The Student Ambassador Program offers the exceptional opportunity for students to meet and converse with renowned designers and theatre experts who are presenting at the annual conference. USITT Student Members are invited to be paired with one of our three participating international guests based on their shared areas of interest. The connections made at the conference can facilitate ongoing international networking between early designers/technicians and our global counterparts. Student Members will be selected for this program in Seattle based on their field of study, compelling application, and a letter of nomination from their mentor. All nominations should be made using the link above. Student Ambassadors will receive free conference registration and a luncheon with the three international guests. The deadline for applications is January 31, 2024. Winners will be announced by February 15, 2024.

Here are our three international guests for Seattle in 2024:

Petya Boyukova is a stage designer with over 30 performances on the Bulgarian stage. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Scenography and a Master’s degree in Costume Design from the National Academy of Arts, where she has been teaching since 2017. For Director Stayko Murdjev’s production of Peter Quilter’s Glorious, she was nominated for an Ikar Award in the category of Scenography and won an award for Costume Design at the National Festival of Small Theatre Forms in Vratsa in 2020. Mariy Rosen’s interpretation of The Eyes of Others by Ivan Dimitrov earned her a nomination for the Askeer Award in both Scenography and Costume Design. Her designs have also been presented in exhibitions such as the Theatrical Costume - Close-up (gallery Industrialna, 2016), and the general exhibitions of the Scenography Section at the Union of Bulgarian Artists. Petya Boyukova received an award for her work "Influence" in the exhibition, Dramaturgy of Space, organized by the Scenography Section of the Union of Bulgarian Artists. She was the Curator for the Bulgaria National exhibit at PQ 2023.

Asiimwe Deborah Kawe is an award-winning playwright, producer, and performer from Uganda. Her own cultural tradition of storytelling began with her grandma sharing tales by making shadows with her hands. As the Artistic Director of the Kampala International Theatre Festival, she has created a platform to bring together story-telling performances from around the world. A key to her success is working with the visiting companies to adapt their scenography to the local facilities while retaining their artistic vision. Ms. Kawe received a Diploma in Music, Dance and Drama, a B. A. in Theatre and Performing Arts from Makerere University in Kampala-Uganda, and an M.F.A. in Writing for Performance from the California Institute of the Arts. Ms. Asiimwe’s recent plays include Forgotten World, Cooking Oil, Appointment with gOD, Un-entitled, Do they Know it’s Khristmas?

Aris Pretelin-Esteves is a Mexican vegan Scenographer and Scenic Artist who cares deeply about animals, plants, insects, humans, objects, and places. Her work is about understanding herself as an artist with social responsibility and as part of a community. She creates open scenographic actions that promote opportunities for humans and nature to connect with one another and participate in the recovery of public spaces. Her materials include waste, the discarded, and the abandoned.

Student Ambassador Program Testimony from 2023

“Being selected as a student ambassador was quite an honor, in and of itself. The honors kept coming, as I was able to meet and engage with not only the international artist I was ambassador for, but each artist, their ambassadors as well as Sandy Bonds and all the OISTAT community, casting a global net of theatrical connections. In part because of these connections I made at USITT I am heading to Prague for the Prague Quadrennial. My costume design brain has been expanded just by meeting these artists and getting to know their work, I’m a better artist for this experience. We are all better people and artists by expanding our network to see the who, why and how people are creating, existing and connecting globally. I’m honored to now be a part of this global network, OISTAT.”

Carrie Anne Huneycutt-Parker, CMU Costume Design student

“The recently held USITT Conference 2023 was an eye opener for me in many ways. On one hand I was able to share my own experience in Bangladesh theatre with theatre practitioners of diverse backgrounds. On the other hand, I was able to reconnect with some of the key issues I had known as a theatre worker in Bangladesh. The Student Ambassador program provided me with a rare opportunity to respond to inquiries from participants about the current practices in set and costume design, folk theatre, and puppetry. I was able to identify the points of similarity and contradictions as well as the uniqueness of both western theatre and the kind of performance tradition we had been practicing in this part of my region for the last thousand years.”

Faiz Zahir, Director, Designer, Cultural Activist from Bangladesh

Click here to apply or nominate

APPLICATION INFORMATION AND PROCESS:

· Instructors/Mentors submit nomination and letter of recommendation. Please include the following information:

• Your name, title, position, and contact information
• Name of your institution
• Student’s name and contact information
• Student’s grade level
• Student’s area of interest
• Student’s unique qualifications

· Students will receive a link to complete the rest of their application, including an essay of up to 500 words:

• Why are you seeking this opportunity?
• Which international guest would you like to meet?
• How could your studies be enriched by this opportunity?
• Submit at least three questions you would like to ask of your prospective guest.

· Accompanying documentation:

• Name and contact information, email, cell phone
• Résumé
• USITT membership number
• Sample copies of student’s work (photos, drawing, renderings)