New MFA to start in fall 2014

During a time when many schools are cutting back on their liberal arts programs, IU’s theater department is expanding to include a new masters program that teaches professional costume making design technology.

The theater department will be offering a new MFA program beginning in the 2014-15 school year, and will welcome two students in August to be the first MFA Costume Technology Design students at IU.

These students will work closely with the master students in the costume design program.

“It was a missing component, and there is a real demand for technologists that are really well-trained tailors, and period pattern makers and corset makers,” Linda Pisano, associate professor of costume design, said.

Heather Milam is a professor of practice in the theater department and was brought in by the department to launch the new MFA program. 

She is a specialist in the field as a fine dressmaker and tailor.  Milam has worked on many Broadway shows, including “The Lion King” and “Mamma Mia.”

“I have spent a lot of time in New York working in costume shops, and getting appropriately trained people who are masters of their crafts is essential to making good costumes,” Milam said.

The new MFA program is one of a handful in the United States. 

However, the program differs from most in that it separates costume design and costume design technology as two different programs.

Dual programs that combine design and technology makes a student good at both, but might not make students an expert at both, Milam said.

“I think you really need to be an expert for the job,” Milam said.

“You really need to be an expert to teach, and there’s no point in kind-a-sort-a teaching the things I’m not really good at.”

Milan said she doesn’t want to spread the program too thin and is focusing on students who want to refine their skills as tailors and dressmakers. 

The program will also include training in animation tailoring to train students how to design costumes for animation films, Milam said. 

Applicants who have already worked in the field,and know that costume-making is what they would like to do will be shown preference over those just coming out of undergraduate education.

Students in the costume technology program will be working closely with those in the costume design program, so it’s preferred that they work well together, Milam said.

“It’s so important for the designer and the cutter/draper to be in communication throughout the process of the show and the costumes being made. Otherwise, things will absolutly go wrong,” Barbara Abbott, a masters student in costume design, said.

The new program will also increase the quality of costumes seen on stage at IU, Abbott said.

“I think it’s really important for costume technicians have foundation design classes so that they know how to talk to the designers, and it’s just as important for the designers to take costume technology classes so that they know how to talk to the costume technologists,” Abbott said.

Pisano said she would like the IU program to stand out as the top program in the U.S. for educating costume technologists and dress makers for stage and film.
“The costumes are already incredible, but it will increase the quality 10-fold,” she said.

Follow reporter Kathrine Schulze on Twitter @KathrineSchulze.