Spotlight on...Christina Galvez

Author: Kelsey Smith

Christina Galvez '07 is a Theatre Major from the suburbs of Philadelphia. Since her first year at Middlebury, Galvez has used her keen eye for design in many projects spanning many disciplines. From her striking mural in Forest Basement to her eye-catching posters for concerts, plays and fashion shows, to her memorable set designs, Galvez is truly a prolific artist, making her mark all over campus. Last spring, Galvez won the regional Barbizon Award for Best Scenic Design from the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KACTF) for her innovative set design for The House of Yes. After regionals, she proceeded to the national competition at Washington D.C.'s Kennedy Center, where critics awarded her a summer fellowship to study under costume designer and New York University professor Constance Hoffman and head of theatre design at the Yale School of Drama Ming Cho Lee. This semester, Galvez is back on campus designing the set for Cinders, a faculty performance whose curtains raise Nov. 16. The Campus caught up with Galvez to talk about her interest in set-design and her newest project .


The Middlebury Campus: When did you first become interested in theater?

Christina Galvez: I was first exposed to theater in college. I've been seeing shows ever since freshman year. The first production that I saw was Anna Karenina, but I didn't take an actual course in the theatre department, Set Design I, until the fall of my junior year. At that point, I was an English-French joint major about to go abroad to Poitiers, France in the spring. I changed my major to Set Design and have been doing it ever since. I felt completely involved in set design both physically and mentally - much more so than I ever felt with English or French.

TC: Is the involvement you feel something you think can only be experienced through the arts?

CG: I think there are people out there who feel mentally and physically involved in academics, but I'm not one of them. There's only so much I can do with reading. I think with my hands and eyes. Essentially, I am the kind of person that needs to produce.

TC: Do you find Middlebury unique in its combination of academics and art? Do you ever feel that the College does not advertise the arts enough?

CG: On one hand, students come here because it is a liberal arts school, so they feel at liberty to take many classes, art classes included, in order to have a well rounded, traditionally liberal arts-based education. On the other hand, the Center for the Arts is in such a far physical location from the rest of campus. [Arts Center employees] do publicity, they have arts calendars and posters and I know they take pride in the arts program, however, I think more money should be spent on the arts at Middlebury. It says something when you go to the number five liberal arts college in the country and we don't have all the necessary facilities and resources.

TC: Are you thinking of pursuing set design professionally?

CG: Eventually, I would love to pursue it, but I would like to do other things beforehand. I just declared my major junior year, so I still have a lot to learn about other aspects of theater, such as costume design. Also, theater in America is so commercial right now. Coming from Middlebury, you have certain ideals that you would like to uphold in your professional career. We have the luxury of pretty much only doing provocative theater here. In theater you need an audience, and the audience is usually upper middle class and that restricts your choices. Also theatre is so centralized - New York City and Chicago are pretty much your only options.

TC: Would you say you have a specific aesthetic?

CG: Not intentionally. The set design you come up with should be the result of conversations with your director and the other members of the production team. Maybe the set designer will have a certain look but I don't think it should be purposeful. It's not something I can pin down [because with each individual production] I am trying to suit the text and the director.

TC: Tell me a little bit about working on Cinders.

CG: This is my first faculty production and it's definitely different and challenging. It is entirely new to work with people who have been doing this for years. There is definitely a new feeling of obligation that changes everything - not for better or for worse, just different. It's funny to go from shows at the Hepburn Zoo, where I'm there painting the floor with everybody, to a show at Wright Memorial Theater, where I'm the one delegating tasks to a bunch of people. The position of authority is definitely something I'm not used to yet.