Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 2020 - 47

the shop. The operating theory is that the
limited number of full-time faculty positions that the institution resources can
support could provide a better return if
applied elsewhere. While many may have
sympathy for the arts and humanities,
the "cultural value" argument is failing to
save philosophy or English at a number
of liberal arts colleges; it is even failing
the religion major at some faith-based
institutions. The cultural relevance of theatre is clearly no longer an effective justification for its inclusion in the academic
portfolio.
The skills we teach are adaptable,
transferable, and in high demand. While
clinging to a traditional mode of presentation to both future students and the workforce, we have lost the understanding of
both for what we offer. We can make a
case for our value in a cultural context
but that is not enough in the current climate for our field to thrive. Fortunately,
the cultural value defense does not have
to be our only supporting argument.
We have tremendous capacity to enrich
lives, even within the prevailing business
model.
We can no longer afford to be as

isolated and theatre-centric as we have
traditionally been. We also need to be
very cautious about the apparent trend of
relying more on production work to deliver educational outcomes if we do not gain
more control over season selection or design solutions. The best available alternative is to acknowledge a greater degree of
distinction from theatre as performance
or criticism and to form or strengthen
partnerships with design, visual communication, business, and narrative-based
visual art to satisfy classroom instruction
and lab experience for our students. If
design/production theatre training continues to look like it does today, it will be
seen at significantly fewer institutions in
the near future.
We also need to address the lack
of ready evidence for the value of our
degrees and the benefits of training our
programs supply. We need to position
ourselves to be recognized beyond the
general or other categories in data sets
that our enrollment management colleagues or high school counselors are
using. This study is in part an attempt to
begin addressing this need, but it's meaningless if current curricular practices

U.S. Emerging Designers Exhibit, PQ19

persist. The session in Louisville posed
the question "Is now when we panic?" In
my opinion, the answer is only "yes" if we
choose to cling to historic practice. We
could be valued because art is important
and our field tends to be cost effective,
but we also have the ability revise and
reform in ways that are valued in the prevailing business models, even by those
models that are not particularly considerate of cultural capital or the value added
to student campus experience. And I believe we can do that in a way that will also
strengthen the quality and availability of
training for our professions.
Frank Ludwig is an artist and
teacher with more than 30 years
of experience in theatre
production and education. A
member of the United Scenic
Artists in the set design category, Ludwig
regularly designs scenery, lights, and projections
for university productions. Ludwig currently
serves as director of core curriculum for Viterbo
University and is a professor in the music and
theatre program.

Many people know USITT for its
Conference & Stage Expo. But we are
more than that. USITT is a worldwide
leader in design, sponsoring the U.S.
exhibits at the Prague Quadrennial of
Performance Design and Space for
more than 40 years. USITT is the U.S.
ce
center for OISTAT, the international
organization of scenographers,
theatre architects and technicians.
We offer masterclasses, online
learning and design symposia
across the disciplines.
We are the people behind great
design and cutting-edge technology.
We are there for every stage.
Also, we throw a pretty great
conference.
Houston, April 1-4, 2020

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Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 2020

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