The 'sew' goes on for designer

She's a self-proclaimed terrible actress. She finds "abstract, expressionist" studio art pretentious, and yet, third-year graduate student Katherine Garlick has a passion for the theater and a talent for drawing. \nThroughout her education, Garlick learned how to combine her assets. She has done costume design for several IU theater productions, including last spring's "A Chorus Line." In addition, she worked for the Brown County Playhouse over the summer and created costumes for "The Compleat Works of Willm Shkspr (Abridged)."\nGarlick grew up in a small town outside of Pittsburgh with a population that she described as being smaller than IU's freshman class. She became interested in theater at a young age but realized early that she was not cut out for acting. She liked working behind the scenes best and often got jobs in high school and community theater productions as a props manager.\n"I was one of the weird, artsy kids in high school, so that was really part of the big attraction," she said.\nGarlick earned her undergraduate degree in studio art at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. While she admits she has considerable talent for drawing and painting and always carries a sketchbook in her purse, she said studio art "just didn't jive" with her.\nGarlick continued working with the school's theater program as a props manager and even won awards for her work but soon got burnt out. However, during her senior year, she was offered a position as the assistant designer for a production. She loved the experience and made the choice to stay in school for another year so that she could be the head designer for "Zastrozzi: The Master of Discipline."\nThe show was selected to compete in a regional conference, where she won first place for costume design against graduate students. She was first-runner up at the national conference in Washington D.C. \n"It was a life-changing experience for me as a designer," she said. "It got me into graduate school."\nProfessional designer and head of IU's costume design department Linda Pisano recruited Garlick for IU's graduate costume design program, which is currently comprised of three students. She explained that Garlick is highly intelligent and a very innovative designer.\n"When she reads a play, she can immediately determine things about a character," Pisano said. "She also knows a lot about history."\nAfter extensive research about the social and historical aspects of her productions, Garlick spends 20 hours each week sewing the pieces together. She works in the costume shop as a sort of \nwork-study program to help offset educational expenses. It has proven to be a challenge because she has always struggled with needlework. \n"After three years, I went from abysmal to mediocre," Garlick said.\nHer main job, however, is to create the renderings. Her latest project and graduate thesis is the design for the upcoming production of "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller, which will premiere at the Ruth N. Halls Theater on November 10. Garlick said the director has a unique vision and wants to throw out the conventional Puritan setting and costuming that are usually associated with the play.\nGarlick explained that she is trying to combine elements of Puritan, (1950s) American and modern design to create a completely avant-garde approach to a classic. \n"I am kind of terrified," Garlick said. \nBut when Garlick is handed an intimidating project, she always remembers her first goal: no naked cast members. She said she has confidence in her abilities as a designer and also as a historian of sorts, but she's reluctant to add the title "artist" to her repotoire.\n"I have trouble calling myself an artist. Theater is not just art," Garlick said. "Theater is a connection with an audience"