The University Resident Theatre Association (URTA), the nation’s premier organization representing postgraduate theatre education, awarded adjunct instructor Katie Curry with the URTA Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Training.
“I’m so honored to be recognized by URTA,” Curry said. “There’s nothing more exciting for me than helping my students go from having limited or no skills at all in costuming to mastering our craft.”
The award, which was presented virtually during URTA’s 2021 auditions and interviews, is given annually to recognize “the outstanding work of individuals and institutions whose students show remarkable skill and professionalism in presentation and preparation at the URTA Auditions and Interviews,” according to a letter sent to Curry from URTA executive director Tony Hagopian.
Six awards are presented annually, one for each major area of theatre. Nationwide, only one individual per category receives the award each year. Curry was honored in the category of costume design and technology.
“Through these awards, URTA seeks to acknowledge the importance of helping young theatre artists develop the essential skills they will need in order to advance to the next level of their training and, ultimately, the profession,” Hagopian wrote.
Founded in 1969, the University Resident Theatre Association works to ensure the continued renewal of the American theatre by supporting excellence in the professional training of new artists. URTA continues to develop programs and services that answer the needs of university theatres, training programs, and individual artists.
Dr. David Wintersteen, director of theatre, added his congratulations to those from URTA.
“The costume design and technology award is only given to one person in the country each year; that alone is evidence of Katie’s excellence as both a teacher and a theatre technician,” Wintersteen said. “We could not be prouder that URTA has selected her for this award. It is extremely well-deserved.”
A graduate of Berry College in Mt. Berry, Ga., Curry is in her eighth year at Concordia College as manager of the theatre department’s costume shop. She teaches Intro to Costume Construction, oversees and mentors a team of student workers, and designs and builds all the theatre department’s shows that don’t have student designers.
Her costume design work also has been featured at Theatre by the Sea and the Ocean State Theatre Company in Wakefield, R.I.; Coastal Carolina University in Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Fargo-Moorhead Community Theatre and Theatre B in Fargo, N.D.; and the Black Hills Playhouse in Custer State Park, S.D. Curry loves to design period pieces and if she had to pick favorite shows she’d choose “Tartuffe” and “Blithe Spirit.”
"Blithe Spirit"
“I’ve been interested in theatre for as long as I can remember, but it wasn’t until I got to college that I realized costuming was an actual career path,” Curry said. “I had an amazing mentor named Alice Bristow who taught me the foundations of design and sewing, and I owe my love of this craft to her teaching. Now I have the incredible opportunity to do the same.”
