Mesa Community College Theatre Students Win Award for Nonprofit Venue Concept

Mesa Community College Theatre and Film Arts students earned the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) Director’s Award during the organization’s conference in March for their vision for a new nonprofit facility.

The MCC team developed a concept to transform an existing cineplex into Alice Cooper’s Solid Rock Teen Center Performance Venue. The nonprofit organization is in need of a performance venue to host existing programming. A dedicated building would provide additional revenue and opportunities for fundraising. The team incorporated visual aesthetics from Alice Cooper’s live shows into the interior design and layout of the building. 

MCC Director of Performing Arts Facilities Chris Tubilewicz served as faculty advisor for the seven-person MCC team: Sedrikk Cramer, Theodore Felix Grant McEntire, Jeffrey Rudolph, Sarah Salmi, Rodrigo Sandoval, Brian Wayne and Elizabeth Witte. American Society of Theatre Consultants (ASTC) member Kascey Haslanger served as the team’s mentor.

The MCC team is the first team from a two-year program to participate in the ASTC-USITT Venue Renovation Challenge. They competed against teams from Oberlin College and Conservatory, University of Oklahoma and The Ohio State University.

“It has been a wonderful experience mentoring this group through this process,” Tubilewicz said. “The students who participated fearlessly dove into what was certainly new territory with focus and enthusiasm. Watching this team familiarize themselves with new skills and tools in a very short period of time toward the goal of completing this project was inspiring to say the least. I for one am extremely proud of the work these students did and the fact that they won this award in MCC’s first time competing in this challenge is a testament to their quality.”

For the challenge, participants representing a variety of academic backgrounds, including theater, architecture and engineering, work together to envision the renovation of an existing theatre space or adaptation of an existing building for performing arts programming. The teams are guided by faculty advisors and ASTC mentors, and presentations are judged by five ASTC members.

Students presented their design with materials, including research of existing conditions and user-groups’ needs, sketches and renderings showing their design process, proposed plans and sections, and interior and exterior finishes. Howard Glickman, ASTC Chair of Outreach and Education, praised each of the teams for delivering thorough, professional-quality presentations.

USITT Education and Training Coordinator Andrea Ball presented the $1,000 USITT Director’s Award for showing special merit during a ceremony on March 7 in Columbus, Ohio.

For more behind this Frontdoor, visit mesacc.edu.