Scene Design Program

BFA, MFA

Focusing on the development of the skills and knowledge needed for professional scene designers, this program is based on the understanding that the designer’s multifaceted contribution to a production involves much more than providing a visual background. The curriculum explores all aspects of live performance as a collaborative process, giving special attention to the shaping of artistic vision, aesthetic sophistication, critical thinking and craft. Since scene designers are visual artists who work in theater, the program is closely allied with other visual arts programs at CalArts, as well as programs in dance, performance art, and film and video.

Scene Design Specialization:
Puppetry—Cotsen Center for Puppetry and the Arts

BFA, MFA levels

The Specialization is Puppetry allows students to incorporate the uses of performing objects into their theatrical vocabulary, or to concentrate on work involving puppets and performing objects. The Cotsen Center for Puppetry and the Arts provides a multidisciplinary framework for this course of study, rooted in theater but also increasingly connected with the use of new technologies and creative strategies in video, installation, computer art and other hybrid forms.

Open to both BFA and MFA applicants to the Scene Design Program, this specialization focuses on the full range of skills needed by artists who work with puppets and performing objects. It offers courses that cover the history of puppetry, a wide variety of construction techniques and formal approaches—both traditional and contemporary—to direction, design and choreography. These are supplemented by lectures, classes and workshop productions led by internationally renowned visiting artists.

Scene Design Specialization:

Scene Painting

MFA level only

This specialization is available to applicants to the MFA Scene Design Program. Its rigorous curriculum combines scene painting coursework with the direct application of new techniques and materials, as well as traditional processes, on School of Theater productions.

The training is supported by coursework in design, figure and perspective drawing, lighting, scenery and prop construction, play analysis, and theater history.