Park summer festival.
Not to mention that she has worked on nearly a dozen university productions, even earning a prestigious Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival regional award for her costume design in “Cabaret.”
“It’s one thing to learn how to design in a classroom and the steps to go through, but when you’re actually doing it and creating drawings and drafts that you have to submit to a shop to actually build the stuff, it’s really rewarding to see it all come together.”
Much of Caitlin’s artwork focuses on drawing and sculptures, often pieced together into a collage.
Most recently, Caitlin, who also serves as an RA for Honors College housing in Roosevelt Hall, combined her passion for theatre and her love of public art when she performed street theatre with the group Six Acts and attended workshops during the Prague Quadrennial, thanks to a grant from the Honors College’s Research and Creative Activities Fund.
“I want people to understand the environment that they’re living in, and how they’re interacting with it, and how their attitude toward the environment affects their outlook on it,” she says. “UB is enabling me to do that through the funding of all these experiences that I definitely would not have been able to afford otherwise.”
Last updated: May 24, 2013 3:32 am EST
