University of Kentucky longtime artist and designer was awarded high honors at the 2021 United States Institute for Theatre Technology Inc. (USITT) Conference and Stage Expo, held virtually in March 2021.
Singletary Center for the Arts (SCFA) production designer Tanya Harper received the Wally Russell Professional Mentoring Award, presented by USITT in partnership with the Wally Russell Foundation to honor someone who embodies the guiding hand that Wally Russell provided to many young professionals.
“I have been following the journey of the Wally Russell Professional Mentoring Award since it came into the USITT management tent,” said College of Fine Arts Dean Mark Shanda, longtime member of USITT (though he was not involved in Tanya’s nomination). “Each year I have been greatly impressed by the selected winner and thought deeply about their lasting impact on the industry given the many individuals that they had worked with in their career. I couldn't think of anyone more deserving than Tanya. Since my arrival on the UK campus as the dean of the College of Fine Arts, I have been consistently impressed with her passion for live performance, her solid mentoring of so many student employees, her own artistry as a lighting designer, and her steadfast demand for professional excellence of one and all. Tanya has impacted many by the example that she sets each day and the care that she shows in developing the next generation of production artists and technicians.”
