Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2021 - 43

tube, enabling the test to be administered with masks on. On average, results
are electronically delivered within eight
hours via an email, which contains a link
to the secure McKinley Health Center
portal, or directly into the Safer Illinois
app via smartphone.
A central feature of this testing process
enables all community members to know
that those around them in classrooms or
theatres are cleared: the " Building Access
Granted " status conferred on those with
a negative test result. No one is allowed
access to campus facilities, including the
Krannert Center, without this approval.
Upon arrival at the building doors, everyone must show either a " Boarding Pass "
(a document downloaded from McKinley
Health Center portal) or " Status Card "
via the Safer Illinois app to the Wellness
Support Associate, a trained member of
the SHIELD team located at select accessible building entrances. All other entrances remained closed. Only a recent
negative test result will provide entrance
into the building. All other results, including positive or inconclusive results, or
having gone more than four days without
testing, will result in " Building Access
Denied " status.
The psychological impact of this process of testing and status confirmation
creates the much-desired community of
trust that allows for full engagement by
all participants. We gathered to produce
our events knowing that each of us, still
masked and socially distanced, had a
negative COVID-19 result that was no
more than four days old. Thus, we were
able to gather, to create, and to celebrate
our art. As a faculty member, this twiceweekly testing allowed me the capacity to
focus fully on the students, while allowing the students to continue in a creative
learning environment.

Lighting Design and Technology BFA and MFA students in Krannert Center's outdoor Amphitheatre, with
Foellinger Great Hall in the background. Co-Lighting Designers: Tanner Funk and Cameron Koniarski. |
Photo by Brant Thomas Murray.

#WeMakeEvents
On September 1, 2020, the #WeMakeEvents North America movement lit up thousands of buildings in red across the United States to highlight the pandemic's impact
on the entertainment industry. Students in the lighting and media programs designed
and executed the architectural lighting and media on the building signage, the exterior amphitheater, and the ceiling of the Foellinger Great Hall of Krannert Center.
This civic engagement project enabled students to raise community awareness of
the need to extend and continue the Paycheck Protection Program and Pandemic
Unemployment Assistance, in addition to the Save Our Stages legislation for the live
events industry. The fact that the majority of work was outside was an added safety
benefit. One afternoon, as students were working on the upper plaza, Chancellor
Robert J. Jones gave everyone working a double thumbs up; the importance of this
moment was not lost on the students.
" After having made the difficult decision to cancel all public, inperson performances at Krannert Center for the fall, on the evening of September 1st I stood with the students, faculty, and staff
of Krannert Center and was inspired by the creativity, resourcefulness, and sheer determination to overcome the challenges of the
pandemic that this project exemplified so beautifully and powerfully. " -Mike Ross, Director, Krannert Center
seven teams: Academics, University Life,
Community and Public Engagement,
Finance and Operations, Human
Resources, Research and Scholarship,
and SHIELD: Target, Test Tell ( Jones
2020).
The return to campus in the fall of
2020 added new responsibility for students, faculty, and staff with mandatory
twice-weekly testing at one of the 10
testing centers on campus. Strategic

Patience and Flexibility

arrival times shortened the process for
the population of just over 60,000 students, faculty, and staff. After verifying
their identities, participants generate
a small amount of saliva, which is carefully deposited into a tube for collection
and testing. The whole process is usually
completed in 10 minutes. For the spring
semester, the test evolved to become even
safer with the option of using a straw or
funnel to transport saliva into the testing

Advance planning and institutional support were also central components of
each semester's successes. Even before
the end of the Spring 2020 semester,
faculty and staff were looking at what the
future would bring, and how to best support the students. Concerns addressed
included technology access, equipment
modifications, space access, and workflow. Strategic groups based on faculty
and staff specializations allowed us to
focus on the different aspects of what

SPRING 2021 | THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY

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Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2021

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