Introduction and Purpose
The
Barbizon Awards for Theatrical Design Excellence are sponsored by
Barbizon Inc., a premier theatrical supply house specializing in
advanced lighting for professionals.
The
purpose of the Barbizon Awards for Theatrical Design Excellence is to
provide student designers with feedback from professionals working in
the field; to give outstanding student designers national recognition;
and to provide the opportunity for student designers to exhibit their
work at the Kennedy Center.
The Barbizon Awards are National-eligible, meaning the participants may
be selected to advance to the National KCACTF Festival in April.
Who Is Eligible
Students
who have designed any aspect (scenery, costumes, or lighting)
of a
KCACTF associate or participating entry
are eligible for the Barbizon
Awards for Theatrical Design Excellence. Schools should include names
and emails of student designers on the
Production
Entry Form submitted
to KCACTF when entering a production as an associate or participating entry.
Only bona fide students are eligible for this award. A bona fide
student is: a) an undergraduate student who is registered for a minimum
of six semester hours or nine quarter hours at the time of production;
b) a graduate student who is enrolled for three semester or four
quarter hours at the time of production; c) a continuing part-time
student who is enrolled in a regular degree program at the time of
production.
Nomination Process
A respondent (or respondents) will be assigned to view a production once
a school has registered it as an associate or participating entry. After
viewing the production, the KCACTF respondent will inform the production's
director and the regional chair of any student design nominees from the production
they have viewed. After
such nomination, the regional design & technology
chair will invite the student designer/s to the regional festival.
Student designers of Participating Production entries may be nominated to
attend the regional festival as regional Barbizon nominees regardless of
whether the production itself is selected for the regional festival.
It is not mandatory for nominated designers to attend the Regional Festival.
Designs may be sent to the festival hosts. Designs will be displayed and
responded to, time permitting. In order to be eligible for nomination to
the national Barbizon awards, however, Regional Barbizon nominees must
attend the regional festival and display their designs.
The Regional Festival
This information is specific to Region III.
Nominees will be asked to prepare
a display showing their design at the Regional Festival. These links explain
what nominees need to show in each category and the format it should be in
for display at the Region III Festival.
Barbizon Requirements by Category>>
Region III Exhibit Format >>
The designer is
responsible for developing a suitable method of shipping display materials
to and from the regional festival. It is strongly recommended that students
bring their materials in person to the design exposition space at the
specifically scheduled time for installation of all exposition
materials (see top of page). Those who cannot bring materials in person
may send materials to the festival host. The designer is responsible for
providing the appropriate mailing and insurance charges.
At the Regional Festival, guest designers will respond to the work
of all regional Barbizon nominees
in a session open to the public. One
regional Barbizon finalist will be selected in each
area (scenery, costumes, and lighting). The selection of national Barbizon
finalists shall be made by the guest design respondents; the selection process
may include other guest respondents as determined by the regional design
& technology chair.
These regional finalists will then be invited to
show their displays at the National KCACTF Festival in Washington DC as representatives
of the region.
Barbizon regional finalists will also
be invited to display their designs at the annual United States Institute for
Theatre Technology (USITT) National Conference in the spring. Specific information
shall be given to each of the regional winners at the conclusion of the regional
festival. Barbizon, Inc. will also provide each finalist with one yearâÂÂs student
membership in USITT for the year in which the award is given.
The National Festival
KCACTF will provide regional Barbizon finalists with travel, shared hotel
accommodations and per diem for the period of the KCACTF national festival
in Washington, D.C. (normally Tuesday through Saturday). Regional Finalists
will be asked to display their designs at the Festival. A single national finalist
in each area (scenery, costumes, and lighting) will be selected from the regional
Barbizon finalists by the national design respondents during the national festival.
Selection of finalists is solely on the basis of the response session
for the submitted design documentation of the relevant KCACTF participating
or associate production.
National Barbizon participants are eligible for additional awards that will
be given during the national festival including
- Invitation to attend the Ming Cho Lee "Clambake"ÂÂ
- Invitation to
attend the Kennedy Center's Summer Intensives in Design Collaboration
- Lighting designers may be awarded
a full scholarship to participate in the O'Neill National Playwrights' Conference.
- NAPAT Design Award: The recipient
shall receive a week-long fellowship with the Korean National University
of the Arts (KNUA), fully funded by NAPAT.
- The college or university attended by each of the national Barbizon winners
will receive a Lightbox Portfolio Series DMX (www.seeLightbox.com)
- USITT's publication, Theatre Design & Technology, will publish
information on the winners of the national Barbizon awards.
More info on National Awards >>
Attendance at the national festival is not mandatory; however,
many of the awards mentioned above are determined by a student's work
and participation in workshops and master classes while at the national festival.
If regional Barbizon finalists are not able to attend the National Festival,
they may send their design. Finalists are responsible for shipping their
design to and from the national festival, including providing the appropriate
mailing and insurance charges.
Faculty mentors will be allowed to observe the national design response session
on a space available basis; they are not able to observe other workshops or
master classes held during the national festival week.
National Barbizon finalists are welcome to bring their portfolio to the national
festival at the Kennedy Center. National design respondents may be available,
time permitting, to examine portfolios. However, portfolio material may not
be presented until after the national Barbizon winners have been selected;
the contents of the portfolio shall have no bearing on the selection of the
national Barbizon winners.
Materials Requested for Barbizon Design Entries
Designers in all categories (scenic, costumes, lighting)
are encouraged to include each of the following materials in their
design display at the regional festival:
- At least two representative production photographs, in color, labeled
as to scene/locale. At least one photograph should illustrate the entire
setting and its relationship to the stage and theatre space.
- Visual materials which serve to show research, preliminary sketches,
photographic images, and any other sources of inspiration that demonstrate
the designersâ process and evolution.
- A one-page statement of the design approach to the production
IN ADDITION, designers are encouraged to include all of the following information
specific to their design area.
Scene Design: the design materials above, plus:
- Ground plans: blue-line (or equivalent) plans should not exceed 24 inches by 40 inches.
- Finished color renderings: no larger than 24 inches x 36 inches; or
finished model: built in a suitable scale for shipping and exhibition
(suggested size is 1/4"ÂÂ = 1'=0"ÂÂ).
Costume Design: the design materials above, plus:
- Six
to twelve finished renderings representative of the production, no
larger than 18 inches x 24 inches, with fabric swatches attached.
- For
productions requiring more than twelve costumes, the designer should
include a graphic color scheme showing the palette for the entire
production.
Lighting Design: the design materials above, plus:
- Light plot.
- Color key (or some method of showing color choices).
- Magic
sheet and traditional paperwork such as hook-up and instrument
schedule, displayed in an orderly, logical fashion. Area used for this
material should not exceed 24 inches by 40 inches.
- Sample production cue sheets accompanied by a description of the moments and "looks"ÂÂ desired.
- Paint and fabric swatches (or some method of showing overall
color and texture schemes for scenery and costumes).
Please note that an inability to provide all requested materials should
not discourage or prevent students from participating in the Barbizon design
competition. Displays missing some of these elements will still be responded to
at the regional festival.