Alison Heryer discusses the history of Picnic and its various incarnations over the past four years, including the ways costuming techniques can be used to approach site and audience engagement.

Speaker

Alison Heryer is an interdisciplinary artist whose work combines costume, installation, performance, and community engagement. As a costume designer, she is a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829. Her design credits include productions at Steppenwolf, Theater, 59E59 Theater, The New Victory Theatre, Gertrude Opera, Portland Center Stage, Portland Opera, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Indiana Repertory Theatre, ZACH Theatre, Artist Repertory Theater, The Hypocrites, Redmoon Theater, and La MaMa. She is an artistic associate of New York based performance collaborative Monk Parrots. Her costume and performance work has been exhibited at the Boston’s 808 Gallery, the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, and Prague Quadrennial of Design and Space.  Recent awards include the Arts KC Inspiration Grant, the Michael Phillippi Prize, the Austin Critics Table Award and the Portland Drammy for Costume Design. She holds degrees in Studio Art and History from Washington University in St. Louis and a MFA in Costume Design from the University of Texas at Austin.  Heryer lives in Portland, Oregon where she is an Assistant Professor of Art Practice in Portland State University’s School of Art + Design.