Tanya Orellana and Isabel Rubio join together for UCA’s artist-in-residence

Tanya Orellana

Isabel Rubio

By: Amber Austen
Office of Media Relations

Theatre designers Tanya Orellana and Isabel Rubio team up as artists-in-residence at the University of Central Arkansas on Wednesday, March 9 and Thursday, March 10, 2022.  

This residency is a collaboration between UCA’s theatre and Spanish departments. Orellana and Rubio together will visit two classes within the departments on Thursday, March 10.

From 9:25-10:40 a.m. that morning, the two will visit with the Fundamentals of Theatrical Design and Professional Issues class in the Snow Fine Arts Center, Room 217. That afternoon from 2:40-3:55 p.m., they will visit with Spanish 3360, “Staging Spanish One-Act Plays” with a conversation about The House of Bernarda Alba by Fredrico Garcia in Burdick, Room 213.

Later that evening, the two will have a public portfolio presentation from 7:30-8:45 p.m. in the Bridges Larson Theatre in the Snow Fine Arts Center.“Orellana and Rubio bring visibility to the impactful work of Latina and Latin American women in the field of theater. I hope the artists will serve as role models for Latinx students, regardless of their academic or career interests,” Alana Reed, director of Latin American and Latino studies, said.

For students, Orellana and Rubio will host master classes individually for students. 

Orellana’s master class on developing aesthetics in collaboration will be from 4-4:50 p.m. on Wednesday, March 9, in the Snow Fine Arts Center, room 210.

Orellana is a scenic designer that creates performance spaces for theatre, dance, opera, and puppetry. she is a core member of the award-winning ensemble Campo Santo (Spanish for “sacred ground”), an organization committed to developing new American theatre and nurturing diverse new audiences.

As an organizing member of La Gente: The Latinx Theatre Design Network, she seeks to combine design and civic practice to dismantle oppressive practices in the field of theatre.

Rubio’s master class on flexibility and willingness to explore costume design will take place from 4-4:50 p.m. on March 10, in the same room as Orellana’s.

Rubio is a Mexican costume designer that brings rich visual vocabulary to her works in theatre, dance, film, and television. Her work has been featured internationally at Russia’s historic Mariinsky Theatre of Opera and Ballet in Saint Petersburg, the Stanislavsky Theatre in Moscow and México’s Morelia

International Film Festival in Morelia, Michoacán. Rubio’s credits include a fellowship in Costume Design at the Virginia Museum of Fine Art and an exhibit at the Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space in Prague.

The artist-in-residence program is funded by UCA’s arts fee and is administered by the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. All events are free unless otherwise noted. For more information about the program, visit CAHSS artists-in-residence.

ABOUT THE COLLEGE OF ARTS, HUMANITIES, AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
The mission of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences is to excel in developing creativity and knowledge; in cultivating the next generation of artists, informed citizens, scholars and socially responsible leaders; and to equip students for lifelong intellectual and personal growth.  We are committed to the values of collaboration, communication, diversity, and inclusion, and embracing these values, we promote the exploration of multiple cultures, disciplines, languages, and viewpoints.  We celebrate artistic, professional, and scholarly achievement through exhibitions, lectures, performances, publications, recitals, screenings, and service.