A highly creative young theatre professional who builds and manages props, Kate Dunaway finished her double major in Art Studio and Theatre Arts at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA, in December 2018. A native of St. Louis, MO,  her art involves looking at everyday, common objects from new perspectives, and her skills include drawing, hand building ceramics, crafts, working with various building materials, and using hand and power carpentry tools.

Her theatre work includes being a summer 2018 production assistant and intern at Stray Dog Theatre, working on Hedda Gabler and The Robber Bridegroom, where she built and painted sets,  managed props and the prop room, organized costumes, and assisted with costume changes during all performances, including caring for and attaching wigs. Her work at the Mount Holyoke College Rooke Theatre includes props carpentry, researching, building, and managing props for The House of Bernarda Alba; managing props for Cabaret, working backstage on She Stoops to Conquer and Fefu and Her Friends, and serving as the House Manager for Trifles. Her relevant coursework includes an independent study of Opera and Musicals, and an independent study of Community Theater in St. Louis, and other areas of her coursework cover scene design, technical theater, and an emphasis on both Shakespeare and American drama.

Artist Statement: My sculpture is an interest into various ways of exploration in forms and shape. Working toward various designs and interest of what I can create out of nothing, I narrowed into my focus with ceramics on the form and function of handbuilt pottery. I focus in clay, a medium I find to be forgiving and malleable, giving me the ability to build any form up from a shapeless mound. I tend to focus in tableware, which has a uniform shape and construction. The work has a level of organization, giving me a starting point to jump off of. I use these pre-designed templates as the foundation on which the piece grows. My work in photography revolves around the use of small manufactured objects. With these, I began wanting to force the viewer the pay attention to these daily used objects that are often overlooked by having the audience view them differently than they normally do. As my studies moved forward, I began adding personification which allowed the viewer to connect with the objects. I staged these in playful positions interacting with different grounds. Black and white tones give more emotion by bringing out a strong shadow and detail. They move from being merely manufactured into something which people can relate. Out of all the many hundreds or so of these small objects, I’m taking a select few and giving them life and personality.